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The stories behind what made and shaped the most notorious figures in Australian criminal history.
2010
Christopher Dale Flannery earned the nickname of 'Rent-a-Kill'. He was a hit man and gun for hire who would kill anyone if the price was right. Find out about the man who killed in cold blood before returning to his home to smother his children with affection and dote after his wife, Kathleen.
Arguably Australia's most feared gangster, Frederick 'Chow' Hayes was a convicted double murderer, sentenced to hang in 1952 for the brazen killing of stand-over man and former boxer, Bobby Lee.
Alphonse Gangitano was known as the Black Prince of Lygon Street and was the most lethal member of Melbourne's notorious Carlton Crew in the 1980s and 1990s.
Dennis Allen was the oldest son of Melbourne crime matriarch, Kath Pettingill. Abused as a child by his mother's boyfriends, he grew up knowing nothing but crime, and it became his life.
Meet Australia's most wanted man for a record 11 years. Russell "Mad Dog" Cox was a man no prison could hold. He escaped from NSW notorious "electronic zoo", the maximum security Katingal jail that politicians had said was escape proof.
Mick Sayers was a run of the mill crook who got in too deep with some of the tough nuts in Sydney's organised crime scene. Turning to drug dealing, extortion, race rigging and murder, he ripped off the wrong gangsters and paid the ultimate price.
Raymond "Ray Chuck" Bennett was Australia's criminal mastermind. A brazen armed robber and thief; he did the jobs that other criminals considered were beyond them.
Lennie McPherson ruled the Sydney crime scene for three decades. He was a violent and vicious criminal and arguably the worst of the worst. We trace the rise of Lennie McPherson from a street crook in the 1940s to the Mr. Big of organised crime.
2011
Nikolai Radev invaded the lives of his extortion victims and terrorized them until they met his demands. Children, wives, family members were dragged into his world of violence and horror. No one was safe.
Stan 'The Man' Smith was a feared enforcer for Sydney's underworld. George Freeman's right hand man; he was a cold-hearted assassin, drug trafficker and murderer, turned man of God.
Brutal killer, armed robber, heartbreaker and prison escapologist, Ray Denning was the ultimate anti-hero who spent his whole life running from the nightmares in his head.
Tilly Devine was a drug dealing brothel madam, a criminal sociopath and Sydney's Queen of vice, who clawed her way to the top of the city's sex trade with a razor in her hand. She was a prostitute who founded a criminal empire.
Criminal lunatic, gunman, arch-thief and armed robber, Jockey Smith terrorized Australia at gunpoint for three decades. When confronted, the short angry guy with a bad case of small man syndrome invariably reached for a gun.
Murderer, drug dealer, kidnapper, extortionist and street hoon, Dino Dibra grew up in Sunshine, a working class suburb where he became friends with a group of boys who would all go on to make their marks in Melbourne's underworld.
Murderer, extortionist, pimp, child killer and violent thug, Regan is arguably the most violent and terrifying person in Australian criminal history. A psychopath, Regan spent his childhood torturing animals before graduating to people.
Murderer, standover man, race fixer, and crime lord, George Freeman was the King of Sydney for over three decades. His skills as a gambler and race fixer meant he could enrich his associates who would keep him out of trouble with police.
2020
It's the brutal crime that shocked a nation. A homicide on CCTV. We examine the damning evidence that reveals,the cold-hearted planning and execution of a young, naive wannabe gangster, by Roger Rogerson and his accomplice Glen McNamara.
In 1971 an extortionist calling himself “Mr Brown” claimed he’d placed a bomb on a Qantas flight. With passenger safety a priority, Qantas handed over a $500,000 ransom. We follow the money trail and reveal the true identity of “Mr Brown”.
The "Lawyer X" saga sparked a Royal Commission. Nicola Gobbo was the barrister who played on both sides of the law, spending 15 years two-timing the police and drug lords.
