1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:04,600 Speaker 1: Abbot soon split these four fellow jail breakers who were 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: quickly caught through their own stupidity, one in a Footscray 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: pub after starting a drunken brawl because a fellow drinker 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: refused to believe he was an escapade. That feat started 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,279 Speaker 1: the Abbot legend, part of which was the assertion that 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 1: he deliberately taunted police by sending postcards to them while 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: on the run. I'm Andrew Rule. This is Life and Crimes. 8 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: We're going to revisit the story of that bloke called 9 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: Brendan James Abbott, alias the Postcard Bandit. The story of 10 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: the Postcard Bandit is back in the zeitgeist because in 11 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: recent weeks we've had a book republished and an updated book, 12 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: new title, new look, new pictures, new chapters. It's been 13 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: republished by major publisher Alan and Dumman, and not one, 14 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,720 Speaker 1: but two works of film. One is a drama series 15 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: that's being screened on a streamer. It's called Run, and 16 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:11,199 Speaker 1: the other one is a most excellent two part docco 17 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: called The post Guard Bandit made by Warner Brothers. And 18 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: there's a lot of raps, particularly on the docco. So 19 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: clearly it's time to take another look at the life 20 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: and crimes of Brendan Abbott, in case people forget who 21 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: he was or a younger generation didn't know about him 22 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:35,319 Speaker 1: at all. Abbott was intelligent, resourceful, self reliant. He had 23 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: technical flair sharpened by observation and a hunger to learn. 24 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: The kid from broad Meadows could have mastered any legitimate 25 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:48,360 Speaker 1: trade and built up a business that would have made 26 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:53,279 Speaker 1: him a wealthy man. But he didn't like Russell Cox 27 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: and Ray Chuck and Billy the Texan Longley and all 28 00:01:57,120 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: the rest of the Gunman in a line, all the 29 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: way back to the Bushranger days of Ben Hall and 30 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: Ned Kelly. Young Brendan Abbot took the wrong turn. Abbot 31 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: turned sixty four this May. He's sitting in a high 32 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: security prison cell in Casurina Prison in Western Australia. If 33 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: and when he leaves prison in twenty twenty eight, after 34 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: serving a longer sentence than many murderers do, he'll hit 35 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:29,240 Speaker 1: retirement age with no more than a notoriety that comes 36 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: with being one of the most prolific robbers and ingenious 37 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: escape artists in Australian crime history. That is, of course, 38 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 1: unless he has something stashed away which personally I doubt 39 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: because they never seem to. But if there's one crook 40 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: who just might have worked out a way to game 41 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: the system, it might be Brendan Abbot. In Australia, only 42 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 1: the enigmatic and deadly Rustle Cox alias Maddog Cox matches 43 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: or overshadows Abbot's deeds as a jail breaker and elusive fugitive, 44 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: but it's unlikely that even Cox the Fox, rob more 45 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: banks of more cash than Abbot did. Abbott was the 46 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: one who became the shape shifting interstate raidar cattually but 47 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: inaccurately dubbed the postcard Bandit. Abbott is something like the 48 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: legendary American bank robber and escaper Slick Willie Sutton, who 49 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: entered folklore a bit like the nineteen thirties fugitive John 50 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: Dillinger as the ultimate repeat offender. Assway kept robbing banks, 51 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: Sutton allegedly retorted, because that's where the money is. It's 52 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:55,120 Speaker 1: a killer line that has entered the language, although Sutton 53 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: insisted later that a New York crime reporter made it up, 54 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: which is entirely possible. Abbot pulled dozens of robberies, but 55 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: the same as with Slick Willie and John Dillinger and others. 56 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: His exploits were polished in the retelling. Still, Abbot was 57 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: credited with the biggest robberies in each of three states 58 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: during the one thousand, nine hundred and forty eight days 59 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: that he was on the run, a period of five 60 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: years and four months, only slightly less time than World 61 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: War II took, and a time in which maybe forty 62 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: strikingly similar bank robberies went unsolved from Perth to Queensland. 