Why this Victorian cop was the real Sherlock Holmes
He was the scourge of Melbourne’s villains and scoundrels, but unlike the fictional London sleuth, his crazy undercover exploits and bizarre disguises were real. LISTEN NOW
Our Criminal History
The secret language of our criminal ancestors
It’s 1819 and you’ve just been boned by a bum-trap, thrown in ruffles, and brought in front of a beak for knapping a Jacob from a danna-drag. This is the convict slang used by our loose-lipped criminal ancestors. TAKE OUR CONVICT QUIZ.
‘Haunting history of my vintage FJ Holden ute’
When Sunday Telegraph picture editor Jeff Darmanin bought a 1955 Holden FJ ute to restore, he was shocked to discover a teen boy had been shot dead in the vehicle in 1965. The ute was then buried deep in a Gundagai barn for decades before being resold.
Ultimate sacrifice: ‘He died trying to save lives’
BREVET Sergeant Glen Huitson was manning a roadblock when he was shot dead by a man known as ‘Crocodile Dundee’. He was the last police officer to be killed in the line of duty and today marks 20 years since his death
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The man who hunted humans
IN scenes eerily reminiscent of the movie Wolf Creek, German tourist Josef Schwab roamed the Kimberley, executing five strangers in cold blood before dying in a firefight with cops.
A lover, a chopper — and a daughter’s doubts
HER mother, Lucy Dudko, hijacked a helicopter to break her lover our of jail. Now Maria Dudko is challenging the accepted narrative of the dramatic chase that followed inside Silverwater’s jail in Sydney.
In pictures: Policing in the ’70s
IT was a decade of murder and mayhem — but also a time when police work would benefit from new technology and career doors would open for female officers.
All that was left were her false teeth
LI Ping Cao vanished in October 2011. Several weeks later, her husband Klaus Andres was charged with her murder. But it was what Andres did after the killing and how he reacted that shocked Australia.
Little girls lost in suburban slaughter
WHAT triggered the shootings will never be known, but by the end four little girls and two mothers lay dead — one child still clutching the lunch money she was going to take to school. Only the actions of a brave policeman stopped further carnage.
Shark coughs up gruesome clue in bizarre murder case
THE crowds had gathered for the thrill of a close-up view of the aquarium’s new tiger shark. Instead they witnessed a horrifying event that triggered a murder probe.
Last Woman Hanged
THE closer the hangman got to the crowds on the riverbank, the more enormous and repulsive he seemed. Women gasped and children screamed, the ‘thrill of horror creeping through their veins’.
Australian Heist
‘AHHH!’ screamed Senior Constable Moran, the third shot tearing into his testicle. ‘Jesus save me! My balls — he hit me in the bloody balls!’ It was 1862 and buckshot was flying in Australia’s biggest-ever gold heist.
Well-drilled gang’s $1.7m getaway
IN a sleepy country town in 1978, a well-drilled gang pulled off what was then Australia’s biggest bank heist, escaping with $1.7 million in untraceable bills. They were never caught.
A gun, gelignite and axe attack at 10,000ft
IT was a normal Aussie flight, except for the passenger with a sawn-off rifle and two sticks of gelignite who wanted to fly to Singapore. But a fellow passenger with an axe had other ideas …
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