1 00:00:01,639 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 1: Marino's assault on the police force was probably the most 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:08,880 Speaker 1: savage since the Kelli gang shot three police dead at 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Stringing Buck Creek in eighteen seventy eight. People don't usually 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: come out of nowhere to offend, but when they do, 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: it's very tricky for police because they can't run through 6 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: lists of known offenders and find the right guy. Then 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: a split second, he twisted and fired twice with a hangar. 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: I'm Andrew Rule. This is life and crimes. If you 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,640 Speaker 1: hang around long enough in this business, and sadly I have, 10 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 1: you keep seeing the anniversaries crop up, and you see 11 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,040 Speaker 1: names come up and think, oh my god, is it 12 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: really that long since that happened. It seems much closer 13 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: than that, because some things stick in your mind, and 14 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: one of them is the shooting of the guy they 15 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: called Mad Max. This is the real Mad Max. This 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: is not made up by a scriptwriter. This was the 17 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:07,119 Speaker 1: guy who shot several police and went on the run 18 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:14,120 Speaker 1: and was apprehended eighteen months later by two brave and 19 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: perhaps slightly reckless detectives. And that's a story I'm going 20 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: to go through. Now. We must point out that way 21 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,840 Speaker 1: back in twenty sixteen, we took a quick look at 22 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: the story of Mad Max, but today we take a 23 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: look at the shootout in much greater detail. It was 24 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: forty years ago last month that a lone gunman shot 25 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: two policemen during a routine car check, and then he 26 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:48,760 Speaker 1: shot two more during the manhunt that followed. All four 27 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: of those police were seriously wounded, and one of them 28 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: was left paraplegic. A fifth policeman was hit in that 29 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: same night. This was a dog handler, one of the 30 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: canine unit, and interestingly, unlike the others, he was wearing 31 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: his holistic vest, and because he was wearing his bailistic vest, 32 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: the bullet basically shocked him and stunned him and probably 33 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: made him fall over, but it didn't hurt him. He 34 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: walked away. He got home that night unwounded, as did 35 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,639 Speaker 1: his dog, because he was wearing his bailistic vest and 36 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: the others were not, I think, and there's probably a 37 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 1: lesson there. The shooter his real name was Pavel Maronoff, 38 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: alias Max Clark, the name he used when he got 39 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: to this country. Interestingly, that he did get to this 40 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: country because he was a former Bulgarian Army deserter, so 41 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: he was hardly you'd think precisely the right sort of 42 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:54,239 Speaker 1: profile as a migrant back in the seventies or whenever 43 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: he got here. He was dubbed mad Max by us 44 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: in the media for the eight months that he stayed 45 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: on the loose, because for the rest of nineteen eighty five, 46 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: after he shot four policemen and shot out a fifth one, 47 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: he became Australia's most wanted man, taking over from the 48 00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:21,520 Speaker 1: master prison escaper Russell mad Dog Cox, who'd been on 49 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: the run since nineteen seventy seven. You'll see a certain 50 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,360 Speaker 1: sameness in the names here. We've got Mad Max taking 51 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: over from mad Dog Cox. Neither of them were mad 52 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: and they got those names from crime reporters who should 53 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: know better. And in fact, in both cases their real 54 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: names were quite different from the names that they were 55 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: known as in the newspapers. But there you go, Finny 56 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: ol World. Marino's assault on the police force was probably 57 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: the most savage since the Kelli gang shot three police 58 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: dead at Stringing Buck Creek in eighteen seventy eight, so 59 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:00,440 Speaker 1: that was one hundred and seven years earlier, probably the 60 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: worst thing to happen to the Victorian police in that 61 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: intervening century. Because he was a previously unknown offender with 62 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: no close associates or criminal history. Police could not lean 63 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: on the underworld for information. Now, how often does this happen? 64 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: Something bad happens and it's somebody who has no criminal history. 