Naked City
Take a journey into the dark depths of the Australian criminal underworld with Australia’s most formidable crime reporter - John Silvester. This podcast explores true crime stories, police investigations, and news from the Australian underworld.
Episodes
Send in your questions for a special mailbag episode
We're coming to the end of season seven of this humble podcast, and as a thank-you (or alternatively, as a punishment), we wanted to open the floor to you. So if there's a question you've always wanted to ask John Silvester about a case, a crime, a cop, a crook, or his career, now is your chance. Send your question directly to us by emailing podcasts@fairfaxmedia.com.au and Sly will select a few f
In a world of two-bit gangsters, Charlie Wootton was the last old-school crook
One of the underworld's old guard passed away quietly this year.Charlie Wootton didn’t need to be well known to be well respected in shadows occupied by hard men, controlling Melbourne’s illegal gaming industry long before the glittering behemoth of Crown casino.Though he posted death notices paying tribute to notorious crooks killed in the gangland war, Wootton was determined to keep
My brother, the Great Bookie robber
On April 21, 1976, six bandits raided the Victoria Club where Melbourne’s biggest bookies were settling their accounts with cash. No one knows the exact figure, but the take was supposed to be in the vicinity of $15 million.Just after the armed robbery, and a few kilometres away at a pub in the suburb of Windsor, Greg Carroll was meeting his brother, Ian Revell Carroll.Greg remembers the smi
Naked City special: A conversation with John Silvester
A couple of months ago we held a night for subscribers to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, a conversation with John Silvester, hosted by crime and justice reporter Erin Pearson. We recorded the whole thing and so for today’s episode, we bring you this special episode with Sly. In the conversation, Sly shared how he became a journalist and then all the highlights from his long career &ndash
Don’t play god, don’t mess with their mail – in prison with the worst of the worst
Brian Coghlan is laid back, an asset he was able to use in his workplace. As a prison officer, he quickly learnt that being seen as a good guy around bad people was the key to life behind bars.For 26 years at Port Phillip Prison, he dealt with the worst society had to offer – sex offenders, serial killers and manipulative mass murderers who knew they were destined to die in jail.He spent mos
The champion boxer and the crime boss who wanted him dead
Barry Michael was a professional boxer who made his name in the ring as a smart and brave fighter with a kit of wicked body punches.Alphonse John Gangitano, a mobster who preferred a king hit to a fair fight, was in the corner of the talented Lester Ellis when Michael took Ellis’ world title.The trouble was, Gangitano wanted the title back.In today’s episode of Naked City with John Sil
The cop, the sovereign citizen and the arrest that ruined a life
Michael Aston loved being a cop, or more specifically, a road policing officer. He said it was the best job in the world, until it wasn't. Aston is no longer a cop, with his career and mental health disappearing into the quicksand of the legal system where no one is accountable. It was 2020, and the start of the dark days of COVID, when Aston was policing then-premier Daniel Andrews' lockdown laws
The top cop who used his music career to find Tony Mokbel
Former deputy commissioner and counter-terrorism boss Ross Guenther had a unique life before policing, playing in big bands with music greats Jerry Lewis and Barry White.He was no slouch in his policing career either, heading up the counter-terrorism squad for Victoria Police.In this episode of Naked City, he talks to John Silvester about a foiled terrorism plot, and how his music career helped hi
They were violent young offenders. But something happened to these ‘lost boys’ of Port Phillip
Anne Hooker worked as a prison officer for 13 years for Corrections Victoria, and Port Phillip Prison for a further 23 years.She also set up and ran a unit in jail called Penhyn, which housed young men aged 18 to 25.The unit became so highly sought after within the prison system that there was a waiting list to enter it, and as Hooker explained to Naked City host John Silvester, the environment sh
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True detective, Part 2: Hunting a cannibal, and other tales of homicide
Sol Solomon has investigated some of the country's worst, most high-profile and just plain bizarre homicides.In part two of his interview with Naked City's John Silvester, the former detective talks about some of the most difficult cases - such as investigating the murders of police officers Gary Silk and Rodney Miller. And the best, like hearing a killer confess to a cold case murder of a single
True detective, Part 1: The hitman, and the corruption case of the century
