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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
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anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website Peter Ellis woke early on October 12th
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1988 it was almost 4:20 a.m. and still dark outside Peter worked at a local news agency and he had to leave home
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before dawn to prepare for the morning peak hour a rush of customers he lived in the inner city suburb of South Yarra
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which borders the eastern side of Melbourne see Peters apartment was on Wall Street a narrow residential road
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packed on either side with multi-story units Wall Street connects to many high traffic main roads leading to and from
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Melbourne but has little traffic of its own with the Yarra River to the north Royal Botanical Gardens to the west and
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Faulkner Park to the south it was an ideal innocence Street to live [Music] when Peter crawled out of bed that
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cooled spring morning he immediately noticed something strange outside his bedroom window on the street below a
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white Holden Commodore sedan was parked in the middle of the road its bonnet was
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up and doors were closed parked cars framed the sights of Wall Street restricting available road space to one
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lane the Commodores awkward position was blocking the road in both directions there wasn't anyone in or around it
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Peter prepared for work and minutes later he collected his push box from downstairs and wielded outside the
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Commodore was still sitting in the middle of the street its rear window was smashed
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Peter assumed the car had been stolen during the night from elsewhere and was carelessly abandoned on Wall Street
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after running out of petrol Peter cycled south the News Agency where he worked was located on the nearby shopping strip
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of Tarak Road he arrived there around 425 a.m. and decided to find the local police station to report the abandoned
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vehicle the Commodore needed to be towed to clear Wall Street for other cars to pass through at 4:30 a.m. the constable
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at Piron police station who took Peter else's call phoned at the Victoria police's main Communication Center in
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Melbourne City he passed on the report of the abandoned Commodore in wall street the communication centre then
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sought out a police team to head to Wall Street to investigate Victoria police constables Stephen Tannen and Damien as
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night shift had started on October 11 1988 at 11:00 p.m. callsign Pereira and 311 it had been a
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shift of routine policing for the pair a domestic dispute noisy parties a drunken
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fitzroy street a pub assault on Chapel Street a smash shop window and two activated security alarms at 4:30 9 a.m.
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on the morning of October 12 - and a half hours before the end of their shift a new job was radioed to them from the
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police communication centre / in 311 if you could slip down to Wall Street in South Yarra mr. Ellis of to 20
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while Street states there's a white Holden sedan don't know what the Reg o is got the
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lights on and smashed windows in the middle of the road Roger constable Damien ei responded Wall
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Street was not technically in their area this job should have been allocated to the st. Kilda Road unit but staff levels
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at st. Kilda Road police station were low at the time and they didn't have enough officers to send a divisional van
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it should have then been forwarded to South Melbourne but their divisional van was in st. kilda attending a suicide
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so the Wall Street job was allocated to the nearest available police people pay ran 311
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at 448 a.m. per an 311 drove their divisional fan down leafy Wall Street constable Stephen Tannen was driving he
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was the senior of the two officers but at the young age of 22 he wasn't much older than his 21 year old rookie
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partner constable Damien here Damien Ayers father and brother were proud members of Victoria Police
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it was Damien's lifelong ambition to follow in their footsteps despite failing his first police admission test
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Damien was not deterred to give up on his dream and his second attempt was a success Damien's graduation from the
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police academy brought great pride to his father Frank heir by October 12 1988 Damien had been a member of Victoria
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Police for only six months Stephen Tainan had been in the police force for almost three years and already
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earned himself a wealth of experience he had recently taken some time off work after a shooting incident and had only
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been back on the beat for three days before winding up on Wall Street that morning Wall Street was vacant dark and
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silent residents in surrounding apartments and units flipped the morning work traffic was still an hour or so
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away from appearing on the adjacent punt Road constables Tainan and Effie on the
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white Commodore still sitting in the middle of the road at the front of 220 Wall Street they slowly pulled up behind
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it and lit up the rear of the vehicle with their vans high beams the Commodore was empty with its bonnet up as if
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broken down the doors were closed in its rear window had been smashed Tainan and dare approached the Commodore
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with no sense of danger also and suggested it was a stolen car abandoned after a joyride considered a routine job
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there was nothing out of the ordinary at all for a typical police shift it was just before 4:50 a.m. when both officers
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approached the Commodore the tar cracking underneath f8 as they approached in the dark there was no one
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in sight constable err checked the car's registration sticker on the windscreen taking notes
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constable Tainan sat in the driver's seat leaving the door open he noticed the broken ignition lock and hanging
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wires from below the dashboard suggesting the car was stolen and he called out constable heir to come over
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and check it out air walked over and knelt down on one knee by the driver's side door a layout fiery crack of
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gunshots shattered the morning silence and echoed down Wall Street residents were instantly woken up by the startling
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sounds our masked gunman had run out from the shadows and a close range fired a heavy caliber shotgun at constable
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tonin as he went to exit the car the shot hit Tynan's head and to the impact caused him to slumped back into
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the seat more gunshots quickly followed the shooter had taken aim at constable ere
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crouched down by the door the second shot hit his back and shoulder despite his injuries constable there found the
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strength to stand and lunge at the gunman air grabbed the shotgun and yelled out stop stop No as he forced the
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barrel away from himself another two shots were fired during the struggle but they didn't hit anyone Walia fought the
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gunman a second defender appeared unable to fight both attackers simultaneously air kept his hands on the shotgun
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this allowed the second defender to steal constable Ayers revolver from his hip hop's though with air his own
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revolver pointed directly at his head the second gunman pulled the trigger the gunman then pointed the weapon at him
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once more as he liked bleeding on the ground and shot him again the two gunmen then fled
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urgent calls to police were made by residents an initial call to police describe the sounds quote
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hello I'm ringing from inside two to five Wall Street South Yarra there are terrible loud noises outside voices were
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screaming another call followed soon after quote oh my gosh it only just happened we're at flat 2 2 2 I just woke
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up I heard shots as I looked out the window I heard calling out and I couldn't see anything
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13 minutes after the communications operator dispatched constables Tainan and heir to Wall Street he desperately
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attempted to reestablish contact with them via police radio VK c 2 / an 311 v kc 2 / in 311 the operator contacted
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south melbourne 150 the supervising inspector in the district south melbourne 150 percent paren 311
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down to Wall Street there's a car a white Holden sedan parked in the middle of the road with lights on and smashed
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windows since then I've had about three or four calls come in saying that they've heard shots fired in that Street
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and I can't get around 311 at this stage concern of Victoria police headquarters
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groove as more and more reports of the gunfire in wall street reached emergency operators offers of assistance from
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police teams in the region lit up police radio patrol cars from South Melbourne Russell Street and st. kilda all
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converged on Wall Street it was South Melbourne who reached Wall Street first at 4:53 a.m. five minutes after the
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gunfire the first thing they saw was constable Tainan and his police divisional van parked in the middle of
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the road the driver side door was open and the engine was running the Vans headlights illuminated the rear of the
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white Holden Commodore sedan in front of it only seconds later they radioed the following South 250 urgent South
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Melbourne 252 members down urgent South Melbourne 250 for God's sake get in the ambulance
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the officers from South Melbourne found constable Damien err lying in the middle
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of Wall Street by the back wheel of the white Holden Commodore blunt gushed from
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a head wound and snaked down the roads in corn there were also two bleeding holes through his jacket into his back
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his police issue 38 service revolver was missing from the holster on his hip slump in the Commodores front seat was
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constable Stephen Tainan the interior of the car was full of blood both officers
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were unconscious their eyes were open but they were non-responsive at that moment a man emerged from he by shadows
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holding something up at the anxious police officers the police he ordered him to drop his weapon it was only a
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torch he was escorting his partner Julian who was a registered nurse and had been
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awoken by the gunshots once she heard police arrived she felt compelled to offer medical assistance to anyone
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injured Julian approached constable Air who was lying on the road on his left side he was moaning his breathing and
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pulse were irregular and he didn't respond to her his head wound was large bleeding and a Gillian could see gray
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matter she didn't think though as much she could do she then checked constable tonin in the commodore his breathing was
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labored and raspy he barely had a pulse Gillian asked the police officers to live near me out of the car when the
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nurse handled the back of constable tonin's head her hand when incited the police communication centre was chaotic
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multiple two men police teams arrived on scene that will eat chicken fronted by they're horribly injured colleagues and
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were asking the questions who what and why two ambulances arrived simultaneously their crews spent 19
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minutes attempting to stabilized the injured officers Stephen Thailand's condition deteriorated and his pulse
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faded his breaths were too a minute Damien is pulse was weakening but his breaths were more frequent paramedics
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rushed Tainan and air to nearby Alfred Hospital but Stephen tonin was reported dead on arrival
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police sealed off the surrounding area roads were blocked by a dozen police vans and a hunt began for the
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perpetrators every police resource available at the Talon was called to the scene including helicopters in the dog
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squad constable s revolver could not be found and no suspect persons were located in
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the area Damien s father Frank was awoken by a knock at his front door it was still
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early and the son hadn't yet risen he opened to the door to be greeted by two police officers Frank ear knew Damien
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was on night shift and the looks on the officers faces told him something was wrong in his many years as a police
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officer Frank had delivered notices of death to victims families this moment stung with familiarity the officers
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informed Frank there had been a shooting in Damien's partner Stephen Tainan was dead
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however Damien was still alive and was taken to the nearby Alfred hospital but as the officers who delivered the
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message walk back down Frank Ayres driveway towards their squad car they received an update message over their
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radios Damien air had passed away as well constable Stephen John Tainan was a compassionate young man who loved
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everybody and in turn everybody loved him in 1985 Stephen graduated from the Victoria Police Academy finishing 10th
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in his training squad of 43 members after graduation Stephen lived at home with his parents Kevin and Wendy tonin a
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police sergeant who worked with Stephen congratulated Kevin and Wendy on their parenting and told them that Stephen was
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the most well-adjusted 22 year old he had ever met in early 1988 Stephen started working at paren police station
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he was approaching his third year in the police force and had moved over to parent station after spending a year
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working at the much quieter Cheltenham police station in southern Victoria pairen was considered a tough area to
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police only five kilometers from melbourne city korean featured many trendy and fashionable shopping strips
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and it was abundant with parks restaurants pubs and nightclubs the popular haunts of Chapel Street
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greville street and to rock road brought a lot of visitors to the area these high
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traffic areas made the suburb a hire for a wide variety of frequent crime paren police station dealt with more crime in
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a year and stations located in quieter areas soaring 10 Stephen Tainan welcomed the change of location and quickly
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adapted to the stressful work just 10 days prior to being called to Wall Street on Saturday October 1st
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Stephen Tainan and another partner were dispatched to investigate and activated armed robbery alarm at a betting agency
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in South Yarra awaiting the two officers were two armed men wearing crude paper-bag masks one carried a knife the
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other carried an imitation though convincing looking pistol the offenders used an employee as a shield when trying
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to escape the police Stephen shot one offender in the neck the other offender took bullets to the
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knee and gun this incident distressed Stephen who took some time off work afterwards to settle this incident
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really shook him constable Damien Jeffrey Eyre was a determined country boy raised in the
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rural town of Shepperton in northern Victoria his admiration for Victoria police had been ingrained in him since
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he was a child both Damien's father and older brother were police officers as well as his
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sister-in-law Damien's blood ran blue and policing was a part of his family heritage as a boy
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Damien would visit his father at work at Shepperton Police Station and play with
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the old typewriters and roleplay as an officer his father considered at one of his proudest moments when Damien told
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him years later that he wanted to apply to become a police officer Damien graduated from the Academy in
