1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:03,040 Speaker 1: Before we begin. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:08,240 Speaker 2: This podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence. This is a 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 2: production by The Australian and our subscribers Here episodes first 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 2: and get full access to photos, video, news stories and 5 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 2: features plus all Australia's best journalism twenty four to seven. 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,479 Speaker 2: Join us at Gangstersghost dot com dot A. 7 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 3: Um, that's very fuss right, no one evens. 8 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 4: No, I've been said, no, Okay. 9 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 5: That's a look. 10 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 6: This is the flower. The drums will rolled under here. 11 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 5: And it was card. 12 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 7: You would think if you drum roll the drums under there. 13 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:05,839 Speaker 6: Would which while there was cladding and ship on the walls. 14 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:17,919 Speaker 8: Wow, I'm so excited. That's empty. Oh my god, it's open. 15 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 8: Oh my god. 16 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:28,320 Speaker 9: Hello, Hello, Hi. 17 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 10: Hello. 18 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:41,319 Speaker 11: We didn't need to say anything. Kelly Slater Reagan and 19 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 11: I just knew, without having to admit it, that all 20 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 11: roads would lead back. 21 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 12: To this place. 22 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 11: After years of research, dozens of interviews, hundreds of documents, 23 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 11: and countless hours spent on the phone mulling over the 24 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 11: short and furious life of Kelly's second cousin, the gangster 25 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 11: Stuart John Reagan, we were always going to end up here, 26 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 11: in this two story building at the corner of Saint 27 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:19,119 Speaker 11: Paul's Terrace and Amelia Street in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, 28 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 11: inside what used to be the old Whiskey Go Go nightclub, 29 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:33,640 Speaker 11: the exact space where fifteen people lost their lives and 30 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 11: a clutch of criminals, possibly including Kelly's cousin Stuart John 31 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 11: Reagan literally got away with murder. 32 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 9: Oh my god, that is so incredible. 33 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 6: So you couldn't tell their windows curtains and they were 34 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 6: riveted shut. 35 00:02:55,720 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 8: Oh my lord, so I guess for the air conditioning 36 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,560 Speaker 8: which assisted in sucking the smoke up from the recycling one. 37 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 11: And it was humbling to be inside the old Whiskey, 38 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 11: knowing what had happened half a century ago, and two 39 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 11: drums of fuel were lit in the downstairs foyer. The 40 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 11: flames ignited the carpet and walls of the stairwell and 41 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 11: sent thick, black smoke into the upstairs club. Many of 42 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 11: the fifty or so patrons tried to get out the 43 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 11: back exit, but it was locked. Others clambered through windows 44 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 11: at the back of the kitchen or at the rear 45 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 11: of the band's dressing room. The dead were not burned. 46 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 11: They all perished from smoke inhalation. 47 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:53,920 Speaker 9: Yes, so the bar was. 48 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 8: Along here. 49 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 6: And this was the most hence area for the fire 50 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 6: because it was burning up the walls and the carpet 51 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 6: and windows were blown out here. 52 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 7: Oh really yeah, so that would have been with the impact. 53 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 6: Yeah, but the rest was smoke funneling into here and 54 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 6: they were dead within two to three minutes. 55 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 4: Carbon monoxide yeah, yeah, from the carpets. 56 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 12: Yeah. 57 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 11: And after years of following Reagan's trail, we now know 58 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 11: that he was in Brisbane on the night of the 59 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 11: Whiskey tragedy, and not after, as the story has always 60 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 11: been told, that he was observed in Blinker's nightclub with 61 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 11: some sort of injury. That gangster's paddles Anderson and Lenny 62 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 11: McPherson and even Reagan himself had been in and out 63 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 11: of the Whiskey in the days leading up to the 64 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 11: fire bombing. And after our brief, unexpected tour of the Whiskey, 65 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 11: we stood outside on the street and tried to take 66 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 11: it all in for a while. We studied the brass 67 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 11: plaque memorial to the victims embedded in the footpath outside 68 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 11: the old club, and unbelievable, we. 69 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 9: Got to go in there. 70 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 7: I just didn't stand here. 71 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:40,839 Speaker 11: I'm journalist Matthew Condon and This is the Gangster's Ghost 72 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 11: a podcast from The Australian. My co pilot on the 73 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 11: Gangster's Ghost, Kelly Slater. Reagan always suspected and dreaded that 74 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 11: we'd find a link between her second cousin and the 75 00:05:55,600 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 11: Whiskey Ego Go nightclub massacre in Brisbane in nineteen seventy three. 76 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 11: What she wanted to understand once and for all, however, 77 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 11: was whether he actually murdered Carlos Scott Huey, a three 78 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 11: year old toddler, just months before Reagan's own assassination in Sydney. 79 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 11: This is Episode nine, Carlos. For fifty years, the horror 80 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 11: story of what happened at the Whiskey Goog on March eight, 81 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:47,840 Speaker 11: nineteen seventy three has never changed. Two rogue criminals, John 82 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 11: Andrew Stewart and James Finch decided to burn the club 83 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 11: as part of some twisted extortion racket over clubs and 84 00:06:55,839 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 11: pubs in Brisbane. Finch, Billy Kulkan and Clockwork Orange Gang 85 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 11: member Tommy Hamilton drove to the club. Finch rolled out 86 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 11: two barrels of fuel into the foyer at two eight 87 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 11: am and through the match Stewart was in a nearby club, 88 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 11: though he supposedly masterminded the attack. The theory was that 89 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 11: the whiskey had been part of a so called Southern 90 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 11: takeover of the Brisbane vice scene, a warning shot to 91 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:37,160 Speaker 11: locals that the city was under new criminal management. The 92 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 11: fire was meant to be a scare tactic. No one 93 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 11: foresaw that the deadly smoke from the foyer flames would 94 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 11: quickly overwhelm the club and within minutes leave fifteen people dead. 95 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:59,360 Speaker 11: That wasn't part of the plan. In the end, Finch 96 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 11: and Stewart were found guilty of the crime and sentenced 97 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 11: to life in prison. Nobody believed the story that big 98 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 11: bad gangsters from Sydney wanted to take control of Brisbane. 99 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 11: It was a fantasy cooked up by John Andrew Stewart. 100 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 11: What wasn't a fantasy was the deadly fire. I spoke 101 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 11: to Donna Phillips, who was a waitress working in the 102 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 11: club that night and miraculously survived the inferno. 103 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:41,120 Speaker 13: Just normal night's work until the event itself. Until eight 104 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 13: to ten minutes past two, when I'd come back from 105 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 13: the front desk. I'd been put on the front reception 106 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 13: by the owners. You know, if the fire was tin 107 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 13: passed and I was, I'd had enough time to leave 108 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 13: the front reception, come down to the bar, where Dessimer 109 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,920 Speaker 13: Carroll was one of my co workers, and I got 110 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 13: a drink. I don't know whether it was orange juice 111 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 13: or water, but it would have been ten minutes so 112 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 13: I would have finished to come down, had to drink. 