1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: He was once driving down King Street, Essendon, and he 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: said to his companion, the smartest criminal in Australia lives 3 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,240 Speaker 1: in this street. And the other blog said, who's that 4 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: and he said Stan James, and the other fellow said, 5 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: never heard of him. 6 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:18,639 Speaker 2: A judge who had. 7 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: Been a defense lawyer for a lot of those crims. 8 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: He said to me that it's hard to be the 9 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:25,760 Speaker 1: best standover man in town. 10 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 2: If you've got. 11 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,639 Speaker 1: A bitten out of your ear, it's not good for business. 12 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:33,840 Speaker 1: I'm Andrew Rule. This is life in Crimes. This week 13 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about an old time crook that 14 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: no one knew was a crook except for a very 15 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: small circle of people. We can talk about him at 16 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:53,599 Speaker 1: long last, because finally he died. He died on October 17 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: the twenty sixth, and the only reason we know that 18 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: is that he's Golf Club, the only private golf club 19 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,039 Speaker 1: in the Western Suburbs, has put up a nice note 20 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: saying that thirty year member Stan James has passed away 21 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: and that he's a much loved husband of Lorraine and 22 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: much loved father of Linda, which is exactly right. But 23 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: Stan James was more than a suburban hacker. Stan James, 24 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,120 Speaker 1: although he hardly darkened the inside of a police station 25 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:33,240 Speaker 1: or a prison in decades, was thought to be one 26 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: of the cleverest criminal minds this country's ever seen. And 27 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,119 Speaker 1: the person that used that description of him is a 28 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: former leading investigator in the arm robbery squad from the past, 29 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: a person who is currently overseas and who may not 30 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: even know that his old adversary Stan James. 31 00:01:58,200 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 2: Has passed on. 32 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: But this particular senior detective. When I say a senior detective, 33 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: I mean an officer, someone towards the top of the 34 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: robbery squad business. He was once driving down King Street, 35 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: Essendon and he said to his companion, the smartest criminal 36 00:02:19,680 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: in Australia lives in this street. And the other blog said, 37 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,280 Speaker 1: who's that? And he said Stan James, And the other 38 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,519 Speaker 1: fellow said, never heard of him. He said, well, he's 39 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: the time and motion man who helped plan the great 40 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: Bookie robbery. And I believe he's been involved in plenty 41 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 1: of other robberies as well, probably won every couple of 42 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: years now. Even if that is overestimating the number of 43 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: robberies that stan James had some knowledge of, there is 44 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: no doubt that he was heavily associated with the Great 45 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: Bookie Robbery, and that has gone down in Australian criminal 46 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: history as one of the greatest tists since the Bush 47 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:07,239 Speaker 1: Rangers knocked off a stagecoach full of gold back in 48 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: the bad old days. Of course, most of our listeners 49 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,079 Speaker 1: will be very familiar with the Bookie Robbery because it's 50 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 1: something that. 51 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 2: We refer to. 52 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: But just for those who've forgotten, it happened in April 53 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy six. It was on a Wednesday. It was 54 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: at the Victorian Club in Queen Street in Melbourne. The 55 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: Victorian Club was where traditionally all the big Melbourne bookies 56 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 1: or Victorian bookies would meet after race meetings to settle 57 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: up money. This particular one was a bumper settlement of 58 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: cash because it was a Wednesday after Easter and there'd 59 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: been three major meetings over the Easter break, one on 60 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,119 Speaker 1: the Saturday, one on the Monday, one on the Tuesday, 61 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: and those meetings were big. A lot of people had 62 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: gone to them, and there was a poultice of money 63 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: bet won and lost, and more than one hundred bookies 64 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: had gathered at the Victorian Club to settle up and 65 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: what they. 66 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 2: Would do there was. 67 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: The armored car would arrive from the armored car depot 68 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: in North Melbourne and would bring in all the cash 69 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: and that would be loaded in cash boxes. The cash 70 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: would be actually in canvas bags. The canvas bags would 71 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: be locked into these big sort of iron cash boxes 72 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: and they would be trundled in from the armored car 73 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: below by security guards who would put it on trolleys 74 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: wheeled in, get on the lift, take it up to 75 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,280 Speaker 1: i think the second floor, and take it out into 76 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: the caged area they had in the Victorian Club where 77 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 1: the bookies would count their money and pay out people 78 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: that they owe money to and take in money that 79 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: they were owed. It was one of those sort of deals. Now, 80 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,920 Speaker 1: obviously the settlement day would be attempting target for an 81 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: armed robbery, but the reason that had never been robbed 82 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: in history before was that it was a reasonably secure place, 83 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: or it seemed that way. It was upstairs in the 84 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: city and there were some arm guards there who helped 85 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: bring the money in, but also as an added insurance, 86 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: and this was important. Normally, what would happen is that 87 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: members of the arm robbery squad and or the major 88 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: crime squad would turn up on settlement day. Now, these 89 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,680 Speaker 1: police would do this not so much as a favor. 