Crime Time: Australians Behaving Badly

by Sue Bursztynski

  ‘Give me the bag or I’ll blow your head off!’ shouted Benjamin.

  ‘What do you want with the bag?’ asked the surprised Peter Schmidt. ‘There’s only bread rolls in there.’

  But he handed over the bag and also didn’t think it was safe to argue when Jorgensen demanded his car keys.

  That was when things really began to go wrong for the klutzy armed robbers. Jorgensen fumbled with the keys, trying to open the wrong car. His gun went off, but it didn’t shoot the robbery victim. It hit Donna, who fell to the ground screaming with pain.

  While this was going on, Schmidt and his boss, Horst Lantzsch, ran back into the restaurant, where they called police.

  Poor Donna and Benjamin! They had failed to get their money. One of them was injured. And the rolls weren’t even fresh! Peter Schmidt had been taking them home to feed his chickens.

  Somehow, the failed robbers got back to their car and drove to Donna’s home in Belgrave. There, Benjamin asked a friend to take Donna to hospital. If he had taken her himself, perhaps the police would have taken longer to find him, but they caught up with him at the house soon afterwards.

  Donna was moved from the William Angliss, a local hospital, to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital, where she was treated, but kept under guard.

  Melbourne newspapers, which thought the story was very funny, couldn’t agree on where Donna had been injured. Some papers said she’d been shot in the stomach. Others thought the wound was in her hip, or her hip and leg. There was even a suggestion she had been shot in the bum!

  Wherever she had been injured, Donna survived and both she and Benjamin went on trial for the attempted robbery. They must have been very embarrassed. Certainly, the court felt that they had both shown remorse for their crime. Benjamin’s family said that this was just not the sort of thing that he would normally do.

  That didn’t stop them from being sentenced to fairly long terms in jail. The judge, who called them fools, took into account their problems and Benjamin’s prospects of rehabilitation. Still, Benjamin received a term of seven years, with a minimum of four-and-a-half years before he could apply for parole. Donna’s sentence was longer. She would have to spend at least five-and-a-half years of her eight-year sentence in jail.

  They would have a long time to cringe with embarrassment over their failed attempt to get the dough!

  CARL WILLIAMS

  DRUG DEALER AND GANGSTER

  Happy birthday – bang! Being shot in the stomach isn’t a great birthday gift. It was the gift Jason Moran gave Carl Williams on his twenty-ninth birthday in October 1999, when they met to discuss their business differences in a park in Melbourne’s western suburbs.

  Carl decided to return the favour, with interest. Not only Jason, but also his family and friends would die for this particular birthday present.

  For a long time, even police thought that Carl Williams was only working for the family crime business, not running it. He was fat and cheerful-looking. One of his former teachers from Broadmeadows Technical School said he was always half-asleep.

  But Carl called himself the Premier, because, he said, he ran the state.

  After dropping out of school in Year 11, Carl got a job stacking shelves at a supermarket. He didn’t do it for long, though. Working for bookies at the racetrack was more fun.

  When he was 24, he was sentenced to ten months in prison for working for drug dealers, but it was reduced to six. The judge thought he was likely to go straight.

  Even judges can get it wrong.

  By the time he was shot in that park, Carl had a lot of money, a pill-pressing machine, someone to cook the drugs for him and plenty of supporters in the underworld drug industry.

  In the world of crime, you don’t dob. Carl told police he had been just walking along when he had felt the bullet hit him. No, he didn’t know who had done it.

  For a while, he and his enemies were popping in and out of jail, just missing each other. But Carl didn’t waste his prison time. While he was in remand prison over drug-manufacturing charges late in 1999, he began to arrange his revenge, discussing his plans with people who later carried out his hits. When he was out on bail, Jason Moran was inside, but that was okay. Mark Moran was still around and Carl could start with him.

  Carl shot Mark Moran outside his home on 15 June 2000. It was the only time he actually pulled the trigger himself, but there were at least ten underworld killings which police believe he arranged. He will never be tried for most of them.