113 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 11: Donna, a part time model, had made a lot of 114 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 11: good friends at the whiskey, including young mother Decima and 115 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 11: a barman called Peter Marcus. 116 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 13: And about ten past I've seen fire. I didn't hear anything, 117 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,319 Speaker 13: but I saw the fire burst through the front door 118 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 13: and then catch a light across the curtains. Naturally, because 119 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 13: my line of sight also took in Peter Marcas. And 120 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 13: I still to this day say that I saw part 121 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 13: of his shirt catch fire, and watched him run around 122 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 13: the back of the bar, which was facing Amelia Street, 123 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 13: and then turn right and then rung down the bar 124 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 13: on the side of Saint Paul's Terrace to the end 125 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 13: of the bar, and I've seen him kneel down, and 126 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 13: I don't know what he was doing, you know, he 127 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:16,959 Speaker 13: seemed purposeful, and he did something in the shelf area 128 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 13: under the barroom and then just fell forward. 129 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:22,960 Speaker 8: In line with the door. 130 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 13: The fire has burst through that doorway, caught the curtains, 131 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:35,440 Speaker 13: as I mentioned before, and then when I didn't see 132 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:40,840 Speaker 13: it burn further than close to Peter on the ground, 133 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 13: Peter Marcus. But at that stage and then the lights 134 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,880 Speaker 13: were starting to appear as though they were going out, and. 135 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:53,079 Speaker 8: The smoke was below them. Pad it was black, It 136 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 8: was dark. 137 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:56,319 Speaker 13: It was dark, Yes, it was dark. 138 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 8: Yeah, And moving into the club. 139 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 13: Yes, well for me, as I remember it, it was 140 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 13: cooling up over the ceiling and running forwards that way. 141 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,960 Speaker 13: And then because I seemed to be frozen in that moment, 142 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 13: my story is that two men passed in front of me, 143 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 13: went to the sliding door opened from one of them 144 00:11:18,160 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 13: to and something like, what are you coming now? And 145 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:25,720 Speaker 13: you know, it's kind of well, okay, I've better got 146 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 13: to go now if I go, and off down the stairs. 147 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 11: Against all odds, Donna made it out of the club. 148 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 11: Her friends, Decima and Peter were not so lucky. Another 149 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,440 Speaker 11: survivor was police officer hunt and Nickel, who was enjoying 150 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 11: a night out with friends. 151 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,559 Speaker 10: I honestly and totally on one hundred Temple as I 152 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:57,080 Speaker 10: believe that night I was going to die, and I 153 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 10: just before I got the window and the fresh air 154 00:11:59,559 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 10: came in, I was on the point of collapse. I 155 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:04,319 Speaker 10: remember thinking, God, Mom and Dad's going me dirty. I 156 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 10: died this way and then the fresh air hit me. 157 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: But you resign. 158 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 10: I had resigned to the fact that I was dying. 159 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 10: And I saw a white light. You did, I did 160 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,679 Speaker 10: see a white light. Sounds stupid, mind taking over, and 161 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 10: I was on point of collapse. I don't know, but 162 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,720 Speaker 10: I honestly and totally utterly believe I was on the 163 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:25,360 Speaker 10: point of dying. 164 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 8: And then some fingers of fresh air came in. 165 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 10: Yeah, wafted it in through that window. That somebody that 166 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 10: that hopper window. Uh, this fresh air came in. I 167 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 10: breathe that in fresh air. I'll tell you that it 168 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 10: has a sweet taste, a very sweet taste. You can 169 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:45,559 Speaker 10: say what you like. Hair has a sweet taste. I 170 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 10: breathe a few lungs of that. 171 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 14: End. 172 00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:50,400 Speaker 10: At best, I couldn't have to revive me pushed out 173 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 10: white people. I couldn't get out myself. It was touch 174 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 10: and goes. I was on the point. Give me another 175 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 10: ihreagon five to ten seconds. I was gone. Somebody open 176 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:04,680 Speaker 10: that window. Fresh air came in against the smoke. And 177 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 10: when you saw how thick pungent that smoke was, how 178 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 10: that air got in, I don't know. Bo's enough to 179 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 10: revolve us that got out. 180 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 11: Visiting the site of the whisky tragedy. Being inside the 181 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 11: scene of the mass murder had a big impact on Kelly. 182 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 11: Ever since she was a child, Kelly had linked her 183 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,719 Speaker 11: second cousin, Johnny Reagan with the Whiskey Go Go firebombing 184 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,200 Speaker 11: through stories repeated by the Reagan family. 185 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 9: She had come with. 186 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 11: Me on this journey to find the truth about her 187 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,680 Speaker 11: famous relative, the good, the bad, and the ugly. As 188 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 11: she said, when we started out all those years ago, 189 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 11: now standing where fifteen people had perished and possibly on 190 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 11: Reagan's orders, gotten way more than she'd bargain for. I 191 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 11: get the sense from you that you're resigned to the hard, 192 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 11: cold fact that it's a very strong possibility Reagan was 193 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:13,360 Speaker 11: behind it. 194 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 7: Oh, I got no doubts, like where I used to 195 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 7: hold out a little hope that what was told through 196 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 7: the family couldn't be true. 197 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 11: Yeah. 198 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 9: No, did you think at the time, if you can 199 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,000 Speaker 9: remember that, you didn't think it could be true, because 200 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 9: even just theoretically, the idea of fifteen people dead at 201 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 9: a single moment is too big to comprehend. 202 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 7: I think when I was little, I didn't probably put 203 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 7: it all together, even when I was in the police, 204 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 7: when you fed the same narrative over and over like. 205 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 7: It wasn't until I started to really have a good 206 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 7: look and then I think, but if he really was 207 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 7: involved in the whiskey and he's killed fifteen people, why 208 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,520 Speaker 7: the hell wasn't he interviewed charged at the inquest. 209 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 11: It wasn't a until I spoke to Helen Reagan, Johnny 210 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 11: and Marg's oldest daughter, that I learned a startling fact, 211 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 11: yet another shocking surprise in the Endless Whisky saga, and 212 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:19,280 Speaker 11: something that potentially had huge implications. Who knew that Marg's brother, 213 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:24,440 Speaker 11: Jimmy was good friends with James Finch, the convicted whisky 214 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 11: killer and the man who attempted to murder Reagan in 215 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,280 Speaker 11: Sydney in nineteen sixty five. Jimmy was so close to 216 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 11: Finch that he even stayed with him in the UK 217 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 11: after Finch was released from prison and deported in nineteen 218 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 11: eighty eight. I confirmed this friendship with another member of 219 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 11: the family. So what did this mean? Reagan's de facto 220 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 11: brother in law, if we could call him, that was 221 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 11: close mates with a man found guilty of the whisky atrocity. 222 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 11: It raised a multitude of questions. In the following exchange, 223 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 11: Helen mentions James Stewart, but she really means James Finch. 