For former homicide detective Sol Solomon, there was only one Carl. Underworld heavy and gangland killer Carl Williams who was to be the star witness into the 2004 murders of police informer Terence Hodson and his wife, Christine.But with his murder, the case against former detective Paul Dale and hitman Rod Collins collapsed.Solomon’s career is littered with high points; catching contract k
A cold case, a new suspect, and a mother who has never given up
For more than 30 years, Joy and Roger Membrey – before he died in 2023 – have been hunting for answers over the murder of their 22-year-old daughter, Elisabeth.Elisabeth, a politics graduate who had been offered a trainee journalist position with Channel Ten, went missing from her sharehouse in 1994. Police believe she was killed in the hallway and taken from the scene, though her body
The cop, the actor and the true tale of the Underbelly series
Melbourne's gangland war in the early 2000s captured the country's imagination. People like Carl and Roberta Williams became household names. Eventually, Eddie McGuire – the then Channel Nine CEO – demanded his team commissioned a television series. It became Underbelly, based on a book written by Andrew Rule and John Silvester.The show created controversy from the get-go. A Supreme Co
The real story of Melbourne’s gangland war
The gangland war has become like folklore in the tale of crime in Australia. From 1995, dozens of murders occurred in Melbourne in a wrestle over drugs and egos involving notorious underworld figures such as Carl Williams, Tony Mokbel, and the Morans.At the centre of it all was Stuart Bateson, a detective with the Purana taskforce.Today, John Silvester - who wrote the definitive account of the gan
Armed robbers and detonating bombs: Inside the elite police squad
John Taylor is one of the longest-serving and smallest (in stature) Special Operations Group members, and its longest-serving bomb disposal expert.Taylor was part of a crack team of officers who had to respond when "troubled genius" and self-taught bomb expert Glenn Saunders sparked a police stand-off, and then, a massive explosion in country Victoria.In this episode of Naked City with John Silves
He lived by the three rules of policing, before it all came undone
Tim Peck was an experienced homicide detective who worked on some of the country’s most notorious murder investigations, including the Maria Korp ‘body in the boot’ case. But the things that made him a crack detective, would also be the things that slowly brought him undone. In this special episode of Naked City, Peck shares his rise and fall, and rise again, with John
Mr Cruel, Part 2: Criminal profiler John Kelly on Australia's most notorious child kidnapper
John Wayne Gacy, the Zodiac Killer, the Green River Killer (aka Gary Leon Ridgway) – name a serial killer, criminal profiler and psychotherapist John Kelly has profiled them all. Now he’s turned his attention Down Under, to notorious child snatcher Mr Cruel, and his insights are compelling.You can read Sly's story here: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-new-profile-of-
Mr Cruel, Part 1: The case of Karmein Chan and whether detectives got it right
When a third girl was kidnapped in just a few years, police suspected one offender: Mr Cruel.Before Karmein Chan, 13, in 1991, there was 10-year-old Sharon Wills in 1988 and 13-year-old Nicola Lynas in 1990.In this special two-part episode on the notorious child snatcher who terrorised Melbourne streets, John Silvester speaks to the first police officer who was on the scene at the Chan abduction.T
He was an international thief targeting wealthy Australian homes, until one slip-up
During the span of one week in July 2020, designer goods, cash and jewellery were stolen from eight homes in Melbourne’s affluent Toorak.It took a year for police to identify the pattern and the extent of the burglaries – some reaching as far as Queensland and totalling millions of dollars. The chief burglar’s planning was impeccable, until one slip-up.In this episode of Nak
A little girl murdered, a mother vindicated: Solving the case of Bonnie Clarke
In 1982, single mother Marion Wishart, looking to make ends meet, invited a lodger to stay in her home in the suburb of Northcote in Melbourne. She could not have predicted what would happen next.What followed was one of the city’s most notorious child murders, that of her daughter, six-year-old Bonnie Clarke.In the first episode of a new season of Naked City, crime reporter John Silves
We’re back next week: Naked City season 7
Join John Silvester, Australia’s longest-serving crime reporter, as he talks to the cops and the crims in the seventh season of crime podcast Naked City. The new season will premiere on Wednesday, January 14, and new episodes will drop each Wednesday. For the latest news and views from John Silvester (aka Sly of the Underworld), subscribe to The Age https://subscribe.theage.com.au or t
Coming soon: Naked City season 7
