Greed became rampart in Melbourne gangland circles after it became known that it was Raymond ‘Chuck’ Bennett who masterminded the lucrative ‘Great Bookie Robbery’ on 21 April 1976. Estimates of the heist ranged wildly, with some investigators claiming that one and a quarter million dollars had been stolen, while others believed that the takings were closer to twelve-million-dollars. A witness to the robbery recognised one of the masked bandit’s voices, and his identity was soon linked to Bennett’s gang.
The Kane brothers were particularly keen to have a slice of the action, and they began applying pressure to known Bookie Gang participants in pubs frequented by criminals. Les Kane, the toughest of three vicious brothers, took umbrage after his brother Brian was badly beaten when an argument about the proceeds became violent, and he threatened revenge on the Bennett group. Unfortunately for Les, the opposition gang reacted more quickly.
Les Kane
Les and his family had recently relocated from the western suburbs to a south eastern location in Melbourne, and it was there that he was murdered on 19 October 1978 after three armed men ambushed him at his home. Les Kane’s body has never been found. Bennett, Vincent Mikkelsen and Laurence Prentergast were all later acquitted after being charged with murder, though Prentergast later disappeared without trace. Some observers believe that underworld loyalty became endangered after Les Kane was gunned down in front of his own family. Honour among criminals then became virtually extinct following the 29 murders that occurred in Melbourne’s recent gangland war.
...underworld loyalty became endangered after Les Kane was gunned down in front of his own family.
Bennett himself became the next murder victim of the 1970s reprisals. He had kept himself out of normal circulation by remaining in custody, instead of seeking bail over an unrelated payroll robbery, but the window of opportunity remained slightly open for his enemies. In November 1979, ‘Chuck’ Bennett was being escorted by police to a committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court when he was brazenly shot dead in the street. The gunman made a safe exit; the Bennett homicide case remains unsolved.
Brian Kane
It was believed by insiders that Chuck’s killer was Brian Kane, who had previously sworn to avenge his brother Les’ death, but time was also running out for that member of the Kane clan. Two men wearing balaclavas fired fatal shots at Brian Kane in a Brunswick hotel, which became the third unsolved homicide case in revenge attacks activated by the ‘Great Bookie Robbery’.
Raymond ‘Chuck’ Bennett
...Bennett was being escorted by police to a committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court when he was brazenly shot dead in the street.
Bribery offers of money and sex were showered on Donald Mackay, but the Griffith anti-drug campaigner proved to be incorruptible. Mackay first informed police in 1978 about the involvement of Calabrian Italians from the Riverina area of NSW in drug trade activities. Once inducements for him to remain silent were shunned, six members of the local branch of ‘The Honoured Society’ decided that the problem needed to be permanently solved.
Donald Mackay
Robert ‘Aussie Bob’ Trimbole was one of the drug syndicate identified by Mackay to law enforcement authorities, and it was he who was given the responsibility of organising the execution of the gang’s enemy. Gianfranco Tizzoni, a Melbourne member of The Honoured Society, introduced Aussie Bob to a gun dealer named George Joseph, and it was he who submitted the name of James Frederick Bazley as a possible hitman.
Robert Trimbole
In appearance, Bazley resembled a grandfather rather than a hired gunman, but in his case looks are deceiving. His quietly spoken courteous manner disguised the personality of a chilling killer, who killed strangers for financial gain on at least three occasions before he was imprisoned.
...Bazley resembled a grand-father rather than a hired gunman...
Bazley accepted the Mackay contract for a reported fee of $10,000, and it is believed that he shot the anti-drugs campaigner in a Griffith Hotel carpark. Mackay’s body has never been found. While in custody, Bazley was given the opportunity to confess to the homicide to help Mackay’s widow experience some closure over her husband’s death, but the contract killer never confessed to the revenge murder.
James Frederick Bazley.
Bazley accepted the Mackay contract for a reported fee of $10,000...