224 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 9: Was the whiskey of Go Go. Ever mentioned in relation 225 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 9: to your dad at any point? 226 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, I heard it. 227 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 15: I read about it. My uncle, my Lum's brother Jimmy 228 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 15: is very close to James Stewart, and he obviously went 229 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 15: back to the UK and he just shot my father 230 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 15: something like that. And I remember really a sage to 231 00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 15: like Uncle need Bunny James Stewart, you know, my uncle 232 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 15: being my uncle told him and said, you know my niece, 233 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 15: she wants to kill you. I know that my father's 234 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 15: name is low Up. But again nothing was proven. I mean, 235 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 15: I think everyone knows it. James Stewart, my uncle, Jill 236 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 15: need mom's brothers in Lacey, James Stewart, he said. 237 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 12: He did it. 238 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 11: During the height of the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption 239 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 11: in Queensland in nineteen eighty eight, a lobby group called 240 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 11: the Friends of Finch advocated for his release, claiming he'd 241 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,160 Speaker 11: been verbaled or fitted up with a false statement by 242 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 11: crooked cops like Roger Rogerson when he was first arrested 243 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 11: after the fire in nineteen seventy three. That claim may 244 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 11: have a grain of truth to it, though Finch himself 245 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 11: would later confess to his involvement in the whisky. Still, 246 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:26,400 Speaker 11: the Save Finch campaign made headlines, and in an attempt 247 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:31,439 Speaker 11: to shore up Finch's innocence, a private detective agency, Walter 248 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:36,399 Speaker 11: Cromwell Investigations, was hired to dig into the origins of 249 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:41,919 Speaker 11: the fire. If it wasn't Finch, then who was it. 250 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 11: Its findings were explosive. I came across an old, yellowed 251 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 11: copy of the Cromwell report years ago. Initially I couldn't 252 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 11: make much sense of it. I wasn't able to understand 253 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:57,959 Speaker 11: the bigger picture. But the more I talked to people 254 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,120 Speaker 11: over the years about the whisky and the whole Southern 255 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 11: criminal's takeover theory that psychopath John Andrew Stewart was crowing 256 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 11: about at the time, the Cromwell finding started to come 257 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 11: into greater focus. The seven page report itself was a 258 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:23,520 Speaker 11: combination of typewritten text and handwriting, presumably from the hand 259 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 11: of the investigator, Walter Cromwell himself. The report was stamped 260 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 11: private and confidential. The introduction ominously says. 261 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,959 Speaker 16: Before embarking onto the summary, it is imperative that the reader, 262 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 16: your good self understands that once the enclosed becomes common 263 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 16: knowledge to others, my life becomes at high risk. 264 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 11: The Cromwell Report concludes that the convicted perpetrators of the crime, 265 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 11: John Andrew Stewart and James Finch, were arrested and tried 266 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 11: on the orders of Sidney and Melbourne organized crime families. 267 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:10,639 Speaker 16: It has been gleaned that the Whiskier Go Go was 268 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:14,400 Speaker 16: firebombed on the eighth of March nineteen seventy three by 269 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 16: John Stuart Reagan and John Arthur Clark. It has been 270 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,720 Speaker 16: further established that Reagan and Clark undertook their instructions from 271 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 16: Lenny McPherson and Abe Saffron. 272 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,400 Speaker 11: So Lennie and Abe were setting up their new extortion 273 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 11: takeover of Brisbane and they ordered Reagan and his close 274 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:40,680 Speaker 11: criminal associate John Ratty Clark to organize the firebombing. Attached 275 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 11: to the Cromwell Report were statements from confidential informants. One 276 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,359 Speaker 11: was a former employee of the Pussy Galore strip club 277 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 11: in King's Cross who had befriended a man called David 278 00:19:55,080 --> 00:20:02,239 Speaker 11: from another strip club. The employee told Cromwell. 279 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 17: David had told me that he had known Johnny Reagan 280 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 17: and Johnny Clark for many years before they'd gotten too big. 281 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 17: David told me that early in nineteen seventy three, Reagan 282 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 17: had offered him a job to do. Reagan had wanted 283 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,359 Speaker 17: him to go to Brisbane and organized with him Reagan 284 00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 17: and a couple of extra guys so they could do 285 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:18,880 Speaker 17: a burnout on one of the clubs. Reagan had sent 286 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,399 Speaker 17: Johnny Clark to Melbourne to pick up some money from Lenny, 287 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:23,960 Speaker 17: as he also had an interest in the stated matter. 288 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:27,160 Speaker 17: David told me that he had declined Reagan's offer because 289 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,359 Speaker 17: he only had just recently gotten out of jail and 290 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,600 Speaker 17: that he didn't want any trouble with the police, even 291 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 17: though Reagan had promised police protection through Lennie McPherson. 292 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,760 Speaker 11: The informant said that after the Whiskey Fire, David had 293 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:46,560 Speaker 11: bumped into Reagan in the Sweetheart's Coffee Lounge in King's Cross. 294 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 11: Reagan was allegedly with Ratty Clark and a corrupt police 295 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 11: officer called Jimmy. I personally began to wonder if police 296 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 11: officer Jimmy wasn't in fact Reagan's brothero law. The report 297 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 11: went on. 298 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 16: David said that he had heard them talking about the 299 00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,639 Speaker 16: Whiskey fire and that Jimmy has asked if there were 300 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 16: any problems with the job. Reagan plainly said there hadn't 301 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 16: been any major problems. David said that Reagan had boasted 302 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 16: freely about the fire to just about anyone in the 303 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 16: cross because it made him the man in town. 304 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 11: While the boasting doesn't sound like Reagan, a meticulously cautious criminal, 305 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 11: the informant says that Ratty Clark and Reagan seconded the 306 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 11: Clockwork Orange Gang and went ahead with the job on 307 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 11: their own terms, defying Abe Saffron's instructions and snubbing McPherson. This, 308 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 11: on the other hand, has the ring of truth. As 309 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,800 Speaker 11: we know Reagan was associated with the Brisbane Clockwork Gang 310 00:21:56,119 --> 00:22:00,880 Speaker 11: through local killer and hitman vince O Dempsey, and such 311 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 11: a rash move was in keeping with Reagan's manic and 312 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:12,199 Speaker 11: impetuous nature. Remember the hyperactive Reagan of those secret tapes 313 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 11: of his Cottay. 314 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 18: Couldn't get somebody who put a nice sound on the day. 315 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,920 Speaker 18: Hey you and you sound out more. That's what's going on. 316 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:20,640 Speaker 9: Under the lab. 317 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:22,959 Speaker 1: Nothing to do with anybody. Ah well, just go out. 318 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 18: He's gone, so I come out to see you. Don't 319 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 18: find out why I came image. It couldn't go on it. 320 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 11: The informant provided valuable information on the details behind this 321 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 11: attempted organized crime takeover of Brisbane. 322 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:45,199 Speaker 16: McPherson had wanted seventy five percent of any monies that 323 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 16: Reagan was to make of the Brisbane standover racket. McPherson 324 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 16: was known to share fifty five percent of the collect 325 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:54,760 Speaker 16: moneies with Saffron as he was the one with the 326 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 16: Queensland Police contacts. After sharing the fifty five percent with Saffron, 327 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 16: the remaining twenty percent went to Queensland Police contacts. 