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Deluded and disturbing: Aussie criminals' letters
Words: Miles ProustProducer: Andrew Piva
From twisted threats to claims of innocence, some of Australia’s most notorious criminals have penned memorable letters.
The year before his death, bushranger Ned Kelly dictated his 8000-word Jerilderie Letter to Kelly Gang member Joe Byrne.
Ned Kelly
In it, he defended his actions, abused the police and threatened those who would stand in his way, ending it with the words: "I am a Widow's Son, outlawed and my words must be obeyed."
Kelly unsuccessfully tried to have his ‘manifesto’ published when his gang held up the small NSW town of Jerilderie in 1879. Some historians later saw it as an early call for a Republic.
Standover man Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read developed a disturbing obsession with an Australian television reporter in the 1990s.
Chopper Read
Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read played a sick game of Russian roulette with journalist Renee Brack, after holding a loaded gun to her head in 1992.
In 1992, Read played a sick game of Russian roulette with journalist Renee Brack, holding a loaded gun to her head during an interview for TV show Hard Copy.
From prison he wrote to her, calling himself a “no-eared monster” and asking where he should send the ransom note as he’d like to kidnap her one day.
Eighteen letters were written by Read to Ms Brack from his prison cell in Tasmania, and they all went under the hammer in 2014.
Facing life in jail, underworld figure Carl Williams spent his days behind bars penning letters to friends, family and associates.
Carl Williams
Of those letters, 240 were compiled into a book, providing a fascinating insight into Williams' last 18 months of life at Barwon Prison.
The letters reveal his heartbreak over his mum’s death, details of his prison life and a growing sense of foreboding as the day of his bashing murder edged closer.
Notorious backpacker killer Ivan Milat would regularly send letters to prison bosses, journalists and to his family.
Ivan Milat
Despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt, Milat’s final words penned to his closest family were: “I am innocent of the crimes convicted of.”
Read more crime stories at True Crime on the

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