Melbourne true crime: Squizzy Taylor and Snowy Cutmore deaths new theory

A widely held belief that feared gangsters Squizzy Taylor and rival Snowy Cutmore killed each other in a fierce Carlton shootout could be a farce, as evidence of a third man comes to light.

Police mug shot of infamous Melbourne gangster Leslie 'Squizzy' Taylor.

Once one of Australia’s most feared gangsters, John “Snowy” Cutmore is most famous for a shootout with rival Squizzy Taylor in 1927 that ended in both men’s deaths.

While various theories have emerged, the prevailing belief has been that the two Melbourne crooks killed each other.

But now true crime history writer Roy Maloy has pieced together the evidence from that night, and concludes a third man in the room almost certainly killed both.

The story is told in the latest episode of the In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters:

Maloy outlines the evidence in the newly released second edition of his book called Squizzy: The Forensics, The Man, The Vendetta.

“There’s this great misconception amongst the public that one thing happened, whereas in actual fact it’s a whole other set of details and truths,” Maloy says.

Snowy was born in 1895 and grew up in dire poverty in Carlton, where he turned to crime at a young age.

John 'Snowy' Cutmore.

Herb Wilson, who Roy Maloy believes probably killed both Squizzy Taylor and Snowy Cutmore.

His criminal career flourished in Melbourne and then Sydney, before he returned in 1927, accompanied by a “low-life scumbag” named Herb Wilson.

The pair were staying at the Barkly St, Carlton home of Snowy’s mother, Bridget Cutmore.

Maloy says in the hours before the fatal gunfight, Squizzy had been drinking in pubs around Carlton with Wilson – Snowy’s associate – and another man.

“One bartender says he overhears them saying, ‘Well, you’ve got to do the shooting,’ you know, these kinds of bits of macho rhetoric are being said,” Maloy says.

Squizzy was accompanied by Wilson when he arrived soon after at the Cutmore home, where Snowy was bedridden with the flu.

A fierce gunfight erupted in the bedroom, and Snowy was killed in his bed, while Squizzy died soon after in hospital.

Snowy Cutmore’s bedroom, where Squizzy Taylor was fatally shot. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Cutmore, who had been cooking tea in the detached kitchen, rushed to the bedroom when she heard the shots and was hit in the shoulder by a bullet.

Maloy says by calculating the trajectory of the bullets and the guns they came from, it seems almost impossible Squizzy and Snowy killed each other.

“I’m 85 per cent sure that Wilson shot both men,” he says.

Roy Maloy, true crime writer and historian.

The Sun News-Pictorial’s report on Squizzy Taylor’s death in 1927.

Wilson fled, and later told police he was chopping firewood out the back at the time of the gunfight.

Though theories abounded, neither murder was ever solved.

“Squizzy Taylor and Snowy Cutmore and a lot of guys like them had terrorised Australia for so many years,” Maloy says.

“By this stage, the police had just lost an appetite for it. They were just thrilled it was over.”

To find out more, listen to the interview in the free In Black and White podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper every Friday for more stories and photos from Victoria’s past.