1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: It was real Hollywood stuff. No one hurt, no guns, 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,119 Speaker 1: no fear, no horror, just a lot of money vanishes. 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: They make a hole just big enough for the local 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,479 Speaker 1: police inspector to poke his head through. So it's a 5 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: hole about as big as of football and he pokes 6 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: his head in and he pulls it out and he 7 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:26,080 Speaker 1: says these immortal words. They got the lot. This time 8 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: he realized that this would only have one ending. I'm 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: Andrew Rule. This is life and crimes. This month we've 10 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,560 Speaker 1: got a couple of anniversaries, both for the same man. 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: That man is the monster. The late Graham Allan Kinneborough, 12 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: one of the most popular gangsters who ever breathed in Melbourne. 13 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: When he was shot twenty years ago on the thirteenth 14 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: of December two thousand and three, he was probably more 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:59,279 Speaker 1: genuinely mourned by more people than any other well known 16 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: victims of the Gangland War. And this is because, over 17 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 1: a long life, a long and productive criminal life, Graham 18 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: Kinneborough had managed to make a lot of friends, and 19 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: he'd often been a peacemaker and a negotiator when other 20 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: people reached for their guns first. He had friends from 21 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: Little Italy in Carlton to little Chicago down on the waterfront, 22 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: and he was respected by old school police and old 23 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: time paters and dockers, and by people in the fight game. 24 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: In fact, he owned the city building. I think it 25 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 1: was Flinders Lane, I reckon I went there once where 26 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:41,880 Speaker 1: Barry Michael trained for fights leading up to his world 27 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: title challenge in the early eighties, and the Munster bet 28 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: big on Barry in several of his winning fights. Barry 29 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: claims he never knew that the Munster, his patron and 30 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: landlord and very good friend, was a safe cracker. But 31 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: that's a matter for Barry. We're not in the business 32 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: of arguing with former world champion boxes. Man. They call 33 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: the Munster new politicians and priests, punters and publicans, bookmakers 34 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: and shoplifters. But he was especially fond of jockeys. Jockeys 35 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,920 Speaker 1: are pretty handy in his line of work. And the 36 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: problem was no one knew exactly what his line of 37 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: work was. Once in a coroner's inquest, when he was 38 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:35,200 Speaker 1: asked what his profession was, he said, um ah, and 39 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: he hummed and hard and he said, oh that's right, 40 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,520 Speaker 1: I'm a rigger. I'm a rigger. But he'd forgotten what 41 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: he was saosed to be, But in fact he was 42 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:49,399 Speaker 1: a career criminal. He was once and this is why 43 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: we're talking about him today. He was once one of 44 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: the finest safe crackers in the world. That didn't mean 45 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: he wouldn't dabble in other things, but safe cracking. He 46 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: was good. He wasn't the only good safe cracker. I've 47 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: heard the names of some other people who worked at 48 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,080 Speaker 1: the same time, and some of them worked with him, 49 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: But he was part of a small group known as 50 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:18,959 Speaker 1: a magnetic drill gang, who perfected a technique of cracking 51 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: safes that were regarded as fairly well impregnable to normal 52 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: safe cracking methods, and these things that you couldn't just 53 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: stick a stick of jelly knite under, these big chubb 54 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: safes that banks and other places started to put it 55 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: in the seventies because they were too big and too strong. 56 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: And what Graham Kinneborough and his closest allies came up 57 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: with was a mixture of medical and mechanical technology, and 58 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: they used a magnetic drill which could be clamped to 59 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: the wall of a safe or the door of a safe, 60 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: so that the drill would enter precisely where you wanted 61 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,000 Speaker 1: it to without slipping or moving. And the other thing 62 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: they used was medical gear. They used a fluoroscope which 63 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: could be inserted in the whole adrill to detect any movement. 64 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: And a fluoroscope is like a portable X ray which 65 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:25,839 Speaker 1: can show you in real time movements inside a solid object. 