90 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,160 Speaker 1: They'd probably be slung some cash to turn up. They 91 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: acted as unofficial escorts for the money. They would turn 92 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: up to the distribution of the cash. They would hang 93 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: around while it was being done. And of course these guys, 94 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 1: large men standing around in cheap suits, they would all 95 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: be carrying their regulation issue in their belts or under 96 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 1: their jackets or whatever. They be armed detectives there for 97 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: settlement day normally, but on this particular day, this bumper day, 98 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: when there's millions of dollars there, Guess what happened, and 99 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: many people listening will know this. What happened was that 100 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: a senior policeman, a man called Eric Jenetsky, God bless 101 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: his soul, he sent at the eleventh hour. He sent 102 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:31,880 Speaker 1: the detectives who would normally turn up to the settlement 103 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: off on a wild goose chase to an alleged robbery 104 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: attempt down at Frankston or something like that, a long 105 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: way out of Melbourne, and they were sent there late 106 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,160 Speaker 1: in the morning. Off they went, and so they didn't 107 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,919 Speaker 1: turn up on time for the settlement, and everybody thought, oh, well, 108 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: that'll be fine. It'll go smoothly as it usually does. 109 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: But amazingly, this was the day that the robbery are 110 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: very well planned robbery Robbie that had been planned for 111 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: many weeks or many months was enacted and unfolded. It 112 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: was a brilliant robbery. It was based somewhat on the 113 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: robberies pulled by the Wembley Gang in London. Over in England, 114 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: these were the state of the art robbers over there. 115 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: They would use stop watches, they used commando tactics. They 116 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: were very organized, very well disguised, fast in, fast out. 117 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: Knew exactly what they were doing. Always war gloves, always 118 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: wore Bella Clavis, the whole thing, no mistakes made. And 119 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: a very dashing Victorian crook called Raymond Patrick Bennett, but 120 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: known to his criminal mates as ray Chuck because his 121 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: original family name was Chuck. When he was born and 122 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: bred in northeastern Victoria at Chiltern, his family name was Chuck, 123 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:56,240 Speaker 1: so most crooks call him that anyway. Raymond Patrick Chuck 124 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: alias Bennett, probably planned. 125 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 2: This robbery pretty well. 126 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: He put together a team of robbers, other good arm 127 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: robbers from around Melbourne. He had been in England where 128 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: he had done a lot of jobs with the Kangaroo Gang, 129 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: famous scallywag Australians over there. He'd in fact come back 130 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: to Melbourne to tea up some robbers here and then 131 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: went back to England and then came back and he 132 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: took all these robbery guys on a training camp up 133 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,120 Speaker 1: to the bush outside of Canton. I think it was 134 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: trained them all one of those areas up there, and 135 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: he trained them up, got them off the booze, got 136 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,920 Speaker 1: him on the steak sandwiches or whatever, and water and 137 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: cups of tea, and did exercises and all the rest 138 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,079 Speaker 1: of it boot camp stuff. And so it was that 139 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: this was very well planned and. 140 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 2: Very well executed. 141 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: But it required somebody really smart, really organized to help 142 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: organize this because there are a lot of moving parts 143 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: in a big robbery. You've got half a dozen guys 144 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: with guns. You've got to have a nus escape route. 145 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:04,400 Speaker 1: You've got to know how to get into the room quickly, swiftly, safely. 146 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: You need everything sorted out so nothing goes wrong. And 147 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: that required a particular sort of expertise. And Stan James, 148 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 1: i am assured, was just the man. And I was 149 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: told about Stan James by a racing identity a few 150 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: years ago. This racing identity said to me, you should 151 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,400 Speaker 1: look up the old newspaper cuttings and you'll notice that 152 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: in the months after the Great Bookie Robbery, a couple 153 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: of people were charged over the bookie robbery, but they 154 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: were subsequently acquitted. They were cleared, But three people were 155 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: charged over the bookie robbery. One was Normy Lee. We've 156 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:47,439 Speaker 1: discussed him here at length. Norman Lung Lee was a 157 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: very good crook, as they call him, who was also 158 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: a dim sim manufacturer around Essendon, the sort of bloke 159 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: that you probably didn't want to eat his dim sims 160 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: in case they had tattoos. But the other two who 161 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 1: charged with Normanly were two women. One was Normanly's common 162 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: law wife, a woman called Lorraine Shirley Hogan who was 163 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: thirty in nineteen seventy seven, just so we get this right. 164 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 1: And the other one was another woman called Lorraine, which 165 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,559 Speaker 1: tells us just how common that name was in that era. 166 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: And she was guess what she was, Lorraine Mary James. 167 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: She was the ever loving wife of Stanley Ernest James. 168 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: And that is the link which shows that the police 169 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 1: had found these people with large amounts of cash that 170 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: they couldn't really explain, and had charged them over handling 171 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: proceeds of the bookie robbery. A magistrate subsequently decided generously 172 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: that there wasn't enough evidence to send this up to 173 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: a higher court, and so the magistrate discharged normally and 174 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:05,400 Speaker 1: the two and they walked. But it remains a fact, 175 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:09,240 Speaker 1: a legal fact, that all three of them were charged 176 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: over the proceeds of the bookie robbery, and that would 177 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 1: suggest that the police, way back in nineteen seventy six 178 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: seventy seven, suspected that the James gang, that is, Stan 179 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: and his wife Lorraine, were involved somehow in the Bookie robbery. 180 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: So hooper Stan James, Well, he's a man of mystery. 181 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: We even are having trouble finding a photograph of him 182 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:43,680 Speaker 1: because he was very camera shye, like his associate mad 183 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:47,760 Speaker 1: Dog Cox Russell Cox, not his real name, was notoriously 184 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: camera shy. When he went to a wedding underwe wedding, 185 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:54,440 Speaker 1: the photographer would come around and photos would be taken, 186 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:58,000 Speaker 1: but suddenly his chair would be empty. He would go outside, 187 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: he would go to the bathroom. He would not be photographed, 188 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: and so there'd be five people at the table or 189 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: thirteen people at the table, whatever. No sign of Russell. 190 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: Same with Stanley. Very camera shy, and there's every chance 191 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 1: that there is no photograph of Stanley Ernest James publicly available. 192 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 1: Probably only his nearest and nearest have some snapshots which 193 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:25,240 Speaker 1: they're unlikely to. 194 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 2: Make available to us. 195 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: The fact that Stanley James died in the last couple 196 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,640 Speaker 1: of weeks means that we can now talk about him. 197 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: So frankly, we've had to sit on this information about 198 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: him for so long. But it's a chance to go 199 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: back through a story which we've half told in the past. 200 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: And the story we've half told in the past is 201 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:52,559 Speaker 1: about a house at fifty one King Street in Essendon, 202 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: and that's the house that Stanley and his bride Lorraine. 