1 00:00:05,881 --> 00:00:07,801 Speaker 1: Appoche production. 2 00:00:14,121 --> 00:00:16,641 Speaker 2: Welcome to Real Crime with Adam Shand I'm your host 3 00:00:16,681 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 2: Adam Shand. Some crimes are so deeply hidden that the 4 00:00:21,041 --> 00:00:24,601 Speaker 2: truth goes to the grave with the characters involved. The 5 00:00:24,641 --> 00:00:30,441 Speaker 2: story of Kerry Packers gold is one such crime. On 6 00:00:30,481 --> 00:00:35,481 Speaker 2: the last weekend in April nineteen ninety five, Australia's richest man, 7 00:00:35,601 --> 00:00:38,801 Speaker 2: Kerry Packer, was relieved of two hundred and eighty five 8 00:00:38,881 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 2: kilos of gold bullion. It was the largest theft of 9 00:00:42,721 --> 00:00:46,441 Speaker 2: gold in Australia's history, surpassing the two hundred and thirty 10 00:00:46,521 --> 00:00:50,721 Speaker 2: kilos stolen in eighteen fifty two from the Nelson, a 11 00:00:50,801 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 2: ship at anchor in Port Melbourne. Packer's gold was snatched 12 00:00:55,521 --> 00:00:59,721 Speaker 2: from a safe in his Sydney office. Somehow the thief 13 00:00:59,761 --> 00:01:03,081 Speaker 2: got twenty five gold bars out of the building past 14 00:01:03,161 --> 00:01:08,681 Speaker 2: security undetected. The crime scene told a simple story, a 15 00:01:08,721 --> 00:01:13,361 Speaker 2: master thief working alone, executing a daring raid that went 16 00:01:13,441 --> 00:01:18,521 Speaker 2: off without a hitch. However, the true story is anything 17 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:25,161 Speaker 2: but simple. Three decades later, a very different story is 18 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:30,321 Speaker 2: emerging from my investigation, suggesting that this heist was an 19 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 2: elaborate setup, a conspiracy designed to create an illusion that 20 00:01:35,681 --> 00:01:40,761 Speaker 2: an intruder had breached Packer's inner sanctum. Just how much 21 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 2: Kerry Packer knew about the robbery is uncertain. He died 22 00:01:44,681 --> 00:01:47,360 Speaker 2: in two thousand and five, so he's not in a 23 00:01:47,401 --> 00:01:51,321 Speaker 2: position to assist. Only a handful of people knew about 24 00:01:51,321 --> 00:01:54,881 Speaker 2: the safe and its contents. Each one had a motive 25 00:01:54,961 --> 00:01:59,961 Speaker 2: to be involved in the theft. My research suggests two possibilities, 26 00:02:00,761 --> 00:02:05,161 Speaker 2: that someone left the safe open to ensure the theft happened, 27 00:02:06,241 --> 00:02:12,241 Speaker 2: or that Kerry Packer stole his own gold. The Underworld 28 00:02:12,321 --> 00:02:16,361 Speaker 2: favors the latter story. But there's just a few things 29 00:02:16,361 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 2: that Dame Jell. No one actually ever saw it. No 30 00:02:18,601 --> 00:02:20,081 Speaker 2: one never saw the ghost. It's all shit. 31 00:02:20,321 --> 00:02:24,601 Speaker 1: Everything you did was smelly, Kerry Packers because cruel. It 32 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 1: wasn't what you laugh. Good luck to him, which I 33 00:02:27,641 --> 00:02:30,081 Speaker 1: was in the joke with him, But let's start sitting 34 00:02:30,081 --> 00:02:31,641 Speaker 1: at me like he was just a businessman. 35 00:02:34,161 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 3: Kerry Francis Bolmore Packer, I appear here so after theon reluctantly. 36 00:02:42,481 --> 00:02:45,041 Speaker 2: Kerry Packer was a larger than life figure with a 37 00:02:45,161 --> 00:02:49,001 Speaker 2: huge public following after his creation of the Rebel World 38 00:02:49,121 --> 00:02:54,441 Speaker 2: series Cricket in the late nineteen seventies, He was brash, combative, 39 00:02:54,721 --> 00:02:57,361 Speaker 2: and determined to get his own way in all things, 40 00:02:58,121 --> 00:03:01,521 Speaker 2: as he demonstrated when he appeared before a parliamentary hearing 41 00:03:01,601 --> 00:03:04,721 Speaker 2: in nineteen ninety one into his attempt to take over 42 00:03:05,161 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 2: the John Fairfax newspaper empire. 43 00:03:08,441 --> 00:03:10,361 Speaker 1: You're either going to have to believe me or call 44 00:03:10,481 --> 00:03:11,001 Speaker 1: me a liar. 45 00:03:11,361 --> 00:03:14,761 Speaker 3: I am telling you there is no arrangement, and I'm 46 00:03:14,841 --> 00:03:18,441 Speaker 3: sick of telling people there is no arrangement. That is 47 00:03:18,561 --> 00:03:23,201 Speaker 3: the situation. There is no arrangement, there is no agreement. 48 00:03:23,561 --> 00:03:25,800 Speaker 3: I am not going to run John Fairfax's. 49 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:30,521 Speaker 2: Packer had a famous disregard for people and lawmakers who 50 00:03:30,641 --> 00:03:32,001 Speaker 2: interfered with his business. 