66 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: And fluoroscopes are used in medicine for doctors to poke 67 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: them into parts of your body to see what's happening 68 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: inside you, and are used in security applications at airports 69 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: and places like that to scan luggage to see what's 70 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: inside the luggage. And Kinnebar and his mates used them 71 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: to scan safes to see how the tumbler mechanisms worked 72 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: in the locking mechanism. And having done that bit, they 73 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: would take out a fluoroscope and then they would insert 74 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 1: a thing called a sistoscope. Now a sistoscope or surgeons 75 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: use it. It's a very fine, long, thin thing like 76 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: a worm, which can be inserted into various parts of 77 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:12,560 Speaker 1: the human body to give the surgeon a picture of 78 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: what's happening inside your body. Classically used for bladder operations 79 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: and things like that. These guys adapted that medical equipment 80 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,120 Speaker 1: so they could poke it in a hole in a 81 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: safe and look down it and see the tumbles that 82 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: they had to manipulate. And then they had tools that 83 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: they could use to manipulate the tumblers and get the 84 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: giant doors to open for them. And they'd learned to 85 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: do this. I was self taught, and they'd learned to 86 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: do it. They say this is unprovable, but it's widely 87 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:51,599 Speaker 1: held to be true, by obtaining sophisticated safes at probably 88 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: great expense, and setting them up in an empty warehouse 89 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,359 Speaker 1: or factory somewhere in Melbourne, and then they would go 90 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: there with all this equipment practice cracking these safes until 91 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: they got good at it. And this I find to 92 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,159 Speaker 1: be a remarkable thing. I think these are the aristocrats 93 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: of crime. Safe crackers, a breed that is almost extinct 94 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: now because of technical advances that make safe cracking a 95 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:23,719 Speaker 1: bit of a no go zone for crooks. But even 96 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 1: after most of his contemporaries decided that safe cracking was 97 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: too hard, Graham Kinneborough made a big thing of it 98 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:37,479 Speaker 1: back in the late seventies and early eighties. I think 99 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: he and his mates pulled something like fourteen safe jobs, 100 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: or similar to safe jobs some of them were strong 101 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: boxes and safety deposit boxes, things like that, but they 102 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 1: did a total of about fourteen different raids in less 103 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: than two years in that era. Now, the big one, 104 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: the granddaddy of the mall, was the Murwillumba bank job, 105 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: and this is the one that happened on the twenty 106 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: third of November nineteen seventy eight, which is pretty well 107 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: forty five years ago. Murwillumbar in those days and to 108 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: some extent now, was one of those country towns that's 109 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: the hub of a farming district, in this case the 110 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: Tweed Valley area of the Northern Rivers region of northern 111 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: New South Wales. Pretty productive region, I think, probably dairy farms, 112 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: maybe some sort of subtropical cropping, a pretty productive area, 113 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: particularly in that era. A lot of smaller towns dotted 114 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: around the district. And in those days, of course, banks 115 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: were central to the lifeblood of any town, any district, 116 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: and all dealings were in cash, and that meant that 117 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: every fortnight, when government employees were paid and pensions were 118 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: paid fortnightly, there would be a big influx of money 119 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:08,119 Speaker 1: fortnightly that would come in to Mwillumbar as the big 120 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: central town in that area every second Wednesday, and so 121 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: it was that on Wednesday, the twenty second of November, 122 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: a armored truck turned up and they unloaded quite a 123 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: bit of money, as they did every second Wednesday, but 124 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: because of the timing this is late November, there was 125 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: even more money than usual because there was holiday pay 126 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: loadings for all these public servants and government employees, and 127 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: there was extra cash being brought in as you'd imagine, 128 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: for banks and for businesses, shops and all the rest 129 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: of it to handle the Christmas rush, the Christmas shopping. 130 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 1: So it was a bumper crop of cash, and it 131 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: was unusually large. And it appears that crooks like God 132 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,199 Speaker 1: in mysterious ways, and that word of this big bunch 133 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: of cash going into the Bank of New South Wales 134 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:12,480 Speaker 1: branch in Mcwillumbar had trickled down to little Old Melbourne 135 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: far to the south, where Graham Kinterbory and his merry 136 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: band of safe crackers were tipped off about it. Now 137 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: we'll get to how that happened a bit later, but 138 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: it is suspected that it was almost inside information from 139 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: a rogue police person possibly, but obviously they knew that 140 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: there was good money to be had there. They knew 141 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:40,079 Speaker 1: that it was a country bank that was fairly easy 142 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 1: to break into, that did not have an alarm system, 143 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: and yet it had a big enough safe that all 144 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:49,800 Speaker 1: the local money would go into that safe or strong 145 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: room before it went out to the smaller country towns. 