203 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 2: Bought shortly after the Great Bookie Robbery. 204 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,600 Speaker 1: Amazingly, they came up with the money to buy that 205 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: house in I think early nineteen seventy seven and if 206 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:10,840 Speaker 1: not late seventy six, but it was certainly in the 207 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 1: months after the Bookie robbery they bought the house at 208 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:17,559 Speaker 1: fifty one King Street, Essendon. In those days, King Street 209 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,559 Speaker 1: tended to have these old weatherboard houses built. I think 210 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: between the Wars sort of twenty thirties era, and this 211 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: was one of the older ones. It was a sort 212 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: of a simple double story house, and double story only 213 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 1: in this way. It had a tall gable and you 214 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: could get up through a manhole in the bathroom, and 215 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: when you got up into the roof space, it was 216 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: revealed that there were floorboards that had been laid over 217 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: the roof joists, so you could walk around up there. 218 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,559 Speaker 1: And so what you had was not literally a double 219 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: story house, but a single story house with a very 220 00:13:56,760 --> 00:14:00,680 Speaker 1: cavernous roof space with flooring added. So that was like 221 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: a giant attic or storeroom. And this is the interesting thing. 222 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,679 Speaker 1: After the Great Book of Robbery in nineteen seventy six, 223 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: the Bookie robbers, those who were known to have or 224 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: suspected to have pulled this robbery. The six gunmen who 225 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: actually went in and did the robbery, plus their helpers. 226 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: There was a guy to drive the van that took 227 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: the money. There was another guy who jammed the lift 228 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: with a chair in the Victorian club. There were others 229 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: who know, somebody else supplied a venue to count the money. 230 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: There were probably you know, seven, eight nine people heavily involved, 231 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: plus Stanley. Those guys came under great pressure from other crooks. 232 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: And we are going to call the other crooks the 233 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: toe cutters. And they were in no particular order. There 234 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 1: was the Cane brothers in Melbourne who were standover guys 235 00:14:56,280 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: in Melbourne. Brian Kane, good standover man, golden gloves, boxer, 236 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,280 Speaker 1: a bit of a gunman, didn't like guns, but carried 237 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: one or had one carried for him often. His brother 238 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: Leslie Kane, who was very violent guy, extremely violent, very tough, 239 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:16,640 Speaker 1: very fierce wild. And they had a third brother called Raymond, 240 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: I think his name was Ray Kane, known as Mussels. 241 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: He wasn't as well known as the other two, but 242 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: they were a very tough standover guys around town. And 243 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: they had a sort of a following in their own 244 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: circles of painters and dockers and that sort of crowd 245 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 1: that went to the boxing and races and two up 246 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: and all that sort of stuff. And I think Brian 247 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: Kane collected money from pubs and speed bookmakers and two 248 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: up games and all the rest of it, as you might. 249 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: When the big robbery came off, there was rising hostility 250 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: between opposing camps of crims and the guys that had 251 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: pulled the robbery. They were well known reasonably quickly because 252 00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: while they were pulling the robbery at the Victorian Club, 253 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: one of them, who was striding back and forth with 254 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: a machine gun to keep all the bookies lying on 255 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: the carpet face down, one of them had spoken a 256 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: couple of times and he said to Ambrose Palmer. Ambrose 257 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: Palmer was there on that day. Ambrose Palmer was not 258 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: a bookmaker. He was a former league footballer and former 259 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: boxer who was a very well known boxing trainer in 260 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: Melbourne in the sixties and seventies. And Ambrose Parmer trained, 261 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: among other people, that great champion Johnny Famershon among others, 262 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: and he was well known to train fighters at the 263 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: gym's at Festival Hall underneath Festival Hall, and a lot 264 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,760 Speaker 1: of that Millieure the boxing gym Millieu. 265 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 2: Rubbed shoulders with crooks. 266 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: A lot of crooks went to the fights, and a 267 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: lot of fighters knew crooks and was one of those things. 268 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: The guy was the machine gun, who of course had 269 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: a mask on, is walking back and forth keeping everybody 270 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: lying down during the robbery while his mates are busy 271 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,000 Speaker 1: cutting open the locks on the cash tins and stuffing 272 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,920 Speaker 1: the cash bags into bigger bags and so on, and 273 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: he's forcing everybody to keep their heads down. And when 274 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: Ambrose Palmer looked up, he said something like and that 275 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,239 Speaker 1: means you too, Ambrose, meaning he knew who Ambrose was, 276 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 1: and Ambrose Palma recognized the guy's voice. 277 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 2: Ambrose forgot to mention. 278 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 1: This to the police when the police he breathed them later, 279 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: but funnily enough, he got his memory back when he 280 00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,200 Speaker 1: was back at the gym a few days later training fighters, 281 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,080 Speaker 1: and he mentioned to somebody that he thought he heard 282 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: so and so's voice during the robbery, and of course 283 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: word leaked immediately. 284 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 2: That it was this guy. This guy, this. 285 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,640 Speaker 1: Guy, and the whole underworld would have had a fair 286 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 1: idea of who done it, because that's the way the 287 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: underworld is. It's a village, it's a small business, and 288 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,600 Speaker 1: only a handful of specialists had the nerve and the 289 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 1: ability and a wherewithal to get away with a big 290 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:09,720 Speaker 1: robbery like this. There's just not many to choose from. 291 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,920 Speaker 1: And the guys who didn't do it knew very well 292 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: it wasn't them, so they knew probably who did do it. 293 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,479 Speaker 1: And so we've got this situation where you've got rival 294 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 1: gangs eyeing each other off, and the toe cutters, as 295 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: we'll call them, would include the cane boys, because those 296 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: stand over guys who probably resented the fact they weren't 297 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: cut into this crime, that they weren't a. 298 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:33,479 Speaker 2: Part of it. 299 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: There would be rogue coppers who we need not name, 300 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:41,960 Speaker 1: but let's name a couple. Paul William Higgins. Paul William Higgins, 301 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: I think would be one who'd be qualify as a 302 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: standover copper who was a crook and a very tough guy. 303 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: He would probably count as a toe cutter who'd be 304 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 1: very inclined to stand over crooks if he could abduct 305 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: them and threaten them and put guns in their ears 306 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 1: and in their mouth forced them to give up the cash. 307 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:07,240 Speaker 1: There would be various robberies and aja crime squad detectives. 