Is Australia’s most manipulative crook dead?

3 months ago 19

Underworld funerals are usually glamorous affairs with gold caskets, Zegna suits and designer sunglasses, but there is rumoured to have been one with no bells and whistles.

The man in question would have been laid to rest under a John Doe name, that is if John Doe was a rat and a killer, who played the system for generations.

For if the rumour is true, one of Australia’s most dangerous and manipulative criminals has died with no one knowing how many murders he has committed.

So far, we have been unable to confirm this because he was a protected witness who has been living, and in all probability, dying, with a new name, a fictitious past and no future. And even if he is dead, his identity remains protected under the law.

The Veteran’s arrest by Special Operations Group police officers. White socks with long pants is not a good look.

It can be a dangerous game declaring someone’s passing. Broadcaster Steve Price once solemnly announced the Queen Mother had died when she would go on drinking gin and tonics, and playing with her corgis in her castle for more than a decade.

We do know this crook has done his time for two murders and was quietly shipped out of Victoria’s prison system.

We can’t confirm his passing with the Adult Parole Board because his file is top secret and is officially filled under his bogus name.

We can’t look for his death certificate because we don’t know his new name. And if we ask the wrong people, we could go to jail for even uttering his name, initials or underworld nickname. This is serious stuff.

So we rang some cops who knew him. They didn’t know, although one, who was enjoying a seafood buffet in a warmer part of Australia, said he would have an extra glass of white wine and a bucket of mussels in celebration of his demise.

Another said he hadn’t heard but added helpfully that he hoped it was right and that his death “was slow and painful”.

Even one of his victims, a rare survivor, said he hadn’t been told.

The word in usually accurate legal circles is that he breached parole, and died serving a sentence in NSW. We can’t check with them because, you guessed it, his identity is secret.

The career criminal who can only be identified as The Veteran after he became a protected witness for the police, was an armed robber, gunman, police shooter and paid hitman who made an art of giving up other crooks to save himself.

He had a PhD in self-interest.

While he would often admit to being part of an armed gang, he would always place himself in a secondary role, such as the driver, when the truth was he was the leader, never the follower of his crime crew.

He would also offer police bogus leads on unsolved crimes to cut a deal for the ones he had committed.

After going interstate and to see an old rival with a claim of a truce, he made it clear among his wider his industry that he remained a gun for hire.

He served almost two decades for two underworld hits, including one for which he pocketed $150,000 from a gangland boss.

A master of manipulation, The Veteran once claimed police had provided him with the address of a hit victim because he knew dobbing in corrupt cops would get him easier jail time.

The Veteran, 74, was a third-generation underworld heavy. His grandfather was a standover man and his father a safe breaker. Several of his brothers were underworld heavies.

He was first charged with breaking and entering when he was 11, and was said to have witnessed his first gangland murder when he was eight.

He has a long history of escape, theft and violence. He gave his occupation as painter and docker, slaughterman and abalone sheller.

In his prime, he ran a powerful prison gang. He once stabbed to death an inmate using a sharpened butter knife. He later claimed it was self-defence.

Released from prison after a stint for armed robbery, he publicly claimed he was done with crime, even flying interstate to visit an old rival to declare a truce.

But behind the scenes, he made it clear to drug dealer Carl Williams he was prepared to kill for a price.

He spent his last few years in prison and out, a lonely, isolated, sick and miserable man.

“Without a doubt, he was the worst crook I ever had to deal with,” a former detective said. “I hope he rots in hell.”

And if he is alive, he can give me a ring. He’s got the number.

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