65 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:28,120 Speaker 1: That's a rare thing. For a start. People don't usually 66 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 1: come out of nowhere to offend. But when they do, 67 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: it's very tricky for police because they can't run through 68 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: lists of known offenders and find the right guy, because 69 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: the right guy in these rare cases isn't on those lists, 70 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:47,320 Speaker 1: because he's got no criminal history, no known form, and 71 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: so they don't know who they're looking for. Whereas, to 72 00:04:50,839 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: be honest, in most cases they've got a rough idea 73 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: exactly who they're looking for. Police command turned to one 74 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: of its own born, detective Sergeant John Kapetanovsky, a tough 75 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: major crime Squad veteran who could speak two Slavic languages 76 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: and had contacts in the Yugoslav community. Kappa, as everyone 77 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: called him, I remember this, We all call him Kappa, 78 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,440 Speaker 1: was known for his imposing physical presence. Big tall guy, 79 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: long lane or long nose. If he decided not to smile, 80 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: he could look quite unfriendly. He was a big tough man, 81 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: and he was known for his habit of carrying a 82 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: spare snubnosed pistol in an ankle holster. Now I don't 83 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: know if that was strictly kosher, but back in those days, 84 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: detectives in the tough squads, like the Robbery Squad and 85 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: the Major Crime Squad, they tended to want to be 86 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: well armed because they were dealing with some very violent 87 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 1: people who were well armed. Kappa was no boy scout, 88 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: but he believed in being prepared, and he was exactly 89 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: the type needed to flush out mad Max Maronov before 90 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: he murdered someone before he basically shot in another four people, 91 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:10,359 Speaker 1: notably the police. In early February nineteen eighty six, Kappa 92 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: got a tip from a Yugoslav source that the wanted 93 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: man was hiding with a young family in semi suburban 94 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: Wollen just north of Craigieburn now Wollan. Back in those days, 95 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 1: and I know this because I lived up that way 96 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:26,840 Speaker 1: was still sort of a country town, but it was 97 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: a highway town. It was on the Northern Highway that 98 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,159 Speaker 1: led off the freeway up to Kilmore and then further 99 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: on you know, it was the back way to Bendigo 100 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,800 Speaker 1: and to places like Elmore and Rochester and all that. 101 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: As such, Wollen then was changing, and it did have 102 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,359 Speaker 1: a lot of people who'd moved there from the northern suburbs, 103 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: and among them was obviously the family who acted as 104 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: the host. Saw offered safe harbor for mad Max Maronov, 105 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: undoubtedly because they were of the same ethnic group and 106 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: he could speak to them and so on. Now, Detective 107 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 1: Sergeant the one we call Kappa, was paired with another 108 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: senior detective, the quietly spoken Rod McDonald, who I remember 109 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: well from that era. On the morning of February twenty fifth, 110 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: now this is nineteen eighty six, This is eight months 111 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: after the shootings in Noble Park, a man roughly resembling 112 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: Maroanov left the Wolln House driving two children to school 113 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: in a white Ford panel van. The detectives suspective was Maranov, 114 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: but could not be sure as photographs of him were 115 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: scarce and poor quality. The frightening thing about Maroanov was that, 116 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:49,040 Speaker 1: unlike most offenders, he was a pistol expert who had 117 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: honed his skills well above the level of most normal police. 118 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: Ordinary police who learned to shoot when they do their training, 119 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,679 Speaker 1: and then now and again they have a refresher course 120 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,120 Speaker 1: the pistol range and so on. But most of them 121 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: are just moderately proficient. But this fellow was a crank 122 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: and he had clearly built himself a pistol range, I think, 123 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: under his house down in the southeastern suburbs, and become 124 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: very very proficient at shooting quickly and accurately. He could 125 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: shoot under pressure, which is what most of us can't do. 126 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: If the man in the panel van was Maronov, it 127 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,239 Speaker 1: was vital they apprehend him away from members of the public. 128 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: So when the vehicle, when the panel Van turns south 129 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 1: from Wollen on the hum Highway towards Melbourne, the detectives 130 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: faced making a snap decision. Would they stop him before 131 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: he reached the suburbs, which were only you know, fifteen 132 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: to twenty minutes away really, or would they let him 133 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: go down into suburbia and try and pick him up 134 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: down there. Now they did have reason logic on their side. 135 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: They thought if they could get him out on the highway, 136 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: away from other people, away from densely populated streets and 137 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: all that, and no passers by and no pedestrians, that 138 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: it would be safer for the public, and so bravely 139 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:17,560 Speaker 1: in my view, they pulled the van over on the 140 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,319 Speaker 1: highway near Beveridge, which, as many people will know, is 141 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,319 Speaker 1: coincidentally only a few hundred meters from the little old 142 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:28,559 Speaker 1: tumble down house where near Kelly was born back in 143 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five. The driver's hair the driver of the 144 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: panel van, his hair seemed longer and a lighter color 145 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: than Maronoff's. The pictures