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1997 he was offered the opportunity of being posted the Shepherd and police station where his father had worked but
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Damien wanted to gain more ferret policing experience and asked to work closer to Melbourne City Damien was
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assigned to paren poly station in may 1988 for any rookie cop this station would be intense and intimidating but
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Damien eagerly embraced all the challenges that came with policing the area all Damien cared about was carrying
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on his father's tradition of being a proud and honorable police officer Frank Eyre told his son if you want to be a
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police officer you've got to be dedicated otherwise don't go to work you just don't know what's going to strike
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from day to day during the canvass of Wall Street witness accounts from residents provided investigators with a
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timeline of events no-one saw what happened between the constables and their killers
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but many heard the gunshots shortly after Tainan and Ayer arrived at Wall Street at 448 a.m. two gunshots were
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fired shortly after the shots rang out a nearby resident looked out their window
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quote I was awoken by the sound of gunshots I got out of bed and stood at my window I saw a medium-sized what I
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call a bandit looking person this person appeared to be wearing something over his head he was running along the lane
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towards punt road at a very fast speed I looked back up the lane way towards Wall
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Street and saw a second person running down the lane in the same direction as the first person the second person was
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very much like the first person it was as if they were both dressed identically running at a very fast speed continuing
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in the direction of Punt Road another witness saw these two masked assailants get into a vehicle quote I
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saw the figure of a man run up early Street to a car that was parked in Le Street possibly what the man was
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breathing very heavily and in a big hurry I saw him open the driver's side door and get in he then started the car and
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started to slowly drive off then I heard the sound of a second guy running up early straight from the same direction
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he was also breathing very heavily and loudly and moved very quickly I saw the second guy open the passenger door and
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get him closing the door after him this car was seen speeding down le Street without its
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lights on these two witnesses confirmed the two masked assailants were identically dressed as more statements
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were collected from witnesses it became clear to police there were more suspects
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involved in the crime than just these two one witness implicated three other suspects quote when they got to the
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corner they stopped cross to the northern side of the road and one jumped the fence into the garden of a house on
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the corner the second stood beside the tree just inside the entrance the person that jumped the fence into the garden
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was carrying something in his left hand and holding it against his left side I couldn't make out what he was holding I
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didn't see that person again the person I saw beside the tree then walked out into Punt road and appeared to be
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looking up towards the main road within a minute I saw a dark-colored panel van traveling at a fast rate of speed down
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Pont road it skidded and stopped I could only see a driver in this panel van as the van stopped the second person opened
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the front door of the panel VIN the panel van then took off out of sight police now had a total of five suspect
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persons assumed connected to the scene the two masked men who left by the white car on Earley Street the third who got
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picked up by the dark panel van on punt Road the panel vans driver into the fifth who jumped fences and ran from the
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scene furthermore a wall street resident came forward and told police her car's front passenger window was smashed that
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night O'Brien jumper that was in the back seat was missing the jumper was found in a
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nearby garden missing its sleeves police believed the shooters used the torn sleeves as makeshift balaclavas the
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personal lives in police history of Steve Antonin and Damien Eyre were investigated but both men were clean
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the young constables had no enemies therefore their deaths were not considered targeted payback neither had
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been in the force long enough to develop any long-term grudges with renowned criminals or gangs detectives looked
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into the criminals that toyline had shot out a week earlier at the betting agency
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incident those armed robbers were students deep in gambling debt they had no friends or family or known criminal
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connections in Melbourne both men were still injured from the confrontation and to the man Stephen shot in the neck was
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permanently paralyzed neither student was a seasoned criminal and an either had the connections to
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seek targeted revenge against Stephen tonin for the shooting plus there was no way of knowing it would be Stephen tonin
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who would respond to the call on Wall Street it wasn't even technically his area it was dismissed as a connection
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the possibility Stephen and Damien interrupted a crime being committed was also ruled out the pair investigated the
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abandoned Commodore almost half an hour after Peter Ellis made the initial call to police Ellis didn't see anyone in or
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around the car that appeared abandoned car thieves would have had ample time to flee the scene before police arrived the
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Thai Air Task Force named from the combination of the two deceased officers surnames was created to investigate the
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murders the Thai Air Task Force was made up of a core group of 12 investigators three from the armed robbery squad four
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from the major crime squad into fire from the Homicide Squad they would partake in the largest police
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investigation within the state of Victoria hundreds of police officers worked with Atty a task force at the
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height of the investigation the Victorian state government offered a reward of $200,000 for information
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leading to a conviction investigators considered the sinister possibility that the Commodore wasn't
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randomly abandoned it appeared to have been strategically planted there this implied that the wall street shootings
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were not an accident they were an ambush and that was exactly how Task Force Tire
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treated the investigation not since 1878 when the infamous bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang ambushed and killed three
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police officers in regional Victoria had a similar targeted act been carried out
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but unlike Ned Kelly and his gang who were being pursued constables Tainan and Dare were lured to Wall Street and
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killed simply because they were wearing a police uniform their death serves no purpose to their killers but to send a
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message to Victoria Police there was an act committed purely in cold blood during the 1980s bank robberies had
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become a national problem for Australia gone were the days of a lone gunman acting impulsively for minimal take
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professional crews were taking over crime gangs planned robberies in advance to collect big money
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they performed reconnaissance Saudi intelligence selected experienced personnel assigned roles organized ear
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and weaponry arranged transport and chose hiding places when knocking over their targets with
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weapons in hand and masks on they were threatening and violent but also clean and efficient for the gang members it
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was an exciting deadly rush that bred an addictive lifestyle successful robberies
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were thrilling criminals were always waiting with anticipation for the next big job gang members became fiercely
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loyal to each other relying on crew mates to watch each other's backs they owed each other their
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lives they saw their crews as their family armed robbery was a high-risk operation
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to get in any out with any success criminals had to approach their targets with ruthless intent in this life and
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limb approach had resulted in the deaths of several Australian police officers killed by offenders caught in the act in
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previous years the violence was particularly overwhelming for Victoria police the 1980s saw several violent
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events that profoundly impacted and changed Victoria Police the first was the Russell Street bombing in 1986 a car
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bomb targeting police exploded outside the Russell Street Police Headquarters killing one officer this is further
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detailed in case 24 of case file the second was a mass shooting in huddled Street in 1997 committed by former
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Australian Army Cadet Julian night-night killed seven people in the injured 19 more only four months later law student
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Frank Vic Kovac entered a building in Queen Street Melbourne and shot 13 people killing 8 as armed killers
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terrorized Melbourne Victoria Police members believed they were in the midst of a clandestine war that was getting
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progressively worse and they felt they were losing the war by 1987 armed bank robberies in Victoria where as frequent
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as 20 per week two or three bank robberies were expected daily crime seemed out of control the armed robbery
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squad was tasked to combat the offenders both police and criminals considered them a heavy unit Victoria police
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members began approaching violent armed offenders with the same defensive impulse as the offender's kill or be
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killed what followed was several incidents where police killed armed and unarmed criminals criminals are more
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enforcement were reaching a point of intense hatred and fear of each other so Victoria police criminal activity was
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becoming particularly a moral and personal police felt unsafe performing their duties against extreme criminals
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who refused to surrender police were up against ruthless and deadly armed robbers who had no problem taking
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innocent lives to satisfy their own pockets criminals would hold grudges and sought
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retribution some of them felt the police were turning in to shoot first trigger-happy corrupt Cowboys who sought
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lethal vengeance they worried that if and when police confronted them that they would be murdered not arrested once
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criminals started being shot by police during their apprehension the culture slowly changed and some gangs dissolved
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what remains were around a dozen determined and violent bank robbery crews the Flemington crew was one such
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criminal team police gave them the title after they robbed a Flemington bank in November 1987 the Flemington crew was
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intensely violent during robberies they didn't differentiate between males females or children they didn't care
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they physically terrorized them all by putting shotguns and weapons up to the noses of victims and demanding money
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police knew the identities of the Flemington crew members but they were yet to be caught in the act and then
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there wasn't enough evidence for an arrest based out of the Melbourne inner city suburb of Richmond the Flemington
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crew was led by career criminal Victor Pierce born in 1958 Victor Pierce was the sixth child of ten born to kathleen
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Pettingill the imposing matriarch of a Melbourne based criminal family Kath also known as granny evil was a twenty
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year criminal veteran she had a glass eye after an incident in the late 70s where she was shot through a door while
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attempting to pay a personal debt for her only daughter her children all had connections to illegal activities and
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most ended up going to prison or to an early grave her son Victor Pierce was considered one
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of the best armed robbers in Melbourne he was the organizer and planner of the crimes linked to the Flemington crew
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fellow members sought his advice and admired him his robberies took weeks of planning and surveillance he'd study a
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target memorised the building its exact locations the timings of key events and how people got in and out the Flemington
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crew hit their targets on a Thursday or Friday when banks carried the most money
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fresh getaway cars were stolen the night before Holden Commodore fates were their
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preferred choice common models that would not arouse suspicion and could gain speed quickly multiple professional
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criminals were connected to the Flemington crew giving Victor Pierce a pool of experience to draw from for each
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new job aside from Pierce who was the ringleader there were three other full-time members
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of the Flemington crew one of those members was Graham Jensen Jensen had earned his first criminal charge at age
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11 when caught stealing from taxis he left school in third form to work at a broom Factory that employment lasted two
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weeks before he sought a lifelong career in crime at 14 years old he stole six fur coats valued at two and a half
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thousand dollars at fifteen he rubbed his first bank in Fitzroy netting just over a thousand dollars the arresting
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officer at the time warned of what Jensen could become stating that in the future Jensen would be a very active
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criminal who would require a firm handling in 1977 Jensen was arrested in Canberra for three armed robberies
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resulting in a total steal of $70,000 Jensen was sentenced to ten years imprisonment police considered Jensen to
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be a very dangerous person he was rumored to sleep with a loaded shotgun under his bed if given the opportunity
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police believed - Jensen would shoot a police officer or anyone else who got in his way
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despite this reputation Graham Jensen was a personable and popular guy in crime circles and was a close friend of
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Victor Pierce on October 11th 1988 the day before the wallstreet shootings Graham Jensen was under surveillance by
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Victoria police in relation to operation no-name Jensen was a suspect in an armed
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robbery of a supermarket in the northern suburb of Brunswick a few months prior on that day a gun wielding robber jumped
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two guards and demanded the cash team they were carrying one of the guards Dominic hefty was shot in the chest and
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leg by the offender during a struggle the offender ran out of the store in full view of witnesses carjacked a woman
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and sped away the guard Dominique ft died two days later from his injuries leaving behind
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his wife and two-year-old child Flemington crew member Graham Jensen fit witness descriptions of the Brunswick
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gunman and was pointed out in photo assemblies an informer had also implicated Victor Pearce in the crime so
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police decided to bring both men in for questioning police were aware both Pearce and Jensen were dangerous
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criminals who had access to firearms pieces location was unknown but Jensen was at a safehouse the narrow Warren
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home of his girlfriend Neri Warren is a southeastern suburb about 40 kilometres from Melbourne on
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October 11th Jensen woke late and had breakfast in bed before getting up around midday to watch a movie it was
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six hours into surveillance for operation no-name before police had a possible sighting of him at 3:20 p.m.