51 00:03:33,121 --> 00:03:36,521 Speaker 1: I am not evading tax in any way, shape or form. Now, 52 00:03:36,681 --> 00:03:38,601 Speaker 1: of course, I am minimizing my tax. 53 00:03:38,881 --> 00:03:42,081 Speaker 3: And if anybody in this country doesn't minimize their tax, 54 00:03:42,161 --> 00:03:44,881 Speaker 3: they want their head room because a government, I can 55 00:03:44,961 --> 00:03:46,641 Speaker 3: tell you you're not spending it that well that we 56 00:03:46,681 --> 00:03:47,841 Speaker 3: should be donating extra. 57 00:03:51,081 --> 00:03:54,241 Speaker 1: The story of Packer's gold, like his career, was not 58 00:03:54,481 --> 00:03:59,201 Speaker 1: just about wealth. It was about loyalty, betrayal, and control. 59 00:04:00,281 --> 00:04:03,001 Speaker 2: There was a sense that Kerry Packer had not shared 60 00:04:03,121 --> 00:04:07,121 Speaker 2: all he knew with the investigating police. He'd use trusted 61 00:04:07,201 --> 00:04:10,161 Speaker 2: insiders in New South Wales Police Force to keep the 62 00:04:10,241 --> 00:04:14,201 Speaker 2: detectives on the job at arm's length. It was an 63 00:04:14,281 --> 00:04:18,881 Speaker 2: investigation that was destined to fail. In fact, perhaps it 64 00:04:19,041 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 2: was designed to fail from the get go. The police 65 00:04:23,361 --> 00:04:25,961 Speaker 2: were provided with no evidence that the gold was ever 66 00:04:26,121 --> 00:04:29,841 Speaker 2: actually in the safe. They were told that Packer had 67 00:04:29,921 --> 00:04:32,481 Speaker 2: received the gold when he sold a steak in a 68 00:04:32,561 --> 00:04:36,561 Speaker 2: Perth mining company. Rather than take cash for his stake, 69 00:04:37,081 --> 00:04:40,241 Speaker 2: the media mogul had asked for his payment in gold, 70 00:04:40,921 --> 00:04:45,081 Speaker 2: apparently for tax reasons. Packer had stored the gold bars 71 00:04:45,281 --> 00:04:48,961 Speaker 2: in the old safe in his office, even though there 72 00:04:49,041 --> 00:04:52,121 Speaker 2: was a much larger and more secure strong room in 73 00:04:52,201 --> 00:04:56,841 Speaker 2: another office nearby. It's an odd thing to do storing 74 00:04:57,001 --> 00:05:02,041 Speaker 2: ten thousand ounces of gold in a primitive safe. Normally 75 00:05:02,081 --> 00:05:04,961 Speaker 2: you'd store it at a mint, a bank, or a 76 00:05:05,201 --> 00:05:09,280 Speaker 2: broker that would give you a certificate of ownership. Maybe 77 00:05:09,361 --> 00:05:12,801 Speaker 2: Packer when their assets of between two to three billion dollars, 78 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:16,601 Speaker 2: just like the reassurance of looking at his stake. He 79 00:05:16,761 --> 00:05:18,761 Speaker 2: used to say that he had a squirrel mentality when 80 00:05:18,801 --> 00:05:22,121 Speaker 2: it came to money, but even squirrels are more security 81 00:05:22,201 --> 00:05:26,521 Speaker 2: conscious than this. So police were never shown a photograph 82 00:05:26,641 --> 00:05:29,601 Speaker 2: of the gold in situ. They were asked to take 83 00:05:29,641 --> 00:05:33,001 Speaker 2: it on faith that the gold had been there and 84 00:05:33,161 --> 00:05:35,321 Speaker 2: that the thief was able to spirit the bully in 85 00:05:35,681 --> 00:05:40,401 Speaker 2: past twenty four hour security and make their getaway undetected. 86 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,081 Speaker 2: The late Bert Kidd, one of the country's most ruthless crooks, 87 00:05:48,561 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 2: discussed the caper with me, along with a longtime associate 88 00:05:52,281 --> 00:05:53,881 Speaker 2: who shall remain nameless. 89 00:05:54,641 --> 00:05:57,601 Speaker 4: It would have took some handling to get it out. 90 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,401 Speaker 1: Of the building. Yeah, it doesn't make any sense. He 91 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:06,961 Speaker 1: couldn't be won out. Oh no, there's help, can't now. 92 00:06:07,761 --> 00:06:08,801 Speaker 1: You got to be at least two. 93 00:06:09,681 --> 00:06:12,241 Speaker 2: Typically a team of two or three would be involved 94 00:06:12,281 --> 00:06:14,961 Speaker 2: in a job like this, one man to do the 95 00:06:15,041 --> 00:06:18,601 Speaker 2: safe cutting, another on the roof with a police scanner 96 00:06:19,521 --> 00:06:22,801 Speaker 2: as an early warning system, then also a driver for 97 00:06:22,841 --> 00:06:27,921 Speaker 2: the getaway. But no accomplice has ever been named or 98 00:06:28,001 --> 00:06:32,361 Speaker 2: even hinted at. A crime like this is almost too 99 00:06:32,481 --> 00:06:36,921 Speaker 2: good to keep a secret. Eventually, even the staunchest crooks 100 00:06:37,241 --> 00:06:40,520 Speaker 2: have to boast about their success, but not this time. 101 00:06:42,001 --> 00:06:45,320 Speaker 2: The known and accepted facts of the robbery are scant 102 00:06:45,521 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 2: and incomplete. The thief used a crowbar or a screwdriver 103 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,801 Speaker 2: to Jemmy open three sets of doors to reach Packers. 