146 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: It's a Wednesday night Thursday morning situation, and so on 147 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: that Wednesday night, there's a few drinkers across the road 148 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: at the Imperial Hotel, and down the road one hundred 149 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: meters is a police station that's supposedly manned all night, 150 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: but of course the probably one policeman in the doing 151 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: the crossword, having a sleep in the cells or something. 152 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: And I think there was an all night postal worker 153 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: at the post office on the other corner, sorting mail 154 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 1: or something. But you don't have to be told. No 155 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: one heard nothing. And what happened is that sometime that night, 156 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: let's guess around midnight would make sense, because they needed 157 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: most of the night to do what they did. Let's 158 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: say around midnight, when the last drinkers have probably gone 159 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 1: home and everybody's home in bed, someone has four door 160 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: opened the back door of the bank, a back door 161 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 1: of a bank in the bush, probably didn't present many 162 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,599 Speaker 1: problems for expert safecrackers. They'd be able to open it 163 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: with a skeleton key or whatever, and they got access, 164 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: and then they set to work. I used, as I 165 00:11:01,280 --> 00:11:05,199 Speaker 1: listed before, the magnetic drill, which had a diamond tipped 166 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,880 Speaker 1: drill bit which would go through really hard metal and 167 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,720 Speaker 1: it would go in a precise spot, so they could 168 00:11:12,760 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: go exactly where they wanted and to the exact depth 169 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: that they wanted, so that they wouldn't actually screw up 170 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: the tumblers that work the lock mechanism, but get them 171 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 1: so close to it that they can manipulate the lock 172 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,839 Speaker 1: mechanism the tumblers, and then of course they used the 173 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: fluoroscope and the cistoscope and did their trick. All this 174 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:41,439 Speaker 1: takes time. It's very complex and exacting and precise work. 175 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: I suspect it's really much like surgery that the guys 176 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 1: doing this, we're doing something as complex and as delicate 177 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 1: as most forms of surgery when you think about it, 178 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: and that's not too den a great surgeon. So it 179 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: just shows you how good these guys were at what 180 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: they did. And in this case the operation was a success, 181 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,920 Speaker 1: but the patient, in the form of the bank died, 182 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,679 Speaker 1: the bank lost its money. The robbers were able to 183 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: empty the strong room, the vault, and they got one 184 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: point seven six and change a million, which in nineteen 185 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,440 Speaker 1: seventy eight was a lot of money. It was the 186 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: equivalent in twenty twenty three of more than ten million dollars, 187 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: and it was in untraceable notes, mostly fifties and one interestingly, 188 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 1: and so they were able to load all this cash, 189 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,679 Speaker 1: which would be a lot of cash, into bags or whatever. 190 00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 1: And I think some took that there was a panel 191 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: van parked in the side street that night, somebody noticed one, 192 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,719 Speaker 1: and so you'd think they probably did have a panel van, 193 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 1: and they loaded it with money and the way they went, 194 00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: and no one knew anything until seven thirty next morning, 195 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: when a passing security guard noticed that the back door 196 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: of the bank was a jar. I think, and when 197 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:11,959 Speaker 1: aarn had looked, I found that's interesting. And then the 198 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: bank people came in and they realized that there wasn't 199 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,199 Speaker 1: much wrong. They didn't leave a great mess. They cleaned 200 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:23,200 Speaker 1: up after themselves, they didn't leave any clues. There were 201 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:25,319 Speaker 1: some things they looked up, and they saw there was 202 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: a square hole in the ceiling where they'd removed perhaps 203 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: tiles or something from the ceiling. Not sure why that was, 204 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: except it might have been a potential escape route if 205 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,079 Speaker 1: they heard somebody coming. Maybe they thought they could use 206 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: some sort of rope ladder or something to get themselves 207 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: up into the roof and get out that way, which 208 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:49,559 Speaker 1: would tell you, with their careful methodical way of doing things, 209 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: didn't leave tools lying around, didn't leave anything that could 210 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: be used as evidence against them. And what they also did, 211 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: and this bit is just delicious shebericking for the bank, 212 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:07,959 Speaker 1: is that they close the door of the vault and 213 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 1: then they screwed up or removed a couple of the 214 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 1: tumblers so that the door could never be opened again. 