they had of maranof and he 146 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: had a beard, so they couldn't be certain it was him, 147 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: so they kept their guns down. Now, both these detectives 148 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: were armed, as they used to be in those days, 149 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,839 Speaker 1: with pump action shotguns. Pump action twelve GUARDE shotguns a 150 00:09:56,840 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: fearsome piece of equipment at clost range. And I'm not 151 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:03,760 Speaker 1: sure if they did this with the blessing of their 152 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: superiors or the department or not, but they very wisely 153 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: loaded their shotguns with what they call sgs. Now. Sg's 154 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: are the very heavy shot. Some people might call it 155 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,320 Speaker 1: buck shot, and it is. The slugs in sg's are 156 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,440 Speaker 1: about as big as a twenty two bullet slug. They're 157 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: quite big enough to do some damage, and they put 158 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: nine of them in each cartridge, So that is a 159 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: very heavy shot load, and it's designed to take down 160 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: big game. It'll take down a wild pig or that 161 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: sort of thing. At the right range, it would certainly 162 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: take down most people. And beauty of it does is 163 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: that even though there are only nine slugs in each cartridge, 164 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: those nine would spread sufficiently that some of them would 165 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,680 Speaker 1: hit the target, which is a very useful thing. Under 166 00:10:56,760 --> 00:11:00,559 Speaker 1: the sort of pressure that these guys were under, ordered 167 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: the driver to place his hands outside the door so 168 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: they could see them. The driver seemed calm and compliant, 169 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,839 Speaker 1: but in a split second, I think what he did. 170 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: I think he had a pistol underneath a street directory 171 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: or underneath a newspaper or something. I think he added hidden. 172 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: But in a split second he twisted and fired twice 173 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: with a handgun. Now he's shooting through the window of 174 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,079 Speaker 1: his car, the open window of his car or windows plural. 175 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:33,680 Speaker 1: He hits Cappa in the shoulder and the hand two shots, bang, 176 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: bang hits him twice before pivoting the other way and 177 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: shooting McDonald in the chest. So McDonald must have moved 178 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: up to the passenger side window with his pump action 179 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:50,560 Speaker 1: shotgun and Matt Max was like wired op on angel dust. 180 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: It was an astonishing bit of shooting. He shoots one 181 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 1: policeman twice, and he pivots and shoots the other policeman 182 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: in the chest. Any of those shots could have ky 183 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: those policemen. They were in fact quite seriously wounded, but 184 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: it didn't kill them. Maranov was shooting to kill, but 185 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,520 Speaker 1: they say that Kappa's reflex, his reaction of throwing his 186 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: hand up after he was hitting his shoulder probably saved him. 187 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: The second bullet took the top off one finger, but 188 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 1: it deflected the bullet so that it only grazed his 189 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: forehead near his eyebrow. Then the third shot, of course, 190 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,760 Speaker 1: hit McDonald in the chest and wounded him quite badly. 191 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:35,199 Speaker 1: Devastatingly accurate shooting, and Maranov would have got away again 192 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:41,000 Speaker 1: if it weren't for the heavy SG buckshot that they'd 193 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:46,040 Speaker 1: selected for their shotguns. As the van sped away, McDonald 194 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 1: fired twice at a bang bang with the pump action. 195 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: The heavy slugs, nine in each cartridge, blasted through the 196 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: side and rear panels and hit Clark's stomach and arm. 197 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:02,079 Speaker 1: The van ran off the rail. Some hundreds of meters away. 198 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 1: It went through six wire fences and stopped in a 199 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: thistly paddock about one hundred and fifty meters from the 200 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: highway and about a kilometer from the crime scene. So 201 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: this car has gone down the road quite away with 202 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: essentially a dying man at the wheel. Then he's become disoriented, 203 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,680 Speaker 1: he's losing blood, he's dying. He runs off the road, 204 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,559 Speaker 1: luckily to the left rather than across the oncoming traffic, 205 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: and he goes through a fence, and he goes through 206 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: six more fences before the van rolls to a stop. Meanwhile, 207 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: behind him, back on the highway, the Hume Highway, the 208 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 1: wounded pair of police desperately needed help. They flagged down 209 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: a passing driver to ask him to stop a truck 210 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: with a CB radio to call an ambulance. Now why 211 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: they had to do that, I'm not sure, but anyway, 212 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 1: we've got to remember this was before mobile phones. But 213 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,040 Speaker 1: you would have thought they had a police radio that 214 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: would have done the trick. I don't understand what went 215 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: wrong there. Maybe they weren't thinking straight, don't know, but 216 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: they needed medical help faster than waiting for an ambulance, 217 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:18,599 Speaker 1: so they staggered to their Commodore. They had the plane commodore, 218 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: just a brown Commodol and Kappa drove it with one 219 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: hand towards Melbourne because he had I think a finger 220 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,239 Speaker 1: knocked off and his shoulders out of action with a bullet. 