A reward for answers, but is it a hoax? (Part 2/2) | Forensic Files

[Music] we left part one just after the government announced the $500,000 reward
for any information to help solve the case it was hoped this large reward would be enough to entice a male caller
to make contact again police staked out phone boxes in the st. Kilda area in the
hope that the caller wouldn't be able to resist the huge reward while laning to hear from him again
police received hundreds of other calls from members of the public one female witness was of major interest she said
she saw a man getting out of the bunker on Russell Street about 12:30 p.m. half an hour before the explosion an
identikit sketch was made up of the man she saw detectives started to get excited when they felt the sketch
resembled somebody who they knew well cláudio croupy he was known to have a hatred of police and held a special
grudge against one particular detective in the magic crime squad when detectives
started digging around creepy they got even more excited when they received information he was seen with sticks of
gel ignite the morning of the bombing [Music] things got more interesting when creepies neighbors reported he left home
before the bombing returned home after the bombing and then he quickly left him and hadn't been seen since search
warrants were carried out at creepies house and at houses he was named a frequent nothing of interest was located
including creepy himself they were unable to check him dinner a few hours after the bombing when all of the police
resources were in Russell Street dealing with the aftermath a bank robbery was committed in Don Vale a suburb of
Melbourne about 20 kilometers or 12 miles away from Russell Street you couldn't pick a better time to rob a
bank the getaway vehicle used was a stolen special edition Peter Brock Holden Commodore it was found on the 7th
of April eleven days after the bombing in bank robbery police located at underwater in the Yarra River near Wonga
Park not too far away from where the bank robbery was committed alarm bells started to ring when it was discovered
that the Shazi number had been drilled through exactly the same as what was done in the bunker this unusual method
of drilling through the chassis number and the fact the vehicle was used in a bank robbery when all available police
resources were assisting with the bombing led police to believe the two cars were connected despite the shady
number being Julia and the vehicle having no plates police were able to identify the Brock Commodore found in
the river there was a special edition not exactly a common car it turns out the registration was CCH 997 and those
registration plates had actually turned up three weeks before the bombing the plates were found in the boot of yet
another stolen car that was involved in a police chase the car crashed but the driver was able
to get away while stealing another car at gunpoint detectives quickly question the officer who was involved in the
chase he did get a glimpse of the driver so they showed him a whole heap of mug books in the hopes he could pick out a
face and they were in luck the officer picked out a me and by the name of Peter Reid you haven't heard his
name until now but I have spoken about him he was the suspect at the very start of this story who is under police
surveillance in the morning of the bombing the suspect driving the red Jaguar that surveillance operation was
totally unrelated to the bombing he was under surveillance because he was a suspect for several violent bank
robberies while some detectives were trying to piece together the stolen cars and Peter raids involvement others were
still working hard on who was their number one suspect Claudia creepy and on the 15th of April
they finally caught up with him and he was arrested he denied having anything to do with the bombing and he denied
being seen with gel ignored on the morning of the bombing his story was that he was actually making a fake bomb
that he intended to throw through the window of flemington police station just for a scare Flemington station isn't too
far away from Russell Street it seemed ludicrous but it actually turned out to be true creepy couldn't have picked a
worse day to make a fake bomb but he was eventually eliminated from the Russell Street investigation
the day after creepies arrest and release the 16th of April the unknown caller got back in contact with the
Victorian police commissioner the lure of the big reward had worked as soon as the call was made detectives in the area
headed for the phone boxes in st. kilda where the other calls had come from a detective grabbed the phone off one man
and on the other end was the Victorian police commissioner they had just beyond there unknown
caller the man was a chemist vladimir richter and it didn't take long to work out he knew absolutely nothing about the
bombing or who was involved he was charged with hindering a police investigation many many hours had been
wasted investigating these calls and staking out phone boxes in st. kilda all for nothing a complete waste of time
vladimir was later sentenced to two months jail for his efforts on the 20th of april twenty four days after the
bombing constable Angela Taylor lost her battle her funeral was attended to by over
1,000 people 500 of her fellow officers lined up outside the chapel forming a long guard of honour
constable Angela Taylor became the first female officer to die in the line of duty in Australia
constable Taylor's death only made the police more determined to find out who was responsible crew he had been cleared
the unknown caller had been found and he knew nothing that left Peter Reed in the
stolen cars since being picked out of a mug book by the officer involved in the police chase Peter Reid had been placed
