Russell St bomber Stan Taylor couldn’t wait to confess
He copped to bank jobs no one knew about, dobbed on a nasty detective and claimed he was almost part of Ronald Ryan’s ill-fated prison break — once this Russel St bomber started talking to Ray Watson he couldn’t stop.
Police & Courts
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I was a detective sergeant attached to Russell St CIB special duties squad in the mid-1980s.
On March 27, 1986, I was driving along Flemington Rd, past the Royal Children’s Hospital, on my way back to work when I saw a huge plume of black smoke that seemed to envelop the city.
The smoke seemed to emanate from the Russell St police station area, something that became evident as I arrived at the intersection with Victoria St.
I saw smoke and flames outside and there appeared to be debris, car parts and people everywhere.
It was absolute chaos.
I parked my car nearby and made my way to the station, where I learned a car bomb had been detonated outside.
I was told young policewoman Angela Taylor, other police and a magistrate had been severely injured.
Later that day, Operation Russell kicked off, with police drawn from the Melbourne suburbs to help.
Detective Inspector Gary Ayres was to be in charge of the day-to-day activities of this investigation.
A few weeks later, I was on leave when I received a phone call from my boss, Detective Senior Sergeant Hans Brocker.
He instructed me that I was to report to the detective Senior Sergeant Edwards for duty and temporarily replace detective Sergeant Mark Wylie who had been shot at Kallista during an early morning raid.
The shooter was believed to be a suspect for a bank robbery and the bombing of Russell Street.
I arrived at the St Kilda Rd offices of the armed robbery squad and joined forces with Detective Senior Constable “The Gull” Brodie.
We liaised with members of Operation Russell who were in the same building, but our paths did not cross much until we were informed a suspect, Stan Taylor, had been located at a town called Birchip, in the state’s northwest.
The following day we were briefed at St Arnaud that Taylor and his girlfriend had been arrested by the Special Operations Group.
Taylor was flown by helicopter to Swan Hill and Detective Brodie and I drove up there.
Two other suspects had also been arrested in Swan Hill.
Not long after our arrival at Swan Hill we spoke to Rodney Minogue who was not charged by the members of Operation Russell.
Rodney Minogue admitted his participation and involvement in a number of armed robberies in Victoria. He was subsequently charged with these crimes and lodged in the cells at Swan Hill.
Rodney Minogue named some co-offenders including Paul Hetzel and Taylor.
The next morning at Swan Hill, Detective Brodie and I escorted Taylor from the cells.
He had been interviewed and charged with the murder of Angela Taylor by the members of Operation Russell.
We identified ourselves and very quickly, and much to our surprise, Taylor freely admitted his planning and participation in 20-odd armed hold-ups where money had been taken, shots fired, people assaulted and in a couple of incidents in which women were sexually molested.
We began the interview process and had completed two of the interrogations in about five hours.
In those days, the Labor Party introduced a rule under which investigators were allowed a maximum of six hours to interview a perpetrator, regardless of the number of crimes alleged against them.
An offender could agree to an extension of time, which had to be ratified by a stipendiary magistrate. Unbelievable!
After the initial six-hour period at Swan Hill had elapsed, Taylor was amenable to being further interviewed.
The closest magistrate we could find was in Mildura and he indicated that he would be available to grant an extension of the interview period.
We headed off to Mildura with a handcuffed Stan Taylor in the back.
Beside him was the clerk of the courts from Swan Hill, who had offered his services.
During the lengthy drive, Taylor admitted the offences alleged against him and also admitted, to our astonishment, he had robbed the first TAB to be in operation in Victoria.
He even owned up to a bank robbery for which we could find no record.
Taylor also told us about the toughest (or meanest) detective he had encountered.
He identified the officer and, although I had not met this chap, I knew him by reputation.
Taylor told us he had been thrown out of a first-floor detective office and then driven to the Yarra River, where his head had been held underwater.
He said it was for a period long enough to feel life-threatening.
I got the impression that, although Taylor believed that’s the way life is, the event had stayed with him.
Taylor also told us that while an inmate at Pentridge, he had been asked by Ronald Ryan to escape with him.
Taylor said that he did not wish to escape as he only had a short time left and it was too dangerous.
Ryan later escaped with another convict by the name of Peter Walker.
Their freedom was short-lived.
A prison warden was killed during the escape and Ryan was hanged for his murder.
Anyway, we arrived at Mildura and took Taylor before the magistrate.
It was a Saturday and we continued with our interview of the suspect while he continued to co-operate.
We charged Taylor with a couple more armed robberies and returned to Swan Hill later that night.
I continued to interview Taylor when we returned to Melbourne, using a tape-recorder in Pentridge’s Jika Jika section.
Taylor pleaded guilty to our armed robbery and associated charges but not guilty to the murder of Angela Taylor.
I have a theory about this.
I believed Stan Taylor. He spoke in a matter-of-fact way.
He had boggled our minds with his stories and was almost likeable.
Taylor spoke in a monotone, was not a bragger and was almost remote.
It is my belief that Taylor acted as though he was a normal human being.
I’m sure this was an act.
Taylor was not charged with any sexual molestation offence.
He told me he did not approve or condone that type of behaviour.
Taylor died in prison in 2016.
– with Mark Buttler
MORE RAY WATSON TALES
THE MOST OBNOXIOUS CROOK I EVER MET
A QUIET BEER WITH A THUG BEFORE HOSTILITIES RESUME
KIND, ELDERLY, HEAVILY ARMED: HUNT FOR BEANIE BANDIT
THUGS AND LOWLIFES ENCOUNTERED OVER A LONG CAREER
HOW ANONYMOUS CALL LED TO DEADLY SHOOTOUT
Ray Watson was a member of the armed robbery squad at a time of 500 bank hold-ups a year nationwide.
He offers Herald Sun readers a unique insight into the squad’s pursuit of the bandits and killers behind the heists.
Listen to him on Andrew Rule’s Life and Crimes podcast.