104 00:06:53,921 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 2: In a sanctum, they found the old Chubb's safe hidden 105 00:06:58,401 --> 00:07:02,441 Speaker 2: behind a drink's cabinet. The safe was from the nineteen forties. 106 00:07:03,241 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 2: Kerry's father, Sir Frank Packer, had installed it decades earlier. 107 00:07:07,841 --> 00:07:11,921 Speaker 2: It was antiquated, an easy target for any decent crook. 108 00:07:13,081 --> 00:07:16,521 Speaker 2: The safecracker used an oxy acetylene torch to make a 109 00:07:16,601 --> 00:07:18,881 Speaker 2: precise L shaped incision in the door. 110 00:07:20,001 --> 00:07:21,321 Speaker 1: He knew where to cut. 111 00:07:21,681 --> 00:07:23,841 Speaker 2: And he severed the one inch steel bar of the 112 00:07:23,881 --> 00:07:28,761 Speaker 2: locking mechanism inside the safe. This was the standard method 113 00:07:29,121 --> 00:07:31,961 Speaker 2: that had been used for a long time, and even 114 00:07:32,161 --> 00:07:34,481 Speaker 2: low level crooks knew how to do it if they 115 00:07:34,521 --> 00:07:39,481 Speaker 2: had enough time, which this one seemed to have. There 116 00:07:39,601 --> 00:07:42,601 Speaker 2: was a single scorch mark on the carpet from a 117 00:07:42,681 --> 00:07:46,321 Speaker 2: bead of molten slag from the cutting. The carpet had 118 00:07:46,361 --> 00:07:51,121 Speaker 2: also been dappened to avoid causing a fire, Otherwise no 119 00:07:51,361 --> 00:07:57,641 Speaker 2: trace was left behind. A fingerprint was found inside the safe, 120 00:07:58,161 --> 00:08:01,001 Speaker 2: which sparked hopes of an early resolution of the case. 121 00:08:02,001 --> 00:08:05,001 Speaker 2: The owner of the fingerprint was tracked down to South Australia, 122 00:08:05,641 --> 00:08:08,521 Speaker 2: but this turned out to be a false lead. The 123 00:08:08,641 --> 00:08:12,041 Speaker 2: man was a technician who'd serviced the safe years earlier. 124 00:08:13,241 --> 00:08:16,441 Speaker 2: The gold had to be carried out past security. The 125 00:08:16,521 --> 00:08:19,961 Speaker 2: Packer headquarters had twenty four to seven security, but it 126 00:08:20,081 --> 00:08:22,481 Speaker 2: was known that the guards would often leave their posts 127 00:08:22,881 --> 00:08:25,881 Speaker 2: to work out in the Hyde Park Club gym next door. 128 00:08:26,841 --> 00:08:29,641 Speaker 2: Unless you'd paid them off, you couldn't be certain of 129 00:08:29,681 --> 00:08:33,961 Speaker 2: their movements. In any case, security wasn't super tight in 130 00:08:34,041 --> 00:08:38,201 Speaker 2: the Packer headquarters. Once a scammer had ordered an exotic 131 00:08:38,281 --> 00:08:41,481 Speaker 2: sports car to be delivered to the building for James 132 00:08:41,561 --> 00:08:44,961 Speaker 2: Packer Kerry's son to test drive, and when it came 133 00:08:45,601 --> 00:08:47,001 Speaker 2: the guards didn't question. 134 00:08:46,881 --> 00:08:49,081 Speaker 1: The stranger who drove away in the car. 135 00:08:51,641 --> 00:08:54,721 Speaker 2: Later police got a tip on a possible suspect, and 136 00:08:54,921 --> 00:08:59,081 Speaker 2: oddly enough, it came from the so called victim. Kerry 137 00:08:59,161 --> 00:09:02,641 Speaker 2: Packer never explained how he came about this information, but 138 00:09:02,881 --> 00:09:07,241 Speaker 2: he named Russell Paul Kelly, a career criminal with the 139 00:09:07,361 --> 00:09:10,161 Speaker 2: history of safe breaking going back to the nineteen sixties. 140 00:09:13,201 --> 00:09:15,681 Speaker 2: Kelly had been an apprentice to Bert Kidd in Melbourne. 141 00:09:16,241 --> 00:09:19,081 Speaker 2: This partnership had ended badly when Kid had to sack 142 00:09:19,161 --> 00:09:19,881 Speaker 2: him from the team. 143 00:09:21,201 --> 00:09:23,641 Speaker 1: He learned most of what he knew off you. Back 144 00:09:23,721 --> 00:09:25,321 Speaker 1: in the sixty he knew. 145 00:09:25,241 --> 00:09:28,681 Speaker 4: To go around the safe companies and get their records. 146 00:09:29,361 --> 00:09:31,881 Speaker 2: Kelly got the records to understand what he was facing 147 00:09:31,961 --> 00:09:34,921 Speaker 2: in a heist, but it was a foolish risk that 148 00:09:35,121 --> 00:09:36,161 Speaker 2: got him identified. 149 00:09:36,921 --> 00:09:40,121 Speaker 4: He's got his photo taken in a safe company. 150 00:09:40,681 --> 00:09:41,721 Speaker 1: A chub, wasn't he yet? 151 00:09:42,041 --> 00:09:43,881 Speaker 4: Yeah? Fucking idiot, you know? 152 00:09:46,081 --> 00:09:47,561 Speaker 1: Was he any good? That was as a cutout? 153 00:09:47,561 --> 00:09:53,441 Speaker 5: I mean no, no, he couldn't cut He's learned off himself, 154 00:09:54,401 --> 00:09:56,681 Speaker 5: but he got sacked for the night he turned up 155 00:09:57,641 --> 00:09:59,721 Speaker 5: intoxicated on drugs. 