under close surveillance for a second time everywhere he visited everyone he spoke to it was all recorded
now remember Reid hadn't been seen in the Brock Commodore he was driving another stolen car with the registration
plates of the Brock Commodore in the boot that's how he was linked to the car and that car was used in the bank
robbery a few hours after the bombing and had a chassis number drilled out in the same way as the banca which was
unusual then something police hadn't encountered before there was a unique mo that's how
Reid and the cars were linked to Russell Street police weren't exactly sure what
his involvement was if any maybe he just supplied the getaway car maybe the cars
with the drew Daz numbers were just a coincidence or maybe he was a major player there was Tom define dear
[Music] payda raid was living in now Ponk resin Callisto Callisto is just the outside
the metro area of Melbourne about 36 kilometers or 22 miles from the city [Music]
there was the 25th of April near one month after the bombing and police were ready to bring reading they had enough
evidence on him for the police chase and other crimes not related to Russell Street but they did plan to interview
him about the bombing as well police kicked in his door in the early hours of the morning a pre-dawn raid some
officers made their way right while two officers opened the door to a bedroom on
the left Reid was waiting for them he was kneeling on the bed pointing a gun straight at them the officers moved out
of the bedroom doorway and screamed at him to drop his gun Reid responded by firing at them screaming take me out
take me out police returned fire officer Mark Wiley was shot in the exchange before trade
himself was shot twice Reid was hit making his way from the bed sweeping around the bedroom so he could get it
clear a shot at police but raid was put down before he was able to hit any other
officers the gun was kicked out of his hand and he was handcuffed an ambulance was called to take officer wiley and
paid a raid to hospital crime-scene examiners were waiting outside ready to comb the house for any
forensic evidence that could link Reid to the bombing things were now a bit more complicated the scene would have to
be processed in relation to the shooting as well two crime scenes in one so what
did they find well something immediately stood out on the gun Reid was shooting at police with
the serial number had been drilled through in exactly the same manner as the bomb car and at the Brock Commodore
they also found a shotgun underneath Reid's pillow the serial number had been drilled through that as well in the
lounge room they found a heap with different stolen registration plates and three more shotguns two with the serial
numbers drilled through and then the jackpot to detonators found inside a bag as well as four sticks of gel ignite
individually wrapped in newspaper both the detonators and gel ignite match the ones used in the Russell Street bombing
they also found a hand grenade knuckledusters stolen car parts that were from the Brock's special edition
Commodore and police scanners wire found in his place was cut with the same tool
used to cut the wires on the bomb the tool used to cut the wire had left a distinctive mark much like a fingerprint
not only that they found plastic bread crates inside the house remember the robbery committed at brace
ID six weeks before the bombing when the bread crates cigarettes and confectionery was stolen the bread
crates were then used to put the bomb in will the bread crates that were found at
Peter Reed's house matched the one stolen from the bracelet robbery police were able to pull a fingerprint off the
newspaper that the gel ignite was wrapped in the print belonged to Rodney Minogue Rodney's brother Craig Minogue
had also left the fingerprint on the toilet door the minogue brothers were both well known to police and had served
jail time they were added to the suspect list at the same time that Peter reeds place was raided a raid was also done on
his brother Stephens house Stephen lived in Boronia maybe out of 25 minute drive away from Peter's place
inside Stephens police found a chamois two tracksuit tops a red-handled screwdriver and a tow rope
the reason these items were of interest was because they were reported as missing from the bomb car the owner of
the bomb car later identified the items found in Stephens as belonging to him they also found a drill bit with paint
fragments on it identical to paint from the bomb car and a number of guns with the serial numbers drilled through
another person police were came to speak to was Carl Zelinka Carl didn't have a criminal record at all he was totally
clean he lived in Harris Avenue nanawatai the house where the police surveillance
team followed paid a raid - on the morning of the bombing Carl lived there with his girlfriend
Karen police conducted a search of his place and they found cigarettes and confectionary that matched those stolen
from the bright side robbery where the bread crates were stolen as well they also found a sawn-off shotgun
[Music] during questioning Carl denied knowing Peter Reid at all police of course knew
this was a lie because they had seen Reid at his house during surveillance he said he had no idea who the minogue
brothers were ever get never heard of them police were unable to locate them and no brothers word on the street was
they had skipped here and after the bombing both Peter Reid and Officer Mark Wiley made a full recovery from their
gunshot wounds on the 3rd of May Reid was out of hospital and at the police station being questioned he denied
having anything to do with the bombing and refused to answer any questions about the minogue brothers or Carl's