308 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:09,719 Speaker 1: The only ones we're talking about would be ones who 309 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,479 Speaker 1: are now dead. Of course, the ones who were alive, clearly, 310 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: we're very honest. The dead ones who were crooks. There's 311 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: a few of those who might have been partial to 312 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: debriefing crooks and checking out where the money had gone 313 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: and perhaps trousering some. 314 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 2: Of it for their troubles, probably for charity. 315 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: Or for the Policeman's Ball or something like that. And 316 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: then there was a fellow good Linus Patrick Driscoll, and 317 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 1: he was a very nasty piece of work. They Colleen 318 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: Jimmy the Pom, but he was actually more Irish. But 319 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: he'd gone, i think from Ireland to England, and from 320 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,280 Speaker 1: England he'd come to Australia to the colonies to spread 321 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,920 Speaker 1: his particular brand of ill will. And he was a 322 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: very tough, mean man. I think he used to do 323 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,640 Speaker 1: things like work as a barman in pubs, but meanwhile 324 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:01,920 Speaker 1: he would kidnap less a gangster us and torture them 325 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:03,679 Speaker 1: to get their money. He was a toe cutter. He 326 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: literally used to get bolt cutters and cut people's toes 327 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 1: off in order to get them to reveal where the 328 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: money was. And these were the sort of people who 329 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: came after the bookie robbers. And Raymond Patrick Bennett alias 330 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 1: ray Chuck was sort of the leader of the Bookie robbers, 331 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 1: and he thought he would get in first. He could 332 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: read the play and he thought I'll get in first. 333 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,440 Speaker 1: And he and a couple of his mates, and I'm 334 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: going to say it was a mister prender Gaston and 335 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: mister Michelson, one of whom's no longer with us. They 336 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: went out to one Turner I believe, to a flat 337 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: in Monturna or an apartment where Les Kane and his 338 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: wife Judy and their two little kids were sort of 339 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 1: living there quietly, well away from their usual house in 340 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: the suburbs. Les Kane knew that trouble was brewing, so 341 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:06,640 Speaker 1: he took his wife and kids out to the outer 342 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:11,000 Speaker 1: suburbs because there was basically a war had been declared. 343 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: There had been an incident in a Richmond pub which 344 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: had really ignited this underworld war on what it was, 345 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: it was a fight between I think Vinnie Mickelson and 346 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: Brian Kane. It was certainly Brian Kane on the receiving 347 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 1: end because in this barroom brawl, a very savage barroom brawl, 348 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,200 Speaker 1: Brian Kane, who was a dab hand with his fists, 349 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,400 Speaker 1: he was a very good fighter. The street fighter opposing 350 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: him and I think it was Mickelson bit a piece 351 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: from Brian Kane's ear, quite a large chunk, which embarrassed 352 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:51,919 Speaker 1: Brian Kane. Later he grew his hair down over his 353 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: ears to cover up the scar, but as a judge 354 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 1: said to me many years later, a judge who had 355 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,920 Speaker 1: been a defense lawyer for a lot of those crims. 356 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,560 Speaker 1: He said to me, he said, it's hard to be 357 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: the best standover man in town. If you've got a 358 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,240 Speaker 1: bit bitten out of your ear, it's not good for business. 359 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:13,760 Speaker 2: He put his. 360 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: Finger right on it that once. If you're a big 361 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: time tough guy who's a standover man, you can't really 362 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 1: go around showing people that you've had a piece bitten 363 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:25,560 Speaker 1: out of your ear, because it means you are not 364 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:27,959 Speaker 1: the toughest guy in the Valley of death. You are 365 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 1: the second toughest. And so it meant war, and it 366 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 1: meant the Caine brothers were against the. 367 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,360 Speaker 2: Bookie robbers, and the bookie. 368 00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: Robbers got in against les Kin, who was very dangerous, 369 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,920 Speaker 1: very mean. They went out there to the place in Montana. 370 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: Les Kane and his wife, Judy, and the little kids, 371 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: two little kids, had been out for a Chinese meal, 372 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 1: which just shows you that Chinese food can get you killed. 373 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:59,119 Speaker 1: It's not just the MSG. They got home to the 374 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: Monturna flat and Judy Kane noticed that their little dog, 375 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 1: their little dashound. I think it was a little short 376 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: legged dog, a miniature dashound. I'm gonna say his name 377 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,840 Speaker 1: was Freda. Might be wrong, might be wrong, but anyway, 378 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 1: his name doesn't matter. And she noticed that. She thought 379 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,359 Speaker 1: she'd left the dog in the backyard or in the house, 380 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,520 Speaker 1: and here it is outside the front door of the house, 381 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: and it's been put up on a chair that's sitting 382 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: on the porch or on the veranda beside the front door. 383 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:34,360 Speaker 1: And she thought, that's funny. That little dog can't jump 384 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,280 Speaker 1: that high. He can't jump up onto a chair. His 385 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,239 Speaker 1: legs are too short. Somebody must have lifted him up 386 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 1: and set him on the chair. And this is sort 387 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: of going through her mind, but she's not taking a 388 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: lot of notice. She just thought that's funny. Maybe somebody 389 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,440 Speaker 1: walking past us seeing me. I don't know. Anyway, they 390 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: opened the door, they go in and guess what. There's 391 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 1: three masked men with automatic weapons. They've actually got twenty 392 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: two rifles that have been modified so that they shoot 393 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: like machine guns. And the two of the guys grabbed 394 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,639 Speaker 1: Le's cane and dragged him into the bathroom, and the 395 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: other one gets Judy and the kits and shoves them 396 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: into a bedroom and slams the door, so they can't 397 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:18,159 Speaker 1: hear or see what's happening. They shoot les Cane in 398 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:22,680 Speaker 1: the bathroom. They shooting comprehensively in the head and elsewhere, 399 00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,399 Speaker 1: lots of bullets. They dragged him down the hallway, so 400 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,360 Speaker 1: there's blood and brain matter and stuff all the way 401 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 1: down the hallway, and they liim next to the front door. 402 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: And then they apparently backed his own car, pink Food Futura. 