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police observed an unidentified male leaving the house in Neri Warren the male got into Jensen's blue Holden
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Commodore station wagon and drove off police couldn't confirm if the man was Graham Jensen so they decided not to
00:31:51
confront him and instead covertly tailed the car the suspect drove to a nearby lawnmower shop three minutes away on
00:31:58
Webb Street he parked his car and a strip of gravel in front of the store and went inside to buy a new spark plug
00:32:05
to undercover surveillance detectives followed the suspect inside and confirmed it was Graham Jensen police
00:32:13
feared the possibility Jensen would drive on to do a school pickup they didn't want to risk putting children in
00:32:19
danger so a box intercept was planned once Jensen returned to his car detectives would maneuver three unmarked
00:32:26
police cars to block his vehicle one car would drive up on each side and the third would block him at the rear
00:32:32
Jensen exited the store and got in his car police attempted the Box intercept and three cars containing eight armed
00:32:39
robbery squad members screeched towards the station wagon Jensen put his car in reverse and hit the accelerator he was
00:32:46
able to back out of the trap and did a sharp u-turn clipping one of the police cars in the process an officer yelled
00:32:52
he's got a gun police yelled for Jensen to stop and raised their weapons at his car shots
00:32:59
were fired peppering Jensen's car with bullet holes and shattering the rear window seconds later Jensen's car veered
00:33:06
off the road and up onto a curb before smashing into a light pole the front hood of his vehicle was crushed
00:33:12
he's the lifeless body slumped in the driver's seat Jensen had a gunshot wound in the back of his head police conceded
00:33:21
this was a poorly executed attempt at an arrest their intention was to arrest Jensen not to kill him according to
00:33:28
police statements the reason Jensen was shot at was because police witnessed Jensen pointed
00:33:33
gun at them during his escape a sawn-off bold action 22 rifle was discovered next to Jensen's legs in his
00:33:39
vehicle Jensen's girlfriend said she hadn't seen the gun in Jensen's car that morning
00:33:45
when she was cleaning it and she was adamant that she didn't see it in his possession before he left a rumor
00:33:51
started that the gun had been taken from the boot of a police car hidden in a beach towel implanted in Jensen's
00:33:57
station wagon after a crash to justify the shooting police denied the rumor they insisted the towel was only used to
00:34:04
cover Jensen's body from public view which it was the towel was later destroyed without being tested
00:34:15
with the executions of constables phonin and air coming just 13 hours after the death of career criminal graham jensen
00:34:22
police realized that was too suspicious to be a coincidence they believed that Tainan and ayers
00:34:28
murders were an act of revenge and retaliation for the shooting death of Graham Jensen a media report after the
00:34:35
wall street shootings featured an officer saying quote perhaps they decided we killed one of theirs
00:34:40
and did they decided to kill two of ours within the hours of the wall street shootings police zeroed in on all of
00:34:48
Graham Jensen's family friends and associates including Victor Pierce and two other members of the Flemington crew
00:34:54
Peter McAvoy and Jed Horton in a single day police raided 100 homes linked to potential suspects these raids carried
00:35:05
on for months one home could be rated multiple times a week at the discretion of the Thai Air Task Force their aim was
00:35:12
to shake the [ __ ] out of the underworld they raided known crooks ex crooks their
00:35:18
families associates even the names listed in their address books raids typically occurred early morning
00:35:25
doors and windows were smashed with sledgehammers residents worked to armed officers surrounding their bed pointing
00:35:31
loaded guns at them tactics police used to get information were said to include threats to kill
00:35:37
backings warning shots broken bones guns pushed into people's mouths guns held against the heads of children homes
00:35:45
ransacked and furniture destroyed community outrage at the senseless deaths of two young police officers
00:35:51
outweighed the concerns of the tactics used by police to catch the killers the police aimed to break hardened
00:35:59
criminals who had adapted to what they felt was soft policing criminals felt what it was like to be terrorized
00:36:05
threatened and intimidated at 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday October 12th 11 hours after
00:36:13
the shootings in Wall Street a shotgun blast shattered the front door of Victor Pierce's home
00:36:18
Special Operations Group police bolted inside with their weapons raised and ready in the home was Victor's wife
00:36:24
Wendy Pierce the Special Operations Group yelled at her where is he where is the [ __ ] Victor Pierce wasn't home he
00:36:34
was at his sister's property with fellow Flemington crew member Peter McAvoy the
00:36:38
Special Operations Group made their way to the property but when they arrived later that afternoon Peter McAvoy was
00:36:44
alone Victor Pierce had left the hunt for the final two Flemington crew members began
00:36:51
dig the Pierce was in hiding and Jed Horton was already on the run due to outstanding warrants Victor Pierce was
00:36:58
convinced to now more than ever that police were going to kill him a message of being delivered to pierce shortly
00:37:04
before Graham Jensen's death claiming police threatened to off him to pierce this threat was not unexpected he
00:37:11
believed there was a group of police targeting and exterminating career criminals and it seemed logical he would
00:37:17
be next on Thursday October 13th and anxious Victor Pierce presented himself at st. Kilda Road police station with
00:37:25
his lawyer his intention was the go on the record as being innocent of any bank robberies police suspected North Pierce
00:37:32
believed if he voluntarily handed himself in for questioning that would protect him from being shot once
00:37:38
questioning began all police wanted Pierce to talk about was the wall street shootings frustrated at the accusations
00:37:45
who was responsible for wall street Pierce responded that each question with no common
00:37:50
detectives made the sudden decision to arrest peace for the murder of Dominique hefty the security guard shot during the
00:37:56
Brunswick supermarket robbery months earlier the murder they had attempted to arrest Graham Jensen for when he was
00:38:03
killed Pierce was shocked he's clean at backfired he responded I know nothing and I don't want to say anything what
00:38:13
had happened was after Graham Jensen's death police sent a sample of his blood to forensics the Seifert matched blood
00:38:19
found at the Brunswick supermarket crime scene the offender had been injured during the struggle with healthy until
00:38:25
left his blood at the scene this test showed that Graham Jensen was not the murderer of the supermarket guard after
00:38:31
all this news created a serious problem for Victoria police they had justified the killing of Jensen by publicly
00:38:39
stating that he was wanted for the murder of hefty this gave the arrest the sense of urgency and justified the
00:38:44
aggressive tactics to stop the murderer from escaping them and putting more innocent lives at risk
00:38:50
but Jensen didn't do it so they went after Victor Pierce for the murder the evidence to support Victor Pierce's
00:38:58
Dominic Effie's killer was weak an unreliable police informer had pointed Victor Pierce out as possibly being the
00:39:04
planner of the robbery but the decision to arrest Pierce at least ensured he would remain behind bars for the time
00:39:10
being a murder charge meant he wouldn't be eligible for bail not all investigators approved of this
00:39:18
tactic Pierce was tight-lipped with no intention of revealing information he might have had regarding wall street
00:39:24
they believed more insight would have been gained if Pierce was free on the streets and able to communicate with his
00:39:29
crew they would have preferred using listening devices phone bugs tracking devices and covert surveillance to try
00:39:36
and catch him up but despite the disagreements between investigators Victor Pierce was put behind bars a pent
00:39:42
reach prison during their many raids police scooped up Victor Pierce's nephew Jason Ryan Jason was an unemployed 17
00:39:55
year old with a history of shooting his mouth off to police he was the son of Victor Pierce's sister Vicki Pierce
00:40:02
Jason Ryan was a drug user who hadn't been to school in three years those who knew Jason considered him a
00:40:09
violent weirdo Jason's family attempted to groom him into being a professional criminal by giving him support role
00:40:16
models and contacts despite these opportunities Jason never amounted to much as a criminal he was soft compared
00:40:23
to the hardened criminals around him at 13 years old Jason lived with his uncle Dennis Allen Victor Pierce's older
00:40:30
half-brother Dennis Allen was infamous with in legal and criminal circles he was nicknamed mr. death he ran a million
00:40:38
dollar heroin trafficking business out of several houses in Richmond Dennis was a sociopath hyper violent and a murderer
00:40:45
on one occasion Jason Ryan watched as Dennis high on drugs shot dead a houseguest during a moment of
00:40:52
uncontrollable rage the victim stood up to change the record player and Dennis shot him six times Dennis then retrieved
00:41:00
another gun returned to his victim and fired another seven bullets into him Jason started drinking heavily and
00:41:08
injecting speed to cope with the environment he was being raised in on another occasion
00:41:14
Jason was ordered by his uncle Dennis Alan to fill a bucket with water from the nearby Yarra River
00:41:19
Dennis tipped the river water down the throat of a woman he had just killed the woman's head was held in the bucket for
00:41:25
half an hour to make it appear as though she had drowned Dennis Alan was able to tiptoe around
00:41:31
criminal convictions by bribing corrupt police officers and offering information
00:41:35
intelligence and evidence on other criminals crimes Dennis Allen died in April 1987 from a cardiac arrest it was
00:41:44
known that he had killed at least six people but the total may have been as high as 13 his death was a relief to law
00:41:51
enforcement contempt had formed in Victoria Police between those few corrupt officers who protected Dennis
00:41:58
Allen into those who were trying to go after him despite of being far from the perfect upbringing Jason Ryan considered
00:42:06
Dennis Allen a father figure however Dennis was not as fond of Jason in return Dennis would even try and pin
00:42:13
some of his crimes on Jason to avoid prosecution Jason would talk openly with police about the crimes his family
00:42:21
members were committed after Dennis Allen died Jason turned to his uncle Victor Pearce as a replacement father if
00:42:27
he got police believed if Victor Pierce had anything to do with Wall Street then
00:42:32
he's a loose lipped nephew Jason Ryan would be the one to let them know in an attempt to get Jason to talk to police
00:42:39
about Wall Street they arrested him for being an accomplice after the fact for the murder of security guard Dominique
00:42:44
hefty this gave police the opportunity to take Jason in for questioning police didn't have to wait long for Jason to
00:42:51
talk it was on the drive to the police station that he volunteered that he knew something about the wallstreet shootings
00:42:58
police offered Jason the opportunity to be placed in protective custody to keep him away from the threat of retribution
00:43:04
he jumped at the offer three armed robbery squad detectives put Jason in a car and took him up the Hume Highway
00:43:11
towards the Great Dividing range Jason was taken to a secure location 800 kilometers from Melbourne to be
00:43:18
questioned Jason initially had fears the trip was a ploy to kill him and dump his body in
00:43:24