63 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,799 Speaker 1: Those five years outside the law don't include the six 64 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: months that the young Abbot had spent on the loose 65 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,599 Speaker 1: after slipping out of a suburban police interview room in 66 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: Perth in December nineteen eighty six. Those five years outside 67 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: the lord also don't include the six months that the 68 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: older Abbot spent on the run after staging a prison 69 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,840 Speaker 1: break in Queensland in nineteen ninety seven that made him 70 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:12,720 Speaker 1: public enemy number one for police, prison bosses and politicians 71 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: in the Sunshine State. It was a case of here 72 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 1: one day, gone the next. The fact that he left 73 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 1: a prison transfer form filled in in his empty cell 74 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: the night that he went through the window didn't make 75 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: him popular with the authorities. Abbot's escape crew, there were 76 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,799 Speaker 1: four others with him, used smuggle diamond wire to cut 77 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:44,679 Speaker 1: bas through at the Sir David Longland Correctional Center outside 78 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: Brisbane before a conspirator outside, a very young ex prisoner 79 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: called Brendan Barreshon, threw bol cutters over the perimeter fence 80 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,479 Speaker 1: and shot up the armored perimeter guard vehicle with an 81 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 1: assault rifle that rather helped the escaper's cause. Abbot soon 82 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: split these four fellow jail breakers, who were quickly caught 83 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: through their own stupidity. One can you believe this? In 84 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: a Footscray pub after starting a drunken brawl because a 85 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: fellow drinker refused to believe he was an escapee. The 86 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: resulting headline suggested that it was the gang with one brain. 87 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,599 Speaker 1: The only brain was Abbot, and he'd split from the 88 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: bunch almost as soon as they got out of prison 89 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: in Queensland. But Abbot meanwhile did stick loyally to the 90 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,919 Speaker 1: nineteen year old Brendan Bereschon, the young guy who'd thrown 91 00:06:42,960 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: in the bolt cutters and produced i think two or 92 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: three guns and shot up the armored forbill drive that 93 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: was patrolling the perimeter. Because without that they could never 94 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: have got out, and Abbot did the right thing and 95 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: sort of stuck with this rather loose kid. You can 96 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 1: imagine he was rather less that he would do such 97 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: a thing. He's out of jail, he's free. He could 98 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: just get a job or go surfing or something. But no, 99 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: he has to get guns and break five dangerous men 100 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: out of jail. It would seem to be a fairly 101 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: rash thing to do, so Abbot sticks with him. But 102 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: it turns out that Abbot's concept of honor among thieves 103 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 1: was probably a mistake. Abbott might have stayed in Smoke 104 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,560 Speaker 1: on the loose indefinitely. He could even have used one 105 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: of his many forged identities to escape overseas, because he'd 106 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,840 Speaker 1: done that before. He'd gone for holidays overseas with fake 107 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 1: passports and stuff. He was very good. But the reckless 108 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 1: and feckless Brendan Barreshon started a shootout with unsuspecting police 109 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: at box Hill while trying to score heroine. That is 110 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: box Hill in Melbourne. Now the fugitive pair at this 111 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: stage had set up safe house in Fitzroy. They managed 112 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: to rent a property in Fitzroy for six months or something. 113 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: It was in not a suburban street with nosy neighbors. 114 00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: It was sort of in a busy place, in a 115 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: bit of light industrial. So it was the perfect spot 116 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: for them to be because escapers like Abbott know that 117 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: the worst place to try and live is in a 118 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: quiet suburban street, because the neighbors are always nosy and 119 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 1: they always wonder what you're up to, and watch what 120 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: you're driving, and watch when you come home and all 121 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:42,560 Speaker 1: that sort of stuff. It was far better to rent 122 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:46,000 Speaker 1: a place in the inner burbs next door to a 123 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: laundromat or whatever it might be. But Berechon developed a 124 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: taste for heroin. He went out to box Hill foolishly 125 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: to score heroin from Vietnamese dealers. And while he was 126 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,080 Speaker 1: there with a pistol in his bum bag, you know, 127 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 1: a couple of uniform coppers that were just local coppers 128 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: asked he who he was and all the rest of it, 129 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: as they did with people buying drugs, and he panicked. 