403 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:39,959 Speaker 1: They must have got the keys for it, and they 404 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,119 Speaker 1: back it in and they drag his body out and 405 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 1: put it in the car. I think there was a 406 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,919 Speaker 1: fourth man out there doing driving for them. And the 407 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,400 Speaker 1: fourth man may well have been a blow called Dennis 408 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,440 Speaker 1: Smith alias Greedy Smith, a big fat guy who was 409 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:57,200 Speaker 1: a very well known crook, very well liked by certain 410 00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: other crooks around town. And he might have been the 411 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,720 Speaker 1: fourth guy in the hit team. And here's the thing. 412 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: The pink Ford Futura and les Kane's body were never 413 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: ever found, never seen again. The suggestion is that both 414 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: the body and the car were taken, possibly to a 415 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: car crushing plant in the Northern suburbs, where they were 416 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:26,159 Speaker 1: crushed up to the size of a bread bin something 417 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 1: like half a meter by half a meter by half 418 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:32,359 Speaker 1: a something like that. And once that happens to you, 419 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: there's not a lot left, particularly in those days pre dnaight. 420 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,440 Speaker 1: So the smart money says that's what happened. The car 421 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: was melted down with the body in it, which would 422 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,440 Speaker 1: mean no sign of anything, and presumably the guns as well, 423 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:50,160 Speaker 1: a whole lot never found. Judy Kane woman, I've met, 424 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: a very impressive woman that most. 425 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 2: People really like. She's well liked. 426 00:25:55,240 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: By all who know her, including police. She was staunched 427 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: the way that underworld wives and mothers were in that era, 428 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:10,200 Speaker 1: and she called up her in laws, the dead husband's parents, 429 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: and they all joined together and they cleaned up the 430 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,120 Speaker 1: entire house. They cleaned up the blood and everything else, 431 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:20,119 Speaker 1: and they said nothing. They said nothing to anybody. And 432 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 1: it was only when police got to hear about it 433 00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: from other sources and came looking for les that she 434 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,399 Speaker 1: said anything about anything. But she certainly did not name 435 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,640 Speaker 1: the perpetrators, although she was pretty sure she knew who 436 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: a couple of them were, because she mixed in those circles, 437 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:42,199 Speaker 1: and she knew some of these guys' voices and the 438 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,960 Speaker 1: way they walked and the way just the way they looked. 439 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 1: Even if they had a mask on, she'd know them. 440 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,920 Speaker 1: She's pretty sure she knew who they were. It became 441 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: a parent of the police who'd done it. The police 442 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:57,920 Speaker 1: couldn't nail anybody for it. Meanwhile, Raymond Patrick Bennett, ray Chuck, 443 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: he thought the best player to be was in jail 444 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 1: on a minor charge over the ensuing time. The Leskane 445 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: murder has happened in nineteen seventy eight, which is, let's say, 446 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: eighteen months after the Great Bookie Robbery. Bennett decides that 447 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: the situation is so hot after that that he'd be 448 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,679 Speaker 1: safer in jail, and so he knows he's got a 449 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,280 Speaker 1: little warrant out for him over some relatively minor offense, 450 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: and he hands himself into his lawyer or whatever, and 451 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: he goes to the watchhouse. He goes through the City Court, 452 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,840 Speaker 1: the old Melbourne Magistrates Court, which is that beautiful old 453 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: building where ned Kelly was sentenced back in eighteen eighty 454 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,160 Speaker 1: and its opposite the Russell Street Police Headquarters Russell Street 455 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: Police Station as it was. 456 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 2: He's led through there. 457 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 1: I think it was November the fourteenth, was the week 458 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 1: after the Melbourne Cup, after the nineteen seventy nine Melbourne 459 00:27:56,200 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 1: Cup which was won by Hyperno. And he is led 460 00:28:02,359 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: out of the cells into the Court one and then 461 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:12,000 Speaker 1: the magistrate, Darcy Durgan says, mister Bennett or mister Chuck, 462 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: mister Bennett, I think they call. 463 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 2: Him, you've got to go up to Court twelve. 464 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:21,640 Speaker 1: And then two detectives from the robbery squad from Memory 465 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 1: accompanied him. I think it was a mister Strang and 466 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:30,520 Speaker 1: a mister Glare. With the detectives, they accompanied the prisoner 467 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 1: through the body of that court Court one, where I 468 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:38,040 Speaker 1: was sitting as a very young reporter, and they led 469 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 1: him out and upstairs to I think Court twelve it 470 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: was called. And I was just about to follow him 471 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,840 Speaker 1: up there to cover that case when we heard the 472 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: shots bang bang bang. Now I think three shots are 473 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: a fusilated shots at least three, and I knew it 474 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: was a gun, and I knew it was a only 475 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,200 Speaker 1: heavy calibar, and I knew it wasn't a car backfiring. 476 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: You can always sort of forgive one bang. You think 477 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: it could be a car, or it could be something 478 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:13,320 Speaker 1: dropping somewhere, it could be from a construction site. But 479 00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: when you go bang, bang bang, it's different, you know 480 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,000 Speaker 1: it's a gun. I got up to go out, and 481 00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: by this stage we'd heard running feet and yells and 482 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 1: screams because the man who'd been shot, Bennett Chuck, had 483 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: run downstairs from Court twelve, covered in blood and police 484 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: were yelling. People were yelling. Bystanders were yelling. It was 485 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: a very scary situation, and in fact, I think police 486 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 1: downstairs thought it was an escape attempt, that it was 487 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: a fake shooting to stage an escape, but it wasn't. 488 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:52,520 Speaker 1: He had been shot in the torso he was dying 489 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: on his feet by the time he got to the 490 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: bottom of the stairs he collapsed. He was picked up 491 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,760 Speaker 1: and taken to around the corner to Vincent's I think, 492 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: which is just nearby, and I think he was either 493 00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 1: dead on arrival or died on the operating table. 