By 1986 a group of Melbourne criminals shared an almost pathological hatred of police. Stanley Taylor never forgave them after a conviction against him led to a period of solitary confinement at Pentridge Prison, while Peter Reed attributed his mother’s death to police harassment tactics. Revenge for these perceived injustices became a powerful motive for the embittered duo. The Minogue brothers, Craig and Rodney, needed little persuasion to help, and Taylor developed an evil plan to eliminate a large number of police officers.
Craig Minogue
Taylor had already formed an armed robbery gang with the trio that operated successfully in suburban Melbourne. The sometime actor, violent conman and ruthless career criminal organised his followers to place 60 sticks of gelignite in a stolen car, which was then parked outside the Russell Street Police headquarters in the heart of the city on 28 March 1986.
When the gelignite bomb was ignited, the Russell Street complex was badly damaged and debris from the huge blast was scattered over a 100 metre area. Angela Taylor, a 21-year-old constable who had graduated as dux of her police academy class, died 24 days later from serious injuries she received in the explosion. The overall damage costs exceeded one million dollars, but police know that the carnage could have been much worse.
...Taylor developed an evil plan to eliminate a large number of police officers.
An intensive investigation began, and an alert detective noticed that the stolen car used in the attack had a significant similarity to another stolen vehicle that was used in a Donvale bank robbery on the day of the bombing. Both cars had their chassis numbers drilled off, which was a trademark habit of Peter Reed.
...died 24 days later from serious injuries she received in the explosion...
On 25 April ten officers raided Reed’s Kallista home, and Detective Sergeant Wylie was seriously wounded when the occupant fired on police with a revolver. After being captured Reed—later regarded by detectives as being the ‘maddest and baddest’ of the bombers—was charged with several offences, including involvement in the Russell Street bombing. Evidence uncovered at his residence implicated the then obese and violent Craig Minogue and, the puppet master of the gang. Police arrested ‘Stan the man’ at 2am at Birchip in central Victoria on 30 May 1986, and the Minogue brothers were apprehended at a Swan Hill motel later that day.
Under questioning Taylor admitted guilt in a series of armed robberies, but attempted to distance himself from the bombing attack. In the trial that followed, the jury accepted the crown’s case that the four plaintiffs acted as a team in a revenge attack that was motivated by hatred, and all were found guilty. Taylor received a life sentence without parole, and Craig Minogue was handed down a life sentence with a non parole period of 28 years for his part in Angela Taylor’s murder. Since then, however, ‘Jenny’ Craig has become a violent inmate. His sentence was extended by 27 years, after he fatally bashed and stabbed fellow inmate and convicted murderer Alex Tsakmakis, on 27 July 1988.
...he fatally bashed and stabbed fellow inmate and convicted murderer Alex Tsakmakis...
Reed was unexpectedly acquitted of charges relating to the Russell Street attack, but received a non-parole sentence of 13 years, and Rodney Minogue was jailed for eight years with a non-parole period of six years. This sentence was later reduced on appeal, and Rodney Minogue was freed from Beechworth Prison on 24 August 1990.
Fate has not been as kind to Stanley Taylor. Since he began his life sentence, a close family member reportedly won Tattslotto. The numbers are against Taylor sharing in the spoils, however, as he continues to serve 32 years in custody without parole.
Alphonse Gangitano had a huge ego, but in reality he was never one of Melbourne’s most able gangsters. His visions of being a respected and feared ‘godfather’ in the American Mafia tradition never eventuated, and criminal rivals sneeringly referred to Gangitano as ‘the plastic godfather’.
Alphonse Gangitano
His violent death had similarities to the Rocco Iaria case, as the underworld code of silence initially held firm when Gangitano was gunned down. Before long, one of gangland’s worst kept secrets was all but revealed, and it is now common knowledge that Jason Moran gunned down Gangitano in his heavily fortressed Templestowe home.
