Fanatics, ‘weirdos’ and cult groups also form gangs, and during the 1980s a small, unsavoury group of zealots attracted Melbourne media attention after Thomas Walter Messinger died in a gunfight battle with police at his suburban home.
It soon emerged that Messinger was ‘second in command’ to a neo Nazi style gang that was led by ‘General’ Phillip ‘The Iceman’ Wilson. The group assembled an arsenal of weapons to help traffic heroin and stage armed robberies around Melbourne. Soon, police intelligence that was received about their violent plans, resulted in a SOG unit raiding Messinger’s home.
On entry, they were greeted with a hail of bullets from the violent La Trobe University security guard, before he was fatally shot by Sergeant Bruce Knight, who was later presented with a valour award for his crucial role in the operation.
‘General’ Wilson then vowed to avenge his colleague’s death.
‘General’ Wilson then vowed to avenge his colleague’s death. The 200 centimetre giant of a man had previously trained his fanatical followers in gruelling commando style exercises at a training camp in rural Beenak. After their training was completed, Wilson directed them to undertake a series of armed robberies that he planned with military precision. He did not participate in these raids, as his obvious height would easily identify him in police inquiries. Wilson, however, did fantasise about becoming an after life hero in Valhalla, a wish that was at least partly realised.
Shortly after he finalised a money dispute by murdering drug couriers Linda Galea and Ricky Prior in 1987, Wilson himself became the victim of a gun murder in South Yarra. The assailant is still unknown, but a detective dubbed ‘blue eyes’ could have been a suspect, if he had not been fraternising with 200 colleagues at a nearby venue.
It’s not known if glasses were raised in tribute to the ‘Iceman’ in Valhalla, but a few celebration coldies were enjoyed that night at the Police Club.
In October 1989, a particularly bizarre and gruesome gang murder occurred after a group of four women enticed Edward Baldock into their car outside a Brisbane club. The outcome of this interlude was tragically different to what the intoxicated 47-year-old male anticipated, for he received such vicious cuts in a knife attack, that his head was nearly severed from his body.
Tracy Wigginton
The attacker was 24-year-old Tracy Wigginton, who later claimed to be a vampire that needed to feed on human blood. Wigginton had previously consumed blood from her lover Lisa Ptaschinski, and after she murdered Baldock, Wigginton consumed some of his blood.
Both Wigginton and Ptaschinski were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder in 1991. One of the other co-accused was acquitted, but Kim Jervis received a custodial sentence of 18 years for manslaughter. Wigginton had previously been diagnosed as having a Multiple Personality disorder, and during her time in custody she has attempted to kill both herself and Ptaschinski.
...he received such vicious cuts in a knife attack, that his head was nearly severed from his body.
Charles Manson was a charismatic personality described as ‘the most dangerous man alive’. During the 1960s he became a cult figure in America to a group of weak-willed, gullible and easily led young females who became known as ‘the family’. They slavishly followed his brutal demands, and viciously murdered ten people, before the senseless mayhem ended and the gang received life-long custodial sentences.
Archie McCafferty
Archie McCafferty has been described as Australia’s Charles Manson, but in reality the American serial killer has no counter-part in the Australian gangland scene. Never-the-less, the homicides perpetuated by the McCafferty gang are telling examples of impressionable people mindlessly following the lead of a dominant group member.
They slavishly followed his brutal demands, and viciously murdered ten people...
The body of Ronald Cox
As a young man, Archie McCafferty had a history of petty crime around Sydney, but he appeared to become more settled and stable after he married and started a family. Unfortunately Craig, the six-week-old son that McCafferty doted on, died in a tragic domestic accident. After the inconsolable father emerged from psychiatric care, he began taking out his grief on the general community.
He soon attracted a group of young people, who willingly followed his bizarre demands.
He soon attracted a group of young people, who willingly followed his bizarre demands. The first victim was aging World War II veteran George Anson, who was robbed and kicked to death by McCafferty. Three nights later, teenagers Julie Todd and Michael Meredith joined the gang’s graveside vigil for the deceased Craig, with Ronald Cox as their hostage. The 42-year-old father of seven died after being shot in the head by McCafferty and Meredith.
The crime scene of the murder of George Anson
By that time the feared and manipulative gang leader was allegedly hearing voices that ordered him to kill seven people, so the gang were commanded to find another five victims. Evangelos Kollias was the next innocent casualty, before the killing rampage was curtailed by frightened gang member Rick Webster. He notified police about McCafferty’s bizarre plans, after discovering that he himself was a potential victim for daring to question his leader’s actions.
Evangelos Kollias
Gang members faced varying sentences after their trials, and McCafferty remained an uncontrollable force during his custodial sentences in various Australian prisons. In 1997 he was deported to his native Britain, where he has remarried, and reportedly became a changed man whose main passion is oil painting.