156 00:10:00,561 --> 00:10:03,481 Speaker 2: Kelly had a mixed run in Melbourne, which include doing 157 00:10:03,601 --> 00:10:07,801 Speaker 2: time for safe breaking at a suburban bank. It continued 158 00:10:07,841 --> 00:10:11,201 Speaker 2: when he left Australia for England in the late nineteen sixties. 159 00:10:11,961 --> 00:10:15,761 Speaker 2: He did more jail after using too much explosive charge 160 00:10:16,081 --> 00:10:18,401 Speaker 2: on the vault of a high street bank in London. 161 00:10:19,041 --> 00:10:22,761 Speaker 2: He blew out the wall into the street and Kelly 162 00:10:22,921 --> 00:10:26,601 Speaker 2: was nabbed. But he learned from that experience and was 163 00:10:26,721 --> 00:10:31,041 Speaker 2: never caught again. He came back to Australia and targeted 164 00:10:31,161 --> 00:10:35,601 Speaker 2: high value jobs and worked infrequently and by all reports 165 00:10:36,001 --> 00:10:40,601 Speaker 2: was highly successful. He's regarded as the most successful safecutter 166 00:10:41,081 --> 00:10:44,401 Speaker 2: never to be caught on a major job. The only 167 00:10:44,481 --> 00:10:47,561 Speaker 2: distinguishing mark about Kelly was that he had a tattoo 168 00:10:47,641 --> 00:10:51,281 Speaker 2: on his penis that read either B and E or 169 00:10:51,641 --> 00:10:54,081 Speaker 2: break an enter, or so he told the cops when 170 00:10:54,161 --> 00:11:00,281 Speaker 2: arrested one time. Kelly also had links to Kerry Packer. 171 00:11:00,881 --> 00:11:04,841 Speaker 2: He frequented the same restaurant in Pott's Point, Sydney Lastrata 172 00:11:05,281 --> 00:11:06,321 Speaker 2: as the billionaire did. 173 00:11:06,441 --> 00:11:07,521 Speaker 1: During the same period. 174 00:11:08,561 --> 00:11:10,681 Speaker 2: Kelly was said to have had a secret shareholding in 175 00:11:10,721 --> 00:11:14,841 Speaker 2: the Italian eatery and a relationship with the owner. Even 176 00:11:14,961 --> 00:11:18,601 Speaker 2: after the robbery, Kelly continued to frequent the restaurant as 177 00:11:18,681 --> 00:11:22,481 Speaker 2: did Packer. What a strange lunchtime event that must have been. 178 00:11:24,001 --> 00:11:27,121 Speaker 2: Kelly also lived in the same Willara apartment block as 179 00:11:27,241 --> 00:11:31,721 Speaker 2: Kerry Packer's longtime secretary, Pat Wheatley. Wheatley had been Prime 180 00:11:31,761 --> 00:11:35,521 Speaker 2: Minister Billy McMahon's PA and came with a reputation for 181 00:11:35,641 --> 00:11:40,361 Speaker 2: loyalty and discretion. Packer respected her refusal to share any 182 00:11:40,441 --> 00:11:43,361 Speaker 2: secrets of her days with the Prime Minister, despite his 183 00:11:43,521 --> 00:11:48,641 Speaker 2: repeated attempts to cajole her into it. She handled Kerry's diary, 184 00:11:49,681 --> 00:11:52,521 Speaker 2: kept his many secrets, and carried cash for him to 185 00:11:52,561 --> 00:11:55,681 Speaker 2: gamble with when he traveled. She had the keys to 186 00:11:55,801 --> 00:11:59,321 Speaker 2: the Kingdom. The Perfume Bulldozer, as she was known, was 187 00:11:59,401 --> 00:12:04,561 Speaker 2: fiercely loyal to Packer for seventeen years until things began 188 00:12:04,641 --> 00:12:08,201 Speaker 2: to change and the empire. If anyone would know about 189 00:12:08,201 --> 00:12:11,361 Speaker 2: the safe in the office, it would be weekly. But 190 00:12:11,481 --> 00:12:14,561 Speaker 2: her reign over Packer's office came to an abrupt end. 191 00:12:15,961 --> 00:12:20,081 Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety one. Packer hired a controversial chief executive, 192 00:12:20,841 --> 00:12:25,161 Speaker 2: al Chainsaw Dunlap, on the recommendation of a friend, British 193 00:12:25,241 --> 00:12:30,201 Speaker 2: corporate raider James Goldsmith. Packer's three billion dollar empire was 194 00:12:30,281 --> 00:12:32,001 Speaker 2: facing a liquidity crisis. 195 00:12:34,121 --> 00:12:37,121 Speaker 4: Kerry Packer has suffered a massive heart attack. He was 196 00:12:37,161 --> 00:12:40,441 Speaker 4: playing polo when his heart stopped beating and his clinging 197 00:12:40,521 --> 00:12:40,921 Speaker 4: to life. 198 00:12:43,001 --> 00:12:46,761 Speaker 2: In October nineteen ninety Packer had suffered a near fatal 199 00:12:46,801 --> 00:12:50,521 Speaker 2: heart attack and he needed to slash costs and reorganize 200 00:12:50,561 --> 00:12:54,001 Speaker 2: the business. Dunlap took on the job on the condition 201 00:12:54,121 --> 00:12:56,481 Speaker 2: that Kerry stay out of his way and give him 202 00:12:56,521 --> 00:13:00,321 Speaker 2: a carte blanche to make change. Dunlap had many traits 203 00:13:00,321 --> 00:13:03,001 Speaker 2: of a psychopath, but considered them virtues. 