328 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:11,399 Speaker 11: If the Cromwell report is even remotely true, Reagan, with 329 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 11: his Whiskey Go Go caper had crossed a very serious 330 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:23,800 Speaker 11: and potentially fatal line. Nobody double crossed Lenny McPherson and 331 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:32,120 Speaker 11: Abe Saffron and lived to tell the tale. The story 332 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 11: passed down through the Reagan family was that shotgun Johnny 333 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 11: made a surprise visit to his hometown of Young in 334 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:46,640 Speaker 11: southwestern New South Wales after the Whisky tragedy. Kelly's dad, Lindsay, 335 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 11: was working as a stock and station agent in town 336 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 11: at the time. He never knew he had a famous 337 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 11: gangster first cousin. He didn't even know his poor old 338 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:03,680 Speaker 11: uncle Alf even had a Then Lindsey got the shock 339 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:08,719 Speaker 11: of his life when a dark stranger entered the stock agency. 340 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 5: And the week after Whisky a Go Go went up, 341 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 5: I was in the office, which was right next door 342 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:23,119 Speaker 5: to the Australian Hotel, and this gentleman walked in. I 343 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,199 Speaker 5: knew who he was without even asking him, because it 344 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 5: was like looking in the mirror. He walked in and 345 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,879 Speaker 5: he said to me, where's Alf? And I said next door? 346 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 5: And he turned on his heel and walked out. Now 347 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 5: that is the only time I've ever seen John Reagan. 348 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 5: That is the only words I've ever spoken to him. 349 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:45,880 Speaker 5: That lasted possibly fifteen seconds. 350 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,399 Speaker 7: Do you know what he spoke to Alf about. 351 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 5: I think he just came up, I don't know, to 352 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 5: spend a bit of time with Uncle Elf. I know 353 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,400 Speaker 5: he took him out because Uncle Elf told Dad took 354 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 5: him out in the car. They went out somewhere. The 355 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,440 Speaker 5: rabbit ran across the road and Alf said something about, 356 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 5: oh I. 357 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,240 Speaker 12: Wish to John. 358 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:07,720 Speaker 5: Paul gone out of his pocket and said, he shit 359 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 5: this afore old uncle El's Will. 360 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 12: He fight it? 361 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,679 Speaker 11: If Lindsay's memory is accurate, and there's no reason to 362 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:18,920 Speaker 11: think it isn't, then Reagan was seeking out his long 363 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 11: lost father Alf after many years away from young It 364 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 11: was the week after the Whiskey Fire and Reagan was armed. 365 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 11: Perhaps Reagan had just decided it was a good time 366 00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 11: to go and see his dad, to get back to 367 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:39,199 Speaker 11: his roots. Or perhaps it was an opportune moment to 368 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 11: be out of Brisbane and Sydney. I needed to discuss 369 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 11: the whole episode with Kelly. 370 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,880 Speaker 9: There's a lot of things starting to come together, right. 371 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:52,959 Speaker 9: Maybe Reagan had a much bigger role in the Whiskey 372 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 9: than anyone's ever anticipated. 373 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,360 Speaker 7: Well, maybe the family was right. Maybe yeah, it's I've 374 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,919 Speaker 7: always been adamant that he was involved in the Whiskey 375 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 7: Go Goo. 376 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,800 Speaker 9: I'm just wondering what they knew which may have been 377 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,200 Speaker 9: lost in the midst of time to be so confident 378 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 9: about that. 379 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 7: I'm thinking when John came down and walked into that 380 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 7: office where he's never gone in to see Dad or 381 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,400 Speaker 7: Pop before. Ever, He's in such a hurry he wants 382 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,680 Speaker 7: to find Uncle Alf quickly. Has he told Alf? He's 383 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:22,399 Speaker 7: told Pop? 384 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:27,359 Speaker 9: Well, he'd have to explain his sudden appearance in young Yes, 385 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 9: doesn't necessarily mean he has to tell the truth. 386 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 7: Or has he told the truth to his father? 387 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 9: And Alf on the pieces leaked it out at some point. 388 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 7: Well, and now Uncle Alf was very badly drunk for 389 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 7: a long time after he left. 390 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 9: Like a big binge, big binge. Yeah, he loved his father, 391 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 9: didn't he very much? 392 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:47,399 Speaker 12: So, so we. 393 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 9: Can imagine that he may have been the only person 394 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 9: on earth that he could tell the truth to. 395 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 7: He may well have. Yeah, And I know he's scared 396 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 7: Uncle Alf, like I told you at the time when 397 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 7: he had the gun and he went on a bender. Again, 398 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 7: John must have been in an all sort of hurry 399 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,680 Speaker 7: to come in and speak to Dad. He's never done 400 00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,160 Speaker 7: that before. He's never walked in to find Uncle Alf 401 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 7: before in there and he's walked in and ask Dad's 402 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:16,439 Speaker 7: told him he's gone. Has he told Uncle Alf? And 403 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,760 Speaker 7: has Uncle Alf Toldplop he's dead set? Would have told PLoP. 404 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,120 Speaker 11: Remember this was a died in the wool Country family. 405 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 11: Pop was the patriarch. There were few secrets in such 406 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 11: a small town, and Johnny Reagan's sudden appearance after being 407 00:27:34,119 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 11: absent for many years would have caused a stir in young. 408 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,200 Speaker 9: So let's just theorize here for a second. I mean, 409 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:47,120 Speaker 9: not speculation, but let's just theorize. Say you're Reagan, You've 410 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,560 Speaker 9: been in Brisbane, You're doing some business. A hasty decision 411 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 9: is made to potentially eliminate competition on the club scene, 412 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:58,479 Speaker 9: and someone else is going to get some money out 413 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 9: of it for an insurance job. Yep, you hire your 414 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 9: underlings to do it. And that's exactly what our source 415 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,280 Speaker 9: said in the documents earlier that mcculkin i, Dempsey and 416 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 9: others or members of the Clockwork Orange Gang were occasionally 417 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,399 Speaker 9: tapped on the shoulder to do odd jobs for Reagan. 418 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 9: Say you do this job, No one anticipates fifteen people 419 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:22,399 Speaker 9: perish in the fire. Yep, suddenly you potentially up for 420 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,760 Speaker 9: fifteen counts of murder. Where would you run to at 421 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,640 Speaker 9: a time of the greatest moment of fear in your 422 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,880 Speaker 9: criminal career? You'd go to someone you trust, and you'd 423 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:34,240 Speaker 9: go home, wouldn't you. 424 00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 7: You'd go home. 425 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 11: In May nineteen seventy four, a little over a year 426 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 11: after the mass murder, and a few months after Whiskey witnessed, 427 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 11: Barbara mcculchin and her two young daughters went missing in Brisbane, 428 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,680 Speaker 11: Reagan was back in Sydney, the usual frenetic puppet master 429 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 11: to dozens of his money making scams. He was now 430 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 11: father to three children with marg his son JP, Helen, 431 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 11: and the youngest Claire, who was eighteen months old. She 432 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:14,960 Speaker 11: was named after Reagan's mother, The Colonel Reagan, though was 433 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 11: hardly the picture of a faithful and demure suburban father, 434 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 11: He was still playing the field and had become attached 435 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 11: to a young woman called Helen Scott Huey, a young 436 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:33,080 Speaker 11: croupier at the Golden Club in Haymarket in Inner Sydney, 437 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 11: reputed to be the biggest illegal casino in the city. 438 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:44,560 Speaker 11: Scott Huey had a three year old child, Carlos, to 439 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 11: another man. On the evening of Tuesday May twenty one, 440 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 11: nineteen seventy four, Reagan and Helen went out for dinner 441 00:29:54,480 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 11: before returning to her flat in Oxford Street, Paddington. 