494 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 2: He was dead. 495 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: And that was the execution of Raymond Patrick Bennett, alias 496 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: Ray Chuck. And that execution, without doubt, was carried out 497 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 1: by Brian kan the older brother of Les Kane, the 498 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: man who had been abducted and killed eighteen months earlier. 499 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,920 Speaker 1: And Brian Kane made good his escape from court in 500 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,520 Speaker 1: a way that I've described here before, a very convoluted 501 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,200 Speaker 1: escape route, but very well planned out to the backyard 502 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 1: of the court where there had been a piece of 503 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,080 Speaker 1: tin bent up so he could jump through the back 504 00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 1: of the shed where the magistrates used to park their 505 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 1: cars and into the r mit car park as it 506 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 1: then was waiting for him. I am told on impeccable 507 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: authority was the other brother, Muscles Caine ray Kine, who 508 00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:01,560 Speaker 1: is now dead, so it's not a problem. Who drove 509 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:03,920 Speaker 1: him to the airport and they went for a long 510 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 1: holiday to Perth and let the scene quiet and down. 511 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: And as we've said here before, there is no doubt 512 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 1: that some police were complicit in that shooting, not a 513 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: lot of police, but a couple, because somebody bent up 514 00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 1: the back of the magistrates shed where they parked their cars, 515 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 1: and it was all very beautifully executed. So ray Chuck's 516 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 1: execution in the City Court reverberated through the underworld and 517 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,360 Speaker 1: that had a knock on effect, and that knock on 518 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: effect was felt immediately by Stan James and his wife 519 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,880 Speaker 1: in their little house in King Street, Essendon. The remarkable 520 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,400 Speaker 1: thing about the house at fifty one King Street, the 521 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,600 Speaker 1: one that was bought by mister and missus James was 522 00:31:55,640 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: that they left it very suddenly after the shooting of 523 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:05,280 Speaker 1: Raymond Patrick Bennett in the City Court. So in November 524 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine, Raychuck Ray Bennett is shot dead at 525 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: the City Court. This is really up the ante. And 526 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:18,640 Speaker 1: that same week Stan James and his wife decide they 527 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,239 Speaker 1: are leaving their house at fifty one King Street in 528 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 1: Essenon and they are going into state, back to New 529 00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:27,720 Speaker 1: South Wales where they originally came from. And that is 530 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,880 Speaker 1: why an agent that they appointed rented that house out 531 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,440 Speaker 1: just before Christmas that year, or in late November that 532 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: year to a young fellow called Michael Hinch. Michael Hinch 533 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: was a trainee train driver and he is a smart, 534 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: observant young fellow, which is what you've got to be 535 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: when you're a trained driver, because we don't want people 536 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:52,240 Speaker 1: driving trains who aren't observant and they are not smart. 537 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: And he was both of those things. And young Hinch 538 00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 1: remembers it clearly because he noticed how much security was 539 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,560 Speaker 1: around the house, and the agent, being an agent, told 540 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:07,000 Speaker 1: a porky He said it was a little old lady 541 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,000 Speaker 1: had lived there and she was nervous about things, and 542 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,320 Speaker 1: so she had bars on the windows, and she had 543 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:16,400 Speaker 1: deadlocks on the doors. But it was a bit hard 544 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:19,120 Speaker 1: to explain everything that was there because there was a 545 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:23,920 Speaker 1: steel plated door which was up behind the normal front 546 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,480 Speaker 1: wooden door, so it was an extra door to make 547 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 1: it much harder to break into. Not only that, somebody 548 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,320 Speaker 1: had bolted big brackets either side of that door, so 549 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,200 Speaker 1: you could drop a piece of steel or a piece 550 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:43,040 Speaker 1: of timber across behind the door to basically barret shut 551 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: against any sort of invasion, so someone would need a 552 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:51,200 Speaker 1: battering ramp to get to you. This is in addition 553 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: to barred windows and so on. Now there were deadlocks 554 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:57,960 Speaker 1: all over the place. The whole place was deadlocked. In fact, 555 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:01,040 Speaker 1: young Michael Hints, who I think was just married at 556 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,000 Speaker 1: the stage, he said he used to take the keys, 557 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:06,960 Speaker 1: the house keys to bed at night because he said, 558 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:09,200 Speaker 1: I was frightened if there was a fire, we'd be 559 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:09,799 Speaker 1: locked in and. 560 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:10,359 Speaker 2: Never get out. 561 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,719 Speaker 1: I needed to have the keys where I can use them, 562 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: get them quickly. Then he noticed something that subsequently he 563 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:23,919 Speaker 1: found out the police had not noticed. He noticed that 564 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:29,840 Speaker 1: there's a fireplace in this house, in the main living room. 565 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,480 Speaker 1: It's in a corner. But instead of sort of being 566 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: at the correct angle. It was out from the wall 567 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: a bit and it was at a funny angle. He said, 568 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: it was about fifteen degrees off what it should have been. 569 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:47,160 Speaker 1: It just wasn't symmetrical. And he thought, that's weird. And 570 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: you couldn't use the fireplace. It wasn't actually set up 571 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 1: so you could light the fire because the chimney didn't 572 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:55,760 Speaker 1: align with the fireplace. And he must have been told 573 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:59,520 Speaker 1: the fire is not working or you can't use it something. Anyway, 574 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 1: he thinks, that's funny. He's noticed outside on one of 575 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 1: the exterior walls there's an air event event in the wall. 576 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: That's funny. Why was there an event in the wall. 577 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:12,840 Speaker 1: He goes into the bathroom mondaye. He looks up and 578 00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:16,319 Speaker 1: he notices that there's a man hole, very neatly cut 579 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 1: in the bathroom above the shower or something. He said, ah, 580 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,960 Speaker 1: there's a manhole. So he gets a chair or bladder, 581 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,560 Speaker 1: climbs up through the manhole and he gets into the roof. 582 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:31,120 Speaker 1: And as we've already explained, the roof is a big space. 583 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,359 Speaker 1: It's got enough room that you can walk down the 584 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,080 Speaker 1: middle of the gable. You know, it's at least two 585 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:40,760 Speaker 1: meters high in the middle, and somebody has very kindly 586 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:46,600 Speaker 1: laid floorboards over the roof joists or ceiling joists, so 587 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,799 Speaker 1: that you've effectively got a floor to walk on. It's 588 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:54,120 Speaker 1: like a big storeroom up there. Well, that's not that unusual. 