Join John Silvester, Australia’s longest-serving crime reporter, as he talks to the cops and the crims in the seventh season of crime podcast Naked City. The new season will premiere on Wednesday, January 14, and new episodes will drop each Wednesday. For the latest news and views from John Silvester (aka Sly of the Underworld), subscribe to The Age https://subscribe.theage.com.au
Introducing: Diagnosing Murder
For decades, families in Australia and overseas, have been accused of one of the worst crimes imaginable. Diagnosing Murder is an investigative podcast about parents who've had their children taken away, sat in the dock and even done time in prison. All for something they insist they didn't do – shake their baby. Can we trust the science behind shaken baby syndrome? Or are innocent people be
Preview of 'The Mushroom Trial: Say Grace'
Search for 'The Mushroom Trial: Say Grace' wherever you get your podcasts, then press the follow button. New episodes publish weekly. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ross Stevenson Podcast Preview "If I have a win... I will appear here nude"
Each week Ross Stevenson and Hamish McLachlan share the ups, downs, peaks and troughs that come along with having a punt on the weekend.Search TWO EACH WAY - wherever you get your podcasts - and Press the FOLLOW button to not miss an episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
John Silvester on the Easey Street murders, and the secret he kept for years
For years, one of Australia’s best known crime reporters, John Silvester, kept a secret.He knew there had been a significant development in a notorious and long unsolved cold case: The Easey Street murders.But he didn’t write anything about it, until a few days ago, when he broke the story that there had been an arrest.It was big news, most of all for the family of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bart
The Morning Edition: John Silvester on the criminal gangs infiltrating the CFMEU
For more than 45 years, John Silvester has been reporting on Australia’s criminal underworld.Some notable figures, like Mick Gatto, a key player in the gangland wars that were immortalised in the popular TV series, Underbelly, are now implicated in an investigation that has rocked the highest offices in the country. That of alleged corruption in the CFMEU, one of the most powerful unions in the co
Introducing: Trial by Water
From The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Trial by Water is a new investigative podcast series about Robert Farquharson, who has been locked up for decades for an unthinkable crime: murdering his three sons in a dam on Father’s Day, 2005. Now scientists and lawyers are asking the question: did we get it wrong? And is this man in prison for a crime he didn’t commit? Episode 1 will arrive on Saturday,
73 seconds to a tragic death
Tyler Cassidy was a troubled kid. Police officers Colin Dods and Richie Blundell were working an afternoon shift in the Northcote divisional van. Their lives would collide on a balmy summer evening in late 2008 at a Northcote skate park. A distraught Cassidy, 15, was in no mood to negotiate with the officers. He refused to drop two knives and kept approaching Dods. He was shot six times, and died
The cyber cop chasing the crypto criminals
Very few people have heard of Detective Sergeant Dion Achtypis - but there may well be no more important investigator in Australia. You won’t see him holding a press conference at a murder scene or commanding a squad of detectives. And he doesn’t use a sledgehammer during raids - he gains access in a much more subtle way. He is part of a three-person team working in the present while exploring the
Belinda's partner was beyond help. Now, he helps her save strangers
Belinda Bozykowski was never a police officer. But her partner, Laurie Fox, was. On the last day of 2012, Fox took his own life, leaving her with two young sons, a broken heart and a million questions. Belinda is as brave as any Valour Award winner. After her partner's death, she completed her midwifery course, cared for their boys, and dedicated a great part of her life to the mental health of fi
Bread, water and the Liquorice Mile: Inside Pentridge Prison
Prodigious armed robber and expert escaper John Killick escaped custody in three states, once in a helicopter hijacked by his girlfriend. Most of the police and prison officers who chased or caged him over more than 50 years are long gone, while John has written five books. But the brutality of Pentridge has stayed with him. Killick takes host John Silvester inside the giant bluestone walls that
Kaera was shot in cold blood on a city street, and we blamed her
It was early on Monday, June 18, 2007, just as city workers were arriving at their jobs that Hells Angel Christopher Wayne Hudson finally imploded. First he beat and kicked a woman in a strip club before dragging her along King Street. Then he saw his girlfriend, Kaera Douglas, who had just arrived on Hudson's orders to drive him home. He greeted her saying: "Today is the day you're going to die