130 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,880 Speaker 1: He pulled out his pistol and he shot one of 131 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: the police. The policeman survived, but he shot him in 132 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: the legs. It wasn't good after that. Abbott was suddenly 133 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: on the back foot because Suddenly these wanted men aren't 134 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 1: just wanted in the abstract. They actually wanted in Melbourne 135 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: for shooting at police. Very bad move, and it was 136 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:40,560 Speaker 1: only a matter of time before the police would grab 137 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: them both in Darwin. And they did that because they 138 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: were able to follow the clues that the clumsy young 139 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: Bereshon and his new striper girlfriend Michelle left everywhere they went. 140 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: Bereshon not only developed a taste for heroin, but he 141 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: got extremely keen on a strip called Michelle, who he 142 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,839 Speaker 1: thought should travel with them, which was a bit of 143 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: a mixed blessing. It did turn two people into three people, 144 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 1: which is good, but it did have its downside because 145 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,199 Speaker 1: you know, she would tend to bring up friends or 146 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,959 Speaker 1: whatever it might be. So in the end, Brendan Abbott 147 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: was brought undone by others, as he eventually had been 148 00:10:23,080 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: during his five year bank robbery campaign back in the 149 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties. That was when he nailed the tactic of 150 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: dropping in through the roof to surprise bank staff just 151 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: before opening time, when cash draws were full and customers 152 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: hadn't yet come inside. The first of many times Abbot 153 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: used that technique was in the Belmont branch of the 154 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:51,839 Speaker 1: Commonwealth Bank in Perth way back in May nineteen eighty seven, 155 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,559 Speaker 1: in his first iteration as an arm robber. That was 156 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: around the time of his twenty fifth birthday. Apart from 157 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: the novel entry via the Ceiling, the robbery stood out 158 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,520 Speaker 1: because one of the bank tellers was the tough West 159 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: Coast Eagles player Carl Langdon. He had the really bottle 160 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: blonde hair and he's very tough guy. And there he 161 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: was in the bank in a shirt that Abbot ridly 162 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: killed rather gently later for being pink. He said, bloody 163 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: Carl Langdon was there in a pink shirt, which he 164 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: found quite amusing. I don't think Carl Langdon found it 165 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: amusing because he ended up with a pistol in his face. 166 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: The Belmont job the Commonwealth Bank in Belmont in Perth 167 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty seven. It ran to more than one 168 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: hundred and twelve thousand dollars that Abbot and a co 169 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:43,600 Speaker 1: offender got away with. It was a state record bank haul. 170 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: Within weeks. This is back in the eighties. He was 171 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,960 Speaker 1: arrested at Perth Airport returning from the north of the state. Oddly, 172 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: Abbot noted later the thirty two thousand dollars cash and 173 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: he'd left in a bag in a vehicle in port 174 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: Headland had shrunk to sixteen thousand dollars by the time 175 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: a prosecutor raised it in the trial that ended up 176 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: convicting him and landing him in the notorious from Mantle 177 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: Prison for his first serious sentence. Remarkably, a detective on 178 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,000 Speaker 1: the case had mentioned it to a port Headland local. 179 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: He said something like, I bet you didn't realize that 180 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: there was thirty two grand in that ute and the 181 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: bull terrier tied up next to it would have lectured 182 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: to death. Wasn't a problem. However, by the time the 183 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:42,000 Speaker 1: case got the court later it had mysteriously halved. Amazing 184 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: shrinking money Abbot learnt from that job. He learned that 185 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:52,840 Speaker 1: you couldn't necessarily trust investigators. The getaway driver for that robbery, 186 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: Peter Levenz, informed his way to a nine month minimum 187 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: and Abbot's longtime girl friend, Jackie Laud. This was a 188 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,839 Speaker 1: girl that he'd known since they were teenagers. She also 189 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: cut a sweet deal that left her ex lover Abbot 190 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:13,079 Speaker 1: facing a twelve year sentence in the stinking stone cells 191 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: of the notorious Fermantle Prison. Was a very bad old place. 