215 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: They effectively sealed it shut. And so when the bank 216 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 1: people get there after the security guards called them, they 217 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: can't actually open the vault and check if the money's there, 218 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: so they don't actually know they've been robbed. They can 219 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: see that something's happened, that there's a little net hole 220 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: in it and there's been a little bit go on, 221 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: but they don't actually know they've been robbed, and so 222 00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: they get local locksmith's there. They've got no chance. They 223 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: fly in four Chubb safe experts, Chubb being a brand 224 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: of safe from Brisbane, Brisbane to the local airport. They 225 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:58,640 Speaker 1: bring them in, these guys and the locksmiths spend five 226 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: hours trying to open the safe, no chance. In the end. 227 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: In desperation, they get the local workmen from the tweed Shire. 228 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: These are the guys that use bulldozers and dynamite and 229 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: sledgehammers and chisels and all that stuff, and they get 230 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: in there with jackhammers. They break open the wall of 231 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: the bank, the actual wall of the bank, and they 232 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: get to the back of the strong room which is 233 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:27,760 Speaker 1: reinforced concrete. We're still reinforcing in it, and they smash 234 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: it open and smash it open with machinery and then 235 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: with jackhammers, and then with oxy welding equipment to cut 236 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: the metal, and finally at four point thirty that afternoon, 237 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: Now this is about twelve hours after the crooks have left, 238 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 1: let's say, or eleven hours after they have left. They 239 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: make a hole just big enough for the local police inspector, 240 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: chief inspector to poke his head through. So it's a 241 00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: hole about as big as of football and he pokes 242 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: his head in and he pulls it out and he 243 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: sees these immortal words, they got the lot. All the 244 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: money was gone. It wasn't one dollar left in the vault. 245 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: That phrase, they got the lot, became instantly famous because 246 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 1: it went out on front pages everywhere, not only around 247 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: Australia but overseas because it was just a great heist. 248 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: It was a magic story. It was real Hollywood stuff. 249 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: No one hurt, no guns, no fear, no horror, just 250 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: a lot of money vanishes. So it's the sort of 251 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: crime that people can't help being fascinated by and sort 252 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: of admiring. Really, that phrase then becomes quite well known 253 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,320 Speaker 1: around the district because a local shop owner got straight 254 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: onto it and made details T shirts, caps, coffee mugs, 255 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,160 Speaker 1: beer glasses. They used that phrase they got the lot, 256 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: and they had it everywhere and it became the souvenir 257 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: item former Willembar, much to the disgust of the local 258 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: mayor and other people like that, who thought it was 259 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: not a great way to promote the wonderful district. Meanwhile, 260 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:10,959 Speaker 1: the boys with the money have vanished. Now there's no 261 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: proof who did this. There is not actually any forensic 262 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: evidence that links Graham Kinneberg or Graham Kinniburg's tight knit 263 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 1: crew of safe crackers to this crime. However, it was 264 00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:31,399 Speaker 1: acknowledged by police that a gang they called the Magnetic 265 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: Drill Gang had pulled some fourteen jobs in quick succession, 266 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,399 Speaker 1: pretty big job some of them, and this included a 267 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,919 Speaker 1: massive jewelry heist in Lonstar Straight in Melbourne, and we 268 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:48,439 Speaker 1: talked about that job before on the episode called mister Munster, 269 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,760 Speaker 1: the very good Crook. All these different jobs, another one 270 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: with strong boxes, another one I think Bullion in Queensland, 271 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:03,879 Speaker 1: and interestingly and probably significant, inter Pol, when contacted about this, 272 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: stated that no other safecrackers in the world used that 273 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: modus operandi, that the use of the magnetic drills or 274 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: something that no other gangs were doing in the way 275 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 1: that this Australian gang was. And so it was fairly 276 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,720 Speaker 1: clear to the police and of course to other crooks 277 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: who was responsible. No one else knew how to do this, 278 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: no one else was doing it. It didn't have their 279 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: fingerprints all over it, but it was their signature crime. 280 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:41,880 Speaker 1: No one was hurt during the robbery, but the jungle 281 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:47,679 Speaker 1: drums were beating right through the underworld, and the jungle 282 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:52,879 Speaker 1: drums were saying, oh mate got one point seven plus 283 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: million that in nineteen seventy eight was a startling amount. 