It appears that this revenge killing was enacted because of Gangitano’s stupidity and macho behaviour. He and Jason Moran appeared to be close friends, but the unpredictable and volatile Moran became annoyed when he was nearly convicted of assault early in 1998. This situation arose after Gangitano and he became involved in a King Street brawl which left 13 people injured.
...criminal rivals sneeringly referred to Gangitano as ‘the plastic godfather’.
Thirteen was not a lucky number for Gangitano, as Jason Moran blamed him for becoming involved in a fracas that was of no benefit, and could have led to needless criminal convictions for both men. This seems to be the time when ‘the plastic godfather’s’ demise was decided.
Early on that fateful January evening, Jason Moran travelled with Warren Smith—a once dangerous criminal who lost underworld credibility when he became a heroin addict), to Gangitano’s Templestowe home.
...as they crossed over Westgate Bridge, Moran threw an object, which may have been a gun, into the river below.
Later, Moran warned Smith to say nothing about the trip, and as they crossed over Westgate Bridge, Moran threw an object, which may have been a gun, into the river below. The pressure proved too much for Smith, however, when he learned of the plastic godfather’s execution. Eight months later he committed suicide while serving a three-month sentence for car stealing.
Graham ‘the Munster’ Kinniburgh re-mained seemingly unfazed by all the fuss, even after the state coroner Iain West concluded that Jason Moran and he were implicated in Gangitano’s death. The reticent and quiet living former master safe breaker, surprisingly enjoyed a close friendship with Gangitano, and it appears that Kinniburgh was in the house when the plastic godfather received his other, less friendly, guest.
‘Jason shot Gangitano’
Ultimately, there was insufficient evidence to conclude who fired the fatal shots, but disgraced former criminal lawyer Andrew Fraser was in no doubt when asked his opinion during his time in custody. ‘Jason shot Gangitano’, he declared.
Perhaps the law is not an ass after all.
Jason Moran
Graham Kinniburgh
A series of revenge killings occurred after 33-year-old Graeme Jensen was gunned down by police on 11 October 1988 outside a Narre Warren hardware shop on the outskirts of Melbourne.
Graeme Jensen
Jensen was a professional criminal who was suspected of being involved in an Armaguard robbery in which a security guard was slain earlier that year. Arresting officers assigned to apprehend Jensen claimed they only opened fire after Jensen picked up a weapon in his car. Shocked friends of the armed robber were sceptical about this explanation, and strongly believed that police planted the weapon in Jensen’s car after he was gunned down. The Jensen homicide became the catalyst for a series of deaths occuring in various parts of Victoria.
Eight hours after Jensen was killed, Constables Tynan and Eyre began a duty shift which saw them summoned to Walsh Street South Yarra at 4:40am to investigate the circumstances of an abandoned car that was left in the middle of the street. Soon after arriving, the two constables were brutally executed, and investigating colleagues were soon convinced that the double murders were revenge slayings for Jensen’s death.
A series of revenge killings occurred after 33-year-old Graeme Jensen was gunned down by police...
Two other homicides occurred shortly afterwards, as police launched an intensive investigation. Twenty-three-year-old Jedd Houghton, a prime suspect in the Walsh Street double murder case, was gunned down by police in a Bendigo caravan park after ignoring calls to put down his gun. Soon after, Gary Abdullah, a 23-year-old with a minor criminal record, was shot dead after he allegedly aimed an imitation pistol at police in a Melbourne flat raid. Abdullah was believed to have helped procure the stolen car that the killers used in the Walsh Street ambush. The violence ceased after five men were arrested and charged by police for the double murders, and detectives were confident that Victor Peirce, Trevor Pettingill, Peter McEvoy, Anthony Farrell and Jason Ryan would all receive long custodial sentences.
Jedd Houghton
In court the Crown’s case soon began to disintegrate. Victor Peirce’s wife Wendy withdrew from witness protection just days before the trials began, and she refused to provide sworn evidence that was vital for convictions. She later served a short term in custody for changing a statement made under oath. Following her change of heart, Jason Ryan’s evidence became crucial.