589 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:56,359 Speaker 1: But when you walk to the front of the house 590 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,080 Speaker 1: along with these floorboards, to the very front of the house, 591 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 1: he saw that it was open to the elements that 592 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:08,360 Speaker 1: had large wooden trellis, and you could actually see out 593 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 1: the trellis. 594 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:11,520 Speaker 2: It had big gaps. 595 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,879 Speaker 1: In it, and he said you could stand up there 596 00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:16,600 Speaker 1: and you could look out and you could see down 597 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,759 Speaker 1: the street both ways. You could see people coming in 598 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,920 Speaker 1: the gate or from the right or the left. You 599 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:26,120 Speaker 1: had a really good view of the street and of 600 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 1: anybody approaching. 601 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:28,080 Speaker 2: He said. 602 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 1: There was another funny thing. He said, the trellis was open. 603 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,879 Speaker 1: You could poke something through it, like a gun. And 604 00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:39,360 Speaker 1: normally it'd be glazed, or to have weather boards, or 605 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:42,520 Speaker 1: to have at least flywire or something. It was open 606 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,160 Speaker 1: so you could poke something through it if you so wanted. 607 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,080 Speaker 1: And what gave him the idea of guns was that 608 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:52,319 Speaker 1: on either side of this opening onto the street there 609 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:58,640 Speaker 1: were U shaped swivels, and the U shaped swivels were 610 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:00,719 Speaker 1: a little bit like rolic that you put in a 611 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,840 Speaker 1: rowboat to row with with the yours, very. 612 00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:04,239 Speaker 2: Similar to that. 613 00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,959 Speaker 1: And he said, what they obviously were, it seemed to him, 614 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:10,960 Speaker 1: were perfect things to rest a gun in that you 615 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:14,960 Speaker 1: could swivel around from right to left, left to right, 616 00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 1: and you could cover the driveway and the street. And 617 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:23,600 Speaker 1: he said that house was impregnable. If somebody was attacking, 618 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:27,359 Speaker 1: you could get up there and you could take on 619 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,359 Speaker 1: a dozen attackers and clean them up before they could 620 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,480 Speaker 1: break open your front door, because the front door was very, 621 00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:38,359 Speaker 1: very heavily fortified. And he thought, well, that's interesting, isn't it. 622 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,560 Speaker 1: So he walks back into the big open roof space 623 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,719 Speaker 1: and he goes over near the chimney, the four said 624 00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:50,200 Speaker 1: chimney above the a four said crooked fireplace, and he 625 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 1: sees beside the chimney, in a very odd spot, a 626 00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:59,800 Speaker 1: smallish trapdoor, very neatly done, very fine piece of work. 627 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:03,520 Speaker 1: You could hardly see it. And he gets a pocket 628 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,279 Speaker 1: knife or something. He lifts the trap door and he 629 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:08,120 Speaker 1: sees a light switch, and he turns on the light 630 00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: switch and he looks down into the gloom, and he 631 00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,000 Speaker 1: sees it's a shaft. It's a narrow space down beside 632 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 1: the chimney, a hidden cavity in the corner of the 633 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:25,640 Speaker 1: wall behind the fire that has been moved out. The 634 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:28,440 Speaker 1: fireplace has been moved out, and there's his hidden cavity, 635 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:32,640 Speaker 1: essentially the size of an open fire, let's say. And 636 00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:35,920 Speaker 1: in that tiny cavity were two tiny little stools you 637 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:38,520 Speaker 1: could sit on. Only room for one person, he thought, 638 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,520 Speaker 1: but two stools, And on one of the stools was 639 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,919 Speaker 1: an ashtray full of cigarette butts. So someone had sat 640 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:53,040 Speaker 1: in that space and smokes cigarettes. Hence the air vent 641 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:55,560 Speaker 1: that went to the outside of the house. This was 642 00:38:55,560 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 1: a very cunningly contrived piece of engineering so that you 643 00:39:00,440 --> 00:39:03,840 Speaker 1: could hide in that house, or hide a wanted person 644 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:07,920 Speaker 1: in that house so they would not be found and fighting. 645 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:11,120 Speaker 1: They had water and some food, they could stay in 646 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:16,240 Speaker 1: that space for quite a while. So our man Michael 647 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:20,200 Speaker 1: Hinch is sort of interested in this, puzzled and intrigued. 648 00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:24,440 Speaker 1: He's busy though he's studying for his next step up 649 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:28,000 Speaker 1: in the train driver's exams. He's studying like hell to 650 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 1: get his final exams. And it's late in nineteen eighty. 651 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:36,280 Speaker 1: So this is one year after he's rented the house 652 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: and one day there's a knock on the door and 653 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,040 Speaker 1: to see the agent, the same agent who told him 654 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,640 Speaker 1: as a little old lady that had had all this security. 655 00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,560 Speaker 1: And the agent said, oh, look, sorry, Michael, you're going 656 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:51,040 Speaker 1: to have to move out the end of next week 657 00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:54,719 Speaker 1: because the owner and his wife are coming back. Apparently 658 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:57,719 Speaker 1: this situation has aulted. They want to come back and 659 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,440 Speaker 1: live in their house again, and you left, move out 660 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:04,960 Speaker 1: and find somewhere else. And oh, he said, well that's 661 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:06,920 Speaker 1: not real good. I've got these exams coming up at 662 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,200 Speaker 1: the end of the week. And you know, anyway, he 663 00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:11,080 Speaker 1: wasn't happy, but he knew he had to do it. 664 00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:17,040 Speaker 1: No sooner the agent has gone. Then two detectives turner 665 00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:21,279 Speaker 1: from them robbery squad, if not the consorting squad. There 666 00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 1: heavy heavy duty detectives, and they introduced themselves and explained 667 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,160 Speaker 1: that the landlord was not a little old lady, but 668 00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:31,600 Speaker 1: it was a fellow that they were very, very interested in. 669 00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,640 Speaker 1: And they said, we want to make sure we know 670 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,200 Speaker 1: what he you know, what he's up to. Can you 671 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:41,840 Speaker 1: get us some keys? We'll borrow spect of keys from you, 672 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:45,240 Speaker 1: so we can get in and out. Please, perhaps you 673 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:47,840 Speaker 1: and your wife would like to go for you know, 674 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,000 Speaker 1: account to you or a count of lunch or something. 