Corrupt politician, dodgy cops, bikes probed as suspects in Winchester murder
A corrupt politician, bikies and even dodgy cops were suspects in the murder of top cop Colin Winchester. And after the recent acquittal of the man convicted of the shooting, police are no closer to solving the execution-style killing.
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The main suspects for murdering top cop Colin Winchester were disgruntled former public servant David Eastman and members of the Calabrian mafia.
But no detective worth their salt can afford to ignore the not so prime suspects.
As they teach at detective training school, a detective’s mind is like a parachute — it only works efficiently when it is open.
PART ONE: WITHHELD EVIDENCE MAY REVEAL KILLER
PART TWO: THE MAFIA SUSPECTS IN WINCHESTER CASE
ANDREW RULE’S LIFE AND CRIMES PODCAST ON ITUNES
Which is why the Winchester murder taskforce members spent months investigating not just the prime suspects — David Eastman and the various Calabrian mafia figures — but also the suspects and persons of interest they called the “also rans”.
It is 30 years since Mr Winchester, the most senior police officer ever murdered in Australia, was gunned down outside his Canberra home.
He probably never knew what hit him as he prepared to climb out from behind the wheel of his cream Ford Falcon about 9.15pm on January 10, 1989.
The first shot was fired into the back of Mr Winchester’s head from a distance of between 400mm and 600mm, meaning the muzzle of the weapon was in the vicinity of the centre door pillar when the trigger was pulled.
To make sure of death, a second shot was pumped into 55-year-old Mr Winchester’s brain through the side of his head, just above the right ear. An autopsy later revealed either shot would have been fatal.
The killer operated swiftly, departing the murder scene without being spotted and before Mr Winchester’s wife Gwen, who was inside the house, discovered her husband’s plight.
The Winchester murder was huge news again in December last year when David Eastman — the man charged and later convicted in 1995 of murdering Mr Winchester — was acquitted at his retrial after spending 19 years behind bars.
The not guilty verdict in the ACT Supreme Court came after a six-month trial, during which jury members heard from 127 witnesses and had statements read out from 41 others.
Mr Eastman, now aged 73, was released in 2014 after a judicial inquiry found the original guilty verdict was based on “deeply flawed forensic evidence”.
On Monday, the Herald Sun’s True Crime Australia detailed the case against Mr Eastman.
Yesterday it covered the case against the Calabrian mafia and today it details the case against the other suspects and persons of interest detectives labelled as the “also rans”.
Former Labor Immigration Minister Al Grassby was one of the most high profile people nominated as a suspect.
While there is plenty evidence Grassby was a corrupt politician who was paid by the Calabrian mafia for decades, the AFP probe into him over the Winchester murder allegations found no evidence of him being connected in any way to the execution of the top cop.
Flash Al — he of the fancy ties and garish suits — was doing favours for the Calabrian mafia within months of being elected to the NSW parliament as the Labor member for Murrumbidgee in May 1965.
He maintained a close relationship with senior Calabrian mafia figures until his death, aged 79, in 2005.
Several serving and former police officers were initially suspects in the Winchester murder and all were cleared after being investigated, including an AFP detective sergeant who was kicked out of the organised crime branch by Mr Winchester because of his alleged mafia connections and other corruption allegations.
Another serving AFP officer was nominated as a suspect because Mr Winchester had directed that he be charged with sexual assault matters.
Notoriously corrupt NSW cop Roger Rogerson was also briefly on the Winchester murder suspect list after a lawyer, a NSW prisoner and a Sydney newspaper editor each provided information to the AFP that Rogerson might have done it.
Rogerson, 77, is now serving life behind bars after being found guilty in 2016 of the murder of drug dealer Jamie Gao, 20.
The crooked cop has also been linked to several unsolved cold case killings — but detectives didn’t find anything to suggest he was involved in executing Mr Winchester.
One of the informers told the AFP that Rogerson was in Queanbeyan at the time of the Winchester murder. On checking, Rogerson was able to prove he was installing a security system in a business in Sydney that day.
Another notorious Sydney underworld identity, standover man and former cop Tim Bristow, was nominated as the triggerman in the Winchester murder 11 days after the hit.
A three month AFP probe into Bristow found nothing to substantiate the allegation.
Bristow became a private investigator after leaving the force and regularly associated with Sydney underworld boss Lennie “Mr Big” McPherson.
Bristow, who had assault and drug convictions, died in 2003 at the age of 72.
Various bikie gang members were nominated as suspects and all were eventually cleared.
A former NSW Police superintendent passed information to the AFP three days after the Winchester murder that four members of the Finks were overhead using Mr Winchester’s name during a conversation in a gym.
An anonymous call to the AFP claimed the Hells Angels had flown a gang member from Ireland to Australia to carry out the hit.
Other informers told the AFP the Bandidos bike gang was behind the Winchester murder and the Rebels were also named as being involved.
A Victoria Police detective inspector told the AFP eight days after the Winchester murder that a trusted informer had claimed to him that Dennis William “Greedy” Smith had carried out the hit on Mr Winchester.
