How identical twin brothers known as the ‘After Dark Bandits’ fooled cops and robbed 24 banks in Victoria before dramatic arrest

Douglas and Peter Morgan were so clinical at robbing banks that cops were convinced they were one man. Here’s how they carried out 24 heists.

For two years, police hunted Australia’s most wanted man - a shadowy figure known as the ‘After Dark Bandit’, notorious for tormenting authorities, robbing banks and TABs only in the cooler months before disappearing into the Victorian bush without a trace.

What they didn’t realise was that the man they were looking for was actually two men - identical twins Doug and Peter Morgan, a sophisticated bank-robbing operation that left police scratching their heads as to how the criminal seemed able to be in so many places at once.

“I think we did about 23 or 24 in the end,” says Doug Morgan in an interview with former homicide detective Gary Jubelin, on this week’s episode of his podcast I Catch Killers.

“And the reality is, after about 23, 24 jobs, there was not one skerrick of evidence against Peter Morgan or Doug Morgan, because of the way we planned. We were tactical maneuvers, playing chess with police.”

Identical twin brothers Peter and Doug Morgan were notorious bank robbers. They are seen during a hold-up at a bank in Melbourne’s Keilor in 1977. Picture: Supplied

Peter Morgan is seen menacing staff and customers during a robbery at a CBC bank in the regional town of Heathcote in 1979. Picture: Supplied

These tactical manoeuvres were born partially out of a family legacy - the twins’ father, Kay Arthur Morgan, was involved in a 1949 attempted armed robbery and gun battle at the Commercial Bank at Eltham, Victoria.

Having broken into the bank at night, the senior Morgan couldn’t find the safe keys. Instead, he stole a small pistol, which he then used in the armed robbery attempt a week later, which resulted in a shootout with bank tellers where 17 shots were reportedly fired - something that resulted in him serving three years in prison.

Despite this, Doug Morgan says he could never blame his father for the life his example guided his sons into.

“I love my dad,” he says, “and I’ll defend my dad. He was a bit naive to what he was teaching us and to what it could end up in.”

The identical twins were so methodical and clinical that police were convinced they were just one robber. Picture: Supplied

The pair were dubbed the “After Dark Bandits” as they chose to rob banks during the winter when the sun went down. Picture: Supplied

The bank-teller turned bank-robber

But there was another element that contributed to the Morgan brothers’ expertise as bank robbers: Doug’s experience on the other side of the till.

Before he ever held up a bank, Doug worked as a teller, where he gathered all the intel he’d need to pull off a seamless heist, all the while skimming money from the day’s takings to place a bet at the TAB in the building where his bank was located.

“In those days it wasn’t computerised, so it was up to me to balance my books,” he shares.

“I basically had the ANZ bankrolling Doug Morgan, the punter.”

The ‘After Dark Bandit’

After reading in the newspapers about the eye-watering sums of money bank robbers were able to escape with at the time (the late seventies were, as Jubelin describes it, “on for young and old” when it came to armed robbery), Doug and Peter ended up hatching a plan for themselves.

Realising that, in winter, Melbourne would be quickly falling under cover of darkness around 5pm, which was when banks closed, the brothers decided to time their attacks to take advantage of this lowered visibility - hence earning themselves the notorious nickname.

The twins’ father Kay (pictured, with wife Beryl) was involved in a 1949 attempted armed robbery and gun battle at the Commercial Bank at Eltham, Victoria.

Peter poses for police in the mask he would wear during bank robberies. Picture: Supplied

They had other protections in place, too - like the way they’d transport their getaway vehicle, often a stolen motorbike, to country towns where they were planning a job.

“We’d take a motorbike to the area in the back of a horse float,” Doug explains.

“You can drive all around Australia with a horse float. Nobody’s going to suspect a horse of robbing a bank.”

These tactics saw the brothers elude police for over two years, often netting large amounts of cash in the process - the largest of which Doug actually stole on what he claims was his last ever robbery.

“The reality is, I retired in ‘78 after the last job I did, a bank at Warburton,” he tells Jubelin.

“And I talk about it because, while in actual fact I’m supposed to be this big bank robber, the truth is I only ever did one bank myself, and it was the biggest bank we did because I had inside information … I got $39,000, and that was enough to buy two houses in the suburbs of Melbourne.”

The pair had elaborate plans in place to evade police. Doug is seen showing police where he hid his stolen getaway bike in the bush after a Warburton bank holdup.

The pair evaded police for years. Here is a police sketch of Peter Morgan before his arrest.

The robbery that brought them down

In spite of his alleged retirement, Doug says he agreed to help his brother out in ‘one last job’ out of a misplaced sense of loyalty, and a desire to help a friend with a loan.

In April 1979, Peter attempted to rob the CBC bank in Heathcote, but was confronted by police officer Ray Koch.

“There was never any planning for shooting people - that was off limits,” Doug says.

“If you got to that point, you’d failed. You’d failed our rules of engagement. We had rules of engagement that if the job was too hot, you walk away.”

But that didn’t happen.

Peter shot the police officer twice, forced him into the bank, and robbed it of $11,000. Ray Koch survived the shooting, but Peter was later arrested unarmed - at which point Doug was implicated in the crimes, charged with armed robberies, use of a firearm, and stealing motor cars. He was convicted and served 11 years in Pentridge Prison.

The irony, says Doug, is that it wasn’t prison that turned him away from a life of crime - that was a decision he’d already made.

The positive, he says, is that his decision only strengthened over the time he spent in prison, and since his release, has helped him turn his life around.

In their final heist, Peter was confronted by policeman Ray Koch. He shot him twice (bullets taken from the officer’s body seen above). Picture: Supplied

Senior Constable Ray Koch (pictured) was shot during the brothers’ last heist. They made away with $11,000 but were both captured and jailed over the stickup.

These days, Doug dedicates time to art, mentors inmates at Ravenhall Prison, and works with the Salvation Army. He also gives tours with a former prison officer at Pentridge, using his story as a cautionary tale.

For Doug, staying on the straight and narrow is a matter of waking up each day and committing to his decision.

“When you make a decision and you feel you’re weakening on that decision, stand up and look in the mirror, and you ask yourself: yes, perhaps I can lie to other people, but what sort of man lies to himself?” he says.

“So if you make a decision, you know it’s right ... Every time it gets tough, go back to what you believe was the correct decision, and don’t lie to yourself.

“I go and watch my grandchildren play football now … It was the right decision.”