284 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 1: It was a time when you know, most people running 285 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,639 Speaker 1: between one hundred and two hundred dollars a week, and 286 00:19:04,720 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: a time when a lot of houses could be bought 287 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: for between ten grand and fifty grand, depending where they were. 288 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: So it just was a lot of money enough to 289 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:19,239 Speaker 1: set these guys up pretty well, maybe for life. And 290 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 1: this attracted the sort of attention of people that we 291 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: will call toe cutters. Now, toe cutters can take several forms. 292 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:31,360 Speaker 1: One form would be jealous and violent criminals who are 293 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: not much good at pulling robberies themselves, but feel that 294 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 1: they could track down those who are good at it 295 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: and extract money from them by torture and other means. 296 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:46,919 Speaker 1: It would also attract a particular brand of police, not 297 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,280 Speaker 1: only legit police who want to catch the crooks and 298 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: arrest them, but rogue police who want to catch the 299 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: crooks and extract the money from them before charging them, 300 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 1: and so on, or maybe just extract the money and 301 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,120 Speaker 1: bolt with it. So Graham Kinnibur and his mates were 302 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: very aware of these dangers because people they knew in 303 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: the Great Bookie Robbery in Melbourne of two years earlier. 304 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: Many of them had come to sticky ends. It did 305 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: not end well for a lot of the bookie robbers 306 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: because they became targets of these toe cuts as well 307 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 1: as of the police. Kinnebarrough was always a thinker and 308 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:33,440 Speaker 1: well connected, and apparently he knew that a former associate 309 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,119 Speaker 1: of his, a very well known all around crook and 310 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:42,119 Speaker 1: pretty good crook, called Steve Sellers, that Stephen Sellers was 311 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 1: dirty on him for not including him in the big 312 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: mcwillem barr heist. And it would appear that Kinnerbarrough thought 313 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,680 Speaker 1: that Sellers was a cop magnet. He was a cop 314 00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:58,200 Speaker 1: bita and a cop hater, and he was getting involved 315 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:03,439 Speaker 1: in a lot of fairly public opposition to police and 316 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: prison officers and stuff like that, and had a very 317 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: sort of political twist to his activism this. Sellers, as 318 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: well as being absolute kruk and Kinniburough didn't agree with 319 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: any of that and thought it just attracted attention and 320 00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: caused trouble, and so he left him well out of 321 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:33,159 Speaker 1: this robbery. Sellers resented that and was deeply unhappy, and Kinniborough, 322 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: although he was usually a peacemaker, usually he played Kissinger 323 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,399 Speaker 1: rather than Dillinger. This time he realized that this would 324 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: only have one ending. And early in the new year 325 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy nine, either late January or early February, 326 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:56,920 Speaker 1: doesn't matter which. Stephen Sellers is in the Domain motel 327 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,800 Speaker 1: in South Era and comes out to answer a phone 328 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: call in the lobby of this motel. And someone must 329 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 1: have known he was going to do that, because as 330 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: soon as he picked up the phone and bent his 331 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: head to talk, he was shot three times in the 332 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: back with a twelve guard shotgun. Now that would be 333 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:21,600 Speaker 1: enough at point blank range to kill a buffalo, but 334 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: it didn't kill Stephen Sellers. He was rushed to hospital, 335 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 1: where he was joined by fearsome criminal defender and advocate 336 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: Robert Richter, among others, and various police who wanted to 337 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,879 Speaker 1: ask him if he had any words of wisdom to 338 00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: tell them about who might have shot him. He refused 339 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: to got anybody in or speculate about who shot him. 340 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:46,200 Speaker 1: Wouldn't help the police because he was a police hater. 341 00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: But it was widely held and indeed has never been 342 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 1: really denied specifically by anybody, that Graham Kinneburough had pulled 343 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:03,960 Speaker 1: the trigger in order to ongoing bloodshed and violence and 344 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: troubles for his own family, which showed that when it 345 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:13,120 Speaker 1: came to the point that this technical and analytical and 346 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,640 Speaker 1: tactical genius of a crook, a bloke who probably could 347 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: have made a very fine commanding officer in the military, 348 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 1: or probably could have made some sort of captain of 349 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: industry in business, that he had made a decision that 350 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,199 Speaker 1: Sellers was going to be dangerous for him and for 351 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: his family. And interestingly, I draw this conclusion because we 352 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: can get away with it. It's interesting to note that Sellers 353 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 1: had upset a lot of police over the journey in 354 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:53,639 Speaker 1: Victoria and notably in Sydney, and perhaps the police didn't 355 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: chase it as hard as they might have. That's possible. 