442 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:00,840 Speaker 9: Watch some TV. 443 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:05,840 Speaker 11: Reagan said he'd stay and look after Carlos, and by 444 00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:08,680 Speaker 11: the time Helen left for her early morning shift at 445 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:13,400 Speaker 11: the casino, Reagan and the child were fast asleep in bed. 446 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,920 Speaker 11: At about two am on Wednesday, May twenty two, Reagan 447 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 11: supposedly awoke, bundled little Carlos into his car, and drove 448 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 11: the short distance to Taylor Square on Oxford Street to 449 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:32,680 Speaker 11: his favorite newspaper stand, one of the few in the 450 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 11: city that carried the first editions fresh off the press 451 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:43,080 Speaker 11: of that day's newspapers. Reagan was a news junkie, and 452 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 11: like most crooks with a healthy ego, he probably had 453 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,720 Speaker 11: half an eye on seeing if his name was mentioned 454 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 11: by the press. 455 00:30:55,960 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 19: I'm here in Taylor Square in Sydney, the Oxford Street. 456 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 19: We're at Intersex with Burke Street, and this is the 457 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:08,840 Speaker 19: exact spot where Johnny Reagan, as was his custom, came 458 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:14,480 Speaker 19: up here, parked his car down the side here where 459 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 19: the Oxford Bar is now, and popped out in the 460 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,960 Speaker 19: early morning to get that day's edition of the newspapers, 461 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:29,400 Speaker 19: leaving little Carlos Scott Huey the toddler in the car. 462 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 19: Reagan claims it when he got back Carlos was not 463 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 19: in the car and had effectively disappeared. So it was 464 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 19: right on this spot all those years ago where this 465 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 19: alleged kidnapping of Carlos occurred. 466 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,680 Speaker 9: Did Reagan murder that boy? I don't know. 467 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:54,320 Speaker 19: We've been trying to find out, Kelly and I. It's 468 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:58,120 Speaker 19: been one of the focuses of our investigation into Reagan, 469 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 19: obviously given it involved. 470 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 9: An innocent toddler. 471 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 11: There has been speculation that Reagan dropped into a nearby 472 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:15,719 Speaker 11: illegal casino run by bookmaker Moe Reynolds and picked up 473 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:21,240 Speaker 11: some of his protection money before buying his newspapers. Reagan 474 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,720 Speaker 11: claimed that the little boy was nowhere to be found 475 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:30,400 Speaker 11: by the time he got back to the vehicle. The 476 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:35,880 Speaker 11: disappearance certainly fitted the supposed modus operandi of someone known 477 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 11: as Nano, the Magician, the man who could make people vanish. 478 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 11: But the glaring question was why Why would Reagan bring 479 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:53,920 Speaker 11: attention to himself by murdering a child? Why would he 480 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:58,680 Speaker 11: then put himself through the inherent complications of such a 481 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 11: grotesque act. Did that famous inner tiger emerge and suddenly snap? 482 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 11: Did the child annoy Reagan and then was accidentally killed 483 00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 11: in an act of punishment that went too far. You'll 484 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:23,160 Speaker 11: remember former drug squad detective Michael Drury, the honest police 485 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:28,560 Speaker 11: officer who survived an assassination attempt by corrupt cop Roger Rogerson. 486 00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 11: Mick remembers the case of Carlos Scott Huey and said 487 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 11: it was the talk of the police across Sydney soon 488 00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:38,480 Speaker 11: after it happened. 489 00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,800 Speaker 20: It was in a period of less than a week 490 00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 20: after the disappearance of the child that the word was out, 491 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 20: in particular with police from Darlinghurst, that the child had 492 00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:01,240 Speaker 20: been murdered and Stuart John Reagan was the offer, but 493 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 20: they didn't know what happened to the body. For him 494 00:34:05,560 --> 00:34:07,960 Speaker 20: to walk up there to get a newspaper and come 495 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 20: back to the car, it just does not ring true. 496 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 20: It does not ring true. If there was any truth 497 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 20: in the rumor that the child was kidnapped, and he 498 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 20: was genuine, whether it be Stuart John Reagan or not, 499 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:27,279 Speaker 20: I would expect him not to leave that location, but 500 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:32,319 Speaker 20: to walk fifty meters at the very most across the 501 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:37,360 Speaker 20: road to Darlinghurth's police station and in a fit of 502 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:43,640 Speaker 20: great depression call upon the police to investigate the so 503 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:50,239 Speaker 20: called disappearance, kidnapping of this child from his car, and 504 00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,880 Speaker 20: I believe I'm correct in saying that never took place. 505 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:58,120 Speaker 20: Hence I find that exceedingly concerning. 506 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:02,400 Speaker 8: Well, it's interesting he was the talk of the police. 507 00:35:02,680 --> 00:35:07,080 Speaker 20: Oh yes, yes, not only the uniform police, but the detectives. 508 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:07,799 Speaker 12: A darlingers at the time. 509 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 20: I don't know who investigated the disappearance of the child, 510 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:14,440 Speaker 20: but yes, I clearly remember. 511 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:18,319 Speaker 21: From your experience, what would have been the attitude of 512 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:24,360 Speaker 21: his fellow criminals to a person who had allegedly murdered 513 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 21: an innocent child. 514 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:32,279 Speaker 20: Look, even amongst criminals, that type of behavior, it was 515 00:35:32,600 --> 00:35:38,000 Speaker 20: absolutely unacceptable. There are certain things you can do which 516 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:41,719 Speaker 20: to the average person like yourself and myself, would give 517 00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:47,480 Speaker 20: us gray hair, But that type of behavior was just 518 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:48,960 Speaker 20: totally unacceptable. 519 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 11: The Sydney Morning Herald reported on page one a few 520 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:57,040 Speaker 11: days later that a five thousand dollars reward had been 521 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,560 Speaker 11: posted for Carlos's safe return. 522 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,920 Speaker 22: Police said last night that it had been offered by 523 00:36:03,920 --> 00:36:07,320 Speaker 22: a close friend of the boy's mother, missus Helen Scott Huey. 524 00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:12,160 Speaker 11: That friend was none other than Reagan himself. His de 525 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:18,000 Speaker 11: facto wife, marg recalls that terrible time, she wondered if 526 00:36:18,040 --> 00:36:23,000 Speaker 11: Carlos's disappearance hadn't been a case of mistaken identity. 527 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: When I heard that Carlos and I met, Carlos was 528 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 1: gone and John had gone to get his normal newspaper 529 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:38,560 Speaker 1: in Dulness Oxford Street, which he would go over night 530 00:36:38,680 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 1: to get that newspaper at that same stem. 531 00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:42,399 Speaker 8: Why would he do that? 532 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:45,080 Speaker 1: It's always done it. He was a great friend to 533 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:49,040 Speaker 1: reading the newspapers and see what's going on in the world. 534 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:49,799 Speaker 1: He always did that. 535 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:52,160 Speaker 8: I mean that was early hours of the morning. Did 536 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:52,919 Speaker 8: he sleep much. 537 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:56,959 Speaker 1: I don't think he ever sick, really, but I can't 538 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:01,320 Speaker 1: only remember that man relacable. And so when that happened 539 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:09,240 Speaker 1: and Carlos went missing, I immediately thought that they thought 540 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:14,360 Speaker 1: that was his son, my son, and they were taken 541 00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 1: him for some sort of revenge. I really thought that 542 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:21,640 Speaker 1: they thought Carlos was my son. 543 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:23,319 Speaker 8: How did you meet Carlos? 