204 00:13:03,841 --> 00:13:05,761 Speaker 1: He was successful in our overhauling the. 205 00:13:05,801 --> 00:13:09,321 Speaker 2: Empire, but destroyed many of the relationships that had built it, 206 00:13:10,041 --> 00:13:14,841 Speaker 2: including the close bond between Packer and his secretary. In 207 00:13:14,961 --> 00:13:18,561 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety two, before the robbery, Wheatley had been fired 208 00:13:18,641 --> 00:13:22,361 Speaker 2: by Dunlap after he discovered she had a secret stash 209 00:13:22,401 --> 00:13:26,881 Speaker 2: of alcohol in a hidden cupboard behind her desk. When 210 00:13:26,921 --> 00:13:29,881 Speaker 2: a shocked Wheakly was marched out of the building, Packer 211 00:13:30,081 --> 00:13:35,601 Speaker 2: did not defend his loyal servant. This was perhaps a miscalculation. 212 00:13:36,481 --> 00:13:39,401 Speaker 2: Wheatley had been one of three people who knew about 213 00:13:39,441 --> 00:13:43,561 Speaker 2: the safe, and the police suspected that she'd alerted Kelly 214 00:13:43,681 --> 00:13:47,601 Speaker 2: to the opportunity, possibly out of spite for Packer's betrayal. 215 00:13:48,681 --> 00:13:52,401 Speaker 2: Police also suspected that Kelly was playing a long game 216 00:13:52,521 --> 00:13:56,361 Speaker 2: with Wheatley, even feigning a romantic interest in the spinster 217 00:13:56,801 --> 00:13:59,681 Speaker 2: in order to get his hands on the gold. They 218 00:13:59,761 --> 00:14:02,361 Speaker 2: knew the pair had been spending time together at the 219 00:14:02,401 --> 00:14:07,961 Speaker 2: Wallara apartment block. He also maintained another secret residence across 220 00:14:08,041 --> 00:14:11,481 Speaker 2: town and often disguised the true location when he was 221 00:14:11,521 --> 00:14:16,801 Speaker 2: talking to Wheatley on the telephone. Despite intensive surveillance on Kelly, 222 00:14:17,441 --> 00:14:20,441 Speaker 2: investigators could find nothing to link him to the break in. 223 00:14:21,361 --> 00:14:25,041 Speaker 2: Wheatley was questioned by police but gave away nothing. If 224 00:14:25,081 --> 00:14:28,481 Speaker 2: indeed she had been duped into giving inside information to Kelly, 225 00:14:29,441 --> 00:14:32,201 Speaker 2: and the police could never establish that Wheatley knew the 226 00:14:32,281 --> 00:14:35,281 Speaker 2: goal was in the safe, it had been nearly three 227 00:14:35,401 --> 00:14:37,761 Speaker 2: years since she'd been in the building. How could she 228 00:14:37,921 --> 00:14:42,681 Speaker 2: actually know the prize was still in Packer's office. Amid 229 00:14:42,761 --> 00:14:46,441 Speaker 2: police suspicion about an inside job, Kerry Packer made sure 230 00:14:46,441 --> 00:14:50,721 Speaker 2: Wheatly stayed quiet. He gave her a generous allowance for life, 231 00:14:51,441 --> 00:14:54,321 Speaker 2: on the condition that she not write a book or 232 00:14:54,441 --> 00:14:58,321 Speaker 2: ever talked to the media. Wheatley died in two thousand 233 00:14:58,361 --> 00:15:02,521 Speaker 2: and eight from pancreatic cancer without ever revealing what knowledge 234 00:15:02,561 --> 00:15:05,881 Speaker 2: she had of the affair. If she benefit from the robbery, 235 00:15:06,281 --> 00:15:10,361 Speaker 2: she hid her share well. Kelly, if he's alive now, 236 00:15:10,721 --> 00:15:13,841 Speaker 2: would be in his late eighties. He was never arrested 237 00:15:13,881 --> 00:15:17,601 Speaker 2: over this or any other matter. Since he lived quietly 238 00:15:17,681 --> 00:15:21,641 Speaker 2: in Sydney, displaying no trappings of wealth and apparently having 239 00:15:21,841 --> 00:15:25,321 Speaker 2: very few friends. Kelly was a good crook of the 240 00:15:25,401 --> 00:15:29,801 Speaker 2: old school. He lived a modest lifestyle for years. He 241 00:15:29,961 --> 00:15:33,441 Speaker 2: drove the same old Ford yute, and his only indulgence 242 00:15:33,841 --> 00:15:40,601 Speaker 2: appeared to be occasional trips to Asia. My investigation into 243 00:15:40,681 --> 00:15:43,961 Speaker 2: this matter began in twenty nineteen with a documentary for 244 00:15:44,041 --> 00:15:49,121 Speaker 2: the Nine Television Network's Australian Crime Stories series. It was 245 00:15:49,201 --> 00:15:52,161 Speaker 2: a cold case with little hope of resolution, but it 246 00:15:52,241 --> 00:15:56,361 Speaker 2: seemed worth revisiting simply because of the packer factor. It 247 00:15:56,521 --> 00:15:58,721 Speaker 2: ran in prime time on a Sunday night in twenty 248 00:15:58,841 --> 00:16:01,641 Speaker 2: nineteen and was one of the highest rating episodes of 249 00:16:01,681 --> 00:16:06,241 Speaker 2: the series, and it's been rerun many times since. After 250 00:16:06,321 --> 00:16:09,081 Speaker 2: the show first aired, a received a call from a 251 00:16:09,161 --> 00:16:12,641 Speaker 2: safe technician who had taken the Chubb safe away when 252 00:16:12,681 --> 00:16:15,961 Speaker 2: the police had finished with it. There was a single 253 00:16:16,161 --> 00:16:19,401 Speaker 2: crime scene photograph of the inside of the safe, which 254 00:16:19,481 --> 00:16:22,561 Speaker 2: featured in the show, and it raised questions for this 255 00:16:22,681 --> 00:16:26,481 Speaker 2: safe technician. The locking mechanism appeared to be in the 256 00:16:26,601 --> 00:16:31,161 Speaker 2: open position, not closed, as it should have been. If 257 00:16:31,201 --> 00:16:34,561 Speaker 2: the safe had genuinely been cut open, the locking pins 258 00:16:34,841 --> 00:16:38,161 Speaker 2: would still have been in the locked position even though 259 00:16:38,401 --> 00:16:43,561 Speaker 2: the locking mechanism had been cut through from the grainy photograph, 260 00:16:43,921 --> 00:16:46,321 Speaker 2: it appeared the safe had been cut when the door 261 00:16:46,561 --> 00:16:50,881 Speaker 2: was already open. This crime was a sham and it 262 00:16:50,961 --> 00:16:57,001 Speaker 2: had fooled the investigators. Frustratingly, the evidence disappeared quickly after 263 00:16:57,121 --> 00:17:01,481 Speaker 2: the robbery, the safe technician himself had given it away. 264 00:17:02,481 --> 00:17:05,001 Speaker 2: He and another staff member were in the loading dock 265 00:17:05,281 --> 00:17:09,120 Speaker 2: Packer's headquarters putting the safe onto a truck for disposal. 266 00:17:10,001 --> 00:17:13,440 Speaker 2: A man who identified himself as one of Packer's executives 267 00:17:13,961 --> 00:17:15,921 Speaker 2: came up to them and asked if he could. 268 00:17:15,761 --> 00:17:16,360 Speaker 1: Have the door. 269 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,400 Speaker 2: It would be a souvenir of the incident. He said 270 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,121 Speaker 2: he wanted to make a hearth for his fireplace out 271 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 2: of it. The door was never seen again, and no 272 00:17:25,681 --> 00:17:28,241 Speaker 2: one seems to know the identity of the so called 273 00:17:28,281 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 2: executive who approached the safe technicians. There was something else 274 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,281 Speaker 2: that didn't quite add up. The antique safe was only 275 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:41,160 Speaker 2: rated at thirty thousand dollars for insurance purposes, Yet Packers 276 00:17:41,241 --> 00:17:45,041 Speaker 2: insurer had paid out on ninety percent of the value 277 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:48,281 Speaker 2: of the bullion, that's four and a half million dollars. 278 00:17:49,681 --> 00:17:52,241 Speaker 2: There was a newspaper story a month after the robbery 279 00:17:52,681 --> 00:17:56,680 Speaker 2: that said the insurer FAI Insurances, had employed a private 280 00:17:56,761 --> 00:18:01,840 Speaker 2: investigator to look at the heist. However, an FAI executive 281 00:18:01,961 --> 00:18:04,761 Speaker 2: was quoted as saying they expected to soon pay out 282 00:18:04,761 --> 00:18:08,120 Speaker 2: on the claim. Packer had done business with the Adler 283 00:18:08,241 --> 00:18:12,801 Speaker 2: family that controlled FAI, but this was an extraordinary act 284 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,281 Speaker 2: of generosity, paying out four point five million on a 285 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:23,881 Speaker 2: claim that deserved only thirty thousand dollars. In twenty twenty one, 286 00:18:24,321 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 2: I published an update on the case in a podcast, 287 00:18:27,321 --> 00:18:31,240 Speaker 2: raising the suggestion that Kerry Packer had not shared everything 288 00:18:31,281 --> 00:18:35,400 Speaker 2: he knew about the robbery. However, with only one photograph 289 00:18:35,481 --> 00:18:39,241 Speaker 2: to hand, the possibility of advancing this theory seemed remote. 290 00:18:40,001 --> 00:18:44,041 Speaker 2: The podcast drew no fresh leads. All the momentum behind 291 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,961 Speaker 2: the story has come from the TV show. On May 292 00:18:48,041 --> 00:18:51,241 Speaker 2: twenty eight, twenty twenty three, the Packer's Goal episode was 293 00:18:51,281 --> 00:18:55,561 Speaker 2: run again on Channel nine and a news source popped up. 294 00:18:56,561 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 2: They had some sensational information about another investigation that had 295 00:19:01,201 --> 00:19:04,761 Speaker 2: never come to light, and there were more photographs of 296 00:19:05,441 --> 00:19:09,360 Speaker 2: the safe, but changed the nature of the heist. In fact, 297 00:19:09,761 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 2: these photographs suggested this wasn't a heist at all, but 298 00:19:13,761 --> 00:19:19,281 Speaker 2: a setup, a multi million dollar insurance fraud, and the 299 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:24,681 Speaker 2: policyholders of the insurer had footed the bill. The insurer itself, 300 00:19:24,801 --> 00:19:27,360 Speaker 2: teetering on the point of collapse, paid out on the 301 00:19:27,481 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 2: fraudulent claim. The news source was adamant that this was 302 00:19:31,921 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 2: a scam and an actor has voiced his messages to me. 303 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:40,121 Speaker 6: I'm a retired locksmith and safe technician. Things were done 304 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 6: very differently back then. Multiple outside specialists were unofficially consulted. 