bushland never to be found these thoughts crossed his mind after knowing his family had connections with corrupt
00:43:30
police officers he didn't know who to trust police believed Jason was genuinely remorseful that two young
00:43:38
innocent police officers had been murdered during questioning he implicated himself and Flemington crew
00:43:44
members Victor Pierce Jed Horton and Peter McAvoy is all being involved in the wall street shootings he also
00:43:51
implicated a new suspect his friend Anthony Farrell Jason claimed that after Graham Jensen
00:43:59
was shot dead he was at his mother's house with Anthony Farrell Jed Horton and Peter McAvoy Peter McAvoy was living
00:44:06
there at the time when news broke that Jensen had been shot dead by police Peter McAvoy couldn't contain his temper
00:44:13
his emotions jumped between tears anger and threats McAvoy knew Graham Jensen wasn't the gunman at the Brunswick
00:44:21
supermarket robbery police went to arrest him for Jensen had also previously told McAvoy he suspected he
00:44:27
was being tailed by cops and felt Toey about being caught with a gun the Flemington career were of the
00:44:34
staunch belief that the gun found in Jensen's car was planted by police after it was shot Jason watched his MacAvoy
00:44:42
screen rented swore and made threats about police but Jed Horton remained silent the Flemington crew was still
00:44:51
reeling over the death of a part-time member only the year before also at the hands of police after hearing about
00:44:57
Graham Jensen McEvoy clutched a black handgun and yelled about how two of his mate Sidney I died so near two dogs had
00:45:04
the dire McAvoy said if they didn't do it by the end of the night they will wait dogs after hearing this Jed Horton
00:45:13
rang Victor Pierce later that afternoon Jason Ryan and his friend Anthony Farrell went to the local pub for a
00:45:20
drink and stayed until closing time afterwards they went to a flat in Gordon Grove
00:45:26
South Yarra Gordon Grove is a 10-minute walk from Wall Street the flat belonged to Anthony Farrell's girlfriend who
00:45:33
wasn't home at the time in her flat Anthony Farrell had stored boxes of dark-colored night brand
00:45:39
tracksuits that he had scored during a recent theft shortly later Victor Pierce Jed Horton and Peter McAvoy arrived at
00:45:47
the flat they told Jason Roy and they wanted him to steal them a car Victor Pierce wanted to put the car somewhere
00:45:54
then ring the police to come and get it then they would ambush them Jason had no doubt they were planning to
00:46:00
kill the police officers the group changed into matching tracksuits which matched a witness's
00:46:07
statement from the morning of the wallstreet shootings stating the suspects appeared to be wearing
00:46:11
identical clothing the group then left the flat together Jason explained his role in the crime
00:46:17
was stealing the white Commodore used in the ambush he stole it off the curb from
00:46:21
out the front of a property on Wall Street after starting the vehicle Jason got out and Jed Horton got in
00:46:28
Horton turned it around and drove it to the location of the ambush when Jason saw the headlights of an approaching car
00:46:34
from down the road he ran from the scene he claimed he heard the gunshots as he ran away police knew Jason was lying he
00:46:43
series of events employed Tainan and there were killed within minutes of the Commodore being planted but police were
00:46:49
aware of additional information that wasn't yet public at 3:50 a.m. the taxi drove down Wall Street to pick up a fare
00:46:57
the driver noticed the rear of the white Commodore sedan 20 meters ahead blocking
00:47:01
the road he tooted his horn and waited two minutes no one responded he thought the car had broken down and its owner
00:47:10
had gone to get help investigators believed the killer's called the taxi and sent it to Wall Street hoping the
00:47:17
taxi driver would call the police however the taxi driver reversed back to the main road and didn't report the
00:47:23
unusual car to anyone officers Tainan and Ayer weren't at the location for another 50 minutes so this contradicted
00:47:30
Jason's statement Jason Ryan gave many more versions of the events regarding the morning of the wallstreet shootings
00:47:37
he constantly changed his story when asked why he lied to police he repeated the same answer I don't know I just did
00:47:46
despite his inclination to talk he ended up hard work for investigators police raided the Gordon Grove property
00:47:55
Jason claimed was used as The Killers meeting place hours before the shooting no evidence was found to suggest that
00:48:01
any of the men Jason named had been in the flat there were no boxes filled with stolen not tracksuits either Anthony
00:48:08
Farrell's girlfriend told police she didn't notice a single thing out of place when she returned home from
00:48:13
trip out of town the neighbors were canvassed but no one saw or heard anything suspicious in or around the
00:48:20
flat that night police decided to arrest Jason Ryan for the murders of Steve and
00:48:28
Toyman and Damien heir they needed him safe from anyone who might be looking to shut him up it also allowed police to
00:48:35
continue questioning him for more information throughout the investigation in order to maintain his protection
00:48:41
Jason Ryan's arrest wasn't public knowledge everyone including his mother thought Jason was missing none of his
00:48:49
family knew he was safe in police custody so they filed a missing persons report Jason couldn't be a crown witness
00:48:57
in court if he was facing a murder charge therefore police offered to withdraw the
00:49:01
charges only if he agreed to give evidence against Victor Pierce and the others Jason agreed
00:49:09
on November 1st 20 days after the Wall Street shootings and while Victor Pearce was still locked up on remand for the
00:49:15
murder of security guard Dominique hefty police once again raided his home when DPS was drunk inside after celebrating
00:49:22
the Melbourne Cup carnival a large and popular horse-racing event held at Flemington Racecourse during the raid
00:49:29
police found a Magnum pistol buried in the backyard after the raid Wendy visited pierced the
00:49:35
telling the news the only people who knew about the pistols location in the backyard were Pierce herself and a Jason
00:49:43
Ryan they knew this meant Jason was talking to police he wasn't missing at all he was a police informer Victor
00:49:55
Pierce told Wendy what to say when making her statement to police this included his whereabouts on October 11
00:50:01
and 12 he repeated the story to Wendy over and over her statement to police ended up being exactly what piers told
00:50:08
her to write in her statement she wrote that immediately following Graham Jensen's death
00:50:14
pease feared he was about to be killed by police also he wanted to get away from the family home to somewhere the
00:50:20
police couldn't find him on the evening of October 11 Pierce and Wendy took their children and retreated to the
00:50:26
tullamarine in 17 kilometers northwest of Melbourne Wendy statement explained Pierce didn't
00:50:32
leaves a hotel room at any time that night the next morning the morning of the wallstreet shooting they woke in bed
00:50:39
together had breakfast and left the hotel around 8:30 a.m. Pease spent the day at his sister's
00:50:45
place and Wendy returned home at 2:40 that afternoon the Special Operations Group officers raided their home looking
00:50:52
for Pierce Wendy stated quote I love Viktor Pierce very much and he loves me and his
00:50:59
children I don't know anything about the shooting of the two policemen in Wall Street South Yarra Wendy's handwritten
00:51:06
three thousand and five hundred word statement contradicted Jason Ryan's statement the Victor Pearce was with him
00:51:12
Anthony Ferrell Peter McAvoy and Jed Horton in the early hours of October 12 at the flooding Gordon Grove but police
00:51:19
knew Wendy was likely to lie to protect Pierce police needed another witness to corroborate Jason's version of events
00:51:27
and clean up the discrepancies in his statements Jed Horton would be of no help he was still on the run
00:51:33
whereabouts unknown Peter McAvoy was no help either his hatred of police would keep him tight lipped he had given
00:51:41
police a statement already unit he said he was home all night on October 11th no
00:51:46
one could corroborate his alibi Peter McAvoy was well aware he was under surveillance and police and plenty of
00:51:55
listening devices when he was out driving McAvoy would often bait the officers tailing him by driving slowly
00:52:02
up and down Wall Street police knew Peter McAvoy would never crack the only real possibility of another witness
00:52:10
supporting Jason Ryan statements was he's made Anthony Farrell Farrell was a 20-year old criminal with minor
00:52:16
convictions he was a promising up and come up with a natural skill for crime and he was highly regarded by some
00:52:22
members of the Flemington crew to the investigators frustrations Farrell did the opposite of what they wanted
00:52:28
he remained loyal to the Flemington crew and turned against his mate Jason Wright
00:52:34
Farrell called Jason a lying little mongrel he admitted he was at Jason's mother's house the day Graeme Jensen was
00:52:41
killed he confirmed Peter McAvoy and Jed Horton were also present and he admitted
00:52:46
he heard Peter McEvoy's angry ranting about the police they even admitted he heard McAvoy say that someone was going
00:52:52
to pay and get their right whack Farrell said he and Jason left to go to the pub and stayed there drinking until
00:52:59
11:00 p.m. but this is where Farrell story changed from Jason's Farrell said that after the pub they returned to
00:53:06
Jason's mother's house Peter McEvoy and Jed Horton were gone Jason went to bed in his room and Farrell slept on the
00:53:13
couch this completely contradicted the Gordon Grove story Jason had offered police Farrell did though perhaps
00:53:21
without realizing implicate Peter McAvoy in his version of events he confirmed that McAvoy was making threats to kill
00:53:28
police after Jensen's death and he didn't know that by telling police McAvoy wasn't home when he and Jason got
00:53:34
back from the pub he was contradicting MacAvoy statement that he was home all night Farrell had no idea his version
00:53:41
poked big holes in McAvoy story and perhaps if he did he wouldn't have made it when police put to Farrell the Jason
00:53:49
Ryan was asked by McAvoy to steal a car to use in The Wall Street ambush Farrell
00:53:54
refused to believe this would have happened he called McAvoy a professional car thief he didn't believe McAvoy would
00:54:00
ever ask Jason for help Jason didn't have any skill in stealing cars privately police agreed with this it was
00:54:08
far more likely that McAvoy an experienced car thief was the person who stole the white Holden Commodore used in
00:54:14
the Wall Street ambush not Jason Ryan Farrell denied there was any talk of a police ambush between Peter McAvoy and
00:54:21
Jed Horton he denied McAvoy said they would be white dogs if they didn't take revenge and he denied there had been a
00:54:28
meeting and his girlfriend's flat in Gordon Grove the police gave Farrell a short break to have a cigarette and call
00:54:34
his grandmother when he returned they arrested him for the murders of Stephen Tannen and Damien heir Farrell was Thun
00:54:42
he responded am innocent I haven't done Anthony Farrell was the first person publicly charged with the wall street
00:54:50
killings the community expected a hard and callous criminal what they saw was the opposite a young kid a nobody in the
00:54:59
criminal world Farrell cried when the charges were brought against him police installed a covert listening
00:55:09
device in Farrell's silver the city watch house in Russell Street Andrew Fraser the Flemington crews go to
00:55:15
defense attorney visited Farrell and their conversation was recorded the lawyer saw through the plan Fraser told
00:55:23
Farrell that the police were using him as the weak link in the chain they were trying to put enormous pressure on him
00:55:28
hoping it would crack if they confronted Farrell with the possibility of spending