alinker police were still processing all of the forensic evidence they didn't have enough to pin the bombing on him at
directly but they certainly felt he was involved some here given what they had found they did have enough to charge him
with shooting at police so he was held on that charge while the investigation continued despite the fact that nobody
was talking police were able to find the link between Peter Reid and Randy Minogue they had served jail time
together [Music] so that explained the connection and why Rodney's prints were inside Reid's house
on the gel ignite it was through Rodney that Reid then met his brother Craig Minogue they found something else
interesting in their Falls was a report of a vehicle that Craig Minogue was seen getting into
after an unrelated court appearance from back before the bombing the vehicle belonged to Carl Zelinka so much for
Carl not knowing the minogue brothers police went back and spoke to a number of cars or linkers neighbors they easily
identified them in Oh brothers saying no wrote Carl's place all the time so why was Carl Zelinka lying on the 14th of
May police paid another visit to Carl Zelinka by now the crime scene examiner's had worked out something else
about the bomb remember the alarm clock was attached to a piece of metal which was then attached
to the wooden fence post up until this point they had struggled to work out where the piece of metal was from but
now they knew it was a handle from a metal rubbish bin when they went back to visit Carl Zelinka
they saw attempts have been made to cut the handle off his metal rubbish bin whoever made these attempts had failed
and the handle was still there but the lid was missing the lid would have had a handle as well
Karl said he wasn't sure where he's been lead was or where the cut marks came from on the side handle up until now
police had also failed to find out where the wooden fence post had come from that
the alarm clock was attached to it didn't match any of the fences at the house as they had visited so far at that
day the 14th of May that middle issue was solved as well a detective had a look at a few of Carl's neighbor's
fences master his delight he found a perfect match it was hidden behind a large tree and wasn't immediately
obvious but he found it Carl's neighbor's fence had been cut and it was a perfect match to the fence post found
on the bomb given their discoveries police formed the opinion Carl's house is where the bomb was made bomb HQ as
they called it and that was finally enough for Carl he had remained silent and played dumb up until that point but
the evidence had become too much he said he would tell police everything he knew
if they gave him his girlfriend and his family protection police agreed and his interview took several days
Carl's story was that Craig and Rodney Minogue actually lived with him at Harris Avenue and Peter Reid was close
friends with them and visited all the time Carl says he was talked into helping Reid and Craig Minogue do the
robbery on the milk bar in Bray side six weeks before the bombing when the bread
crates cigarettes and confectionery was stolen carl identified the bomb car as being at his place before the bombing as
well as the special edition Brock Commodore he saw explosives in his garage one day and he asked Craig
Minogue what they were for Craig told him he had better forget what he had seen Craig also had a bull terrier puppy
who slept on a red and cream-colored blanket remember a red and cream-colored blanket with all Terrier dog hair was
found inside the bomb car payda raid wasn't the only visitor of the minogue brothers either a person who
call only knew as spin the men was hanging around all the time as well the day before the bombing
Craig Minogue organized and paid for a trip away to Sydney for Carl and his girlfriend when they got back from their
trip after the bombing Craig and Rodney were both moving in Craig told Carl before he left that he had better get
rid of his rubbish bin lid Carl agreed and took it to the dump it was missing its handle it was all starting to come
together based on Carl's statement police charged Peter Reed and his brother Stephen this was Peter reeds
response when he was being escorted to court just after finding out he had been charged with the Russell Street bombing
and the murder of Constable Angela Taylor police knew who stand the mean was - he was Stanley Brian Taylor born
on the 28th of September 1937 he was no relation that constable Angela Taylor Stein had a lengthy criminal record
he was sent to a boy's home when he was just 8 it is since coming out that boys at this home were severely abused and
it's here that Stan says he first learned to be out crying his first arrest came when he was just 12 for
stealing fish he moved on the vehicle theft and break-ins before eventually committing a string of violent armed
robberies he was sent to jail but managed to escape during his escape he held up
seven banks in five days before being recaptured he was eventually released from jail legitimately in 1978 at 40
years of age he had spent most of his life locked up on his release he vowed to change he was quoted saying I've done
my time there are a lot of young people who are down who are unemployed who could be thinking that crime is the
answer my message is that crime is never the answer I have not met one person not one
who has had a successful life because of crime Stan got a job as a project officer for the Commonwealth Youth
Support Scheme helping guide troubled youths back on the right track Stan the reformed prisoner who could warn of the
perils of choosing a life of crime one of those troubled years he helped was Craig Minogue police are about to find