305 00:19:46,281 --> 00:19:49,481 Speaker 6: While I cannot and will not divulge my involvement, I 306 00:19:49,561 --> 00:19:52,801 Speaker 6: can tell you what was common knowledge openly circulating in 307 00:19:52,961 --> 00:19:56,680 Speaker 6: closed circles at the time. Apparently the word was that 308 00:19:56,801 --> 00:19:59,120 Speaker 6: both the lock and bolt works were in the open 309 00:19:59,201 --> 00:20:02,360 Speaker 6: position at the time the hole was cut. In other words, 310 00:20:02,801 --> 00:20:05,961 Speaker 6: the door was already unlocked when the open hole was cut. 311 00:20:06,561 --> 00:20:09,481 Speaker 2: The informant claimed that senior police and members of the 312 00:20:09,521 --> 00:20:12,481 Speaker 2: New South Wales Crime Commission had carried out their own 313 00:20:12,561 --> 00:20:16,321 Speaker 2: investigation into the robbery in nineteen ninety five, and they 314 00:20:16,441 --> 00:20:19,481 Speaker 2: had gotten to the door before it could be spirited away. 315 00:20:20,481 --> 00:20:23,601 Speaker 2: They had definitive evidence that the safe was open when 316 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,881 Speaker 2: it was cut. They'd engaged locksmith's and safe technicians who 317 00:20:27,961 --> 00:20:32,921 Speaker 2: took photographs of the inside of the safe. The evidence 318 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:36,841 Speaker 2: was clear the oxy torch had filled the door cavity 319 00:20:37,201 --> 00:20:40,721 Speaker 2: with black soot, which had covered the inside of the mechanism. 320 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,200 Speaker 2: The lock was effectively frozen at the time when the 321 00:20:44,281 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 2: cut was made. If the mechanism were moved later, it 322 00:20:47,761 --> 00:20:51,880 Speaker 2: would be obvious showing a patch of clean steel. That 323 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 2: pattern that was on the door clearly showed it was 324 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,321 Speaker 2: open when the oxy torch was applied to it. Someone 325 00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 2: had set this robbery up to the smallest detail, and 326 00:21:02,761 --> 00:21:09,201 Speaker 2: maybe that someone was Kerry Packer. I cajole the new 327 00:21:09,241 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 2: informant for new details, but even after all these years, 328 00:21:13,681 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 2: he feared Kerry Packer's power, even from the grave. 329 00:21:17,921 --> 00:21:20,281 Speaker 1: You are right about Packer influencing the outcome. 330 00:21:20,921 --> 00:21:23,721 Speaker 6: Please understand that I am unable to tell you exactly 331 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:27,401 Speaker 6: what I know, as there is a confidentiality between myself 332 00:21:27,761 --> 00:21:31,001 Speaker 6: and the authorities I was dealing with. That said, you 333 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 6: and the detective's questions are correct in thinking the inner 334 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:34,961 Speaker 6: sanctum was involved. 335 00:21:35,561 --> 00:21:36,801 Speaker 1: Keep pushing in that direction. 336 00:21:37,441 --> 00:21:41,281 Speaker 6: On another matter, your podcast also mentioned the insurance rating 337 00:21:41,321 --> 00:21:44,001 Speaker 6: of the safe being inadequate, which should have voided the 338 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 6: insurance but seemingly didn't. 339 00:21:47,041 --> 00:21:50,321 Speaker 2: He later told me he had personally seen the polaroid 340 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 2: pictures taken by a colleague that confirmed the safe was 341 00:21:53,521 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 2: open when the cut was made. He was also scornful 342 00:21:56,761 --> 00:21:59,521 Speaker 2: of the idea that Kelly was a master safecutter. 343 00:22:00,201 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 6: I know nothing about Kelly other than his name whoever 344 00:22:03,441 --> 00:22:05,761 Speaker 6: opened the safe with an oxy is the worst of 345 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:10,041 Speaker 6: worst safe breakers. No safebreaker would ever use an oxy torch. 