675 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:53,080 Speaker 1: Go out for a while. He said, when you get back, 676 00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:54,719 Speaker 1: I know you're only here for a week or so, 677 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:58,400 Speaker 1: but maybe don't say anything that you don't want us 678 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,040 Speaker 1: to hear. He was giving the tip off they're going 679 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:03,560 Speaker 1: to bug the hell out of the place. So the 680 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:07,520 Speaker 1: police have installed bugs all over the joint. Obviously, our 681 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:12,000 Speaker 1: man Michael Hinch moves out to a flat somewhere or whatever, 682 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:17,000 Speaker 1: and Stan James and his wife Lorraine moved back in. 683 00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:21,040 Speaker 1: But I understand that despite the fact there was so 684 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:27,520 Speaker 1: many bugs, the Jamess never said anything that was worth overhearing. 685 00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:31,560 Speaker 1: The thing about Stan James, he not only didn't say 686 00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,880 Speaker 1: anything at home, he never said anything anywhere. He was 687 00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:38,400 Speaker 1: so good at keeping a low profile and so subtle 688 00:41:38,680 --> 00:41:41,399 Speaker 1: and so good at it that it's clear that he 689 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:45,600 Speaker 1: played a crucial part back in nineteen seventy six in 690 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:49,040 Speaker 1: setting up the Great Bookie robbery. And there is no 691 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:53,960 Speaker 1: doubt that the man who did the heavy thinking about 692 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,680 Speaker 1: how to do it, how to get person A in 693 00:41:56,760 --> 00:42:03,320 Speaker 1: position Person B somewhere else, was the late Stan James 694 00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:07,280 Speaker 1: because a few things had to happen in the bookie 695 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:11,480 Speaker 1: robbery back in seventy six, and one was you had 696 00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:14,799 Speaker 1: to know that there was an unused door in the 697 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:18,520 Speaker 1: wall of the upstairs room where they did the settlement, 698 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:23,560 Speaker 1: that the settling, the settling of the bookie's money, and 699 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:26,759 Speaker 1: that door had been left there as a result of 700 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:32,320 Speaker 1: renovations and building works done years earlier, and the builders 701 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:34,840 Speaker 1: that had to have access to the building next door, 702 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:38,640 Speaker 1: and they had this doorway so they could move from 703 00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:41,960 Speaker 1: one building to the other through the party wall into 704 00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:45,680 Speaker 1: a landing and unused landing in the building next door. 705 00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:49,759 Speaker 1: And very few people would actually remember that that door 706 00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:53,120 Speaker 1: was there because on the Victorian club side, it didn't 707 00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:56,279 Speaker 1: have a knob. It just had a little bolt down 708 00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:58,640 Speaker 1: at the floor level, and it was all painted over 709 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,560 Speaker 1: the same color as the wall. It was plastered and 710 00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,759 Speaker 1: painted much like the rest of the wall, and so 711 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:08,200 Speaker 1: it was virtually invisible unless you knew you were actually 712 00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:11,960 Speaker 1: looking at it. But the Roberts knew all about it, 713 00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: and that was where they hid. They hid through that 714 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:19,000 Speaker 1: door on the landing in the building next door until 715 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:22,960 Speaker 1: they knew the precise second that they should whip open 716 00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:26,000 Speaker 1: the door which they'd a prayer range they'd been in, 717 00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:28,799 Speaker 1: and cut the bolt and were able to force it 718 00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:32,360 Speaker 1: open swiftly and step into the room, armed and masked, 719 00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:36,279 Speaker 1: as if they'd arrived in a spaceship. It was just 720 00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,960 Speaker 1: amazing that one second they're not there, the next second 721 00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:43,920 Speaker 1: they're there. This took everyone by surprise, including of course 722 00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:48,640 Speaker 1: the armed security guards who were by this stage sitting 723 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,399 Speaker 1: down eating their free piles and sandwiches and a cup 724 00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:56,840 Speaker 1: of tea. And it was a beautiful thing. It's well 725 00:43:56,880 --> 00:44:01,600 Speaker 1: held that there was an inside man at the club 726 00:44:01,640 --> 00:44:06,560 Speaker 1: who infiltrated the club, the Victorian Club, which was mostly 727 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:11,120 Speaker 1: attended by bookmakers and racing people and some lawyers. Interestingly, 728 00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:17,440 Speaker 1: and the former president of the club has told me 729 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:21,440 Speaker 1: in recent years that they had noticed that this fellow 730 00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:24,359 Speaker 1: had sort of insinuated his way into the club. He said, 731 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:27,880 Speaker 1: was pretty casual. We didn't force everybody to sign the 732 00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:28,560 Speaker 1: book or whatever. 733 00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:29,399 Speaker 2: He said. 734 00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,319 Speaker 1: This bloke, he used to wear a suit and send 735 00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:34,560 Speaker 1: a nice, pleasant bloke, and he was a good listener, 736 00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:37,719 Speaker 1: and he would come in and attach himself to a 737 00:44:37,719 --> 00:44:40,640 Speaker 1: group of drinkers and have a chat about this and that, 738 00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:44,040 Speaker 1: and the weather. We thought he came from Adelaide, said 739 00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:46,160 Speaker 1: the President. He said he was something to do with 740 00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:50,480 Speaker 1: transport business from Adelaide, and he'd move around from one 741 00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:53,879 Speaker 1: group to the other and chat away. But looking back 742 00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:56,040 Speaker 1: on it, they think he was the guy that was 743 00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:59,960 Speaker 1: busy soaking up the atmosphere, soaking up the exact meat 744 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:03,800 Speaker 1: mentions of the room, the exact places where the doorways were, 745 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:08,120 Speaker 1: and all little facts that the robbers would need to know. 746 00:45:09,080 --> 00:45:12,360 Speaker 1: And they think that this is the guy who worked 747 00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:14,880 Speaker 1: out precisely how long it would take to rob the place, 748 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:19,800 Speaker 1: what you would need to cover, how many men you'd need, 749 00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:22,520 Speaker 1: how many guns you'd need, how many bags you'd need, 750 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:25,560 Speaker 1: just all the gear you need. You need the big 751 00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:29,399 Speaker 1: bolt cutters, you need certain equipment to get away with it. 752 00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:34,879 Speaker 1: And that Stan James was the brains who did the 753 00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:36,000 Speaker 1: time and motion. 754 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:38,840 Speaker 2: Study for the Great Bookie Robbery. 755 00:45:39,120 --> 00:45:45,439 Speaker 1: I'm told as recently as today by someone who's great 756 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:49,680 Speaker 1: and good friends with a former armed robbery boss. When 757 00:45:49,719 --> 00:45:54,200 Speaker 1: I say an arm robbery boss, an armed robbery detective boss, 758 00:45:54,719 --> 00:46:00,319 Speaker 1: a senior policeman, I'm told that he was regarded as 759 00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:04,120 Speaker 1: Australia's cleverest crook. 760 00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:07,000 Speaker 2: Who was never. 761 00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:15,200 Speaker 1: Caught, Stanley Earnest James Crook, who was never caught, and 762 00:46:15,239 --> 00:46:21,000 Speaker 1: who never fired a shot in anger. No doubt, some 763 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:25,240 Speaker 1: of the things we've talked about today are familiar because 764 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:29,120 Speaker 1: some of this story touches on stories we've told before. 765 00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:32,080 Speaker 1: And if anybody out there feels that they want to 766 00:46:32,120 --> 00:46:35,280 Speaker 1: know more about it and go back and research it again, 767 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:39,840 Speaker 1: they can go back and hear about the Great Bookiey 768 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:44,040 Speaker 1: Robbery in previous shows in depth, and we will include 769 00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:48,120 Speaker 1: the names of each separate episode in this show's description. 770 00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:01,640 Speaker 2: Completed