  In 2001, the Morans plotted to kill Williams at his daughter’s christening. Police were informed about it three days before and decided that the best way to protect him was to make sure he was in jail. With the previous charge still hanging over his head, it shouldn’t be too hard. An undercover police agent pretended to want to buy drugs from him. He sold them – and found himself back inside.

  While Williams was in prison, in September 2001, Jason Moran was released. Police persuaded Jason to take his family out of the country, as his life was in danger. He went, but foolishly returned after only a few months.

  Carl Williams and his hit men discussed a number of crazy ideas. The loopiest was to have the hit man dress as a woman and whip a gun out of a pram! Williams went as far as buying a wig for that, before dropping the plan.

  Jason was hard to catch, but finally, they shot him after a children’s football clinic in Essendon, in front of his children.

  Lewis Moran,Jason’s father and Mark’s stepfather, was next. He was killed at his favourite pub in March 2004.

  Police were frustrated. They believed they knew who was behind so many gangland killings, but couldn’t get enough evidence. Carl and his wife, Roberta, knew that their home, cars and phones were bugged. Police listening in to the Williams home complained it was like listening to 24 hours of the Jerry Springer show. What it wasn’t, was useful.

  Finally, though, they managed to record something that let them arrest Carl, without the possibility of bail. Williams was one of a number of criminals charged with planning to kill Mario Condello. Now there was time to get evidence.

  Realising that he might end up spending the rest of his life in prison, Carl did a deal. He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, provided that a fourth was dropped. His total jail sentence was 35 years.

  Mario Condello died anyway, shot in early 2006.

  DID YOU KNOW…?

  In 2001, British backpackers Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees bought a Kombi van to travel around Australia. Unfortunately, while they were in the Northern Territory, driving down the Stuart Highway, they stopped when Bradley John Murdoch flagged them down, indicating that there was something wrong with the van. Murdoch attacked the tourists. Joanne Lees managed to escape and contact police, starting a major manhunt. Murdoch was caught and convicted, but Peter’s body was never found. In 2008, Northern Territory police released the orange van, offering to auction it for Joanne Lees, now back in England, but she asked for it to be destroyed instead, not wanting it to become a horrible relic for someone with weird tastes.

  THE ADVENTURES OF

  TONY MOKBEL

  In August 2001, Antonios Sajih ‘Tony’ Mokbel was charged with importing millions of dollars worth of pure cocaine, hidden in Mexican statues and candles. The trial was going to take two years to get started and he argued that his businesses would collapse if he had to be in jail, on remand, all that time. Because of this, he was granted bail.

  Actually, it took a lot longer than two years. At one point, his bail was withdrawn and he was back in jail. Two drug squad officers involved in his case were arrested themselves. Then he was charged with threatening a prison officer, but the charge was dropped and he was released on bail again in September 2002. A witness against him went overseas after being released on parole. The man promised to come back for the trial, but then demanded $500,000 for his services.

  In 2005, Mokbel was charged with inciting others to import drugs. By the time the trial over cocaine importing bega
n, it was February 2006. He offered to plead guilty to trafficking if the importing charge could be dropped. This began to look as if it might happen.

  Then the court made a huge mistake and released him on bail again.

  Mokbel disappeared.

  By the time he was found and arrested in Greece early in 2007, there had been plenty of rumours of where he might be and how he’d escaped. It was only after he was brought back to Australia that the truth came out.

  Mokbel had had months to plan out his escape from Australia. He also had plenty of money and friends to help him. While police were searching for him in several countries, Tony Mokbel was living comfortably at a friend’s house in the Victorian town of Bonnie Doon.

  Another friend, Byron Pantazis, flew to Greece, where he hired some Greek sailors. The sailors flew to Australia, where they bought a 17.3 metre motor yacht from an unsuspecting owner for $350,000. Edwena (meaning ‘rich friend’) was a good yacht. It had sailed around the world before. It was comfortable, but not flashy enough to be noticed by anyone who might be asking questions.

  The boat sailed to Newcastle in New South Wales, where it was put on a truck and taken to Fremantle in Western Australia. It was re-fitted along the way and more work was done at the Fremantle Yacht Club. An extra – hidden – cabin was built in what had been storage for the sail, and an extra toilet added.