out the truth about Stan Taylor he wasn't helping anybody he manipulated and moulded trouble used to work for him
Craig Minogue was his best student Craig introduced his brother Rodney to Stan and Rodney in turn introduced Peter Reid
to Craig and Stan Stan referred to their little gang as the animals and the boys
armed robbery and vehicle theft was their specialty Stan left his job as mentor for troubled youth it continued
to live a double life though he moved to the small country town of Burchett which
is 310 kilometres or 190 miles northwest of Melbourne population less than 1,000
people he told the locals he was a retired horse trainer looking forward to acquired a country lifestyle he got
involved with a local football club and he was even friendly with the local police he didn't know his real history
Stan was known as a top bloke amongst the locals very friendly in down to earth the task force detectives tracks the N
tuber chip and organized the pay him a visit it just so happened police had finally tracked down them and no
brothers as well to the same small country town of Burchett they lived in a different house - Stan Taylor but they
living in the same town police raided both houses at the same time 2:00 a.m. on the 30th of May Stan Taylor was
arrested without incident but the minogue brothers weren't home Stan Taylor knew where they were though and
he was only too happy to assist police both Minogue brothers were arrested without incident at a motel in Swan Hill
at 5:00 a.m. later that morning Swan Hill is about an hour's drive away from Bergeon Stan Taylor denied having any
involvement in the bombing he admitted making regular visits to cars or linkers house in Harris Avenue he even admitted
he was there the morning of the bombing but he says he left well before anything
happened according to Stan Peter aide Craig and Rodney Minogue were the ones who were
responsible he was only too happy to throw them under the bus [Music] Craig Minowa gave police his name and
his address during his interview but that was it he refused to answer any other questions didn't say a word just
sat there with a smile on his face Rodney Minogue was happy to talk though he told police Dean Taylor was the one
who was responsible for the bomb a search of Stan Taylor's house didn't turn up any evidence relating to the
bonny however they did find a stolen car at the minogue brothers house they found
a loaded shotgun police scanners in Craig's bull terrier dog the hairs on the dog were a match to the dog hairs
found on the blanket inside the bomb car they also found a high-speed engraving device the end of which was a perfect
match to the holes that were drilled through the Shazi numbers in the bond car and the Brock Commodore and the
serial numbers on the firearms they also found a storage unit that Craig Minogue
had rented in Aubrey Aubrey is a regional city area in New South Wales but it is directly on the border of
Victoria about a four-hour drive away from Melbourne in that storage unit they found detonators that match the ones
used in the bombing an explosives handbook and a pair of tin snips the tin snips were matched as being the tool
used to cut the wires on the bomb they also found sockets that were missing from a tool set and they were matched
two sockets used as shrapnel in the bomb things weren't looking great for Stan Taylor either when he was arrested two
other people were also arrested in his house Paul Hetzel and his wife Julie Hetzel Paul met Stan Taylor in jail Paul
was serving a 22-year sentence for armed robbery into the attempted murder of a police officer so he got on well with
Stan to the point where Paul says they were best friends in jail when Paul got out of jail he hooked back
up with Stan this was at the time when Stan was working with Craig and Rodney Minogue and Peter Reed
Paul helped commit a number of armed robberies with them and Paul was also with them when they broke into the mine
and stole the gel ignite and detonators he saw Craig Minogue and Stan Taylor doing some bond testing with the gelly
night out on a remote property in country Victoria if that wasn't enough Paul says he also heard Craig Minogue
Stan Taylor and Peter Reed talking about blowing up police headquarters in fact Paul says dent Taylor had been talking
about blowing up Russell Street since he was in jail Paul Hetzel was part of the crew and he
was facing some serious jail time for the armed robberies police suspected he had far more involvement in the Russell
Street bombing than what he was letting on but they could never put him at the scene so they allowed him to turn Crown
witness and the information he provided was vital to the prosecution case in exchange for his testimony his charges
were dropped and he was put into witness protection Peter Reid his brother Steven Craig and
Rodney Minogue and Stan Taylor we're all charged with the murder of Constable Angela Taylor the attempted murders of
Constable Carlton REO and magistrate am west as well as a number of other charges relating to the bombing
possessing explosives intentionally causing serious injury intentionally causing damage and a whole heap of other
charges charges for the break-in and theft of jelly ignite from the mine and for the
bracelet robbery the vehicle thefts and a number of other armed robberies including the one at Don Vale on the day
of the bombing were also added Peter Aid was 29 his brother Stephen was 25 Craig Minogue was 24 ruddy Minogue was
21 in Steen Taylor who a few years earlier was supposed to be guiding these troubled youths out of a life of crime
was 49 after a committal hearing the charges against Peter aids brother Stephen were
dropped he only ended up facing charges in relation to possessing stolen property
the charges against Rodney Minogue were downgraded to being an accessory however the charges against Peter Reid