346 00:22:10,521 --> 00:22:12,801 Speaker 6: An A grade safe cracker would open the safe with 347 00:22:12,921 --> 00:22:16,241 Speaker 6: no holes. A B grade cracker would use a single, small, 348 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:17,001 Speaker 6: drilled hole. 349 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,880 Speaker 1: And that was the end of the new information. 350 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 6: Please, under no circumstances mentioned me or my name, or 351 00:22:24,321 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 6: linked to me in any way whatsoever. I wish to 352 00:22:27,201 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 6: remain completely anonymous, and like you, I am acutely aware 353 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,561 Speaker 6: that accusations like this could lead to a life of 354 00:22:33,681 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 6: misery for those making them, think the New South Wales 355 00:22:36,921 --> 00:22:41,041 Speaker 6: Police and the immensely powerful Packer family. The only way 356 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:43,681 Speaker 6: this can be advanced is for you to discreetly request 357 00:22:43,761 --> 00:22:47,281 Speaker 6: the police evidence photos. There are more than one. You 358 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 6: need photos to flesh out and add color to your story. 359 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,281 Speaker 6: You need to discreetly get your hands on the police 360 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:56,241 Speaker 6: evidence photos without telling them you intend to get a 361 00:22:56,281 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 6: professional analysis. 362 00:22:59,041 --> 00:23:00,721 Speaker 1: That's all easier said than done. 363 00:23:02,521 --> 00:23:05,641 Speaker 2: Surely, if Kerry Packer knew about this scam, he would 364 00:23:05,681 --> 00:23:09,361 Speaker 2: have taken steps to make sure those incriminating polaroid pictures 365 00:23:09,801 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 2: never saw the light of day. Maybe they are stored 366 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 2: somewhere within the archives of New South Wales Police. But 367 00:23:16,281 --> 00:23:18,521 Speaker 2: all the cops who worked on the case are retired 368 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:22,561 Speaker 2: now and most of the players are dead. My request 369 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 2: to the police to access these photographs have been declined. 370 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 2: If someone out there has more evidence of what really happened, 371 00:23:29,681 --> 00:23:32,801 Speaker 2: I look forward to hearing from you. Please email me 372 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:37,120 Speaker 2: Adam Shanner writer at gmail dot com. I'll respond instantaneously. 373 00:23:37,281 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 2: That's our key aim on the story. So what happened 374 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,880 Speaker 2: to the gold in the end, Perhaps we'll never know. 375 00:23:44,561 --> 00:23:47,961 Speaker 2: But in nineteen ninety nine, then former New South Wales 376 00:23:48,041 --> 00:23:51,801 Speaker 2: police officer Roger Rogerson told a hearing that he and 377 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:55,241 Speaker 2: another officer had planned a raid on a house where 378 00:23:55,321 --> 00:24:00,400 Speaker 2: some of Packer's goal was allegedly stashed. Rogerson claimed that 379 00:24:00,521 --> 00:24:03,921 Speaker 2: Packer had actually recovered his gold, except for a few 380 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,241 Speaker 2: bars that were still unaccounted for. 381 00:24:07,321 --> 00:24:10,080 Speaker 1: The rest had been returned to Packer and a reward 382 00:24:10,281 --> 00:24:11,001 Speaker 1: was handed over. 383 00:24:12,041 --> 00:24:15,561 Speaker 2: If so, what a payday for Packer, a four point 384 00:24:15,681 --> 00:24:18,880 Speaker 2: five million insurance payout and he got all but a 385 00:24:18,921 --> 00:24:22,281 Speaker 2: few ingots of his gold back. And if Kerry Packer 386 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:25,640 Speaker 2: did steal his own gold, then maybe it just makes 387 00:24:25,681 --> 00:24:29,400 Speaker 2: his legend loom a little bit larger. If you've got 388 00:24:29,441 --> 00:24:32,561 Speaker 2: information about a crime, please call crime Stoppers on one 389 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 2: eight hundred triple three, triple zero, or if you don't 390 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 2: trust the cops, you can always get in contact with 391 00:24:38,521 --> 00:24:42,441 Speaker 2: me by emailing me on Adam Shann writer at gmail 392 00:24:42,721 --> 00:24:45,441 Speaker 2: dot com. Thank you very much. This has been Adam 393 00:24:45,481 --> 00:24:47,961 Speaker 2: Shann for real crime. Thanks for listening.