  Now Mokbel left Bonnie Doon and crossed the country in a 4WD. He met the crew between Perth and Geraldton.

  On 11 November 2006, Edwena sailed from Fremantle. Customs there recorded the departure of three Greek sailors. They didn’t find the fourth man, hidden aboard the boat. Nobody paid any attention to the fact that there were four lifejackets when there were supposed to be only three people aboard.

  The trip took 40 days and nights, with Edwena reaching Greece on Christmas Eve. By that time, Mokbel must have been very happy to be back on land. He was horribly seasick all the way. No doubt, the sea voyage had seemed like a great idea at the time he’d thought of it.

  After all that trouble, he was caught in Athens only a few months later, having a cup of hot chocolate at his favourite outdoor café. He was wearing a wig, but that didn’t help him much.

  It still took nearly a year to get him back to Australia, because he fought it through the Greek courts. He complained that he wouldn’t get a fair trial in Australia. He said it was like handing him over to Hitler.

  But when he finally did come home in May 2008, he returned in first-class comfort. The airlines refused to carry him and his minders, so a private plane had to be chartered to get him back.

  As he had been tried and convicted in his absence, and there would be more charges to come, it will probably be his last taste of first-class living for quite a while.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  If you’re a member of a public library, just use your membership card to log into the library’s website and you can use the online resources, including encyclopaedias. I did. I also used a lot of newspapers on the Internet, but there’s nothing like checking out newspapers as they come out!

  I used about a million books, newspapers and websites to look up the information for this book. Here are a few you might like:

  For children:

  Tucker, Alan: Iron in the Blood: Convicts and Commandants in Colonial Australia. Norwood, SA: Omnibus, 2002.

  Sharpe, Alan: The Illustrated Book of Infamous Australian Crimes. Milson’s Point: Brolga, 1982.

  Gard, Stephen: The Bushrangers (Settling Australia). South Yarra, Macmillan, 1998.

  For adults:

  Morton, James, Lobez, Susanna: Gangland Australia. Carlton, Melbourne University Press, 2007.

  Peters, Allan L, True and Infamous Crimes of Australia and New Zealand. Seaford, Bas Publishing.

  Roberts, Murray Beresford: A King of Con Men. Auckland: Hodder and Stoughton, c 1975.

  Silvester,John & Rule, Andrew: Gotcha: How Australia’s Baddest Crooks Copped Their Right Whack. Camberwell, Victoria: Floradale Productions, Sly Ink, 2005.

  Silvester, John & Rule, Andrew: Underbelly: The Gangland War. Camberwell, Victoria: Floradale Productions, Sly Ink, 2008.

  Taylor, Paul: Australian Ripping Yarns: Cannibal Convicts, Macabre Murders, Wanton Women and Living Legends. Rowville, Victoria: Five Mile Press, 2004.

  Websites:

  Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition: www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/adbonline.htm

  Melbourne Crime (really good for the gangland wars): www.melbournecrime.bizhosting.com/index.html Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.org