...the feared and manipulative gang leader was allegedly hearing voices that ordered him to kill seven people
The body of Evangelos Kollias.
It is hoped that the reformed Archie McCafferty has abandoned his plan to commit four more murders.
It is hoped that the reformed Archie McCafferty has abandoned his plan to commit four more murders.
Archie McCafferty being arrested by police
There were five men who abducted, pack raped and murdered Anita Cobby in Sydney on 2 February 1986, but the main instigator was 20-year-old John Travers. After being raised in a dysfunctional home, Travers became a dangerous sexual predator, who reportedly had intercourse with women, men and even animals. He was the leader of the gang who seized Anita Cobby from a Blackburn Street, and it was Travers who eventually fatally stabbed the beautiful young woman.
Anita Cobby
Nineteen-year-old Michael Murdoch was known to follow Travers’ lead unquestioningly, and, on the night of the murder he, Travers and the three Murphy brothers, Les, Gary and Michael, were all under the influence of alcohol and drugs. They have been imprisoned for the term of their natural lives, but effectively it was Travers who was the catalyst for the horrific homicide. Without his perverted leadership, the other gang members may have continued to remain fringe dwellers in petty crime.
...it was Travers who eventually fatally stabbed the beautiful young woman.
Cobby’s Killers, from left: Michael Murphy, John Travers, Gary Murphy and Michael Murdoch.
Two years later Sydney was rocked again by another gang rape and murder.
Janine Balding
He has an appealing name, but 14-year-old Bronson Blessington is a very unappealing character. After being sexually abused in early childhood, Blessington became a street kid. It was in this grim environment that he met fellow street dwellers Stephen ‘Shorty’ Jamieson, Matthew Elliott, Wayne Wilmot and Carol Arrow shortly before they abducted, raped and murdered an innocent young woman.
Soon after the group became acquainted, Blessington, the youngest of the five, said ‘Let’s find a sheila and rape her’. This suggestion was eagerly taken up by the easily led group of youths, and it was 20-year-old bank teller Janine Balding who became their victim.
The recently engaged Balding was forced into her parked car at the Sutherland Railway Station on 8 September 1988. While 15-yearold Wilmot drove along the highway, the victim was raped by Elliott at knifepoint in the back of the vehicle. After being sexually assaulted by other gang members, Balding was dragged to the edge of the Minchinbury Dam, tied up, and held under the water until she drowned.
He has an appealing name, but 14-year-old Bronson Blessington is a very unappealing character.
...held under the water until she drowned.
The gang members showed no remorse at their trial, and Blessington repeatedly made obscene comments and gestures to reporting journalists during the hearing. He, along with Elliott and Jamieson, received life imprisonment for their horrific crime. In jail, Blessington has reportedly found God and become a reformed character.
Two of the Blessington Gang;Stephen Jamieson and Matthew Elliott.
Michael ‘Chaos’ Kulakowski was held in such high esteem that he was flown to America in July 1996 to help negotiate a peace agreement between the Bandidos and Hells Angels motorcycle gangs. By then conflict between the rival groups had claimed 11 lives in Europe, and the international bikie community hoped Kulakowski could help restore harmony.
The charismatic leader of the Australian Bandidos gang had an enviable track record in bikie politics. Police in Wangaratta had previously sought Kulakowski’s cooperation when a bikie rally coincided with teenage New Year celebrations in the Victorian town. The edict for zero tolerance on trouble was issued from Kulakowski, and there was no chaos in the streets of Wangaratta that night.
His influence was just as powerful when he began a national expansion policy for the gang. Smaller clubs were encouraged to either join the Bandidos or disband. Most complied, as few considered a turf war with the foot soldiers of ‘Chaos’ to be a healthy alternative. Kulakowski was a man who could make peace or war on a whim, and his followers would literally kill for him.
...few considered a turf war with the foot soldiers of ‘Chaos’ to be a healthy alternative.
Michael Kulakowski was raised on a NSW country property, and he was a show jump rider, soldier and car salesman before joining the Bandidos. He became the national leader, and by the time he was 40, Kulakowski drove a Mercedes, and owned a prestigious home and a Harley Davidson.
He was the driving force behind the Bandidos’ expansion into the part drugs scene...
He was the driving force behind the Bandidos’ expansion into the party drugs scene, and the profits derived from the illegal sale of ecstasy and LSD were enormous. Kulakowski appeared to be invincible, but on 9 November 1997 chaos erupted within the Bandidos when Kulakowski and two other gang members were shot dead in a Sydney dance club. Later former Rebels biker Bruce Harrison and Constantine Georgiou were charged with murder, and sentenced to 28 years in custody.
Chaos, however, remains ever present within the bikie gang community.