Former Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland, who was a member of the AFP’s major crime squad at the time of the Winchester murder, chased down the Smith lead. Smith claimed he was with his sister in Melbourne on the day of the Winchester murder and there was no evidence to say he wasn’t.
Smith, who also went by the nickname “Fatty” because of his size, was one of Victoria’s most notorious criminals.
He was involved in the planning of the 1976 Great Bookie Robbery on the Victoria Club, during which six machinegun toting crooks grabbed an estimated $15 million from a bunch of bookmakers on settlement day.
Police believe Smith laundered a lot of the Great Bookie robbery funds through his pub in Manila, known as the Aussie Bar. He died of a heart attack in 2010.
Fremantle prison inmate Peter Egan told the AFP a month after the Winchester murder that a contract had been taken out on Mr Winchester because of his role in the arrests of two heavyweight criminals.
Egan claimed underworld identity Eddie Censori carried out the hit on Mr Winchester.
Eight AFP detectives spent three months investigating the claims before Egan finally admitted making up the information.
Eddie Censori — who called himself “Eddie Capone” — has several convictions in Victoria for assaulting police, theft and making threats.
He was involved in the amusement machine business in Melbourne and Perth and is the older brother of Eris and Leo.
Eris Censori was jailed for life after being found guilty of the 1982 murder of Perth man Michael Sideris.
Leo Censori was jailed for five years in 1982 after being convicted in Melbourne of possessing heroin — his ex-wife told the Herald Sun in 1991 he was behind as massive illegal gambling empire that she had helped him run for more than a decade.
Convicted police killer Peter Allen Reid told the AFP that while in prison he overheard a conversation between mafia hitman James Bazley and murderer Eris Censori in which the two prisoners named a man called Densensi or De Censi as the person who shot dead Mr Winchester.
Bazley was in jail after being convicted over the 1977 shooting murder of anti-drug campaigner Donald Mackay and the 1979 murders of Mr Asia drug couriers Douglas and Isabel Wilson.
Reid played a key role in helping put paedophile Robert Arthur Selby Lowe behind bars for the 1991 murder of six-year-old Rosebud schoolgirl Sheree Beasley after he agreed to wear a wire in prison to secretly tape Lowe.
The tapes of Reid’s conversations with Lowe, in which Lowe admitted abducting and sexually assaulting Sheree, were played in court and helped gain the murder conviction against Lowe.
Reid was jailed after being convicted of the murder of Victoria Police senior constable Stephen Henry. Sen-Constable Henry was gunned down after he stopped Reid for speeding on the Hume Highway in 1982.
While in jail Reid was charged with one count each of blackmail, making an extortion demand for $15,000 with a threat to kill and threatening to kill.
The charges related to phone calls he made from behind bars to the family of the then missing schoolgirl Karmein Chan in 1991.
He told Karmein’s father his daughter would be returned if he paid $15,000.
Karmein was the last known victim of serial child abductor Mr Cruel, who has never been caught. Her body was found on April 9, 1992 — four days short of the first anniversary of her abduction.
Police investigated Reid’s claims and discounted them after discovering Reid only made them in the hope of convincing prison authorities to move him into protective custody on the grounds he was in danger of being harmed by Bazley and Censori after informing on them.
In a sworn statement tendered during the Winchester inquest, the man in charge of the Winchester murder investigation, the then AFP Commander Ric Ninness, outlined the many investigations into the “also ran” suspects and persons of interest.
“Assistant commissioner Winchester was a high profile police officer,” Mr Ninness’ statement said.
“It is reasonable to assume that he would have made enemies during his 27 years of police service and there would have been members and ex-members who possibly had some motive to murder him.
“This line of inquiry was undertaken and a number of serving members and ex-members were interviewed.
“Although some of the people interviewed regarded themselves as having some grievance against assistant commissioner Winchester there was no instance where a motive was established for the murder of assistant commissioner Winchester.
“Since the murder there has been widespread speculation that members and former members of the NSW Police were involved in the killing of assistant commissioner Winchester.
“A thorough investigation into all of these allegations has failed to reveal any evidence that would support those allegations.
“Subsequent to the death of assistant commissioner Winchester a number of detectives were tasked with inquiries involving known members of motor cycle groups both in the ACT and NSW.
“There has been no evidence which would substantiate claims made that there was a connection that any bikie gang was responsible for the murder of assistant commissioner Winchester.”
Mr Ninness retired from the AFP the week after David Eastman was convicted in 1995 of murdering Mr Winchester.
A second jury last month acquitted Mr Eastman and he has started legal proceedings seeking compensation for the 19 years he spent behind bars.
“A lot of suspects were nominated as being responsible for murdering Mr Winchester,” Mr Ninness told the Herald Sun.
“Every suspect was exhaustively examined and we gradually whittled away all the also-rans.”
Originally published as Corrupt politician, dodgy cops, bikes probed as suspects in Winchester murder
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