NT Court records cast new light on family of NCA bombing suspect Domenic Perre
THE full extent of the National Crime Authority bombing suspect’s alleged links to the mafia has been finally revealed after court suppressions were lifted on decades-old comments by a judge in the NT.
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FORGOTTEN court records, — boxed away for decades in the basement of the Northern Territory Supreme Court — reveal compelling new details about the family of the man thought to be behind one of Australia’s great unsolved killings.
The decades-old transcripts, previously the subject of suppression orders, offer new insights into the Perre family, whose now middle-aged spawn Domenic was charged but never tried over the 1994 National Crime Authority bombing.
South Australian Coroner Wayne Chivell found Domenic Perre was most likely responsible for the construction and delivery of the letter bomb that killed Perth Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen in his Waymouth Street office in Adelaide.
The transcripts, released to the NT News, detail a judge’s concern over the spreading “menace” of the Calabrian Mafia, or ‘Ndrangheta’, from their original Australian stronghold near Griffith in New South Wales into the Northern Territory, South Australia and beyond.
Domenic Perre’s uncle, Antonio Perre, then 57 and brother Francesco Perre, then 33, were among 12 men — seven of whom were of Calabrian descent — arrested over a $25 million cannabis crop found at Hidden Valley Station, 500km southeast of Darwin. Both men eventually pleaded guilty to drug charges.
During bail hearings for eight of the men, the courts were told Domenic Perre made several calls to Hidden Valley Station after the raid, during one of which he allegedly threatened to kill the then-head of the NT Police drug squad, Detective Snr Sgt Simon Young.
Justice Sir William Kearney suppressed his account of the call “as a matter going to the extent of the criminal organisation involved” and further comments “because of the risk that if any of them are brought to trial it might prejudice their fair trial”.
“Police believe that (the arrested men) were a long way indeed from being simple labourers on the crop,” Justice Kearney said.
“The high probability, on the material before me, is that (the drug crop) was organised and run by a group of experienced and professional criminals.
The fatal 1994 NCA bombing in Adelaide
“Very clearly there was a connection with an organised criminal element consisting of ethnic Calabrians whose presence in Australia has become notorious in recent years.
“Imported organised crime of this type, with its well known associated intimidation, violence and corruption is of course a cancer in our community and should be dealt with ruthlessly and eradicated from Australia.”
Prosecutor John Adams told the court police had evidence that four of the eight men applying for bail were “involved in the criminal organisation responsible for this crop a significantly high level”.
The remarks date from just six months before Det-Sgt Bowen was killed in his Adelaide office, which investigators have always viewed as a revenge attack by Domenic Perre, who Det-Sgt Bowen was due to give evidence against in court.
Domenic Perre was charged with murder in March 1994, but the case was dropped by the South Australian DPP a few months later.
The 1999 coronial inquest which concluded Domenic Perre was responsible for the attack also heard evidence he was annoyed at Det-Sgt Bowen for “trashing” his house when he was arrested in a raid related to the Northern Territory investigation.
Conspiracy charges against Domenic Perre relating to involvement in three alleged Hidden Valley crops eventually failed. But the newly-released records cast fresh light on the potential causes of Domenic Perre’s anger towards authorities.
The court was also told of Francesco Perre’s distress at hearing of his and Domenic’s mother’s death while he awaited trial. Francesco was unable to attend the funeral.
The court was told Antonio Perre, already in ill health, spent much of his time in jail suffering from the effects of a painful tropical ulcer and constant headaches.
The records also reveal fresh details about the Perre clan’s alleged criminal past.
Justice Kearney was told Antonio Perre, who was born in the mafia heartland of Plati, Calabria, was a convicted murderer who was in Australia after lying to immigration officials about his criminal past.
He served most of his 12-year jail sentence in an Italian psychiatric hospital.
After arriving in Australia, Justice Kearney said Antonio Perre went “virtually straight to this plantation”.
The court heard when police raided the Hidden Valley drug camp, they found a pistol stashed underneath Antonio Perre’s bed although no charges were ever laid in relation to the weapon.
“Needless to say, our laws are deficient in contemplating how to deal with the menace presented by organised criminal activity despite the setting up of (bodies) such as the National Crime Authority,” Justice Kearney said.
In sentencing nine of the men three months later, Chief Justice Brian Frank Martin said he remained “somewhat sceptical” about the men’s collective “tale of woe” that led them to become involved in the crime.
Corrections records show Francesco Perre was released from jail on February 21, 1994. Nine days later, Detective Sgt Bowen was dead.
On April 22, with his nephew Domenic in custody on suspicion of the NCA bombing, Antonio Perre was released into the custody of immigration officials and was flown home to Calabria.
CALABRIANS IN THE NT
Antonio Perre, 57: Born in Plati, Italy. “Labourer”, convicted of murder and jailed for 12 years in Italy, most of it spent in a psychiatric hospital. Uncle of NCA bombing suspect Domenic Perre. Jailed for 18 months, with an eight month non-parole period for cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis. Released to immigration officials on 22 April 1994.
Francesco Perre, 33: From Renmark, South Australia. Born in Italy. Arrived in Australia aged 2. Owned a fruit block in Renmark. Permanently disabled from a 1985 motorbike crash. Younger brother of NCA bombing suspect Domenic Perre. Jailed for one year, with a six month non-parole period for possessing a commercial quantity of cannabis. Released from jail on 21 February 1994.
TIMELINE
Early 1993: Former SANFL ruckman Dean Ottens, owner of Hidden Valley station, makes arrangements in Adelaide to allow a major cannabis crop to be grown on his land.
1 July 1993: Bruno Mussitano, Vincenzo Rocca and Robert Helps travel to Hidden Valley Station in Helps’ car.
8 July 1993: Antonio Perre arrives in Australia from Calabria.
14 August 1993: Antonio Perre and Domenic Vottari travel to Hidden Valley.
21 August 1993: Domenic Romeo, Francesco Perre, Stavros Smyrneous and Antonio Spagnolo arrive at Hidden Valley with $7000 in cash for Ottens in a van hired by Romeo in Adelaide.
21 August 1993: Francesco Perre and Domenic Romeo start driving back to Adelaide in van with 79.2kg of cannabis and are arrested 20 minutes down the road.
22 August 1993: Twelve men arrested in early morning raid at Hidden Valley Station. More than 10,000 plants were being grown on 60 x 100m patch of land.
11 September 1993: eight men, including Antonio and Francesco Perre apply for bail in a special sitting of the NT Supreme Court
13 September 1993: Justice Sir William Kearney refuses bail.
2 December 1993: eight men, including seven Calabrians, sentenced by NT Chief Justice Brian Frank Martin
18 April 1994: Dean Ottens sentenced to seven years jail with a two year and six month non-parole period by NT Chief Justice Brian Frank Martin
21 February 1994: Francesco Perre released from jail.
2 March 1994: Detective Sgt Geoffrey Bowen killed in NCA bombing.
22 April 1994: Domenic Perre released from jail.
Originally published as NT Court records cast new light on family of NCA bombing suspect Domenic Perre
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