356 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: As it turns out, more than twenty detectives from three 357 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: states worked on the Murwillembar case, but they got exactly nowhere. 358 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 1: No one claimed the two hundred and fifty thousand dollars 359 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 1: reward on offer a lot of money in those days, 360 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:17,000 Speaker 1: and the robbery became part of folklore, criminal folklore. Of course, 361 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:22,439 Speaker 1: in more recent times, most of our listeners recognized Kinnerborough 362 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:27,199 Speaker 1: because of his association with the big players in the 363 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 1: underworld war. He was a guy that knew most people 364 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:33,639 Speaker 1: and was on good terms with most people in the 365 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 1: Melbourne underworld. He was a figure who bridged the old 366 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:43,920 Speaker 1: fashioned waterfront painters and dockers crime times when organized crime 367 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: in Melbourne was run out of Port Melbourne pubs by 368 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:52,399 Speaker 1: old guys wearing braysom bib overalls. And he linked that 369 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: world with the world of Lygon Street and the smoothies 370 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: driving around in black Mercedes and all that sort of stuff. 371 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: And he was respected and to some extent loved by 372 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: a lot of people. Alfonse Gangitano, the old Marand brothers 373 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,120 Speaker 1: and the younger Morand brothers. He knew them all and 374 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: was widely liked. Even some of the old time police 375 00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:21,480 Speaker 1: couldn't help liking him, because there was always that grudging 376 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: admiration for a safe cracker. He was an old fashioned 377 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: sort of bloke who loved a bit of opportunity and 378 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 1: if he got a chance to fix a race to 379 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 1: shorten the odds on his way through, you know, cultivating jockeys, 380 00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 1: he would do that. He was sometimes seen at places 381 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 1: like Choice out in Hawthorne talking to a favorite jockey 382 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: or two, often seen at the Flower Drum, the expensive 383 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:52,720 Speaker 1: Chinese restaurant in the city, favored by wealthy people, but 384 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: particularly by crooks. And famously somebody said to him, once 385 00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,679 Speaker 1: you know all that money you made over the years, Graham, 386 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: what you do with it? And he said, well, you know, 387 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: a lot of it gets wasted. He said, I reckon, 388 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 1: I've eaten fifty grands worth of fried rice at the 389 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,439 Speaker 1: Flower Drum. He kept his eye and he kept his 390 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: hand in. He had an associate that will call Byron. 391 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: He's dead now, so it's fine. And what they do 392 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 1: they'd load up with a bit of hot stuff from 393 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: the boutiques and shops. This would be high end clothing 394 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: that had been stolen to water, a lot of it, 395 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:34,719 Speaker 1: and the thieves would get I think half its ticket 396 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,600 Speaker 1: value from the receivers, and then the receivers had sell 397 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 1: it out at something like two thirds of its ticket 398 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: value to clients. And I know people who should be 399 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: ashamed of themselves who can recall going to a motel 400 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: I think in Port Melbourne or South Melbourne and there'd 401 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: be the monster in his car out the front with 402 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,679 Speaker 1: his mobile phone waving them up so you can go 403 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,040 Speaker 1: up to room nine or whatever it was up an 404 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: upstairs room. You had to walk up a flight of 405 00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: stairs to get to it, which added to the security 406 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: element of it. Made it harder for anybody to surprise anybody, 407 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: and you couldn't get to the windows easily and you'd 408 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: get waved up. You go up, you knock on the 409 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 1: door and say, you know, Brian sent me, and Byron 410 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,119 Speaker 1: would let you in and you would be able to 411 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:27,679 Speaker 1: peruse at your leisure silk shirts, beautiful tweed jackets, that 412 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:31,800 Speaker 1: sort of thing, shoes sometimes and I know people are 413 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:36,200 Speaker 1: very well dressed who got their clothes from this method 414 00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:40,160 Speaker 1: the Monster traveling boutique. And once you'd finished, they'd pay 415 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,120 Speaker 1: cash to the man and they'd walk out, and then 416 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,199 Speaker 1: someone else would be sent up, and of course the 417 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: Monster would be outside with his mobile length there was 418 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 1: any chance of any body turning up who might be 419 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,639 Speaker 1: undercover police or something, he'd be able to warn or 420 00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,360 Speaker 1: made upstairs and then be able to drive away and 421 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: himself from the scene of the crime. The Munster was 422 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: a man who knew how to behave in almost any occasion, 423 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: so it's no surprise to know that one of his 424 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 1: offspring married the grandson or granddaughter of a Victorian state minister. 