...was gunned down by police in a Bendigo caravan park after ignoring calls to put down his gun.
Ryan had agreed to provide incriminating evidence against his four co-defenders in exchange for a reduced sentence. Unfortunately, the nervous young relative of the Pettingill family proved to be a compulsive liar, and he soon lost credibility after repeatedly altering his versions of what occurred on the night the two constables died. Ultimately the five men were acquitted, and a euphoric Victor Peirce named his new-born son Vincent, after Justice Vincent who presided over the trials.
Peter McEvoy
After being freed the men continued their criminal activities, and all four served custodial sentences for other crimes. Anthony Farrell allegedly became a heroin addict, Peter McEvoy became terminally ill, Trevor Pettingill served long prison terms and Victor Peirce perished in a drive-by shooting in Bay Street South Melbourne during the city’s recent gangland war.
Notorious contract killer Andrew ‘Benji’ Veniamin allegedly carried out the Peirce underworld killing on the orders of Carl Williams, and Veniamin’s driver was Faruk Ormand. Police believe that Victor Peirce’s days became numbered after he reneged on an agreement with Williams to murder Jason Moran.
...Peirce perished in a drive-by shooting in Bay Street South Melbourne during the city’s recent gangland war.
Three years after her husband’s death, Wendy Peirce confided in a 2005 media conference that her husband was responsible for the Walsh Street murders for which he had previously been acquitted.
Don Hancock was known as ‘the Silver Fox’ by admiring Western Australian police colleagues, and he ended his legendary career as the Commander of the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB).
Don Hancock
In retirement, his wife Elizabeth and he moved to the small Central Goldfields town of Ora Banda—a hamlet that was virtually the domain of the Hancock family. They owned the Ora Banda Historic Inn, which incorporated a pub, beer garden and restaurant. They also owned three houses, some rural workers’ quarters and a diesel gold crusher. The town’s caravan park, general store, seven motel units and the gold lease on Grant’s Patch were all owned by the Hancocks.
The 1 October 2000 coencided with a popular holiday weekend in Ora Banda, and the Silver Fox sensed trouble when a gang of Gypsy Jokers rode into town. By reputation, the Jokers were the most violent of all Australian bikie gangs, and the group profited greatly from their illegal activities. Hancock seethed when gang members began to drink heavily and roar around the race track on their motor bikes.
...the Jokers were the most violent of all Australian bikie gangs...
...before furiously driving his ute to Grant’s Patch where he kept a gun.
By the end of the day, the Jokers moved to the town centre, where Hancock’s daughter Alison received some mild but unwarranted verbal sexual abuse from gang member ‘Billy’ Grieson, which drew an angry response from her father. In fact, Hancock closed down the pub when the argument grew heated, before furiously driving his ute to Grant’s Patch where he kept a gun.
After the pub closed, the bikies moved back to their camping area and began drinking their own alcohol. Around an hour later they hurriedly took cover when a shot rang out, but soon resumed socialising when the situation appeared to have normalised. It proved to be a false dawn for the bikies, as ten minutes later another shot punctured the air, and the huge form of Billy Grieson slumped to the ground.
The Jokers rushed their seriously injured comrade to a first aid station, but he was soon pronounced dead. Grieson’s hooded denim vest, with the Gypsy Jokers’ patch of iron cross and swastika, was stripped from his body. The gang then returned to Ora Banda to confront the ‘white haired bloke they had trouble with that afternoon’.
...Hancock was eating an orange, a fruit which reportedly disguises gunshot residue.
By then police investigators had eliminated about 40 visitors from further enquiries, but Don Hancock refused to be interviewed without legal advice. The wily ‘Silver Fox’ slipped back to his own ‘lair’ despite being ordered to remain at the inn, and at his home he had a shower and changed his clothes. When two constables visited him at his house, Don Hancock was eating an orange, a fruit which reportedly disguises gunshot residue.
