Former criminals tell Gary Jubelin about how they turned their lives around

Four ex-criminals reveal how they got caught up in the deadly world of murder and drugs before seeing the light. Listen to the podcast.

Four ex-criminals who turned their lives around are trying to stop others falling into a life of violence.

Champion boxer Nader Hamdan, career criminal Jeffrey Morgan, drug dealer Tony Hoang and bank robber Russell Manser were all stuck deep in the deadly world of crime – and the money, luxury cars and glamorous lifestyles that came with it.

Collectively the four spent 45 years in prison. Their rap sheets are extensive: armed robberies, assaults, drug dealing and theft.

Russell Manser has turned his life around. Picture: Julian Andrews.

“If you want anxiety on a turbo charge, then a criminal life is for you. It’s supercharged, turbocharged anxiety. There’s no rest for the wicked,” Manser told former cop Gary Jubelin on his I Catch Killers podcast.

A survivor of sexual abuse, Manser was drawn to the gangster world, and stole cars and burgled banks.

He lashed out at society and spent 23 years locked up in prisons across the country.

“I was housed with the worst degenerates in Australia at the time,” Manser said.

His organisation, Voice of a Survivor, works to help others who have suffered abuse to find their purpose.

Tony Hoang said he was 13 when he first used drugs. Picture: Damian Shaw

“I realised all this sadness, madness and brokenness – I was passing it on,” he said. “That’s when I felt genuine remorse. I was so determined not to do that anymore to anyone else.”

Hoang was just 13 when he first used drugs. Born to Vietnamese refugees, the ex-teenage drug dealer fell through the cracks as one of 10 kids.

“My lowest point was when I was sticking a needle in my arm,” Hoang told Jubelin.

He lost several friends to murder and drugs.

Nader Hamdan has recalled being bullied as a boy. Picture: John Grainger

“I knew if I continued on, I was going to end up dead or in jail,” he said.

Hoang is now a Pastor and travels the world sharing his redemption story with schools and prisons.

As a young Muslim boy of Syrian and Lebanese parents, Hamdan was bullied relentlessly.

“One day I just snapped. I hammered some people that really put pressure on me,” he told Jubelin.

“I just grew into a monster and hammered anybody and everybody who looked at me.

“Everyone expected me to be dead by the time I was 17.”

Jeffrey Morgan is now a motivational speaker. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“I just turned it around. Basically, I was going to get out of jail and die, go to jail again, or travel the world to fight the best and be the best I can be.”

Morgan has transformed his chequered past into an inspirational outlet for students and corporate companies.

Petty crimes as young man turned to robbing banks with friends when he was older.

“It was a badge of honour to go to jail,” he said.

Now a motivational speaker, the ex-career criminal uses his own experiences to help others navigate their way through life.

Gary Jubelin is the host of the podcast I Catch Killers.

“I’m living proof that you can start in the basement and work your way to the penthouse,” Morgan said.

“It’s about being able to transfer the skills you do have into a space that allows you to see a different way to life.”

Listen to their stories of redemption in a special episode of I Catch Killers, hosted by Gary Jubelin, early and ad-free only on Crime X+.

Originally published as Former criminals tell Gary Jubelin about how they turned their lives around