Kid Currie: Life and death in the Special Operations Group
As a policeman, Tony “Kid” Currie lived on the edge. In the SOG he shot and killed one suspect and in a second incident left one with life-altering injuries. Some thought he was a loose cannon and were happy when he resigned. Tony and his wife Michelle take us through the shootings and his career in a heartwarming and poignant discussion on living on the cutting edge of law enforcement, life after
Blood on the steps of Flinders St: The brave men who chased a police killer
Keith Pickering was just 19 and a young cop when he was on point duty outside Flinders Street Station in January 1974. He heard a vendor yell out and saw a man crouching with a bloodied carving knife. The mentally disturbed man, James Belsey, had just fatally cut the throat of Constable Norm Curson on the steps of the station. Pickering and another young cop Trevor Pollock followed him into the Yo
The double murder-suicide that rocked a small country town
Kevin Knowles was a brute, a thug and a suspected double murderer. Kirkstall was a lovely county town inhabited mainly by young families looking to build a safe and caring community. That is until Knowles moved into town. Travis Cashmore was a quiet hippy type bloke, well regarded by the locals. Driven to breaking point by Knowles, Cashmore took the law into his own hands, killing Knowles, one o
A cultish nightmare: David’s 12 years in hell with The Family
From the age of two, David Freeman was hidden with a group of children in a remote country house, described as a school that was actually a prison. The cult, led by the charismatic and seriously loopy Anne Hamilton-Byrne, survived for 20 years. David spent most of his adult life trying to forget - moving to Iceland, marrying, fathering children and working outdoors as a roof contractor until he fi
The judge who committed three deadly sins
Howard Nathan was a Supreme Court judge for 14 years. Many of his peers did not accept him because he was gay, Jewish and left-wing. One judge did not speak to him during his entire time on the bench. In a frank interview, Nathan talks of the hypocrisy of the establishment where gays were hounded, often by men who themselves lived double lives. He reveals that as a teenager he was picked up by a m
Coming soon: Naked City season 6
Join John Silvester, Australia’s longest-serving crime reporter, as he talks to the cops and the crims in the sixth season of crime podcast Naked City. The new season will premiere on Wednesday, June 14, and new episodes will drop each Wednesday. Subscribe now and get all the episodes straight to your device. For the latest news and views from John Silvester (aka Sly of the Underworld), subscribe
Trailer: The Confession
The astonishing true story of how Melbourne homicide detectives broke all the rules in their quest to have Katia Pyliotis convicted for brutally murdering a dirty old man with a statue of the Virgin Mary. The Confession is a podcast where the justice system itself is on trial. At the centre of it all, is Katia Pyliotis, accused of bludgeoning a man to death. Four years of Katia’s life is spent beh
The twin bandits and the cop who brought them undone
Peter Morgan and his twin Doug used their identical looks to fool police while pulling two dozen armed robberies in Victoria. That is until tough country cop Rick Hasty confronted Peter in a Ballarat laneway, who hours earlier had shot Hasty's colleague Ray Koch outside a bank. Peter reckons the shooting was an accident. Hasty wants to set the record straight and he has a surprising ally in Doug.
The good people who stare down evil
Policeman Rod Miller came home tired from a late shift but took the time to sign more than 60 thankyou cards to friends and family who congratulated him and his wife Carmel on the birth of their first child. By the time they arrived, he was dead, shot while on duty. Peter Silk didn't believe the first call that his brother Gary had been shot with Rod. Carmel and Peter (who later married) share the
The hunt for the police killers begins
When police officers Gary Silk and Rod Miller were fatally shot the crime scene was chaotic as it was believed one of the armed offenders was still there and likely to try and kill more cops. The first responders tried to comfort the mortally wounded Miller and hunt for the gunman on the loose. Some left part of their souls in Cochranes Road that early morning. Click on the links to subscribe htt
Smoking guns: two police murdered, two suspects, one conviction.
When Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rod Miller pulled over a blue Hyundai in Moorabbin in 1998 while on armed robbery stake-out duty they had no inkling they were about to be ambushed. Their murders sparked a two year investigation and the conviction of two men. One Jason Roberts, who always maintained his innocence, was eventually granted a retrial and in 2022 was acquitted. The murders,
'Meet me at the pub': The murder that stunned Melbourne.