A Gypsy Jokers jacket
Hancock accompanied the constables back to the inn, where he telephoned his lawyer in Perth. By then Senior Sergeant Kim Gage, who had taken charge of the case, was in an invidious position, as he had shared social drinks with Don Hancock earlier that day. Firearms belonging to the retired detective were handed in, but Hancock still refused to provide statements to police. Gage decided that he did not have enough evidence to issue a search warrant, which outraged the already hostile bikie gang.
The next morning around 11am the still uncooperative Hancocks began their journey back to Perth in a police patrol car, but an ominous threat rang in their ears as they started their journey.
‘F*** you and your ways!’ shouted Gypsy Jokers’ leader Graeme ‘Slim’ Slater. ‘I’m going to take care of it my way!’
...three days later more effective home made explosives ripped apart a house, the mill and the hotel.
CIB detective Jack Lee arrived in Ora Banda shortly afterwards, and he removed Gage from the case because of a potential conflict of interest. He suspected that Hancock was the gunman, but soon realised that missed opportunities early in the investigation hindered the chances of a conviction. The weapon used in the killing was not found.
The Jokers then began the most important part of their revenge—the planned execution of Don Hancock.
By 13 October Ora Banda appeared to be slipping back into its customary lethargy, but the opening blast of the Gypsy Jokers’ revenge was about to erupt. A gigantic explosion virtually razed the Historic Inn from its foundations. The gang’s leaders, (Slater and Sid ‘Snot’ Reid), were soon rounded up for questioning, but both men had watertight alibis.
The systematic destruction continued. On 1 November Hancock’s Ora Banda house was unsuccessfully bombed, but three days later more effective home-made explosives ripped apart a house, the mill and the hotel. When the dust settled, Ora Banda had virtually been blown away.
The Jokers then began the most important part of their revenge—the planned execution of Don Hancock. Slater and Reid became patched members of the Gypsy Joker club in Perth. Then, through a government contact, they obtained the Perth address of Don Hancock. They also discovered that Lou Lewis, an ex-bookmaker friend and near neighbour of Hancock’s, often drove the Silver Fox to Saturday horse race meetings. The Jokers then began to target their prey.
On a Saturday in September of 2001, Lewis and Hancock followed their usual routine and drove together to the Saturday races. On this occasion, they were tailed by Slater and Reid, and the vengeful pair were able to park their vehicle next to Lewis’ 1981 Holden Commodore station wagon. When their targets headed into the race concourse, the two Gypsy Jokers allegedly wired a gelignite bomb into the station wagon. Then, after the race meeting ended, they followed the two unsuspecting friends back to their home suburb.
Hancock’s torso was ripped from his lower body by the force of the blast...
‘Rest in peace Billy,’ was the reported tribute when Slater allegedly activated the bomb with his mobile phone. A huge explosion then rocked the middle-class neighbourhood where the two friends resided. The loud boom resounded kilometres away, and the car became a massive fireball. Hancock’s torso was ripped from his lower body by the force of the blast, and it was later recovered near his swimming pool. Various other organs of the two victims were scattered around the neighbourhood.
There was a quick response to the atrocity and officers attached to the specially formed Operation Zircon task force discovered a loaded, unlicensed pistol and a photograph of Grieson at Reid’s house. On the photo someone had penned the following inscription:
Hey buddy, what to say? You were taken from us by a cowardly dog. But remember buddy, every dog has its day!
Reid was targeted by police for six months, and finally he agreed to provide evidence if both he and his girlfriend received protection. When their safety was assured, he confessed to the double murder. However his accusations against Slater were inconsistent, and much of the evidence provided by police was flimsy. Slater’s skilled QC, Colin Lovett, made much of these weaknesses in court, and after the eight week trial ended, Graeme Slater was acquitted on most charges.
Slim Slater only served two years after being found guilty of bombing Hancock’s Ora Banda house, and detectives are still searching for the hard evidence they require to obtain convictions for the murders.