544 00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,719 Speaker 1: He had seen the other woman Helen's got you, and 545 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:28,320 Speaker 1: he had the child with him one. 546 00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:31,480 Speaker 8: Day, brought him home to your home in the car. 547 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,759 Speaker 1: Probably I can't remember where I factly met him. So 548 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 1: in the end I knew he was having a relationship 549 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:39,959 Speaker 1: with Alan Scott, You and she knew. 550 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:45,600 Speaker 11: I knew Mark then and now doesn't believe Reagan was 551 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,200 Speaker 11: responsible for Carlos's disappearance. 552 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,280 Speaker 8: You don't believe he armed Carlos. 553 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:55,120 Speaker 1: No, I do not. Why because I've seen him with 554 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,960 Speaker 1: kids and I don't believe him. I've seen him with 555 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,600 Speaker 1: his own daughters. I've seen him with my son. No, 556 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:04,520 Speaker 1: I do not. And you knew Helen Scott, Yes, I did. 557 00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:06,439 Speaker 8: She didn't believe that either. 558 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: No, she didn't. When Carlos went missing and I got 559 00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,400 Speaker 1: closer to Helen got even though she was having a 560 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:16,239 Speaker 1: relationship with John, didn't. She had no one to talk 561 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:20,319 Speaker 1: to her about this. She never believed that John did it. 562 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:22,719 Speaker 1: She told you that, yes she did. 563 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 8: Did she have any idea who might have done it? 564 00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: She never said if she did have any idea. 565 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:32,359 Speaker 8: I didn't think it was John. 566 00:38:32,920 --> 00:38:33,719 Speaker 1: She never thought it. 567 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,600 Speaker 8: Was John, and you both shared that same view. 568 00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:40,879 Speaker 1: Same view. But that doesn't mean that she didn't think 569 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,080 Speaker 1: it but didn't want to say it, because I remember 570 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: I was the one that's been around longer than the 571 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,840 Speaker 1: rest of it. I don't know. I didn't feel that 572 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 1: with her. I don't think she ever went into any 573 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 1: investigation about what happened to Carlos. 574 00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:58,600 Speaker 8: What it was her child? Why wouldn't anyone do that? 575 00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:04,840 Speaker 1: I don't know or didn't shet okay, ye understand that 576 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:08,640 Speaker 1: did Johnny ever mentioned that situation to you? 577 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:13,319 Speaker 8: Carlos, of course I wouldn't have a child or of course. 578 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:18,040 Speaker 1: And him I do believe I do. 579 00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:22,480 Speaker 8: And was he angry about being accused of that? 580 00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:28,200 Speaker 1: Certainly? Certainly? But then I don't know the connection we 581 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:31,839 Speaker 1: had with talents got Louis. Was she in the same 582 00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:37,480 Speaker 1: situation I was in? Not wanting to voice her obledion 583 00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:40,359 Speaker 1: because if someone comes to you and says that John 584 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:43,759 Speaker 1: sink your son, you don't go wow. I don't know 585 00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:46,399 Speaker 1: if she did what she did? Not cannot tell you. 586 00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:49,440 Speaker 1: Was it she investigating her son's disappearance? 587 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,560 Speaker 8: And John didn't offer any other explanation as to who 588 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:55,160 Speaker 8: might have snatched. 589 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:57,400 Speaker 12: The child, Not to me. 590 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:00,640 Speaker 1: He may have to who, Not to me. 591 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:03,200 Speaker 8: He didn't say he thought he was being set up. 592 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:06,600 Speaker 1: He would say I didn't do this. I never would 593 00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:10,000 Speaker 1: do this kind of thing. I would never to this time, 594 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,799 Speaker 1: I'm seventy four years of age. I believed that he 595 00:40:12,840 --> 00:40:16,839 Speaker 1: did not have anything to do with Carlos So how. 596 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:20,040 Speaker 8: Can we explained Carlos's disappearance? Why was that child taste? 597 00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,760 Speaker 8: And for what purpose? You thought it might have been JP? 598 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:25,840 Speaker 8: I thought it was JP. 599 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,799 Speaker 1: Either that or an accident happened with the mother and 600 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,959 Speaker 1: the child or with John and the child. I don't 601 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,120 Speaker 1: know what happens happened. You see it all the time 602 00:40:38,160 --> 00:40:41,120 Speaker 1: in the news today. You know, just his head on 603 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:43,920 Speaker 1: the wall. Oh, we didn't do it. I don't know 604 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:47,279 Speaker 1: what happened to that child. And you know what, it's 605 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:51,759 Speaker 1: just like someone who told him don't bother to investigate. 606 00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,040 Speaker 1: If someone told me not to investigate the death of 607 00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:58,520 Speaker 1: any of my children or my family, I'll be there 608 00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:02,239 Speaker 1: opening the doors. So I can't understand that this is 609 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:06,080 Speaker 1: her son, her son. He was a beautiful looking boy, 610 00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:11,920 Speaker 1: and just nothing was opened about it. Why I have 611 00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 1: to question that? Why because she hadn't awarness two gene 612 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:17,040 Speaker 1: reason that told you Chap. I don't know. 613 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:22,280 Speaker 11: It's natural for marg the mother of three of Reagan's children, 614 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:25,480 Speaker 11: to not want to believe that he was capable of 615 00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:29,960 Speaker 11: murdering a three year old boy. That was an act that, 616 00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:40,160 Speaker 11: as Michael Drewy said, was absolutely unacceptable for many unimaginable. Interestingly, 617 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:46,360 Speaker 11: Carlos's disappearance and presumed murder momentarily drew marg and Helen 618 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:52,600 Speaker 11: Scott Huey close together. But for marg that friendship raised 619 00:41:52,640 --> 00:41:55,120 Speaker 11: as many questions as it answered. 620 00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,120 Speaker 8: Did you stay in touch with her for long? 621 00:41:59,320 --> 00:41:59,520 Speaker 13: Yeah? 622 00:41:59,520 --> 00:41:59,879 Speaker 9: I did. 623 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:03,160 Speaker 1: I did start in touch with her for a few months, 624 00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:08,120 Speaker 1: and then she just wait, it's after she disappeared. 625 00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:12,360 Speaker 8: Really she wasn't around. Did you got query or us 626 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,400 Speaker 8: feedba wears Helen. Of course he did. 627 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:20,120 Speaker 1: I don't know where she went. We weren't enemies. I 628 00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:23,720 Speaker 1: wasn't her enemy. The sorrow I felt for that woman 629 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:32,160 Speaker 1: was so immense. That that woman had just lost her child, well, 630 00:42:32,280 --> 00:42:36,080 Speaker 1: her child disappeared. Where is he is? Anyone bothered to 631 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:37,440 Speaker 1: find out where this kid is? 632 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,399 Speaker 11: Margan Reagan's daughter Helen, had fond memories of Helen Scott Huey. 633 00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:49,880 Speaker 11: They were little Helen and big Helen. Big Helen stayed 634 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:53,960 Speaker 11: in their lives after Carlos vanished, and even after Reagan 635 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:55,720 Speaker 11: himself was murdered. 636 00:42:57,480 --> 00:42:59,040 Speaker 15: She was a big chart of our lives. 637 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,799 Speaker 1: We hadn't heard from her. She lived in Enfield with 638 00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:05,319 Speaker 1: her mother. 639 00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:09,000 Speaker 15: She's got a green cherry chitch you know when my 640 00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:12,000 Speaker 15: dad trust away, she was always around. You know, we 641 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,800 Speaker 15: all hang out together. She was my mum's friend and 642 00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,560 Speaker 15: probably my mum's taught person when she was going through 643 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:19,440 Speaker 15: what she went through. 644 00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,239 Speaker 9: I mean, if your dad had murdered her child, why 645 00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:24,640 Speaker 9: would she hang around? 646 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:26,399 Speaker 1: I mean, this is a thing. 