Jill Meagher sent a text to her husband Tom - "Meet me at the pub" but he was asleep and missed the message. By the the time he saw it she had been abducted and murdered as she walked the short distance from the bar to her home. The murder 10 years ago outraged the community to the point thousands took to the streets. It took police six days to catch the killer. Here, in their words, is how they d
Mr Clean: The story of an international money launderer
When Bruce Aitken headed to an international airport for one of his hundreds of overseas trips, he would always take his golf bag – a fairly normal piece of luggage for a globe-trotting businessman. For a man who wanted to be a professional baseball player, it was the world of golf that helped place millions of dollars at his feet without him ever having to step onto a course. Click on the links t
The secret life of a sheep breeder: The Wettenhall family murders
Darcy Whettenhall was a champion sheep breeder, running the Stanbury stud farm near Geelong. His perfectionism, drive and achievements were famous in the area. But he had a dark side, offering work to young vulnerable men then preying on them for sex. One fateful evening it all came crashing down in the most horrifying way. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https:/
Rats in the rafters: The travelling tradie con
There's a knock at your front door. A couple of tradies say they've been working on the house next door and they've noticed tiles missing from your roof. Not to worry. For $20, they're happy to climb up and replace them. But upon closer inspection, the hole in the roof is a little worse than first thought, they say. It would cost $970 and there's rain on the horizon. Still later it was worse again
The inside man who turned on Melbourne's last great armed robbery gang
What he had was information on a notorious armed robbery crew, known as the gym gang, and he was prepared to talk, if the deal was right. He was The Driver, a trusted insider who turned informer on a gang that police still consider one of Melbourne's slickest. His information would form the basis of a police operation, codenamed Tidelands, which became a cat-and-mouse game straight out of a spy n
'A heist like a Hollywood movie': The hunt for the Gym Gang
Their heists were meticulous, and executed with military-style precision. And as soon as one job was done, they would disappear, sometimes for years. For 40 years, police have been in a cat-and-mouse chase with one of Australia's slickest armed robbery crews - a tight group of Melbourne mates who pulled seven intricately planned jobs over 24 years, starting in the early 1980s. Now, in part one of
The knockabout judge and the gangland war
Supreme Court judge Paul Coghlan has spent more than 50 years investigating, prosecuting and judging serious crooks on serious crimes. Coghlan, the grandson of a Chinese merchant, innkeeper and opium dealer, became Director of Public Prosecutions during Melbourne's gangland war, brokering plea deals that cracked the underworld's wall of silence. From prosecuting a serial killer to pursuing a dodg
The Frankston serial killer: The net closes
How police caught Paul Charles Denyer, and the women who came chillingly close to the Frankston serial's orbit. In part two of John Silvester's season opening episode of Naked City, go behind-the-scenes of the investigation with the veteran crime reporter and hear from a suburban detective who, almost by chance, became the first officer Denyer chose to confess to. Another woman also talks about he
When it rained: Seven weeks to catch a serial killer
In the winter of 1993, a serial killer terrorised Melbourne, stalking and murdering three young women in the bayside suburb of Frankston. John Silvester is back for another season of Naked City, starting with a two-part episode on the investigation into Paul Charles Denyer, and the detectives that netted one of Australia's most notorious killers. And a warning, some listeners may find this content
Coming soon: Naked City season five
The much anticipated fifth season of Naked City arrives on June 22. Make sure to subscribe now and get all the episodes straight to your device. John Silvester, Australia’s longest-serving crime reporter, will take you on a journey through his 40 years of dealing with the nation’s most dangerous criminals. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Coming soon - Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions
Since late 2020, the case of missing Sydney woman Melissa Caddick has captivated the country. A seemingly successful businesswoman from Sydney's eastern suburbs went missing after authorities raided her Dover Heights home amid questions over an unlicensed financial planning business.Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist Kate McClymont would reveal key details of a massive Ponzi scheme and
From undercover to under lock and key