221 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: He drives towards Melbourne. So he's going past Donnybrook towards Craigieburn, 222 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 1: and then he decides he can't go any further. They 223 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: stopped at a house at Craigieburn North. Now in those days, 224 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: nowadays a lot of that is suburbia and or small 225 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: blocks and all factories and all sorts of things, But 226 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: in those days it was still farmland. They stopped at 227 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: the house at Craigburn North and asked to use the phone. 228 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:57,920 Speaker 1: Both of them were bleeding badly by this time. As 229 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,200 Speaker 1: Kappa ended his call to police headquarters, he slumped to 230 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: the floor, much to the alarm of the nice old 231 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: lady that owned the house. Rod McDonald was already slumped 232 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:13,359 Speaker 1: in the passenger seat of their car, bleeding profusely. Meanwhile, 233 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: a police helicopter circled the panel van back up the road. 234 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,560 Speaker 1: Circled the panel van looking for signs of life. It 235 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: looked as if a man were crouched in the driver's seat, 236 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:27,560 Speaker 1: so the Special Operations Group was brought in to rush 237 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,400 Speaker 1: the car. They needed to be sure that he was dead, 238 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: what if he was playing possum. It turned out that 239 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: he wasn't playing possum. He had died. He had died 240 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: from those shots that Rod McDonald had let loose. It 241 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 1: wasn't until they removed a wig that they were sure 242 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:49,160 Speaker 1: as Maranoff alias Max Clark wasn't ntil. Then they realized 243 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: they were certain they had the right guy because Maranoff 244 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: was actually short, he was balding. He looked like George 245 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: Costanzo in Seinfeld, and he was bolding, and he had short, 246 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: dark hair, and so the long blonde wig and the 247 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: beard was a throwoff. The two injured officers were flown 248 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 1: by helicopter to Faulkner Park and transferred to hospital, where 249 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 1: they both had life saving surgery. Assistant Commissioner Kel Glare, 250 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,080 Speaker 1: who's still with us today as a retired long retired 251 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:25,320 Speaker 1: police officer. Later he was the Chief Commissioner. Calvin Glair 252 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: said the pair Kappa and MacDonald had taken a courageous 253 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: decision to intercept the offender, and they did it for 254 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,200 Speaker 1: the right reasons. This person was heading towards a populated area. 255 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 1: Blaire said they saw an opportunity to intercept him before 256 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 1: he got into a crowded situation where even surveillance would 257 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: have been difficult and fraught with danger for others. They 258 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 1: acted with great courage, But these heroes, as they were, 259 00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: had to cope with the psychic and physical effects of 260 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,160 Speaker 1: theirs wounds for the rest of their lives, as did 261 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 1: the four other police injured by Maronov. There's little doubt 262 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 1: that being shot and the stress of the whole situation 263 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:19,119 Speaker 1: shortened Kappa's life. He died at sixty years old in 264 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 1: twenty twelve. Rod McDonald's still with us to this day. 265 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: He's a quiet, unassuming man and to meet him or 266 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,119 Speaker 1: talk to him, you would never imagine that he was 267 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:33,399 Speaker 1: the man who emerged victorious at the OK Corral. Was 268 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: him with the buckshot that beat mad Max. Part script 269 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 1: of the story is that Kappa actually became divorced at 270 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: some stage, and he remarried a policewoman and they had 271 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,679 Speaker 1: one daughter, whose name is Alexandra. Alexandra has joined the 272 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: police force in honor of her father. She was only 273 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: nineteen when her father died. Now, of course, she's now 274 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: in her thirties and she's going very well in the 275 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:06,359 Speaker 1: police force. She recently told our reporters that she owes 276 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,879 Speaker 1: a great debt to Police Legacy, the organization which helped 277 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:15,959 Speaker 1: her and so many others get over the effects of 278 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: the injuries and sometimes the deaths that are suffered by 279 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: our policemen and women in a line of duty. Thanks 280 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:32,360 Speaker 1: for listening. Life and Crimes is a Sunday Herald Sun 281 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: production for true crime Australia. Our producer is Johnty Burton. 282 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 1: For my columns, features and more, go to Heraldsun dot 283 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: com dot au, forward slash Andrew rule one word. For 284 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: advertising inquiries, go to news Podcasts sold at News dot 285 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: com dot au. That is all one word news podcasts 286 00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:02,720 Speaker 1: sold And if you want further information about this episode, 287 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: links are in the description.