Ky Manser reveals heartache at finding his dad, ex banker robber Russell Manser, dead

Former drug dealer Ky Manser turned his life around with the help of his ex-bank robber dad Russell. Now he’s opened up about losing his father.

Six months ago Ky Manser picked up the phone and told his dad he was looking at serious jail time if he didn’t change his ways. Either that or he would wind up dead.

“Like a lot of young people who get caught up in crime, I used to think I wanted to be like Pablo Escobar, but really it doesn’t ever turn out that way,” said Ky in his first interview since the death of his father in March.

Russell knew all too well what his son was going through, having spent 23 years of his own life in a prison cell.

He told 22-year-old Ky to “pack his car, head south to Sydney and never look back”.

Since then Ky has moved in with his dad in Sydney has managed to stay away from ice, coke, weed and the “heavy people” mixed up in “some real bad things”.

Ky Manser has been doing it tough since the shock death of his ex-bank robber dad Russell Manser but wants to spend his life helping others. Picture: Glenn Hampson

But the straight and narrow has been a much tougher road to travel these past three months since Russell’s shock death at his luxury Sydney apartment.

“I came out and I found my father in my lounge room. I’d woken up for the gym, it was a Sunday and he was dead, that was really hard,” Ky told the Telegraph in his first interview since his father’s shock passing.

“He was my best friend, he was showing me how to live in the moment, help people and feel good about it.”

Ky said his dad, a former bank robber who had turned advocate for survivors of institutional sex abuse, had died of a heart attack.

“He didn’t see it coming; he thought he was gonna live to 100,” Ky said.

“I’m so glad I got to spend the time with my dad and actually sort of listen to hims for once and find interested in his work and engage in his passion and learn from him. It’s become my passion too,” Ky said.

Russell Manser, who spent years in jail for robbing banks.

Manser in Darling Harbour in 2023.

“I feel alone but I’m really trying to carry on with his work. My target audience is 14 years below me and 14 years above me. I lived the life of the new generation of crime but I’m here to tell people there is no good outcome out of it.

“You can make a million bucks in a month dealing drugs, mixing with bad people, but I’m proof it doesn’t pay in the long run and you’ll likely wind up dead.”

Ky, who has been in and out of detention centres throughout hisi teenage years including a long stint in juvenile for “kidnapping” a bloke who was trying to coax his little brother into ice dealing, says he spent a lot of his childhood sleeping in car parks, pinching coins out of cars to eat, then realised there was a whole lot of money to be made in drug dealing - much more than you need.

And while his dad was absent for much of those years, the bond they developed in the 12 months before his death was something he would always treasure.

“I owe it to my dad to really stay on the right path, make good choices, and teach other kids who might have it tough that things can always get better if you surround yourself with the right people and don’t take the easy road.”

“I was down to 70kg, scrawny from all the drugs, now I’m healthy I go to the gym all the time, it was what me and my Dad did.

“Now it’s time to prove to him that I can be for others what he was to me.”

Ky continues the work of his dad by offering support to victims of insititutionalised sexual abuse through his social media pages and referring them to experts.
He also hopes to soon visit detention centres and other institutions around the state, talking to young people about making better choices.

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Ky Manser reveals heartache at finding his dad, ex banker robber Russell Manser, dead