Cliff Lockwood was just 19 when he left the peace of a tiny town to join the police force. “I know it sounds funny but I just wanted to do good. Nineteen was way too young. You don’t know anything.” On Sunday April 9, 1989 Lockwood and his partner, Senior Detective Dermot Avon arrested car thief and suspected violent criminal Gary Abdullah and took him to his Drummond Street two
Purana: Melbourne's gangland taskforce
For a time gangland figures lived a fast and often lucrative life, but very few made it out alive. After 11 unsolved murders, including Moran brothers Mark and Jason, and their father Lewis, police put together a taskforce to tackle the gangland war. They investigated Andrew 'Benji' Veniamin, Mick Gatto, Carl Williams and Tony Mockbell among others. Purana ended up investigating over 300 peop
A country school kidnapping: An unbelievable tale
The rookie teacher at the tiny country school was startled during morning recess when some of the kids ran into the single weatherboard classroom, yelling: "There's a man outside with a gun."Rob Hunter had been the sole teacher at the Gippsland town of Wooreen for just nine days - his first posting after three years at teachers' college. He was 20 years old. Maree Young was his student, she was ju
Rent-a-kill: Australia's number one hitman
By early 1985 hitman Chris Flannery was running out of friends. This was hardly surprising, as he’d killed most of them. Flannery had built a fearsome reputation for killing on command but when an attack dog begins to snarl at its master it is time for the big sleep. Flannery’s boss Sydney gangster George Freeman had lost patience with him and was a little frightened of the unpredictab
Abe Saffron and Sydney's corrupt cops
Abraham Gilbert Saffron was a successful Sydney businessman who hated his nickname and spent a fortune trying to have it expunged from the record by threatening anyone who used it publicly. The name was Mr Sin and it was well deserved. He built a vice empire on a triangular business model – the three points were bribery, blackmail and arson. He organised sex, often with under-age boys and gi
The man who put three police in a rubbish bin
Robbo' Robertson was a natural undercover cop. A Vietnam veteran with the gift of the gab, he slipped seamlessly into the role of Brian Wilson, an underworld heavy from Sydney. In 1978 Robertson was given a new mission. He was to go deep undercover to infiltrate Australia’s best armed robbery crew, the men behind the 1976 multi-million Great Bookie Robbery. He was to pretend to be a corrupt
ANoM: The app that spied on crooks
It was a Friday night when Federal Police contacted their Victorian counterparts with an urgent message. A shooting had been ordered by an overseas bikie boss to be carried at a Melbourne fight night. The planning was so detailed police moved in to seize two stolen cars to be used by the hit team, cloned plates, and guns. Someone is walking around today unaware they are alive because cops unscramb
Ron Fenton: The cop and the dog that saved him
In 1984 policeman Ron Fenton was nearly given up for dead. Shot in the head and slumped unconscious next to his police car. That is until a cop in an unmarked car took it upon himself to charge do drag Ron to safety. They thought Ron wouldn’t make it to hospital, then that he would not regain consciousness and finally thathe would never return to work. They didn’t know Ron. He battled
Coming soon: Naked City season 4
The first episode of series four will drop Wednesday 7 July, with a new episode published every Wednesday. Make sure to subscribe now and get all the episodes straight to your device. John Silvester, Australia’s longest-serving crime reporter, will take you on a journey through his 40 years of dealing with the nation’s most dangerous criminals. See omnystudio.com/listener fo
The fugitive's fatal mistake: police shooting of Arthur Nelson
Arthur James Nelson was a third rate crook who had convictions for burglary, theft, assault, false pretences and drugs. In July 1988 his path fatally crossed police officers, Lachlan McCulloch and Syd Hadley. We hear the police re-enactment tapes conducted the day after the shooting as McCulloch and Hadley describe blow by blow the one hour chase and reenact the split second moment they shot dead
Justice Frank Vincent: The secrets of the Supreme Court
He was the best defence lawyer representing murder defendants in around 200 cases. He went on to be a respected Supreme Court Judge presiding over the most difficult homicide trials, including the Walsh Street police killings, the Russell Street bombing that killed police constable Angela Taylor; the Bega double murder trial of Leslie Camilleri, one of two men who tortured and killed NSW schoolgir
Bernie 'The Attorney' Balmer, knockabout lawyer
He has represented Mick Gatto and Mark 'Chopper' Reid among other Melbourne gangland characters, but even as a school-kid, lawyer Bernie Balmer had an aversion to bullies. As a year 11 student he had a difference of opinion with a Brother at Assumption College who responded by punching the young Balmer in the face. Bernie, who would go on to be a more than handy heavyweig
Graeme Alford: The stick-up, the lawyer and the long lunch
