Naked City

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 mother during an elaborate undercover sting. He also reveals the strangest case...investigating a real-life cannibal.

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. Butwith his murder, the case against former detective Paul Dale and hitman Rod Collins collapsed. Solomon’s career is littered with high points; catching contract killers, multiple murderers and solving cold cases. But the death of Williams was a low point. You can read the full story here: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/murder-carl-williams-and-a-gun-under-the-table-inside-the-career-of-a-killer-catcher-20260310-p5o968.html

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 has never been found. There have been false dawns. First, the Membreys were told by police they found the killer. But he was cleared. And now, there is a new suspect. Today, John Silvester speaks to Elisabeth's mother Joy about her enduring quest to find her daughter's body, and police investigator Andrew Stamper about the new investigation.

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 Court judge banned it from sale in Victoria as it was so close to the truth it could impact on jury trials, while at the same time, the series was criticised for glamourising gangsters. And as for the gangsters themselves, well, they were being taken out by actors researching their roles, some of whom became so well-known as their criminal characters they would be mistaken for them in the street. And then there was the time Roberta Williams turned up on set, demanding to know who was playing her in the series. In today's special episode of Naked City with John Silvester, actor Rodger Corser revisits the hit series with Stuart Bateson, the real-life detective that his character was based on. For all of Sly's columns and stories, visit www.theage.com.au.

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 gangland war - talks to Bateson about what investigating this violent web of crooks was really like, and hear part of a recording of a real gangland hit. Bateson talks to Sly ahead of the release of a new three-part documentary from Channel Nine called Naked City: Hitmen, which screens from March 4.

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 Silvester, Taylor talks about the life and perilous times of the elite police squad. And what he does for fun outside of work, including climbing six of the seven major summits. You can read the story here: https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/never-try-to-shoot-a-man-through-a-fridge-sog-veteran-s-perilous-life-and-times-20250625-p5ma7k.html

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 Silvester. This episode includes a confronting discussion about suicide. If this content raises any issues for you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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-who-may-have-been-a-burglar-before-he-was-a-killer-20240704-p5jr1e.html

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. The former sergeant, Rod Phillips, still wonders whether detectives were too quick to believe Karmein was taken by Mr Cruel and that they should have been looking in another direction, far closer to home.

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 Naked City, crime reporter John Silvester interviews the detective who nabbed a meticulous international cat burglar.

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 Silvester tells the story of a mother wrongly accused of her daughter’s murder, and a detective who, many years later, was determined to right a most wretched wrong.

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 the Sydney Morning Herald  https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 the Sydney Morning Herald  https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 being locked up for a crime they never committed?  Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diagnosing-murder/id1843555473 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LqYqSCZHW4vtA0yhiaJKB?si=f8c56f4b638b4a24 Listen on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrLulycax358g-04ndbBaBg3ED4Dnyv0S&si=CVXIqoUI6AJ6DD5x

Search for 'The Mushroom Trial: Say Grace' wherever you get your podcasts, then press the follow button. New episodes publish weekly. 

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.

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 Bartlett, school friends from the country who flatted together in Collingwood before their lives were violently and cruelly taken. Today, John Silvester takes us behind the scenes of the police investigation, the arrest and why he kept quiet on the case for so long.

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 country. Why have so many of our politicians allegedly turned a blind eye to underworld figures running a cartel-like operation in the union? Today, John Silvester gives us an inside look into the psychology of the underworld figures who have managed to charm and intimidate the rich and the powerful.

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, June 1.

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 at the scene. The police involved lived for years with allegations that it was their fault. Vindicated in the Coroners Court of Victoria, they tell John Silvester their story.

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 future. Cyber cop Dion Achtypis sits down with John Silvester to discuss Bitcoin, international crime syndicates and the Underbelly series.

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 first responders. It is perhaps the only way she could make sense of something so indescribable. Between laughter and tears, Belinda shares her story with John Silvester. If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978 or visit www.beyondblue.org.au Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 hid callous brutality, resulting in angry men being released back into the community.  Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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." This is a story of unspeakable family violence, the courage of strangers, and it also shines a light on us: and what we see is not that pretty at all.  Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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 policing and giving back. For years now, they have invested their money, time and passion to present seminars, conferences and small gatherings for cops and their partners designed to turn victims into survivors. Additional recordings from Terry Carlyon and ABC. Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 Young and Jacksons Hotel and although unarmed, managed to arrest him and take him to the nearby police station. Their bravery has never been recognised.  Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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 of his mates, and then took his own life. Col Ryan is a long-time local detective, councillor and mayor. Col tells us the inside story. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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 finally understood he needed to deal with his past. After years of substance abuse and nearly committing suicide, David reached out to one of the original investigators, Julie Cochrane, who had become a psychologist. For the first time, David tells his story. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au If you or anyone you know needs support, call Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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 man who became a senior police officer - the very man who later was active in shutting down an investigation into a paedophile priest. And he relives the moment in 1980 when a gunman killed three people in the Supreme Court, right in front of him. A rare insight into a remarkable man. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 to The Agehttps://subscribe.theage.com.au or the Sydney Morning Heraldhttps://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 behind bars, until the truth emerges because of a stroke of luck. Richard Baker tells the story of a murder, a botched trial and the system that allowed it to happen.