192 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: It was very old and was sort of a throwback 193 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: to the convict era. Abbot's answer to that, to a 194 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: twelve year sentence was to get a job in the 195 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: prison taylor's shop, the tailoring shop. He was a quick 196 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:36,679 Speaker 1: learner and he befriended the nice taylor who was in charge, 197 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: and he worked out that if he got some blue material, 198 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: which he was able to get, he could fabricate blue 199 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:47,559 Speaker 1: overalls that looked very much like the prison officer's uniforms, 200 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: which was very useful. This was a prop that allowed 201 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: him to lead a late night escape across the prison 202 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:00,839 Speaker 1: rooftops on November twenty fourth, nineteen eighty nine. That feat 203 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: started the Abbot legend, part of which was the assertion 204 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 1: that he deliberately taunted police by sending postcards to them 205 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: while on the run. Now, it's a great story, the 206 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: postcard story, and it's given rise to the name of 207 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: our documentary that's out now, and it's rise to the 208 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: title of the reissued book, which originally called The Australian 209 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: Outlaw or Australian Outlaw, now retitled The Postcard Bandit. It's 210 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: become part of the Australian language. But sadly the postcard 211 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: story was a fabrication based on the fact that police 212 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: found a role of film left in a car by 213 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 1: Abbot and he's fellow Fremantle escaper Aaron Reynolds, And when 214 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: the police developed that role of film they saw a 215 00:14:54,800 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: frame one frame of Reynolds standing outside a West Australian 216 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: Country police station. So the two scully wags on the run, 217 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: the fugitives. Abbot's got Reynolds to stand outside the I 218 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,040 Speaker 1: think dwelling up. It's a town over there in the 219 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 1: wet belt, stand there and he took a photo of him. 220 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: They left the role of film in the car and 221 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: the copas got the film later and developed it. So 222 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: that's how it sort of started. There were other holiday 223 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: snaps of the fugitive pair, but they weren't sent to 224 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: the police or sent to anybody. These snaps they took 225 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: when they took a tour bus. The two escapees very wisely, 226 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: because Abbot was smart. They posed as tourists and they 227 00:15:42,360 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: bought tickets on a tour bus. They didn't go to 228 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: see the penguins at Phillip Island, but they went to 229 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: Oolaroo and all those sort of good things, and they 230 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: peld up with a male Japanese tourist. So you had 231 00:15:54,760 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: these two Aussies in sunglasses and hats, happy chappies with 232 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: a very friendly Japanese tourist, and they traveled as a threesome. 233 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: And that of course didn't make them look like desperate 234 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: robbers on the run. They just looked like, you know, 235 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:18,440 Speaker 1: suburban boys having a week off in the bus tour. However, 236 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: when these pictures were eventually found by the police in 237 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: some other raid whenever they were subsequently developed and the 238 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: police leaked them to a magazine later on that cynically 239 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:37,480 Speaker 1: and dishonestly mischaracterized them as postcards. They never were postcards. 