  INDEX

  ‘After Dark’ Bandits 89

  Agostini, Linda 70-3

  Agostini, Tony 70-3

  Backpacker Murders 150-3

  Bank of Australia (robbery) 13-16

  Barlow, Kevin 117, 119-20

  Barnett, Thomas 188

  Barry, Redmond 45, 47, 54

  Batavia 1-4

  Bennett, Raymond 113-16

  Birnie, Catherine 121-4

  Birnie, David 121-4

  Bond, Alan 94

  Brady, Matthew 9-12

  Brownout Murders 125

  Bryant, Martin 143-6

  Bugg, Mary Ann 36-9

  Bunting, John 158-61

  Byrne, Joe 45,46

  Carroll, Luke 99

  ‘Catch me if you can’ Thief 65

  Chambers, Geoffrey 117-20

  Charlotte Medal 188

  Condello, Mario 184-7, 196

  Cooke, Eric 82-5

  Cornelisz, Jeronimus 1-4

  Davis, Robert 4

  Deeming, Frederick 51-4

  Dingle, James 13-16

  Dudko, Lucy 147-9

  ‘Dumb and Dumber’ 99

  Dupas, Peter 139-42

  Falconio, Peter 197

  Finch, James 65, 100-3

  Gangitano, Alphonse 20, 155

  Gardiner, Frank 32-5

  Gibb, Peter 162-5

  Glover, John 126-9

  Gonzales, Sef 170-2

  Greenaway, Francis 39

  Great Bookie Robbery 113-16

  Grills, Caroline 74-7

  Harris, Jody 165

  Hart, Steve 45, 46

  Hayes, Donna 189-92

  Hegyalji, Charlie 20

  Herman, Tania 173-6

  Hoddle Street Massacre 130-3

  Holt, Harold 108

  Hurford, Bridget 25-7

  Jacob, Audrey 157

  Jorgensen, Benjamin 189-92

  Kangaroo Gang 104

  Kelly, Ned 30, 44-7, 54, 73, 157

  Kelly, Dan 44, 45,46

  Kelly, James 44

  Killick, John 147-9

  Knight, Julian 130-3

  Knorr, Frances 48-50

  Korp, Joe 173-6

  Korp, Maria 173-6

  Lasseter, Lewis 138

  Lee, Jean 78-81

  Lees, Joanne 197

  Leonski, Eddie 125

  Long, Agnes 176

  Long, Henry 176

  Longley, Billy 81

  Makin, John 55-7

  Makin, Sarah 55-7

  Markham, ‘Pretty’ Dulcie 77

  McCraig, George 43

  Mears, Billy 120

  Milat, Ivan 150-3

  Miller, James 109-12

  Mokbel, Tony 198-201

  Montez, Lola 21-4

  Moran, Jason 180-3,193, 195

  Moran, Lewis 61, 180-3, 196

  Moran, Mark 180-3, 195

  Morgan, ‘Mad’ Dan 28-31

  ‘Mum in the Boot’ Murder 173-6

  Murdoch, Bradley 197

  Orton, Arthur 40-3

  Painters and Dockers’ Union 81

  Parker, Heather 162-5

  Pearce, Alexander ‘Cannibal’ 5-8

  Percy, Derek 95-8

  Port Arthur Massacre 143-6

  Prince, Anthony 99

  Pyjama Girl 70-3

  Radev, Nikolai 177-9

  Read, Mark ‘Chopper’ 112, 154-7

  Roberts, Murray Beresford 86-9,
146

  Ross, Colin 69

  Rowles, Snowy 66-9

  Rudd, Kevin 116, 169

  Rudd, Thomas 169

  Ryan, Ronald 90-3

  Samuels, Joseph 24

  Shannon, Pat 81

  Shark Arm Killing 62-5

  Sigma Breakin 134-7

  Snowtown Murders 158-61

  Society Murders 166-9

  Solomon, Ikey 16

  Stuart, John 100-3

  Taylor, Squizzy 58-61

  Tichborne Claimant 40-3

  Tirtschke, Alma 69

  Trimbole, Robert 105-7

  Truro Murders 109-12

  Turner, Joey 85

  Underbelly (TV series) 31

  Wade, Mary 116, 169

  Wales, Matthew 166-9

  Ward, Frederick ‘Captain Thunderbolt’ 36-9

  Whiskey Au Go Go 65, 100

  Williams, Albert 51-2

  Williams, Carl 178, 181, 182, 183,186-7, 193-6

  Worrell, Chris 109-11

  THANK YOU

  First, Paul Collins of Ford Street Publishing, who believed I could write this book, and to Saralinda Turner, for looking up a lot of gruesome stories so she could edit it.

  Grant Gittus and Louise Prout made this book look terrific – much appreciated!

  Many thanks to Kerry Greenwood and Chris Wheat, who helped me out when I was trying to find stories that didn’t involve serial killers!

  Bouquets to Bart Rutherford O’Connor and teachers at his school who checked the cover with students – and to students and staff at Sunshine College West Campus who listened patiently to bits from the book and commented on the cover.

  Finally, I want to thank the gang at the Presse Cafe in Elwood, where I wrote a lot of this book, for keeping the tea and muffins coming and showing such interest.