647 00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:30,240 Speaker 15: My father was set up. I just say that happening. 648 00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:30,719 Speaker 12: You know. 649 00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:36,319 Speaker 11: I spoke to one source, let's call him Joe, who 650 00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:38,799 Speaker 11: lived near Helen, Scott Huey and her son at the 651 00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:45,319 Speaker 11: time and remembered the chaos when Carlos disappeared. Joe had 652 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,320 Speaker 11: been around the block and while not a criminal, was 653 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:51,080 Speaker 11: acquainted with some members of the underworld. 654 00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:54,319 Speaker 12: Oh well, gone after killing a little kid. 655 00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:57,360 Speaker 9: Do you remember that? I mean I do remember that 656 00:43:57,400 --> 00:43:57,959 Speaker 9: little kid? 657 00:43:59,480 --> 00:43:59,840 Speaker 1: That was That. 658 00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:02,600 Speaker 12: Was Helen's Helen. What's that, Scott Huey. 659 00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:03,600 Speaker 9: That was Carlos. 660 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:07,320 Speaker 12: Yeah, yeah, little Carlos. Yeah, he definitely. 661 00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:12,239 Speaker 9: Yeah. I mean once you once you labeled the child killer. 662 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:18,160 Speaker 12: She used to live close to where Knoxas Street. Is 663 00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:18,560 Speaker 12: that right? 664 00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:20,000 Speaker 9: Did you ever ever run into it? 665 00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:20,680 Speaker 4: No? 666 00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:21,080 Speaker 1: Yeah? 667 00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:21,759 Speaker 12: Yeah? 668 00:44:21,800 --> 00:44:22,240 Speaker 1: Yeah? 669 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:24,919 Speaker 12: What was she like? She's a bit of a knock. 670 00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:28,000 Speaker 12: She's quite a nice girl. You know, I always liked her. 671 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:35,000 Speaker 11: When Carlos finished, Joe witnessed the boy's mother in absolute distress. 672 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:40,120 Speaker 12: She was screaming, and that killer. Everyone hated him for 673 00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:40,600 Speaker 12: what he did. 674 00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:42,960 Speaker 9: And it's mainly the kid, isn't it. 675 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:46,600 Speaker 12: Well? I mean, now I could get murdering three your 676 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:50,440 Speaker 12: old kid, cause he screw on his mother and she 677 00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:53,440 Speaker 12: wasn't really happy the way he was treating the kids. 678 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:56,799 Speaker 12: It's one of the last things you could ever do, 679 00:44:57,440 --> 00:44:59,600 Speaker 12: in my opinion, Blake, and he got what. 680 00:44:59,600 --> 00:45:02,080 Speaker 9: He des Did you ever actually meet him? 681 00:45:02,840 --> 00:45:04,520 Speaker 12: Funny enough, he used to go to a friend of 682 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:06,719 Speaker 12: mine's place all the time, and he was mixed up 683 00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:10,719 Speaker 12: in the two up on the casino at Darlinghurst. The 684 00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:13,399 Speaker 12: Forbes Club and the region used to go and see 685 00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:15,480 Speaker 12: him all the time, and they were giving him money 686 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:17,799 Speaker 12: to keep him where they wanted him, you know, when 687 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:18,640 Speaker 12: the time was right. 688 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,759 Speaker 9: And Helen Scott Huey was a dealer at the Golden Club. 689 00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:22,960 Speaker 9: I've read that a few times. 690 00:45:23,640 --> 00:45:26,600 Speaker 12: Yes, I think she was. She was quite a nice girl. 691 00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:29,560 Speaker 12: I was there when that all took place. You know, 692 00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:33,680 Speaker 12: Johnny Reagan and took that little boy and took his life, 693 00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:37,719 Speaker 12: absolutely ruined Helen's life. 694 00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:41,800 Speaker 9: You saw Helen at that terrible moment of distress. 695 00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:44,480 Speaker 12: She should have thinned, and she was screaming, what I 696 00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:48,239 Speaker 12: just said? What the that's wrong with your girl? That 697 00:45:48,719 --> 00:45:51,600 Speaker 12: she just said he killed my son? I couldn't believe it. 698 00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:54,560 Speaker 9: She was a mother in genuine grief, as you. 699 00:45:54,600 --> 00:46:00,320 Speaker 12: Saw, genuine grief, I mean genuine grief. And I the 700 00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:01,040 Speaker 12: best I could. 701 00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:03,960 Speaker 9: You know, Well, how can you console someone like that? 702 00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:05,160 Speaker 9: I mean, you lose a child. 703 00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:08,520 Speaker 12: It's just well you can't. You can't. You know, she 704 00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:10,719 Speaker 12: didn't know, but I let a couple of people know 705 00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:14,839 Speaker 12: that I bumped into him. I think with all their 706 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:17,440 Speaker 12: connections in that way, I knew that it was true. 707 00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:20,400 Speaker 12: And you know, when the police said he had to go, 708 00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:20,960 Speaker 12: he had to go. 709 00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:24,640 Speaker 9: And did you get a feeling I'm not asking you 710 00:46:24,719 --> 00:46:26,880 Speaker 9: directly if you heard it from anyone, but did you 711 00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:29,440 Speaker 9: get a sense from when Carlos went missing to the 712 00:46:29,560 --> 00:46:32,680 Speaker 9: day Reagan was shot dead that something was going to 713 00:46:32,719 --> 00:46:33,279 Speaker 9: happen to him? 714 00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:38,719 Speaker 12: Oh? Definitely. Hey, imagine if someone murdered your little son 715 00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:42,040 Speaker 12: at say six year old or four year old, how 716 00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:46,359 Speaker 12: would you feel. Imagine if someone raped your little daughter 717 00:46:46,440 --> 00:46:46,799 Speaker 12: at six? 718 00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:51,560 Speaker 9: Oh my god, these people are that evil, So Reagan 719 00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:52,640 Speaker 9: was a dead man walking. 720 00:46:54,280 --> 00:46:56,600 Speaker 12: Fuck it even today. If you did that, I reckon, 721 00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:57,919 Speaker 12: there'd be a dead man walking. 722 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:06,720 Speaker 11: You'll remember Fred Froggy Cray, the corrupt and alcoholic former 723 00:47:06,760 --> 00:47:11,640 Speaker 11: detective who was forced into retirement following brothel Madame Shirley 724 00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:17,200 Speaker 11: Brifman's whistle blowing on national television. Cray, a lover of Brifman's, 725 00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:21,880 Speaker 11: was retired medically unfit from the New South Wales Police 726 00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:27,040 Speaker 11: after the Brifman allegations aired. For a time, Cray was 727 00:47:27,080 --> 00:47:32,759 Speaker 11: suspected of having murdered Brifman. To make ends meet. In retirement, 728 00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:38,960 Speaker 11: Cray opened Epitome Investigations, a private eye firm based in 729 00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:44,920 Speaker 11: Byrell Street, Waverley in Sydney's East. At the time Carlos disappeared, 730 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:51,120 Speaker 11: Cray's Epitome Investigations had somehow scored a contract with Sydney's 731 00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:55,600 Speaker 11: popular The Sun daily newspaper. He was an ex ace 732 00:47:55,719 --> 00:47:59,440 Speaker 11: detective with a thousand contacts who had his finger on 733 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:03,439 Speaker 11: the pulse of the Sydney Underworld. Part of Cray's job 734 00:48:03,560 --> 00:48:07,040 Speaker 11: as advisor to the Sun, then owned by John Fairfax, 735 00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:12,640 Speaker 11: was to issue regular tip offs, alerts and bulletins about 736 00:48:12,680 --> 00:48:17,160 Speaker 11: potential news stories that the tabloids should be following, all 737 00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:22,600 Speaker 11: typed neatly on a Pitame investigation's letterhead. Kelly and I 738 00:48:22,719 --> 00:48:27,120 Speaker 11: have found a cachet of epitome documents in the Fairfax 739 00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:30,640 Speaker 11: Archives held in the State Library of New South Wales, 740 00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:35,760 Speaker 11: and several of those cray memos could easily lay claim 741 00:48:36,400 --> 00:48:39,920 Speaker 11: to contributing to the strength of the argument that Reagan 742 00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:44,240 Speaker 11: was now the worst of the worst, a child killer. 743 00:48:45,120 --> 00:48:48,719 Speaker 11: Less than a week after Carlos disappeared, Craye wrote to 744 00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:53,160 Speaker 11: The Sun under the subheading Stuart John Reagan. 745 00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:57,840 Speaker 22: There appears no doubt that he has murdered Carlos Scott 746 00:48:57,920 --> 00:49:00,120 Speaker 22: Hughey and would have no fears of the fire five 747 00:49:00,200 --> 00:49:04,279 Speaker 22: thousand dollars reward being collected. If the police get even 748 00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:07,279 Speaker 22: the smallest amount of evidence, they would have to charge him. 749 00:49:07,800 --> 00:49:10,279 Speaker 22: I feel that any newspaper which keeps on the back 750 00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:13,320 Speaker 22: of the police department as to results of investigation of 751 00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:16,680 Speaker 22: the disappearance of this child would be doing a public service, 752 00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:20,239 Speaker 22: as there is no doubt that Reagan is a psychopathic killer. 