425 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:24,880 Speaker 1: So here is somebody whose family married into the family 426 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: of a fairly prominent and very respectable I think liberal minister. 427 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: And this was quite fascinating to some of the people 428 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 1: at the wedding because they came from very different worlds. 429 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: And someone said when a monster gave a speech as 430 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: the bride's father or wherever he was, it reminded them 431 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,560 Speaker 1: of Marlon Brando in his role as the godfather. And 432 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,120 Speaker 1: another couldn't help noticing that there were always four chaps 433 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 1: wearing sunglasses standing around the munster, even though it was 434 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: ten o'clock at night. It's just highly unusual for those circles. 435 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: But of course, as most of our listeners know, it 436 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: ended badly on the night of the thirteenth of December 437 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: two thousand and three, when Graham Kinilborough came home I 438 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: think driving his second hand Ford Falcon. He wasn't one 439 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: to drive flashy cars because they attracted attention, and he 440 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:37,000 Speaker 1: drives home to his substantial and prosperous house in a 441 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: very prosperous street in QW Belmont Avenue, which is actually 442 00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: full of big Victorian double story houses, but his was 443 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 1: not the fanciest house in the street. It was just 444 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: a good house. And if you're interested, it's just on 445 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: where the little bend comes in the road in Belmont Avenue, 446 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,800 Speaker 1: down towards the cemetery end. He gets home late at night, 447 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: I think sometimes between eleven and midnight, and on his 448 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: way home because his wife, I think her name was Sybil, 449 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: I think she got in touch and said, look, we 450 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:14,280 Speaker 1: need bread and milk and whatever. And he's got an 451 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,720 Speaker 1: armful of groceries and he steps out of the car 452 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 1: and he walks towards the front door, and sadly, there 453 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: were I think two hit men waiting for him, and 454 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: they opened fire. He got some warning that it was 455 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 1: going to happen because he managed to pull out a 456 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 1: pistol himself, drop his groceries, pull out a pistol and 457 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: get off one shot. But he was too late and 458 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: they shot him dead. A lot of people blamed the 459 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:49,040 Speaker 1: little crook Andrew Venomon for this. Andrew Venamon, known as Benji, 460 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: had killed many people during the Underworld War, and it 461 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,720 Speaker 1: was known that he would kill anyone on a contract 462 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: basis if he were paid. And there is no doubt 463 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: that close to Kinnerborough were very angry and very grief stricken, 464 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: and they blamed Andrew Venamon, and it probably led to 465 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 1: Andrew Venamon's death. He, of course, was shot dead in 466 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: a Carlton restaurant in a heated discussion with Mic Gatter 467 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:27,480 Speaker 1: and at the time Mick Gaddow quite understandably blamed Venomon 468 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 1: for shooting his good friend Graham Kinnerborough. It turns out 469 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: that it wasn't Venomin after all. The police soon worked 470 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: that out. The police had actual surveillance tapes and bugs 471 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: and all that which showed that Venamin at the time 472 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,320 Speaker 1: of the shooting was on the other side of Melbourne. 473 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,080 Speaker 1: He was over in the Northern suburbs, and so they 474 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: knew it wasn't Venamin. There's no doubt that two men 475 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: were involved in killing Graham Kinnerborough, but only one of 476 00:31:56,600 --> 00:32:01,400 Speaker 1: them was finally arrested and convicted of it was Stephen Asling, 477 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: and he was convicted. But the other hitman, a man 478 00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: called Terence Blewett, was not arrested and convicted because he 479 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: was already dead. The underworld moves in mysterious ways, as 480 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: we said, and he had been killed and buried in 481 00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: what was more or less a waste dump out in 482 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: Thomastown because of some internal upheaval in the underworld, and 483 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: quite possibly because he had knowledge of the death of 484 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: Graham Kinneborough and it could be that he's co accused 485 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: Asling decided to rub him out first. There is no 486 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: honor among thieves, or very rarely, some would say that 487 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 1: Graham Kinneborough had a little bit of honor more than most. 488 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Life and Crimes is a Sunday Herald 489 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:03,680 Speaker 1: Sun production true crime Australia. Our producer is Johnty Burton. 490 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: For my columns, features and more, go to Heraldsun dot 491 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 1: com dot au, forward slash Andrew rule one word. For 492 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 1: advertising inquiries, go to news Podcasts sold at news dot 493 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: com dot au. That is all one word news podcast's 494 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:29,320 Speaker 1: sold And if you want further information about this episode, 495 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 1: links are in the description.