00:55:32
the rest of his life in prison for a crime he didn't commit perhaps it would turn against the
00:55:37
Flemington crew and tell the police who the killers were Andrew Fraser insisted that the police had no evidence and
00:55:44
encouraged Farrell estate strong when Farrell voiced his concern that Jason Ryan was talking to police the lawyer
00:55:51
responded I don't give a [ __ ] what they say about Jason Ryan if Jason's turned
00:55:57
[ __ ] dog Farrell finished the sentence for him that's right think that would have been pinched by Neill
00:56:04
Andrew Fraser shushed him and told him not to talk there up until this point Farrell had been
00:56:11
accommodating to police happy to answer their questions but from this moment on he sealed his mouth shut
00:56:17
the police had Anthony Farrell and Jason Ryan in custody for the murders of Steven Tainan and Damien heir Victor
00:56:24
Pierce was also behind bars for the murder of security guard Dominique hefty they had eyes on Peter McAvoy 24/7
00:56:31
hoping he would implicate himself but he was remaining staunch continuing the torrent surveillance police by driving
00:56:37
up and down Wall Street so their next major task was locating Jed Horton Jed Horton had a reputation within Victoria
00:56:48
Police as being dangerous cold and violent he had been very active in multiple armed bank robberies throughout
00:56:55
his life unlike Peter McAvoy Horton was quiet and contemplative he intimidated people in a sinister silent kind of way
00:57:04
in turn his introspective 'no smite him paranoid and anxious the 23 year old was
00:57:11
on the run Horton was wanted on warrants for assaulting police however he was far
00:57:16
more concerned about distancing himself from the wall street investigation on October 12th the day of the wall street
00:57:23
shooting he took his motorbike his new girlfriend Kim notable guns and a police scanner and headed far from Nolan Horton
00:57:32
stopped in central regional Victoria he arrived at the home of Graham Jensen's Frank Paul Widdecombe Widdicombe lived
00:57:39
in long gully a suburb of the city of Bendigo 150 kilometers northwest of Melbourne Whittaker allowed Horton and
00:57:46
his girlfriend Kim to lay low at his place for a while seemingly out of the blue
00:57:51
Horton told Widdicombe there are two hundred thousand reasons why the police might want to see me with a comb linked
00:57:58
to that number two the reward offered for information about the wall street shootings it was then he considered the
00:58:03
possibility that Horton was involved Paul Whittaker and found Horton the bear difficult house guess he was tense and
00:58:11
Whittaker felt uncomfortable with Hortons guns inside his house and around his children
00:58:16
Horton told him that police were not going to do to him what they did to Graham Jensen and that he would put up a
00:58:22
foil Widdecombe had no doubt if police cornered Horton that he would try to shoot his way out Hortons girlfriend Kim
00:58:30
had been chatting to strangers in town and to the locals got suspicious the couple were on the run after this the
00:58:37
widow combs told the couple it was time for them to move on Horton agreed he and Kim heard of a
00:58:42
vacant cabin at a Scott Lodge a camping ground ten minutes away so they made their way there on November 16th 1988
00:58:50
they rented Cabin number four for two weeks the next day Horton was back at the Widdecombe home after being invited to
00:58:58
join them on a rabbit hunt Horton sat at the breakfast table turning the frequencies on his police scanner he got
00:59:05
up and began circling the Widdicombe house while muttering to himself with the Skinner pressed against his ear as
00:59:11
his voice got louder through the scanner Horton walked towards a window in the lounge room on the ledge he found a
00:59:18
covert listening device Widdicombe insisted he had no idea about the listening device
00:59:25
agitated Horton went out to the shed where he'd left his guns overnight he fully loaded a chain gun and placed one
00:59:32
in his pocket one in a shoulder holster and two down the front of his pants they left for
00:59:38
their pre-cleaned rabbit hunt but Widdicombe cut the event short fixated on his police scanner Horton had become
00:59:45
increasingly paranoid the lack of radio chatter and overhearing the word bike being said made him anxious that the
00:59:51
police were on to him he was wary of returning to Ascot Lodge and instead wanted to move on to New South Wales or
00:59:58
Western Australia but at 10:30 that morning Horton reluctantly returned to the cabin
01:00:04
he and Kim had rented there were no police in sight he informed Kim about the listening device he found at Widow
01:00:11
combs house and he smoked some marijuana to calm himself which caused him to fall
01:00:15
asleep on the bed concerned Kim called the Widdicombe household Paul Whittaker his wife assured Kim
01:00:23
everything was fine but then abruptly ended the call things didn't seem right Kim woke Horton and tried to convince
01:00:32
him to leave but he took no action at midday Kim grabbed a cigarette in the corner of
01:00:40
her eyes she noticed the curtains flicker a few seconds later the glass smashed in wood scattering across the
01:00:46
room Special Operations Group officers stormed to the small cabin with their guns raised Jed Horton rolled over on
01:00:53
the bed with the revolver in his hand Horton pointed the gun at them and was repeatedly told to drop it he refused
01:01:02
fearing Horton would shoot two officers fired their pump-action shotguns at him striking him in the chest and arm
01:01:09
Courtin died instantly three revolvers a pistol as well as a police scanner were found in the cabin
01:01:16
the covert surveillance operation on Jed Horton was blown the moment he discovered the listening device of the
01:01:22
Whitaker property the Thai Air Task Force made the decision to move in and arrest him before he had the opportunity
01:01:28
to run the previous day as horton and Kim were packing their belongings in long gully to move to the cabin at Ascot
01:01:35
lodge two undercover police officers arrived at the lodge before them they obtained the key to cabin four and drew
01:01:42
a rough floorplan of the interior they looked for somewhere discreet to plan a listening device but were unsuccessful
01:01:48
afterwards they returned to the key to reception and went into cabin number one to establish a static surveillance post
01:01:56
when Kim called to check up on the Widdecombe family police were in the process of writing the Whittaker home
01:02:02
that's why the call was ended abruptly police toward the Widdicombe house apart and officers held a gun to their son's
01:02:10
head demanding information on Horton Paul Widdecombe told them everything they wanted to know police were made
01:02:17
aware Horton was armed and dangerous and expected that a violent confrontation with the wanted criminal was likely on
01:02:26
December 30th 1988 Victor Pierce was formally charged with the murders of Stephen Tainan and Damien heir no major
01:02:34
breakthroughs in the case had occurred police were still hanging under the statements of Jason Ryan so far Victor
01:02:41
Pierce Anthony Farrell and Jason Ryan had all been charged with the wall street shootings Peter McAvoy was still free
01:02:47
but remained under close surveillance and to the other suspect Jed Horton was now dead Pierce opposed their request by
01:02:55
police that he be moved from prison custody into police custody he felt safer at Pinterest prison Jason
01:03:02
Ryan remained in protective custody into the new year he continued to remain unreliable his story changing yet again
01:03:09
now he said he wasn't on Wall Street at the time of the shootings at all he admitted he didn't steal the Commodore
01:03:15
used in the ambush claiming he stayed behind at the Gordon grow flat by himself to look after the place the
01:03:21
other men left without him to conduct the ambush and murders despite Jason's foot flopping police
01:03:28
believed this scenario was actually the most likely Jason had an inability to accurately report details of the wall
01:03:34
street shootings such as which direction the Commodore was facing images of the Commodore at the crime scene had been
01:03:41
featured prominently in the media yet Jason stated that it was facing the opposite direction this convinced police
01:03:47
he was not at the scene during the ambush his latest version still placed Victor Pearce Peter McAvoy Jed Horton
01:03:54
and Anthony Farrell at the scene but five men were witnessed fleeing the scene and Jason did replace himself with
01:04:01
someone else in his latest statement he said the fifth man involved was actually
01:04:06
career criminal Gary Abdullah after Jason's latest statement the word on the street was
01:04:15
that unless 24 year old Gary Abdullah surrendered himself to police he would end up like Graham Jensen and Jed Horton
01:04:22
police raided the homes of out doulas acquaintances and during these raids police were warned Abdullah might be
01:04:28
armed and he wouldn't surrender Jason Ryan was now telling police Gary Abdullah talked with McAvoy and Horton
01:04:35
in the hours before the wall street shooting according to Jason that was Abdullah who was tasked with obtaining
01:04:41
the getaway vehicles for the ambush as he had supplied the Flemington crew with stolen cars in the past on April 9th
01:04:48
1989 Abdullah told his mother he didn't want to return to his flattened carton in case the police were waiting for him
01:04:55
but his mother reassured him she told him to go and retrieve his belongings adalah got in a car and headed towards
01:05:03
his flat driving behind him in an unmarked car were two plainclothes detectives cliff Lockwood and a derma
01:05:10
Dave on the detectives pulled up della over and searched his car they discovered a knife in his possession
01:05:17
which constituted a crime he was arrested but the detectives didn't handcuff him they locked his car and
01:05:23
placed him into the backseat of their own they then escorted Abdullah to his Carlton flat to search for evidence of
01:05:29
other crimes inside of Dulles flat the detectives found nothing incriminating downstairs Abdullah was then followed up
01:05:37
stairs by detect of lockwood to continue the search detective Lockwood who checked each room
01:05:43
upstairs finishing up in the bedroom of an ex flatmate of Abdullah's nothing was
01:05:48
found in this last bedroom detective Lockwood remained at the doorway of the bedroom and detective
01:05:54
Avon was further back down the corridor detective Lockwood turned to his partner
01:06:00
losing sight of Abdullah for a few seconds Lockwood told Avon there's nothing here
01:06:05
let's go detective Lockwood stated that when he turned back Abdullah was holding
01:06:10
a 357 magnum revolver in a two-handed grip and was raising it towards him Lockwood he yelled put it down put the
01:06:18
[ __ ] thing down residents next door heard the words through the walls they stated they heard Abdullah reply I'm not
01:06:26
doing anything detective Lockwood fired all six of his guns bullets at Abdullah he then took
01:06:32
his partner's gun and fired a final shot an ambulance was called and two Thai Air
01:06:38
Task Force investigators quickly arrived at the scene they noticed that detective
01:06:43
Lockwood was visibly shaken they found a detective on upstairs giving mouth-to-mouth to Abdullah who didn't
01:06:49
have a pulse officer supplied a heart massage and Abdullah's pulse returned followed by
01:06:54
gargled breathing when the ambulance arrived one paramedic noticed the long barreled revolver on the floor next to
01:07:01
Abdullah and asked the police if it was loaded the officer responded I hope so he then quickly added I think it is he
01:07:10
raised a finger in front of his lips as a silent message that the walls had ears
01:07:14
and to watch what they say detective Lockwood defended his actions stating Geary Abdullah retrieved the gun from a
01:07:21
pile of clothes in the bedroom when he looked away it turned out Abdullah's weapon was an imitation pistol incapable
01:07:28
of causing any harm whether or not Abdullah knew this we will never know Guerry Abdullah was taken to st.