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. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 their remarkable stories with us. They refuse to be defined as victims and are an inspiration. Courage comes in many forms. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au You can find support for trauma at:  Life Line: 13 11 14 Mental Health: 1800 629 354 Kids Help Line: 1800 55 1800 (free call) Mensline Australia: 1300 78 99 78 www.beyondblue.org.au www.blackdoginstitute.org.au www.sane.org

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, the investigation and the legal aftermath is one of the most controversial and tragic cases in Australia's history. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 did it.  Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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://subscribe.smh.com.au

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: they claim to have found asbestos and it would cost thousands more. This is a scam of international proportions. Starting in Ireland, fake tradies have been ripping off the elderly and the vulnerable in multimillion-dollar coordinated cons in the UK, Canada and Australia. In the latest episode of John Silvester's Naked City, go behind the scenes with the detective who targeted one crew that pulled 37 scams in Melbourne leaving 43 victims, the eldest of which was 93 years old.  Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 novel.  Crime reporter John Silvester brings you the final instalment of a special two-part episode of Naked City.

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 two episodes of John Silvester's Naked City, their full story can be told. Become a subscriber: Your support powers our newsrooms and is critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 dodgy detective in one of Australia's first wire tap cases, Coghlan opens up to veteran crime reporter John Silvester in another episode of Naked City. And a heads-up, there's a language warning for this one.  Become a subscriber: Your support powers our newsrooms and is critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 her encounter with Denyer a week before he murdered his final victim, as well as Donna's lucky escape. Become a subscriber: Your support powers our newsrooms and is critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au or https://subscribe.smh.com.au

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 distressing. Become a subscriber: Your support powers our newsrooms and is critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

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. 

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 a $23 million fraud that ripped off investors including her family and friends as Caddick lived the high life of overseas trips, cars and high end fashion. McClymont's coverage would win her a ninth Walkley Award. Now McClymont and 60 Minutes’ Tom Steinfort are set to present a breakthrough podcast Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions that will follow the twists and turns of a case where everyone has a theory of their own. What happened to the money and what happened to Melissa? Liar Liar will reveal fresh details of the crime of the century through interviews with key players and takes listeners from upmarket jewellery auction rooms in Hong Kong, to the ski slopes of Aspen to private islands in the South Pacific.

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 level flat to search for evidence and an accomplice. According to police Abdullah grabbed and imitation firearm and Lockwood responded by firing six shots from his gun, then grabbed Avon’s to fire the last and fatal shot.  Both police were charged with murder and were acquitted. Lockwood’s left policing and his life spiralled out of control. He was jailed in the Northern Territory. Now he is back in Victoria trying to rebuild his life. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

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 people, listening in on more than 100,000 hours of phone conversations, using 39 tracking devices to follow suspects for more than 22,000 hours. One of the key police informants was lawyer Nicola Gobbo, a fact which puts several convictions into jeopardy. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

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 just 11 years old. The man with the revolver and wearing a Collingwood beanie as a balaclava was Geelong Prison escapee Edwin John "Ted" Eastwood, 26, who five years earlier pulled the same crime 270 kilometres away, kidnapping a teacher and six students from Faraday. It was February 14, 1977. In the next 21 hours they would experience a car crash, a night imprisoned at a remote campsite, an escape, police pursuit, a shootout and a wounding before final rescue. In this episode of Naked City, Rob Hunter and Maree Young tell their story, first hand.  Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

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 unpredictable gunman. Flannery had threatened police and had shot one – undercover detective Mick Drury. Even in corrupt Sydney that was a crime that couldn’t go unanswered. He killed gangsters, shot dead a law-abiding Melbourne businessman, stabbed a major banking figure and orchestrated the murder of a teenage girl who could have given evidence against him. The man they called Rent-a-Kill made sure most of his victims were never found and that proved to be his fate when he was ambushed and murdered. He was no great loss. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/