In 1977, a famous designer, Florence Broadhurst was bludgeoned to death in her own factory. She had many enemies but was she the victim of a notorious serial killer? Australian Crime Stories rebuilds the case, piece by piece.
He was South Australia’s top forensic pathologist for 27 years, but Dr Colin Manock didn’t always get it right. From questionable methodology to performing a public autopsy, ACS reveals the high-level cover-ups.
Constable Angela Taylor was killed and 22 other's injured when a car bomb exploded outside the Victoria Police headquarters in Melbourne's CBD in 1986. ACS talks to survivors and the investigators who forensically hunted down the bomber.
In 1988, thieves broke into a bank in Chinatown, Sydney, from a neighbouring building and escaped with gold bars, rare coins, jewellery, and bundles of cash. In a world exclusive, we name the mastermind who got away with the loot.
Jonathan Dick was one of Australia's most wanted men for more than two years after killing his brother with a sword in a Melbourne shopping centre. The terrorised family tell ACS exclusively about living on Jono's kill list.
Con artist Jody Harris had a thing for cops, bluffing her way into police stations and charming her way into their beds. The young grifter swindled many wary men and women, as she hustled her way up and down Australia's eastern seaboard.
The 2011 the disappearance of Prison boss David Prideaux is a mystery that bristles with possibilities. The story that began as a missing person case is now clouded with accusations of betrayal, adultery, conspiracies and murder.
2019
In 1969, 20-year-old Miss Tasmania aspirant, Lucille Butterworth disappears from a bus stop in Tasmania. Seven years later, Geoffrey Charles Hunt confesses to the crime, but despite damning evidence police did not lay charges.
We uncover the true story of how an audacious thief broke into Kerry Packer's office and cracked his personal safe, getting away clean with $5.4 million in gold bars. This is a story about loyalty, betrayal and revenge.
We uncover the true story of a leader and hero, John Friedrich who was also a criminal mastermind that seduced governments and defrauded banks. For 25 years this story was swept under the rug but today we look at the case once more.
This is the true story of the international drug plot that brought down one of Australia's top law enforcers, Mark Standen. We reveal how far his corruption spread and whether there are more like him still operating in our police forces
The life story of one of the central figures in the notorious Painters and Dockers wars that claimed more than 15 victims in 1960s and 70s Melbourne.
When Melbourne prostitute Shane Chartres-Abbott was accused of raping and mutilating a client, few doubted his guilt. The victim said Chartres-Abbott boasted that he was a 200-year-old vampire.
A serial predator dubbed 'Mr Cruel' had an incredible impact on Australia in the late 1980s - '90s. Police believe he may be responsible for around a dozen attacks on children across Melbourne, and could still be alive.
Brian Murphy was regarded as Australia's toughest cop, finding himself in the middle of several gang wars throughout a 30-year career in the Victoria Police. Bad guys who crossed "The Skull" had a habit of dying violently.
2021
The disappearance of Juanita Nielsen is one of Australia's most infamous murder mysteries. ACS examines the three main suspects and answers a crucial question, who killed Juanita?
Renae Marsden died by suicide on the day her relationship ended. Her family reveal the inside story and the tragic twist, where Renae's tormenter is yet to be brought to justice.
He's been described as Australia's Hannibal Lector, an opportunist killer, with unspeakable obsessions. Is this Australia's worst child killer?
In 1994 twenty-two-year-old dancer and model, Revelle Balmain vanished. What really happened that night remains a mystery. We re-trace Revelle's final steps.
2023
When the body of a young woman was found dumped in an industrial area in Sydney’s south in 1991, the odds were stacked against the lead investigator, Detective Mick Plotecki.
ACS uncovers one of the most bizarre murder investigations in Australia's history. Two women die in suspicious circumstances: coincidence or as their husband Thomas Keir describes it, just bad luck!
Kim Meredith was aged 19 when she was savagely murdered in central Albury as she walked to meet friends at a nearby hotel after work in 1996.
