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An irresistible true-crime story from the author of the bestselling Big Shots. There has never been a more feared or respected policeman in Australia than Brian Skull Murphy. His fearsome reputation and connections with organised crime have made him an infamous figure in Melbourne police history. In The Skull, Adam Shand tells the story of the l...
History.
Criminal, murderer, raconteur, author . . . mythmaker? Mark Brandon 'Chopper' Read is undoubtedly Australia's best-known criminal. Author of many bestselling books about the underworld he inhabited, and subject of a smash-hit film, his story has become part of the country's culture. And Read certainly knew how to spin a yarn. Adam Shand – bestselling author of Big Shots: Carl Williams and the Gangland Murders – disentangles the persona of 'Chopper' from Mark Read, the man. Chopper took over Read's life, made him famous but then refused to let him go. From Read's religious upbringing and youthful escapades to his 23 years in jail and later careers in the spotlight, Shand delves into Read's life to reveal the truth for the first time. With unparalleled access to lovers, friends and enemies, Shand learns that 'Uncle Chop Chop', Australia's favourite stand-over man, was much more than the 'earless monster' he created.
Unlikely crime boss, serial killer, prison snitch, suburban boy turned bad, cult hero – who was the real Carl Williams? When the 'baby-faced killer' met his shocking end in Barwon Prison's maximum-security unit, he left in his wake a trail of brutal murders, an underworld in flames, a police service stinking of corruption, and a broken family. How could a bogan boy from Broadmeadows, underestimated by all as lazy and stupid, have risen to the top of Melbourne's crime scene and created such widespread havoc? Bestselling author Adam Shand takes us into Carl's world: the family poverty that made him hungry for success at any cost, the shifting sands of allegiances within the rival crime factions, and the fear, greed and thirst for revenge that drove him to murder. From Williams' early forays into the drug trade, the gunshot wound to the stomach that sparked a bloody gangland war, through to the car-crash fascination of his relationship with Roberta, Shand shows us the man behind the cocky grin, and examines how and why he came to his grisly end.
An investigation into Australia's bikie clubs. Are Australia's bikie clubs bastions of organised crime? Useful pawns in the political law and order game? Investigative journalist Adam Shand asks, just how bad are they?
In 2003, Adam Shand naively set out to unravel Melbourne's bloody gangland wars. A few months' research, a guaranteed cover story. But his foray into the underworld took him deeper than that. He became embroiled in a complex world where feuds raged between rival families, and where a new generation was clashing with the criminal Establishment. Before long, he found himself counted as a friend by those who sometimes ended friendships with a hail of bullets. In this fully updated edition, taking in the events of 2010, including the murder of Carl Williams, Big Shots takes the reader into the heart of the city's multibillion-dollar 'disorganised crime' scene, as Shand meets the key figures and suspects, including Carl and Roberta Williams, Mick Gatto and many others. He discovers the human drama behind the brutal slayings that were splashed across the front pages, and in the process comes to questions his objectivity.
This is the biggest happening in the underworld since Jackie Twist got the Frog back in '58. This is going to unleash merry hell, son . . .' In 2003 Adam Shand, until then a financial journalist, naively set out to unravel Melbourne's bloody gangland wars. A few months' research, a guaranteed cover story. But his foray into the underworld took him deeper than that. Before long, he found himself counted as a friend by those who sometimes ended friendships with a hail of bullets. Big Shotstakes the reader into the heart of the city's multi-billion dollar 'disorganised crime' scene, as Shand meets key figures and suspects, including Carl and Roberta Williams, Mick Gatto, and many others. He discovers the human drama behind the brutal slayings that were splashed across the front pages, and in the process comes to question his objectivity. And even whether he is being used to further the players' murderous ends.
'People reckon my life has been glamorous. Well, if this is glamour, then they are just off their heads' Unbeknown to both of them, it was to be Carl Williams' last conversation behind bars with his unlikely confident, reporter Adam Shand. Shorlty after saying these words the notorious, murderous drug boss was once again in the papers ... but this time he was in a gold coffin. In the late 1990s, a feud raging between rival underworld families - a clash of a new generation with the criminal establishment - erupted in a spate of gangland slayings on Melbourne's streets. These 'gangland wars' are now familiar to everyone, largely due to the popular TV drama Underbelly. But this is the real stor...
In 2007 Carl Williams was convicted of three murders and sentenced to 35 years' jail. Yet his role in the Melbourne Gangland Wars went far beyond a handful of killings, however brutal, and had made him one of the most infamous names in Australian criminal history. The unlikely gang boss with a baby face and friendly grin had played a leading role in the savage long-running conflict that saw more than 30 gang-related murders on the streets of Melbourne. Williams began serving his sentence in a high-security unit at Victoria's Barwon Prison. In October 2008 he was given access to a personal computer. Confined to a tiny cell for most of the day, and having limited contact with the outside world...
Brian Murphy is either Victoria's most corrupt police officer ever or its most maligned and misunderstood. Certainly, there has never been a policeman more feared or respected in Australia than The Skull, so named for his bald pate and a startling resemblance to legendary pro wrestler Skull Murphy.