753 00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:25,480 Speaker 11: No trace of Carlos has ever been found, as far 754 00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:29,040 Speaker 11: as we can tell, no inquest has ever been held 755 00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:35,520 Speaker 11: into his presumed murder. As from motive, the only one 756 00:49:35,680 --> 00:49:40,040 Speaker 11: offered was that the child somehow annoyed or aggravated Reagan 757 00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:47,320 Speaker 11: enough for him to cold bloodedly kill the boy. It 758 00:49:47,480 --> 00:49:52,839 Speaker 11: may have happened that way, but unsolved crimes, especially those 759 00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:57,680 Speaker 11: that drift into years and then decades, tend to spawn 760 00:49:57,960 --> 00:50:03,560 Speaker 11: theories upon theories, and over time they can become so 761 00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:09,480 Speaker 11: incredible that they defy logic. What if, as marg suggested, 762 00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:14,640 Speaker 11: Carlos wasn't the target but Reagan's own young son, JP, 763 00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:21,239 Speaker 11: and that this was a case of mistaken identity that 764 00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:25,400 Speaker 11: would suggest that somebody else had pre planned the kidnapping, 765 00:50:26,920 --> 00:50:32,240 Speaker 11: monitored Reagan's movements, and struck at the precise moment Reagan 766 00:50:32,640 --> 00:50:35,359 Speaker 11: had a child in his car in the early hours 767 00:50:35,400 --> 00:50:40,399 Speaker 11: of the morning, necessitating Reagan having to step away from 768 00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:45,239 Speaker 11: the car in order to carry out the abduction. That 769 00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:49,439 Speaker 11: sounds far too complex and heavily reliant on dumb good 770 00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:56,560 Speaker 11: luck to ever work. And why target Reagan's own only 771 00:50:56,840 --> 00:51:02,800 Speaker 11: son to blackmail him revenge for Reagan's many transgressions in 772 00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:08,480 Speaker 11: the underworld and for him getting too big for his boots. Again, 773 00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:15,680 Speaker 11: too messy and complicated. But what if just what if 774 00:51:17,280 --> 00:51:21,560 Speaker 11: the child was vanished in order to brand Reagan as 775 00:51:21,640 --> 00:51:27,840 Speaker 11: that most hated of creatures, that most universally despised of monsters, 776 00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:34,440 Speaker 11: a child killer? And what if that mantle of child 777 00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:39,960 Speaker 11: killer hanging around Reagan's neck effectively gave the green light 778 00:51:40,719 --> 00:51:49,520 Speaker 11: to Reagan's own extermination. As it turned out, one of 779 00:51:49,600 --> 00:51:54,279 Speaker 11: Reagan's criminal and business associates at the time actually had 780 00:51:54,560 --> 00:51:59,560 Speaker 11: form in murdering children. That man was Vincent o'dempsey from 781 00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:04,040 Speaker 11: Queen's Land, currently serving life in prison for the murder 782 00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:08,400 Speaker 11: of mother Barbara mculchin and her two daughters, Vicki thirteen 783 00:52:09,040 --> 00:52:15,200 Speaker 11: and Leanne eleven, in nineteen seventy four. Barbara just may 784 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:18,719 Speaker 11: have known too much about the real perpetrators behind the 785 00:52:18,760 --> 00:52:22,719 Speaker 11: Whiskey Go Go fire bombing. The bodies of Barbara and 786 00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:26,920 Speaker 11: the girls have never been found. In the months after 787 00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:30,680 Speaker 11: the Mculkin murders, Vince went on the run with his 788 00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:35,520 Speaker 11: partner Diane Pritchard, and for a while they stayed with 789 00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:41,920 Speaker 11: one of Vince's criminal associates in Hawk's Nest north of Newcastle. Vince, 790 00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:46,560 Speaker 11: as we've already explored, worked occasionally for Paddles Anderson in 791 00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:51,720 Speaker 11: Sydney and knew Reagan well. They'd bought some land together 792 00:52:51,880 --> 00:52:57,920 Speaker 11: in Vince's hometown of Warwick, southwest of Brisbane. Vince emulated Reagan. 793 00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:01,760 Speaker 11: He didn't drink or smoke like Reagan. He was obsessed 794 00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:05,760 Speaker 11: with the latest technology like Reagan. He had a growing 795 00:53:05,920 --> 00:53:09,360 Speaker 11: reputation as a gun for hire, and he had a 796 00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:15,120 Speaker 11: simple maxim that he lived by business is business. If 797 00:53:15,200 --> 00:53:18,200 Speaker 11: a job needed to be done, he got it done. 798 00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:22,120 Speaker 11: I spoke to the associate and he recalled Vince and 799 00:53:22,239 --> 00:53:27,600 Speaker 11: Diane getting into an argument. After the blow up, Diana 800 00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:31,200 Speaker 11: alleged to the associate that Vince told her he had 801 00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:36,120 Speaker 11: killed a small child. We have changed the associate's voice 802 00:53:36,640 --> 00:53:41,200 Speaker 11: for his protection. He theorized about Carlos's death. 803 00:53:43,200 --> 00:53:46,479 Speaker 14: Why would the child have been killed? Would be a boy? 804 00:53:47,440 --> 00:53:50,959 Speaker 9: Well, let's just say, theoretically, say Reagan killed the child? 805 00:53:51,040 --> 00:53:52,080 Speaker 9: What was in it for him? 806 00:53:52,840 --> 00:53:56,040 Speaker 14: What Diane said that time? I looked at her as 807 00:53:56,080 --> 00:54:00,719 Speaker 14: if she was better, bught you poor slid through? Well, 808 00:54:00,800 --> 00:54:04,000 Speaker 14: I thought she was talking about his kids, his kids, 809 00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:07,240 Speaker 14: that I read that article of Penny, so the drop 810 00:54:07,880 --> 00:54:11,520 Speaker 14: would be completely wrong. He killed some kid with stuff 811 00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:14,440 Speaker 14: of choer and he got a boy the ankles and 812 00:54:14,600 --> 00:54:18,080 Speaker 14: spashts aid into the wall, stuffy, and that's something he'd do. 813 00:54:19,920 --> 00:54:22,360 Speaker 12: He had the contolishing that he had to do. 814 00:54:23,280 --> 00:54:25,120 Speaker 14: There's a lot of people I had that have killed 815 00:54:25,160 --> 00:54:27,640 Speaker 14: a lot of people who got a lot like as 816 00:54:27,800 --> 00:54:33,360 Speaker 14: m secret that cool people, but it's not a conpolishing. 817 00:54:33,680 --> 00:54:34,600 Speaker 12: Did's have to do it? 818 00:54:40,239 --> 00:54:45,040 Speaker 11: Who killed Carlos? Where was his mother? Helen Scott Huey? 819 00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:49,440 Speaker 11: She had vanished from the lives of the Reagans sometime 820 00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:53,799 Speaker 11: in the late nineteen seventies and seemingly off the face 821 00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:58,160 Speaker 11: of the earth. Where is that little boy? If he 822 00:54:58,320 --> 00:55:01,640 Speaker 11: was alive today, he it would be fifty four years old. 823 00:55:02,680 --> 00:55:06,640 Speaker 11: And who went looking for him? We understand Helen Scott 824 00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:11,960 Speaker 11: Huey's family made earnest attempts to locate the child, But 825 00:55:12,120 --> 00:55:17,319 Speaker 11: how can a toddler simply evaporate into thin air? Those 826 00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:21,320 Speaker 11: questions took me full circle, all the way back to 827 00:55:21,440 --> 00:55:26,920 Speaker 11: my first ever meeting with Kelly Slater, reagan second cousin. 828 00:55:29,680 --> 00:55:33,279 Speaker 4: Honestly, I don't know exactly what we'll find. I know 829 00:55:33,440 --> 00:55:36,640 Speaker 4: we'll find that he probably killed people. Will we find 830 00:55:36,760 --> 00:55:39,480 Speaker 4: did he kill that little boy? That's something I'd really 831 00:55:39,600 --> 00:55:42,799 Speaker 4: like to Carlos yep, And I'm resigned to the fact 832 00:55:42,840 --> 00:55:44,880 Speaker 4: that if he did, but I'm hopeful of it. Given't 833 00:55:45,320 --> 00:55:48,840 Speaker 4: the whiskey gago, What was his involvement in that? Was 834 00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:51,680 Speaker 4: he a psychopath? Like they said? Is the stories that 835 00:55:51,760 --> 00:55:53,000 Speaker 4: they tell about him truth? 836 00:55:55,080 --> 00:55:58,160 Speaker 11: Stuart John Reagan was probably the last of the old 837 00:55:58,280 --> 00:56:04,960 Speaker 11: time gangsters. He was ruthless, He was violent. He was 838 00:56:05,040 --> 00:56:09,399 Speaker 11: always armed and on the lookout for danger. He wore 839 00:56:09,440 --> 00:56:13,800 Speaker 11: a bullet proof vest when he needed to. He almost 840 00:56:14,000 --> 00:56:19,279 Speaker 11: always was accompanied by a bodyguard. Everyone we spoke to 841 00:56:19,440 --> 00:56:23,920 Speaker 11: bar Nunn, who knew Reagan, said he could instill fear 842 00:56:24,400 --> 00:56:28,319 Speaker 11: by just walking into a room, and you never ever 843 00:56:29,080 --> 00:56:33,200 Speaker 11: wanted to get on his wrong side. In the end, 844 00:56:33,960 --> 00:56:37,359 Speaker 11: no matter what his strengths, he was a marked man. 845 00:56:39,360 --> 00:56:44,120 Speaker 11: Precisely four months after Carlos disappeared, and after a pleasant 846 00:56:44,280 --> 00:56:50,600 Speaker 11: Sunday out with his oldest daughter Helen at Sydney's Watson's Bay, Reagan, unarmed, 847 00:56:51,480 --> 00:56:55,200 Speaker 11: casually walked down a Marrickville street on his way to 848 00:56:55,320 --> 00:57:00,200 Speaker 11: a pre arranged meeting and straight into the sights of 849 00:57:00,480 --> 00:57:09,040 Speaker 11: four thirty eight caliber pistols. In the final episode of 850 00:57:09,120 --> 00:57:10,320 Speaker 11: The Gangster's. 851 00:57:09,920 --> 00:57:13,560 Speaker 15: Ghost People Check reminding me your father was a gangster. 852 00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:14,840 Speaker 1: That's me. 853 00:57:15,560 --> 00:57:16,880 Speaker 12: He was like he ow the Father. 854 00:57:30,600 --> 00:57:33,080 Speaker 2: The Gangster's Ghost is a production of The Australian. It's 855 00:57:33,160 --> 00:57:36,720 Speaker 2: written and presented by senior writer Matthew Condon and edited 856 00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:41,040 Speaker 2: by multimedia editor Leat Sammergloom. Our executive producer is Me 857 00:57:41,360 --> 00:57:46,160 Speaker 2: Editorial director Claire Harvey. Special thanks to Lara Kamenos, Erica Rutliche, 858 00:57:46,240 --> 00:57:50,640 Speaker 2: Kristin Amiot, Jasper Leiku, Stephanie Coombs, Sean Callanan, Lachland, Clear, 859 00:57:50,920 --> 00:57:55,960 Speaker 2: Ryan Osland, Amanda win Williams, Christine Kellett, Tarn Blackhurst, Magdalena Zadak, 860 00:57:56,160 --> 00:58:00,800 Speaker 2: Giselle Boetti, Genevieve Brammel, Lauren Bruce, Sus Rolf and Kenny Carlson. 861 00:58:01,600 --> 00:58:03,800 Speaker 2: We can only do journalism like this with the support 862 00:58:03,840 --> 00:58:07,000 Speaker 2: of our subscribers, who hear episodes first and get full 863 00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:11,040 Speaker 2: access to photos, video, news stories and features plus all 864 00:58:11,080 --> 00:58:14,600 Speaker 2: Australia's best journalism twenty four to seven. Join us at 865 00:58:14,720 --> 00:58:16,800 Speaker 2: Gangstersghost dot com dot au