01:07:37
Vincent's Hospital and fell into a coma his family had no idea about the shooting until they saw a news flash on
01:07:43
television detailing the event doctors informed his family he had six bullet wounds throughout his body the entry
01:07:50
point of his head shot was in the center of the back of his head Geary Abdullah's
01:07:55
family publicly questioned the circumstances of the shooting if Abdullah was perceived as dangerous
01:08:00
why wasn't he handcuffed and instead allowed to walk freely around the flat they refused to believe Abdullah would
01:08:07
be reckless enough to point an imitation gun at armed police and think it would survive their questions bred more
01:08:13
accusations of police corruption rumors that Abdullah was unarmed and the gun was planted near his body after the fact
01:08:20
mirrored the rumors surrounding Graham Jensen's death detective Lockwood explained Abdullah was standing
01:08:27
full-frontal to him during the attack however his back had fought bullet entry wounds including two in the back of each
01:08:33
hand the final shot fired from Detective avons gun by Lockwood he'd Abdullah in the back of the head
01:08:40
blood spatter and bullet holes in the wall were towards the floor when asked why he shot Abdullah Detective Lockwood
01:08:48
claimed he believed Abdullah was going to shoot him as to why he fired seven rounds Lockwood thought his previous
01:08:54
shots had missed because he claimed that Bella had remained standing until the final bullet Geary Abdullah shooting was
01:09:01
the first to garner a strong negative community reaction it was thought by many to be too excessive and completely
01:09:08
unnecessary Abdullah didn't have the same threatening and extremely violent reputation as Jed Horton and Graeme
01:09:14
Jensen police only wanted to question Abdullah over being a suspect who may have supplied getaway cars for the wall
01:09:20
street shooting he was not suspected as one of the cop killers police denied at the allegations and maintained they were
01:09:28
conducting an honest and thorough investigation in the best way they could seven months before the Wall Street
01:09:38
shootings on March 31st 1988 an alert member of staff at a bank in Oak Park noticed four masked the glove and arm
01:09:46
defenders preparing came to the bank the staff member quickly pressed the button
01:09:51
by her desk thick security screens slammed down in front of the bank's entrance keeping the offender's ear one
01:09:58
of the offenders undeterred swung a sledgehammer at the security screens latch but it held fast one of the other
01:10:06
offenders stepped forward he was carrying a sawn-off single barreled pump-action shotgun he aimed and fired
01:10:12
at the latch but no luck the sledgehammer was used again to smash a final blow of the screen but realizing
01:10:20
Tom had rania the offenders gave up and ran away the armed robbery squad arrived
01:10:26
shortly after but the offenders were already gone police collected CCTV footage in the bag to the three empty
01:10:32
shotgun cartridges left at the scene the armed robbery squad always believed to the Flemington crew was behind this
01:10:39
attempted robbery in Oak Park but no one had been charged and to the Flemington crews involvement was only speculative a
01:10:46
huge breakthrough came in the wallstreet investigation when the shotgun shells found at that crime scene were matched
01:10:53
to the shotgun shells from this Oak Park attempted robbery seven months earlier the same shotgun was used in both crimes
01:11:02
flipping through a gun magazine a task force investigator saw a photo inside that matched the shotgun used in the Oak
01:11:09
Park robbery as seen on the CCTV footage the shotgun featured in the magazine was
01:11:14
a Japanese ktg pump-action shotgun the Oak Park robbery was committed with this type of shotgun only it had its barrel
01:11:21
sawn off criminals manually sawed off the barrels of shotguns to make the weapon easier to conceal and news in
01:11:28
confined spaces the japanese ktg was remarkably powerful its intense firepower could easily punch holes
01:11:35
through metal plates so investigators now knew for certain that the wall street murder weapon was a sawn-off
01:11:41
Japanese ktg shotgun investigators were aware that two japanese ktg shotguns had been stolen
01:11:48
from a gun shop in melbourne the previous year one of the stolen shotguns had since been recovered by police and
01:11:54
destroyed task force investigators traced every single other Japanese ktg shotgun imported to Australia in their
01:12:02
onus each shotgun was accounted for and two that were all eliminated as the shotgun used in the Oak Park robbery as
01:12:08
they all still had their full barrels attached the only Japanese ktg shotgun not accounted for was the second stolen
01:12:16
shotgun from the Melbourne store therefore it was this stolen shotgun that was without a doubt used in both
01:12:23
the Oak Park attempted robbery and the wall street shooting police needed concrete proof that the Flemington crew
01:12:30
committed this Oak Park attempted armed robbery as this would prove the crew had
01:12:34
the shotgun in their possession prior to the wall street shooting on May 1st 1989
01:12:40
Victoria police got another breakthrough a council gardener for the Royal Park Golf Course in Parkville a suburb
01:12:47
bordering the north of Melbourne discovered a partially buried green bag behind some bushes off the fifth hole
01:12:52
the bag wasn't well hidden inside the bag was a rusted sawn off Japanese ktg pump-action shotgun the gardener weeded
01:13:02
the same area five weeks earlier and didn't see the bag at that time he also found two torn off sleeves of a brown
01:13:09
jumper approximately 30 meters from the shotguns location the sleeves had been torn off the jumper that had been stolen
01:13:16
from the car on Wall Street the morning of the shooting it was assumed the killers used the sleeves as makeshift
01:13:21
balaclavas so police now had possession of the items used by the killers during the wall street shooting however there
01:13:29
was no evidence to determine conclusively who had the items prior to them being dumped at the golf course on
01:13:37
the night of May 9th 1989 Peter McAvoy fronted a late-night news programme he believes that the police intended to
01:13:46
kill him so he professed his innocence in relation to Wall Street and said he didn't pose a threat to anyone
01:13:52
by going public there was no way police could shoot him without everyone in Melbourne believing it was premeditated
01:13:58
no matter what the circumstances the next day May 10th Peter McAvoy was arrested and charged
01:14:05
with the wall street murders police had let McAvoy run free since the shootings but tied him down with surveillance
01:14:12
officers as well as tracking and listening devices McAvoy was aware of this so we didn't say or do anything
01:14:17
incriminating the entire time he was sticking to his at home or night story which couldn't be corroborated police
01:14:25
decided that McAvoy wasn't going to reveal anything to them as a free man so they locked him up
01:14:32
Peter McAvoy was an imposing bald figure standing at 190 centimeters tall his large forehead reminded his friends of
01:14:40
the alien 80 and his mates gave him the nickname bubble brain as a joke McAvoy first came to the attention of police in
01:14:47
the mid-1970s over a series of rapes in the Victorian suburb of Heidelberg he was 20 years old
01:14:54
at the time and was a member of a gang that abducted tortured and sexually assaulted up to 24 teenage girls
01:15:00
he treated his trial with contempt he was found guilty of two counts of rape acquitted of others and three of the
01:15:08
charges were withdrawn to police McEvoy was the epitome of a coward he presented
01:15:15
himself as hard layout and aggressive but he liked to target women and young girls the heat on McAvoy did have one
01:15:23
positive outcome his criminal associates knew he was hot and they cut him out of
01:15:27
all illegal operations which resulted in the end of his income from crime McAvoy
01:15:33
caused no trouble when he was arrested he joined Victor Pierce Anthony Farrell and Jason Ryan charged
01:15:39
with the murders of Stephen Tainan and Damien heir whilst on remand awaiting trial McAvoy
01:15:46
was given a copy of the prosecution brief within these documents were copies of the evidence photos taken of the two
01:15:52
murdered policemen a remand officer recalled how McEvoy weekly felishj oh the gruesome photos to other prisoners
01:15:59
the officer spoke of McAvoy's small during those moments quote it was a small that exude 'dear evil and at that
01:16:08
point i knew he was as guilty as sin on May 19th Geary Abdullah had been in a coma for 40
01:16:17
days the bullet shot by Detective Lockwood was still embedded in the back of his brain Garry Abdullah never
01:16:24
regained consciousness the next and final suspect Jason Ryan offered up to police was his uncle Trevor Pettingill
01:16:34
22 year-old Trevor Pettingill was the youngest son of cath Pettingill and was Victor Pierce's younger half-brother he
01:16:41
was a convicted criminal but had only done time for relatively minor drug trafficking offenses Jason told police
01:16:48
that Pettingill was also involved in the wall street ambush however he was unable
01:16:52
to provide the exact details of his role in the crime Jason spoke to Pettingill at Graham Jensen's funeral a few days
01:16:59
after Wall Street Jason asked Pettingill what his role was in the shootings but he refused to answer
01:17:05
Pettingill threatened that he and the others would kill Jason if he told anyone anything the distrustful
01:17:12
resentment Trevor Pettingill had towards his nephew Jason seemed plausible to police
01:17:17
Jason had implicated Pettingill in other crimes in the past they didn't seem far-fetched that if Pettingill was
01:17:23
involved in Wall Street he would keep his involvement secret from his rat nephew
01:17:28
Pettingill was not aware Jayson implicated him in the wall street shootings he was aware however police
01:17:35
were watching him and had bugged his phone Pettingill gave the police nothing at value except a few phone calls
01:17:41
mentioning the makes models and registration numbers of the undercover vehicles tailing about two months after
01:17:48
the wall street shootings trevor Pettingill opened his front door and was abducted by a group of hooded men
01:17:54
carrying shotguns they tied his hands and threw him in the back of the car and sped off the hooded men took Pettingill
01:18:01
to a secluded area of bushland but they attacked him with a sledgehammer the only thing the attackers told him was go
01:18:08
to the police tell the truth Pettingill required surgery after the attack he believed his attackers were members of
01:18:16
the Victorian police force there was no evidence to prove this accusation as the trial for the murders of Stephen
01:18:24
Tainan and Damien Eyre approached investigators felt Trevor Pettingill also had a case to answer so he too was
01:18:30
charged he was the fifth and final person charged with the wall street shooting the year 1989 started with the
01:18:41
final police raid of Wendy and Victor Pierce's family home this should have been a relief for Wendy piece whose home
01:18:47
had been so frequently raided since the wall street shootings she'd stopped reattaching doors the door frames but
01:18:54
what remained of her home after this final raid was a mound of rubble ownership of the piece home was given
01:19:01
from the deceased estate of Victor Pierce's brother Dennis Allen to the tax office as an asset against Dennis
01:19:07
Allen's tax on undeclared income this allowed police to completely demolish the home the building was literally
01:19:14
pulled apart piece by piece by police searching for evidence heavy machinery tore down the roof and
01:19:20
walls and the ground was ripped up from 2 meters down all police found were a couple of bullets and two more buried
01:19:27
handguns belief will belong to Dennis Allen police posed for photos in front of the remnants of the Pierce home an
01:19:35
image of a miserable Wendy Pierce standing amongst the broken remains of her home with her young daughter in her
01:19:41
arms was featured across the front pages of Victorious newspapers Wendy Pierce was once a bright business student
01:19:48
making her respectable law-abiding parents proud her life and her behavior changed dramatically when she met and
01:19:56
fell in love with Victor Pierce and joined there any and pentacle crime family together the couple had four
01:20:02
children without any sense of guilt or shame Wendy's new life consisted of witnessing committing and concealing
01:20:09
many crimes Wendy's greed allowed her to accept and encourage her husband's criminal
01:20:14
lifestyle Victor Pierce committed over 20 successful armed robberies netting large amounts of cash after one