Graeme Alford was a smart, cunning, hard-working criminal lawyer with a loyal and regular client base all connected to the feared Painters and Dockers Union. It was a licence to print money. He was also a heavy punter and prodigious drinker - both vices that are not unknown in the legal fraternity. Eventually, facing huge gambling debts, he stole from his trust fund, was jailed and became a full t
Kill or be killed: The cop and the country bandit
Wayne Sherwell was a country cop on traffic duty on a quiet rural road when he pulled up a speeding motorist who claimed to be a vet. The man behind the wheel was calm and matter-of-fact and there was nothing initially to make the cop suspicious. In fact he was the notorious 'Country Bandit' who made a specialty in robbing regional banks. The confrontation ended with the bandit dead an
Jane Thurgood-Dove: The mistaken identity murder
Jane Thurgood-Dove was murdered in front of her three children in the driveway of their Muriel Street, Niddrie in November 1997 - as she stepped from the car and with her kids aged 11, six and three still strapped securely in their seats she was confronted by a pot bellied gunman who chased her around the family’s four-wheel-drive before shooting her in broad daylight. Jane was just 34 then
Russell Street bombing: The day that shocked a nation
Sometimes life and death can be decided by something as simple as the toss of a coin. On that day, so many years ago, a young policewoman named Angela Taylor was working in the watch house at Russell Street when she lost the toss over who would do the staff lunch run. She was only a metre away when a car bomb, containing around 60 sticks of gelignite, exploded at 47 seconds past 1pm. She
Mark 'Chopper' Read's legacy of violence
Contrary to popular opinion, Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read was no underworld mastermind and his criminal history was littered with blunders. His police record shows that when he broke the law he was usually caught and convicted. But he was a master story-teller and here, in a series of never before heard tapes, we hear from the real Chopper. Recorded in 1999 - late at night in his car wi
Coming Soon: Naked City season 3
On Wednesday 24 February, in the first episode of the third series, listen to never heard before tapes from Mark 'Chopper' Read to get insight into the myth and the legend. Subscribe to get new episodes published every Wednesday straight to your device. John Silvester, Australia’s longest-serving crime reporter, will take you on a journey through his 40 years of dealing with the nation&rsquo
Trailer: Naked City season 3
Join John Silvester from Wednesday 24 February for the third series of Naked City. Subscribe now and get all the episodes straight to your device every Wednesday. Silvester is Australia’s longest-serving crime reporter, will take you on a journey through his 40 years of dealing with the nation’s most dangerous criminals.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The death of a neo-Nazi crime boss
Phillip Grant Wilson was a neo-Nazi and a killer. He recruited a gang and according to one police report, ''This group undertook intense physical fitness training for the purpose of establishing a physical and mental advantage over police, especially the Special Operations Group, against whom they fully expected to come up against at some time in the future.''Detective Sergeant John Morrish of the
Bonus episode: Portrait of an artist
Mica Pillemer is an accomplished international artist who, for reasons best known to himself, wanted to paint John Silvester for the Archibald Prize. During the sitting he reflects on his family history – from the concentration camps of Europe, the oppression of South African Apartheid to the New York Twin Towers attack. And the sliding door moment that brought him to find lov
Mad Max meets his maker
A Bulgarian army deserter, Pavel Marinof trained himself for an armed confrontation with police, saying they would 'never take him alive'. Because he was violent and dangerous Australian media dubbed him 'Mad Max'. Marinof always traveled with two pistols and had a favourite gun, a F1 submachine gun. Senior Detective Rod McDonald describes the moment when he and Detective Sergeant John 'Kappa
The Ramchens: Beauty and the Beast
She was a stunning former model and television hostess. He was a successful businessman. They owned two mansions and had three beautiful children. So why did Jacqui Ramchen vanish without a trace? Her husband, Slavik "Vic" Ramchen, a no nonsense, hard drinking, hard-working civil engineer was the prime suspect. Of all the cases veteran homicide detective Charlie Bezzina has investigated the case o
Sandy MacRae: 'This is Mildura, not Chicago'
Convicted of four murders, but suspected of many more, Alistair 'Sandy' MacRae could be one Australia's worst serial killers. He was a brothel boss, standover man, organised crime associate and small-time businessman. He lured people to his property near Merbein in country Victoria with the promise of a drug deal, took their money, killed them and buried them on the property. In an interview with