240 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: They were just holiday snaps which weren't even developed by 241 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: the crooks. The police had developed them and they were 242 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: used in that way, And it was really a fabrication 243 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: done with the cooperation of the police to draw attention 244 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:55,800 Speaker 1: to these guys. Not that really matters, I do so 245 00:16:55,880 --> 00:17:00,560 Speaker 1: as the police armed Roberson fugitives the truth but anyway, 246 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: Abbot's exploits were always going to be aired given his 247 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:11,080 Speaker 1: sheer audacity, but the credit for telling the true story 248 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: behind the legend belongs to a journalist and author now 249 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,640 Speaker 1: known as Abe Madison. More than twenty years ago, when 250 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: the then young writer or reporter was using his adoptive 251 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:31,200 Speaker 1: name Derek Pedley, he gained Abbot's trust and built contacts 252 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: among Abbot's family members, friends and former lovers. After his 253 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:41,560 Speaker 1: first book, No Fixed Address, he wrote a more detailed 254 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: and compelling account of Abbot's life, which was published in 255 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 1: two thousand and six, twenty years ago as Australian Outlaw. 256 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 1: This was followed by a mini series starring the late 257 00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:58,360 Speaker 1: Tom Long as Abbot. It was not a bad series, 258 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:05,199 Speaker 1: pretty watchable. Tom Long the nice young actor that really 259 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 1: was well known through Sea Change and other things and 260 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: the dish. He didn't really look like Abbot as such, 261 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: but he did have a rather friendly face which helped. 262 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:21,840 Speaker 1: And the music, the signature music in that series was 263 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:27,240 Speaker 1: the great Australian crawl song don't be so reckless or 264 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: reckless brackets don't be so and the key line in 265 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: that is throw down your guns, don't be so reckless, 266 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,879 Speaker 1: and that would be used over and over in that series. 267 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,640 Speaker 1: That was very effective. Now full disclosure, because we're very 268 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:47,639 Speaker 1: ethical here at Life and Crimes Ay that is Andrew 269 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: Rule edited and published that two thousand and six version 270 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 1: of Australian Outlaw, and it's an updated version of that 271 00:18:55,520 --> 00:19:00,760 Speaker 1: book which was relaunched recently in recent weeks by Alan 272 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: and Aman the publishers, under the title the inevitable title 273 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: The Postcard Bandit. Now, this new look book takes in 274 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: later aspects of Abbot's life and crimes and subsequent prison 275 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:21,639 Speaker 1: sentences and escapes. It coincides with the release of the 276 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: new drama series named Run and a two hour documentary, 277 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: which of course is also called The Postcard Bandit. So 278 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,800 Speaker 1: regardless of that bang of fabrication, it is now part 279 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: of the language. That's it. The book, the updated book 280 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 1: and the films. The documentary and the drama mark a 281 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: return to the spotlight for the long term prisoner now 282 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: cooling his heels in Cajuna Prison, contemplating and exciting but 283 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:00,800 Speaker 1: ultimately wasted life. It's been a big year for his 284 00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:07,200 Speaker 1: biographer Pedley alias Madison, who has charted the Abbott story 285 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 1: so meticulously across more than two decades, in fact, close 286 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,199 Speaker 1: to quarter of a century really. Of course, listeners with 287 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: long memories will recall that we spoke with Abe Madison 288 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:26,080 Speaker 1: alias Dek Pedley back in twenty twenty three in an 289 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:30,680 Speaker 1: episode we called the Postcard Bandit and Me And some 290 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: of these stories we've been over before, but some we haven't. 291 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,680 Speaker 1: So there you go now. The journal now known as 292 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,919 Speaker 1: Abe Madison, was born in May nineteen seventy two, exactly 293 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: ten years after Brendan Abbott. There are other similarities apart 294 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: from being born in May. His mother, that is Abe 295 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:57,240 Speaker 1: Madison's mother, like Abbot's mother, Thelma, had fallen pregnant as 296 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: an unmarried teenager. But whereas Abbot barely sixteen, married Brian 297 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: Abbott and had five children in quick succession, of which 298 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:13,400 Speaker 1: Brendan was the third. Perth girl Joy Madison had no 299 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:18,680 Speaker 1: choice but to give up the baby that she called Abraham, 300 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: and that baby was subsequently raised as Derek Pedley by 301 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:29,880 Speaker 1: a kindly couple who lived in country western Australia. When 302 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: young Derrick as he was called then found out the 303 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: truth about his origins at the age of fifteen, it 304 00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: rocked him profoundly. The boy was energetic and creative, and 305 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:49,359 Speaker 1: he later forged a successful career as a reporter, but 306 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: behind the facat he presented the world, he drank heavily 307 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 1: and he ate far too much, and he did that 308 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: to ease the sort of psychic pain that he felt. 309 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: It's not uncommon with adopted boys particularly. I think he's 310 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: a tall man, and as a troubled youngster in his twenties, 311 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:13,160 Speaker 1: he reached weights of up to one hundred and thirty 312 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 1: kilograms because he used to drink bourbon for breakfast, the 313 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 1: beer for lunch and so on. He did a lot 314 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 1: of drinking and he smoked a lot of weed. He 315 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: told me the other day that for years he doesn't 316 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: think he was not stoned at work, and yet he 317 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: managed to function somehow. Ape Madison, the artist formerly known 318 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: as Derek Pedley, would eventually tell his own story in 319 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: his moving memoir Crazy Bastard, but that came much later, 320 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: just a few years ago. His first books were, of course, 321 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: about Brendan Abbott, and the updated version, launched the other day, 322 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 1: traces the postcard bandit story from Broadmeadows in the nineteen 323 00:22:55,400 --> 00:23:01,000 Speaker 1: sixties to Perth Maximum Security Prison in the twenty twenties 324 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: and everything in between. Its part non fiction thriller, part biography, 325 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,399 Speaker 1: and part morality tale. It underlines the fact that jails 326 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:12,880 Speaker 1: are full of damaged people doomed to be there by 327 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: circumstances of birth and upbringing, but that among them are 328 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 1: a few who strayed from what otherwise might have been 329 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:29,199 Speaker 1: successful lives in the legitimate world. Brendan James Abbott was 330 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: an earmark from birth to a life of crime. To 331 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: a large extent, he chose that path instead of using 332 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 1: the intelligence he was born with to succeed in some 333 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:46,360 Speaker 1: other way. His early choices landed him in prison. Then 334 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: he doubled down and compounded his mistake by using his 335 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,919 Speaker 1: brain to break out of jail, a move guaranteeing that 336 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:58,120 Speaker 1: he would inevitably be hunted down when he ran out 337 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: of hiding places. His success as a robber an escaper 338 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 1: ensured his failure as a man, as a father, as 339 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,720 Speaker 1: a brother, and as a son. In the end, Brendan 340 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: Abbott's life has been wasted, spent sentence to more years 341 00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:24,919 Speaker 1: inside than anyone not actually convicted of murder. For the 342 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: rest of us. Of course, it makes a good tale, 343 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,679 Speaker 1: which is why it's been told before, and he's been 344 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:35,640 Speaker 1: told again on the page and on the screen. There's 345 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: a PostScript to this story that's just come up. His 346 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:45,400 Speaker 1: fellow escaper, Brendan Beershon, the man who shot the policeman 347 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 1: at Boux Hill all those years ago, the man who 348 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: was on the run with Abbott and over the two 349 00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 1: most wanted men in the country for months. Apparently he 350 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,119 Speaker 1: didn't want to attract attention when this book was relaunched 351 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,639 Speaker 1: recently and he kept a low prof But I understand 352 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: that he's involved heavily in running a Melbourne chym nasum, 353 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: which is interesting. So somewhere out there in the Burbs, 354 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:14,160 Speaker 1: if you're going to a gym, you might see a 355 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:20,479 Speaker 1: fairly hard looking, lean, fit looking bloke and wonder if 356 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: there's something vaguely familiar about his name. It's Brendan Berrishon, 357 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: jail breaker, robber, gunman and cop shooter. Not a cop killer, 358 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 1: just a cop shooter and probably a reform character with 359 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:44,280 Speaker 1: let's hope thanks for listening. Life and Crimes is a 360 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 1: Sunday Herald Sun production for True Crime Australia. Our producer 361 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: is Johnty Burton. For my columns, features and more, go 362 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:58,840 Speaker 1: to herold'sun dot com dot Au forward slash Andrew Rule 363 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:04,959 Speaker 1: one word For advertising inquiries. Go to news podcasts sold 364 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 1: at news dot com dot au. That is all one 365 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:14,040 Speaker 1: word news podcasts sold And if you want further information 366 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: about this episode, links are in the description.