Crime in Melbourne

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia is a reasonably safe city by world standards. It has a lower crime rate than Sydney, and it has the lowest per capita rate of violent crime of any Australian capital city [1].

Early history

The Nelson robbery was one of the major crimes of the Victorian gold rush. It involved the robbery at gunpoint of 8,183 ounces of gold valued at about £30,000 by a party of thieves from the barque Nelson as she lay at anchor in Hobsons Bay off Melbourne on the night of 1-2 April 1852.

The depressions of the early twentieth century generated organised crime, as in most western cities. Infamous gangsters of the time included Squizzy Taylor, and were portrayed in Frank Hardy’s 1950 novel Power Without Glory.

From the 1950s until the early 1990s the majority of underworld crime figures and major incidents can be traced back to the Painters and Dockers Union that existed on Melbourne's waterfront. Similar in structure to Italian crime gangs, the 'dockies' followed an unwritten set of rules which included assistance to members, rejection of conventional justice and a code of silence.

Activity was centred around control of the Union, and the cut associated with the drugs that passed through the port. In the early 1970s the amount of drugs increased, and so did the violence associated with it. This was later the subject of a Royal Commission

Timeline of major incidents

1970s

Eloise Worledge kidnapping

1976: Eloise Worledge kidnapped from her suburban home and presumed killed although her body was never found.

The 'great bookie robbery'

1976: A well-organised gang of six stole between $6 million and $12 million from the Victoria Club in Queen Street; the crime technically remains unsolved and is known as the Great Bookie Robbery.

Easey Street murders

1977: Easey Street murders two women were viciously stabbed in their home in Easey Street, Collingwood.

1980s

Louise and Charmian Faulkner disappearance

1980: Louise Faulkner and her toddler daughter Charmian, disappeared from outside their St Kilda residence. Though presumed killed, their bodies have never been found.

Russell Street bombing

Russell Street Former Police Headquarters

Main article: Russell Street Bombing

On March 27, 1986 a car bomb exploded outside the Russell Street Police Headquarters, killing 21 year old Constable Angela Taylor. The bomb caused extensive damage around the area.

Hoddle Street massacre

Main article: Hoddle Street massacre

On the evening of August 9, 1987, former officer cadet Julian Knight went on a 30 minute shooting spree in Clifton Hill, killing 7 and wounding 19 before being arrested. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Queen Street massacre

Main article: Queen Street massacre

On December 8, 1987, around 4:00pm, 22 year old Frank Vitkovic walked into the offices of Australia Post on Queen Street. Over a period of four hours, he killed eight staff, wounded five, and seriously traumatised many others, before jumping out of a window and killing himself.

Walsh Street police shootings

Main article: Walsh Street police shootings

On October 12 1988, two police officers, Constable Steven Tynan and Probationary Constable Damian Eyre, were ambushed and shot dead in Walsh Street, South Yarra while patrolling for speeding motorists in the region. Victor Peirce and Trevor Pettingill, Anthony Farrell and Peter McEvoy were charged, though later acquitted at trial by jury. In 2005, the wife of Peirce gave an interview detailing how her husband planned the murders.

1990s

Karmein Chan murder

Main articles: Mr. Cruel and Karmein Chan

Silk-Miller police murders

Main article: Silk-Miller police murders

On August 16, 1998 Sergeant Gary Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller were staking out a restaurant when they were shot at close range. Bandali Michael Debs, and Jason Roberts were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders and 13 other counts of armed robbery.

Melbourne gangland killings

Main article: Melbourne gangland killings

Between January 16 1998 and March 7 2006 at least 29 underworld figures were killed in Melbourne, in a series of tit-for-tat killings between various groups, starting with the murder of Alphonse Gangitano and culminating in the arrest of Carl Williams and the killing of suspected hitman Andrew Veniamin.

2000s

Society murders

Main article: Society Murders

On 4 April 2002, Matthew Robert Wales murdered his parents, millionaire socialites Margaret Wales-King and Paul King, and buried their bodies in bushland. He pleaded guilty to their murders and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 24 years.

Monash University shooting

Main article: Monash University shooting

At 11:20am on October 21, 2002, Huan Xiang, a student at Monash University went into a tutorial room at the Clayton campus with 5 guns and shot and killed 2 students. He was tackled and restrained by a lecturer until police arrived. He was found not guilty of murder due to mental illness.

Maria Korp 'body-in-the-boot' case

Main article: Maria Korp

On 9 February 2005, Maria Korp was strangled by Tania Herman, the mistress of Korp's husband Joe Korp, allegedly at his instruction. Maria Korp was found four days later, brain damaged and in a coma, in the boot of a car parked near the Shrine of Remembrance. She remained in a vegetative state for almost six months before her feeding tube was removed at the request of her state-appointed legal guardian, Public Advocate Julian Gardner. Prior to Korp's death, Tania Herman pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 12 years' jail with a non-parole period of 9 years. Joe Korp, who had pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and was awaiting trial (his charge was soon to be upgraded to murder following his wife's death), committed suicide on the day of Maria Korp's funeral.

The Flinders Lane shooting

Main article: 2007 Melbourne CBD shootings

On 18 June 2007, a man fired 6 shots, killing one man, and critically wounding a woman and another male. The man was seen dragging a woman out of a taxi by her hair on a busy Melbourne street when two male bystanders attempted to help her. The offender pulled out a hand gun and shot the two men and woman at point blank range. This incident occurred at approximately 8:20am Monday, during one of Central Melbourne's busiest times. Victims were rushed to the Alfred and Royal Melbourne Hospitals for emergency surgery. The gunman fled the scene almost immediately, later dumping his jacket and gun at a nearby building site. On May 12, 2008, Christopher Wayne Hudson pleaded guilty to the murder of lawyer, Brendan Keilar, and other offences committed during the shooting.

Major figures

Billy "The Texan" Longley was a leader of a union faction within the Painters and Dockers. He was known as "The Texan" either because he wore a Stetson and carried a Colt .45. or because the character played by Rory Calhoun in the film The Texan was Bill Longley. A biography, In Your Face has been written of his life by Rochelle Jackson, published by ABC books.

Mark "Chopper" Read, as a figure, has been immortalised in film Chopper, played by actor Eric Bana. Due to a high profile through his books, he is perhaps the best known figure to have emerged from Melbourne's criminal underworld. His deeds as reported in his books are considered to be a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Between the ages of 20 and 38, he spent only 13 months of his adult life out of prison.

See also

• Crime in Australia
• Eureka Stockade
• List of Australian criminals
• Timeline of major crimes in Australia
• Royal Commission on the activities of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union
• Melbourne gangland killings
• Moran family
• Pettingill family
• Tony Mokbel

External links

• Melbournecrime.com Crime Scene - Melbourne Underworld (An online reference guide from the Crime Writers Association of Australia)
• Victoria Police crime statistics
• Tan lights put stars in the shade (Crime rates and brightly lit areas)