Deadline: Impatience of youth brings down murder suspect
A juvenile jetsetter fled the country after a particularly brutal homicide but one rash decision led to his undoing.
Police & Courts
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Mark Buttler and Andrew Rule with the latest scallywag scuttlebutt.
He’s no Lord Lucan
Patience is a virtue, rarely more so than if you’re a suspect in a murder and decide to skip the country.
Most in such a position will disappear for many years, even a lifetime, in the interests of not ending up banged-up in the big house back home.
When Tony Mokbel found out he was in the gun for a gangland murder, he disappeared and spent months in a shack at Bonnie Doon before sailing off to Europe in a yacht.
Great Train Robber Ronald Biggs sacrificed his old life in the United Kingdom before turning up in Melbourne under an alias some years later, then fleeing to Brazil to live as a celebrity fugitive.
International drug trafficker David McMillan made a fortune in Melbourne before serving time here then being arrested in Thailand on serious charges that got him locked up in the notorious “Bangkok Hilton” prison. His subsequent escape, which culminated in sauntering from the prison with an umbrella, was the stuff of legend, although it didn’t keep “McVillain” out of trouble for long.
Then there was “Doc” Smith, the man who later wrote Shantaram under the name Greg Roberts. The prolific armed robber escaped from Pentridge in daylight in 1980 and was on the run for 10 years, based in Bombay, before finally being arrested in Germany and returned to Australia to serve out his time.
It turns out not everyone has the planning ability of a Mokbel, Roberts or McMillan. Such as in the recent case where the impatience of youth has been the undoing of a person of interest in a particularly brutal homicide.
He may have lacked Mokbel’s connections and resources but the teenager would have been wise not to treat his matter like an unpaid parking ticket.
Our young gangbanger allegedly beat the posse to the pass and took off overseas shortly after the violent death in question.
Unfortunately for him, he gave it only a few weeks for the drama to blow over.
Deadline has been told he just couldn’t stay away and, perhaps imagining no one would notice, flew home.
The juvenile jetsetter was arrested as soon as he arrived at Tullamarine and is now cooling his heels in the steel bar motel with a number of his mates.
All of which reminds us of the late Jason Moran, who insisted on rushing home to the centre of the universe, Ascot Vale, despite his family being willing to pay for him to stay in Europe a year or two to avoid people who dearly wanted him dead. And who got their wish not long after he got back.
Toby back to court
Many people have missed the Australian Open in recent years amid Covid and long-running impact.
One of them is former Mongols bikie boss Toby Mitchell, a massive tennis fan regularly spotted in great seats, though he missed last year because of court-ordered bail conditions.
Mitchell – who once had a tennis pro namesake – was back at Melbourne Park last week as the world’s best arrived back in town to slug it out for grand slam glory.
One fellow tennis fan said Mitchell looked relaxed and in great health after a somewhat turbulent 2022.
That’s more than can be said for another alleged organised crime figure, Tarek Zahed, the former Comanchero who made a splash at last year’s tournament by delaying play with a late arrival at his seat.
Zahed has really been in the wars since, almost dying in a shooting ambush that claimed the life of his brother then being charged months later with a gangland murder.
What would Jesus do?
Dave McKay is a cult leader whose Jesus Christians movement’s biggest claim to fame is preaching that its members donate their kidneys in the name of God.
It turns out that Dave or someone else from the JCs is also a dab hand at surgically removing negative references from newspaper stories.
Several sources have pointed Deadline towards what appears to be a fair and accurate profile the column’s authors wrote about the Jesus Christians, which is being prominently displayed by members in the Melbourne CBD.
Oddly, on closer examination, it seems the enlarged reproduction seems to be wholeheartedly flattering about the work of Mr McKay and his members.
On even closer inspection, however, the pages look quite “windy”, with big spaces between paragraphs. In truth, it seems that much material has been removed from the original story.
Some of the missing words appear to include “predator”, “creepy” and “controlling”, all descriptions levelled by the sect’s critics.
The unhappy experiences of parents whose offspring left home to join the Jesus Christians seem to have evaporated from the original piece.
Maybe it’s the work of God or maybe Dave is possessed by a demented old-time sub-editor.
Highly strung character
A taxi passenger at Ballarat has put his hand up early for over-reaction of the year.
Fed up with being delayed by some kind of local event, he jumped from the cab and started waving a crossbow around in an off-the-wall traffic management technique.
He was arrested and charged.
It’s unclear whether the fare was paid.
Lynnsanity in the court
More unintended shenanigans have emerged from last week’s crucial committal hearing over the high country murders of Russell Hill and Carol Clay.
First it was the detective whose phone suddenly blasted out a tune from the band Queen right at the moment the future of Greg “I Want to Break Free” Lynn was in the balance.
The normally imperturbable cop was unable to stop the music, a bit like one virtual attendee who days later appeared to be having trouble “turning off” children in his work-from-home situation.
A canine was also on the scene with the reporter heard at one stage saying “here, doggy.”
One of those who had dialled into the hearing said the words were spoken with a Canadian accent.
Doing time
Crims love their luxury items, as was proven again in a sweep of raids on a major drug syndicate.
Detectives from the Mill Park divisional response unit recovered quite the collection of bling, seizing seven Cartier watches.
The timepieces’ combined value of $345,000 was something of a shock to Deadline.
A collection of Louis Vuitton handbags confiscated was worth $30,000 and eight ounces of gold bullion weighed in at $22,000.
Shine on, Deano
Deane Lester has nothing to do with crime but many readers of this column will know exactly who he is. Some such readers will be scoundrels and scallywags, given that virtually all crooks are punters and most of them bet on horses and pretty well anything else.
The man who has been one of racing’s most respected voices for years is now battling cancer, news which has rocked the sport.
Lester is currently unable to work, leaving a gulf in race day broadcasts which normally feature his expertise and dry humour.
A GoFundMe page for him has already raised more than $200,000 and more is coming. Lester hasn’t let his circumstances squash his sense of humour, though it might be on the dour side of dry. When asked the other day what he would do if he won a multimillion-dollar lottery, he retorted instantly to say such a windfall would mean he’d “never have to see Matt Stewart again.”
He was, of course, referring to the well-known racing writer and broadcaster. Who, it should be said, thinks the quip was hilarious.
While Deane is undoubtedly the Hope Diamond of form experts, another trackside gem hasn’t lost his glitter, either. The irrepressible “Honest John” Dow, a popular bookie almost since he introduced Alan Tripp to the odds caper at Assumption College Kilmore in the 1970s, has just gone hi-tech and corporate with his new venture DiamondBet.
The DiamondBet motto is: “A cut above the rest.”
Samurai sword attacker fatally shot by police while strangling sister
A man was found strangling his sister as she lay unconscious with a severed arm before he was shot dead by police inside a house at Yarra Junction, as the woman remains in a coma in hospital.
Five arrested over gangland shopping centre slaying
Police have arrested five people over the brazen daylight killing of bikie-linked Robert Issa, gunned down in the car park of the Craigieburn Central shopping centre in 2023.