01:20:22
particular armed bank robbery Pierce bought home a massive score of $200,000 Wendy wasted at all daily
01:20:30
shopping sprees racked up bills of thousands of dollars for expensive clothes too
01:20:34
into alcohol everything Wendy could ever want by July 1989 eight months after the
01:20:41
wall street shootings wendy was broke homeless and relying on friends and family for help police kept trying to
01:20:48
get her to turn against pierce and give up being his false alibi they threatened
01:20:53
her children would end up in state care but there was one thing police hadn't destroyed of Wendy's her love for Victor
01:21:00
Pierce she wouldn't give him up that changed that when police gave Wendy letters they had confiscated from Pierce
01:21:07
in prison they were love letters only they went to Wendy they were love letters to a few of her friends Pierce
01:21:15
had multiple affairs with a variety of women throughout his relationship with Wendy Wendy had suspicions this was
01:21:21
going on and these letters confirmed it she felt betrayed this revelation changed Wendy she offered the police a
01:21:30
deal if she was promised immunity from prosecution and protection from Viktor Pierce she would agree to tell police
01:21:37
the truth about Wall Street Wendy Pierce was placed in witness protection on Saturday the 15th of July
01:21:43
1989 four days later Wendy gave her first police interview since changing sides where she began to unravel the tightly
01:21:52
woven Viktor Pierce Pierce hated police he called them maggots and docs he said he would love to knock them dogs his
01:22:01
intense hatred of law enforcement was so vicious that made Wendy scared to be with him according to Wendy Pierce owned
01:22:08
a pump-action shotgun and prior to Wall Street her conversation between the couple took place in their back shed
01:22:15
during this conversation Pierce was soaring off the barrel of the shotgun he told Wendy this aware beauty which which
01:22:24
was the nickname Pierce had given his wife Wendy was shown a number of different son off shotguns by police
01:22:31
they asked her to point to the one that resembled the shotgun Pierce owned confidently Wendy pointed to the
01:22:38
sawn-off Japanese ktg pump-action shotgun wendy identified victor pierce jed horton graham jensen and peter
01:22:47
McAvoy in security images of an armed bank robbery committed in January 1988 10 months before the Wall Street
01:22:54
shootings the four men robbed a bank in Ringwood and scored just over $200,000 wendy identified Jed Horton as the one
01:23:04
who held the sawn-off shotgun during the robbery police already knew the shotgun in these
01:23:09
security photos was the same sawn-off Japanese ktg shotgun used in the Oak Park attempted robbery in March 1988
01:23:17
which was the same shotgun used in the Wall Street shootings in October 1988 they now had confirmation from Wendy
01:23:26
that the Flemington crew had possession of the Wall Street murder weapon prior to the Wall Street shootings previous
01:23:34
statements Wendy gave police claiming pieces with her at the hotel in tullamarine the entire morning of
01:23:39
October 12th were lies fed to her by him she was afraid he would kill her she didn't do what he said Pierce had
01:23:47
previously told her that once you're in the family you're in and to the only way out he's
01:23:52
in a wooden box Wendy confessed the piece did leave the hotel on October 11 as their young
01:23:59
children slept he and Wendy watched the late-night news when Graham Jensen's death was mentioned Pierce said the
01:24:06
[ __ ] maggots look what they've done them on mate around 11:00 p.m. the couple were in bed
01:24:14
together after 20 minutes Pierce carefully slid out believing Wendy had fallen asleep he quietly got dressed and
01:24:22
took the motel key from the bedside table Pierce walked to the door and closed it
01:24:27
gently behind him when Wendy felt him crawl back into bed she opened her eyes and saw daylight outside there was
01:24:35
around 7 a.m. she turned over to hug him and he was wearing different clothing to
01:24:40
what he had on the night before he had a dark colored night brand t-shirt on that
01:24:44
he didn't own previously the suspicion that Pierce and members of his Flemington crew were responsible for the
01:24:51
wallstreet shootings were confirmed Pierce viewed the armed robbery squad as a self-appointed hit team determined to
01:24:57
execute criminals including Victor's friends and himself so Viktor wanted revenge after Graham Johnson's death
01:25:05
Wendy and Pierce were together crying from anger Pierce said they'll get knocked tonight he then spoke to Peter
01:25:13
McAvoy on the phone Wendy heard PS say will knock them tonight not the Jax tonight the ones that kill
01:25:21
Graham Jack is slang for police officer often used by criminals after this initial phone call Pierce told Peter
01:25:30
McAvoy that they'd speak again in a couple of hours Wendy also made an unexpected confession she stated that in
01:25:38
may 1988 she commenced a sexual relationship with Graham Jensen and it continued up until the time he died the
01:25:46
two secret lovers met two or three times a week at different locations and Victor
01:25:52
Pierce was unaware of the affair police were shocked and were left to wonder how
01:25:57
events would have changed if Pierce had known Jensen was having an affair with his wife would peace have been so
01:26:03
fiercely loyal to avenge Jensen's death if he knew his best mate was betraying him the entire tour as a timing
01:26:12
witness-protection progressed Wendy's version of events on October 11 and 12 became far more detailed originally she
01:26:19
claimed peace snuck out of the tullamarine while she slept and returned shortly after daybreak the following
01:26:25
morning Wendie now revealed she was actually awake in speaking with peace before he
01:26:29
left the hotel watching peers prepare to leave she asked where he was going he said he was going to meet Peter McAvoy
01:26:37
and now we're going to get Pierce's shotgun and use it to kill a policeman when peace returned to the next morning
01:26:44
Wendy asked what had happened during the night it's all sweet Pierce told her we
01:26:49
knocked two jacks just two policemen in Southie arrow Wendy asked who he was with and two Pierce replied maka and Jed
01:26:59
and Abdullah maka was paid a McAvoy's nickname Wendy became the prosecution's best witness she corroborated facts in
01:27:10
Jason Ryan statements and added more of her own from a jurors perspective Wendy Pierce would be a far more
01:27:16
credible witness than Jason Ryan the court would be told Wendy had initially lied to police because she was afraid
01:27:23
her violent murderous husband would kill her once when he was honest with police
01:27:27
her story never changed she only elaborated further on details Wendy would be portrayed as a good
01:27:35
person who reluctantly fell into a life of crime when she fell in love with Victor Pearce for 13 years she was stuck
01:27:41
in one of the most notorious criminal families in the history of Victoria and who was a battered wife while she was in
01:27:49
witness protection Wendy Pierce commenced sexual relationships with several of her police
01:27:54
protectors love letters covered in lipstick kisses she had written to her protectors were exposed in the media
01:28:00
Wendy was also prone to dramatic emotional meltdowns she demanded police take her to nightclubs restaurants and
01:28:07
hotels if the night she threatened to refuse to give evidence she continued the shoplift and drive unlicensed
01:28:15
knowing the police wouldn't risk punishing over and losing their star witness Wendy treated witness protection as an
01:28:22
all-expenses-paid holiday investigators were forced to turn a blind eye to her behavior they needed Wendy on side to
01:28:29
testify their investigation relied far too much on her testimony there was no concrete evidence to back up anything
01:28:36
she told police so they needed her to verify everything in court in total Wendy Pierce's time spending witness
01:28:44
protection cost Victorian taxpayers two million dollars in the days leading up to the trial
01:28:55
Wendy Pierre suddenly changed her mind and refused to testify to stark interpretations of Wendy emerged amongst
01:29:03
the police who spent months protecting her some considered her betrayal is completely unexpected while others
01:29:10
believed it was inevitable Wendy Pierce and her 31 page statement implicating Victor Pierce and the other
01:29:16
accused was out as one officer put it quote a leopard never changes the spots Wendy manipulated the witness protection
01:29:25
scheme and the members that were guarding her other investigators preferred to believe Wendy had every
01:29:32
intention to testify they were of the belief the victor piece must have found a way to contact her in the days before
01:29:38
the trial convincing her or threatening her not to testify furthermore Wendy became incredibly hostile towards police
01:29:46
she began saying that everything she said implicating Victor were lies forced out of her she said she had been put
01:29:53
through hell by gangsters with badges into that she would only testify at the trial if she could tell the court how
01:29:59
the police tortured her for false information the prosecution team made the decision
01:30:05
they would not label Wendy Peirce a hostile witness and they wouldn't force her to take the stand they believed
01:30:11
their case would be stronger without her given her complete bakflip Task Force investigators disagreed they believed
01:30:19
the Wendy should have been treated as a hostile witness and put before the jury to let them make up their own lines
01:30:24
nevertheless the prosecution case was not over when Wendy Pierce backflipped they still had Jason Ryan they were
01:30:31
confident justice would prevail on the 21st of January 1991 just over two years after the wall street shooting the trial
01:30:41
for the murders of Constable Stephen Tainan and Damien air began in the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne
01:30:47
the accused Victor Pearce Peter McAvoy Anthony Farrell and Trevor Pettingill fronted a jury of 12 men murder charges
01:30:57
against Jason Ryan were withdrawn in agreement for him to testify against his co-accused Wendy Pierce's defection put
01:31:04
all the pressure on Jason Ryan as soon as Jason took the stand his credibility was torn to shreds by the
01:31:10
defense he was a proven and constant loyal untrustworthy and a drug abuser not even the prosecution could
01:31:19
reasonably deny this character description the prosecution case heavily relied on an apparent two-for-one pact
01:31:26
of retribution made between the accused after Graham Johnson's death they argued
01:31:32
the accused along with the now deceased Jed Horton and Gary Abdullah killed the two police officers as payback for the
01:31:39
killing of one of their own but for each prosecution witness who confirmed the existence of this pact the defense were
01:31:46
able to discredit their character testimony and the motivations one witness's testimony revealed he had
01:31:53
spoken to Trevor Pettingill about the rumours who was involved in the wall street murders according to the witness
01:31:59
Pettingill stated quote yeah we've done it because of what happened to Graham so
01:32:04
every one of us there goes two of theirs will go but Trevor padding your denied this
01:32:09
conversation ever took place the defense argued this witness was lying to the court in an attempt to obtain the
01:32:15
$200,000 reward offered for information that led to a conviction after seven weeks and 294 witnesses the jurors
01:32:24
deliberated for six days the assumption throughout the court was that Trevor Pettingill would be acquitted but the
01:32:30
other accused would be found guilty on March 26th 1991 the jury returned to court with their verdict for the charges
01:32:41
of murdering constable Steve Antonin and constable Damien Air all four accused men were found not guilty
01:32:52
the four accused clapped cheered and hugged each other the supporters were elated police officers said stunned and
01:32:59
silent two and a half years of investigation wasted one officer commented that there
01:33:05
was a big difference between being found not guilty and actually being innocent the judge thanked the jury who filed out
01:33:13
with their heads bowed after the verdict Peter McAvoy turned to a nearby police officer and gloated what
01:33:20
do you think about that the officer mumbled a reply and McAvoy yelled I'll fix you is that what you said
01:33:27
I'll be waiting I'm not afraid to die Peter McAvoy and Victor Pierce remained in custody pending armed robbery charges
01:33:36
for the Ringwood bank robbery in 1988 outside court McAvoy's spat at police who put him back into the prison being
01:33:43
he yelled loudly you're going to kill us aren't you you're [ __ ] going to kill us
01:33:50
Victor Pearson Peter McAvoy were later found guilty for the Ringwood bank robbery in which the Wall Street murder
01:33:56
weapon was used the charge of murdering security guard Dominique ft was dropped against Victor Pearce during committal
01:34:03
proceedings it turns out that Hefty's murder had nothing to do with Victor Pearce or the Flemington crew at all a
01:34:10
well-known violent offender Santo mercury was later convicted of the murder Trevor Pettingill and Anthony Farrell
01:34:18
walk straight out of court and were ushered into a car for a pre-planned paid interview with the media they were
01:34:24
given wine to celebrate police High Command insisted they must now be peace the following message was sent over
01:34:32
police radio the verdict in the Wall Street trial was all for not guilty repeat not guilty all units are warned
01:34:40
keep yourselves under control for the Tainan and their families the verdict set the guilty free Frank air
01:34:50
Damien's father received a letter from one of the jurors wives after the trial the letter candidly revealed the
01:34:56
difficulty the jurors had in determining a verdict quote there was not one piece
01:35:01
of evidence not one eyewitness not one fact that could give those jurors a right to bring in a guilty verdict not
01:35:09
one of the jurors slept for two nights before the verdict desperately seeking one vital clue to make the decision
01:35:15
their hearts were telling them was right each of the jurors was deeply disturbed
01:35:20
and traumatized by the trial and the verdict that were forced to make at the end of 1992 when DPS was found guilty of
01:35:30
perjury and served a 9 months imprisonment he had taken the oath in a pre-trial hearing she continued to
01:35:36
defend her husband and continued to profess his innocence in the wall street shooting in a stunning development eight
01:35:44
armed robbery squad officers were charged with murder in relation to Graham Jensen's death the Homicide Squad
01:35:50
detective who investigated the Jensen shooting Johnny Hill was also charged with being an accessory after the fact
01:35:56
to murder they alleged John Hill concealed evidence suggesting police were criminally liable a modest an
01:36:03
introverted men but highly respected John Hill always maintained his innocence he felt his integrity had been
01:36:10
destroyed when he was charged despite colleagues reminding Hill the previously suspended officers had gone
01:36:16
on to reach high rank Hill felt his career was over depression overwhelmed him and he committed suicide two months
01:36:23
after he was charged in his suicide note he wrote quote no doubt the media will speculate and others will see this as
01:36:32
some sort of admission of guilt categorically it is no such thing I have always believed and still do that the
01:36:39
Jensen shooting was a self-defense situation members of Victoria police believed the charges against John Hill
01:36:46
were flimsy and would have been dropped before getting to trial John Hill's death does not appear on any
01:36:51
list the names police who have died in the line of duty the charges against seven of the other
01:36:59
police members involved in Jensen's death were eventually dropped only one of the officers charged made it to trial
01:37:05
Robert Hill who fired the two fatal shots that killed Jensen Robert Hill is no relation to John Hill who
01:37:12
investigated the shooting in the Supreme Court on August 9th 1995 Robert Hill was
01:37:19
acquitted of murder it took the jury just 18 minutes to decide the prosecution had not established a strong
01:37:24
enough case for the trial to continue it had been seven years since Graham Jensen
01:37:30
left his girlfriend's home to buy a spark plug for his lawnmower the investigation into Johnson's death
01:37:36
cost four million dollars Robert Hill is now the assistant commissioner of Victoria Police a former detective told
01:37:45
the Australian newspaper that the acquittal of the four men charged with the wall street murders devastated the
01:37:50
entire police force into the acquittal of Robert Hill devastated all of the crooks it was zero zero cliff Lockwood
01:38:00
the detective who shot Gary Abdullah seven times emptying his own revolver before grabbing his partner's gun and
01:38:06
unloading a final shot was also charged with murder after five hours of deliberation by a jury he was found not
01:38:13
guilty Jason Ryan was taken out of witness protection and relocated within your identity in 1991 Jason was drug
01:38:23
free had a girlfriend and was fit and well he claimed he would forever live in fear of retribution from his family he
01:38:30
said the acquittal left him feeling hollow and ill after serving his time in prison for the Ringwood bank robbery he
01:38:38
committed in 1988 Victor Pearce issued a statement he maintained his innocence regarding Wall Street and requested
01:38:45
quote to be left alone to work and prove to the community I'm not as bad as police and the press have made me out to
01:38:53
be hey and when DPS continued their relationship on May 1st 2002 in what was perceived as
01:39:02
a long-awaited Justice 44 year-old Victor Pierce was murdered bearing an eerie similarity to the wall street
01:39:09
shootings Victor was shot behind the wheel of his Holden Commodore in Port Melbourne by a gangland hit men he was
01:39:16
pronounced dead on arrival to Alfred Hospital the same hospital constables Tainan and air were taken to 14 years
01:39:23
earlier his widow Wendy Pierce lamented quote my life will be so empty nil he will always be my everything following
01:39:33
her husband's death Wendy Pierce lived a lonely life claiming she was a secondary
01:39:37
victim of her husband's murder she applied for and was granted compensation 153 thousand dollars in total the public
01:39:46
still harbored strong resentment towards Wendy and worried outraged that the payor depressed medicated broke into
01:39:55
living in public housing Wendy's life was in pieces in the years since Wall Street her criminal in-laws
01:40:01
had become strangers to her her retellings of the horrors she witnessed within that family such as the time she
01:40:07
witnessed her brother-in-law Dennis Allen chopped up a dead body with a chainsaw were met with apathy from the
01:40:12
public when in the same breath she admitted she founded all rather hysterical the infamy made Wendy a
01:40:19
momentary though hated celebrity for a long time she enjoyed the community's loathing of her she would ring talkback
01:40:26
radio stations and argue passionately with the hosts about herself and her husband but as years passed she backed
01:40:32
away from the limelight she kept her window blinds drawn and she rarely ventured out
01:40:38
with her compensation money quickly spent she struggled to pay even minor traffic fines when her 24 year old
01:40:46
daughter died of a drug overdose Wendy said quote I now know what it's like to lose a child
01:40:53
I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy in October 2005 17 years after Wall Street Wendy Pierce spoke to the media once
01:41:03
more she said the Tainan and dear families were wrote the truth of how their sons died she admitted she never
01:41:10
intended to give evidence at the trial her decision to go into witness protection was a plan orchestrated by
01:41:15
her family to sabotage the prosecution from the inside communication with Victor was maintained during his time by
01:41:23
our letters and photos third parties would visit both Victor and Wendy and would relay messages between the two in
01:41:30
this 2005 major interview Wendy stated once again that her late husband fit the Pierce was responsible
01:41:37
for organizing the killings of the constables on October 12th 1988 she said Peter McEvoy Jed Horton and Carrie
01:41:45
Abdullah were his accomplices she alleged that Jed Horton was the shotguns triggerman and the killer of Steve
01:41:51
Antonin and to that Peter McEvoy stepped in and killed Damien air with his own gun
01:41:57
Gary Abdullah was the one who stole and planted the Commodore used in the ambush
01:42:02
according to Wendy Anthony Farrell when Trevor Pettingill didn't take part in the ambush at all Wendy had no regrets
01:42:10
for refusing to testify quote I loved Victor I can't change that I can't take back what I've done but it
01:42:18
was all worth nothing if I say sorry most people won't believe me in 2007 Peter McAvoy was arrested in New South
01:42:27
Wales for making threats they killed police he stated quote I can't wait to put a shotgun to your [ __ ] head
01:42:34
loaded with a solid and what your [ __ ] head get blown off the sweetest thing I ever heard was the police
01:42:40
officers last words while he was dying McAvoy was found guilty of making his threat and fined $300
01:42:49
trevor padding you'll later served time for drug trafficking now he Peter McAvoy
01:42:55
Indian theny Ferrell are all freemen they still claimed their innocence in 2015 a request was made to the coroner
01:43:04
by family members of Graham Jenson asking to reopen the inquiry into his death this request was made based on new
01:43:11
information from a former detective who was running the surveillance operation on Jensen when he was shot
01:43:16
the former detective said he was prepared to give evidence that he saw a detective from the armed robbery squad
01:43:22
claimed a gun after the shooting but this former detective provided a statement at the time of the shooting
01:43:28
and appeared at the original inquest where he made no mention of this he is a former detective because he was arrested
01:43:35
and convicted of drug trafficking in the early 2000s another former detective now
01:43:42
retired has also come forward and is offering to name the armed robbery squad detective who planted the gun after
01:43:49
looking at this new evidence the Victorian state coroner ruled that all official documentation relating to the
01:43:54
death of Graeme Jensen be suppressed until 2021 including a decision on whether or not to reopen the inquest
01:44:01
into his death the Tainan Ayer foundation was founded by the parents of the slain constables after their death
01:44:09
10 years later it was renamed the Blue Ribbon foundation after the shooting murders of two more victoria police
01:44:15
officers sergeant Gary silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller as of 2017 159 victoria police officers have died on
01:44:24
duty of these 30 were murdered the Blue Ribbon foundation raises awareness of the dangers police officers face on a
01:44:33
daily basis honors the memories of those killed and supports victims families throughout Australia
01:44:39
still hanging inside the parentally station are the portraits of Constable Stephen Timon and Damien err if the
01:44:47
killers were trying to make a point and take revenge on who they perceived as corrupt officers they couldn't have
01:44:52
picked two worse targets Stephen Tainan and Damien err were good honest police officers the
01:45:00
Victoria Police Force has been committed to remembering the young constables and
01:45:04
reflecting on their sacrifice after their deaths Stephen Timon and Damien air were both
01:45:10
awarded the National Police Service Medal Damien is father Frank says the telling and retelling of the Welsh tree
01:45:18
story is crucial as no one has been brought to justice for the murders to this day despite the sadness it brings
01:45:25
him he encourages people to talk about what happened to his son quote I haven't given up once you do what gets forgotten
01:45:33
and it's not going to get forgotten Frank heir says police officers need to continue to put themselves on the line
01:45:41
for the community no matter what had happened in the past two other officers including his son on April 4th 2017
01:45:50
Stephen Collins father Kevin tannin died at the age of 80 after a short illness Kevin never came to terms with his son's
01:45:58
death and the fact his killers never went to jail his hope for justice returned briefly in 2011 when double
01:46:05
jeopardy laws were changed and it seemed as though charges might be reinstated but it was deemed there wasn't enough
01:46:11
compelling new evidence to lay new murder charges Kevin Toyland died without the closure
01:46:17
of justice for his son since the late 1980s crime in Victoria has changed completely professional
01:46:25
armed bank robbers the plagued Melbourne at the time of Stephen Timon and Damian
01:46:29
Ayers deaths are virtually non-existent today Damien heir wanted nothing more than to
01:46:36
be a proud member of Victoria police just like his father and brother Anees victoria police application he wrote
01:46:43
quote as most of my family are in the Victoria Police Force I believe I have a good knowledge of the force as a whole
01:46:50
and how it operates this has been a lifelong ambition and I respect the Victoria Police Force very much
01:47:02
[Music] you