Craig Minogue and Stan Taylor proceeded the trial began in March 1988 in Melbourne Supreme Court they all pleaded
not guilty the prosecution alleged that the bond car was driven to Russell Street by Peter Reid and Craig Minogue
Stan Taylor followed them there driving the stolen Brock Commodore once the car was parked on Russell Street Peter and
Craig jumped in the Brock Commodore with Stan they waited nearby for the explosion and when it went off they
clapped and cheered and high-fived each other unable to contain their excitement
their only regret being that they didn't kill more police officers their original plan was for the bomb car
to be driven down to the underground car park underneath headquarters however they had concerns about getting past
security they then took advantage of the chaos and went out to Don Vale to commit
the bank robbery the trial went on for months the sheer amount of forensic evidence taking an age to get through
the jury reached their verdict on the 12th of July four months after the trial commenced Stan Taylor and Craig Minogue
guilty Rodney Minogue on being an accessory guilty the jury needed more time in relation to the verdict of Peter
Reid they reached their decision on him the next day the shootout with police when he was arrested guilty the murder
of Constable Angela Taylor and all of the other associated Russell Street bombing charges
not guilty it's thought they reached that verdict due to the fact he was under police surveillance on the morning
of the bombing he was seen driving de Caza linkers house in Harris Avenue Nana wadding but he was never seen to leave
the house it was the prosecution case that he left in the bond car which the surveillance
police had no idea about so that's how he was able to get by them and when the bomb went off the surveillance team were
called in to Russell Street to help so they weren't around to see anyone return to her o7u however the jury weren't
satisfied there was enough evidence to convict Reid and he was acquitted Stan Taylor was sentenced to life in prison
never to be released Craig grenade was also sentenced to life in prison but he was given a non-parole
period of 28 years two years into that sentence he was feeling guilty of bashing a fellow inmate to death using
weights in a pillow case he was given another life sentence but he was allowed to serve it at the same time as the life
sentence he already had meaning despite being convicted of a second murder he wouldn't serve any extra jail
time for it he is eligible for parole in August this year Peter ade was sentenced to 13 years jail
for attempted murder relating to the shootout where he shot officer mark Wiley he was given a non-parole period
of nine years he was released in 1995 [Music] the officer he shot mark Wiley made a
full recovery from his gunshot wounds but tragically took his own life in 2004 [Music]
Ronni Minogue immediately appealed his accessory conviction in relation to the Russell Street bombing and he was
actually acquitted of all those charges but he did serve some jail time in relation to the armed robberies it's
thought that Stan Taylor was the main man behind the bombing and would have been the one who built the bomb or at
least played a major part in its construction Stan Taylor always said that if he was ever suffering from a
terminal illness he would strap a bomb to himself and walk into Russell Street blow himself up and take as many police
as he could with him well he is now suffering from a terminal illness and prison officials say he is gravely ill
but he's never getting out the motive for the bombing they had all been arrested before they had also jail
time and they resented their sentences a life of crime and jail had bred a deep hatred of authority especially police
when the bomb went off they clapped and cheered but also had a feeling of disappointment that they didn't kill
more police officers they wanted to kill as many as they could the bomb wasn't aimed at anybody in particular just any
police officer who happened to be nearby and if they got an innocent bystander so
be it the bomb was set for lunchtime maximizing the chances of there being more people outside there's a very
common thing for schoolchildren to be taken through the Russell Street police headquarters building on school
excursions and where they lined up waiting to go in was along the wall directly next to where the bomb car was
parked it's extremely lucky there were no excursions booked in for that day Craig Minogue says he's completely
reformed and has apologised for his part in the bombing he's completed a number of Bachelor of Arts degrees in prison
and other qualifications and he's one of the few prison inmates to have achieved
the PhD he got they didn't applied ethics human and social sciences he says he plans to repay the community
by accepting his sentence and meeting his guilt and saying he's sorry making an effort to rehabilitate himself and by
not reoffending upon his release there are those that think his apology and displays of remorse are very well timed
Craig Minogue is eligible for parole in August this year just a few months away his apology and displays of remorse only
came in recent times for many many years he refused to acknowledge his part in the bombing or say he was sorry now it's
up to the parole board to determine if he's still a danger to society [Music]

Case 24: Russell Street Bombing (Part 2)

[Part 2 of 2]

We left part one just after the government announced a 500 thousand dollar reward for any information to help solve the case. It was hoped this large reward would be enough to entice a male caller to make contact again.

He had already called numerous times before, claiming to know who the bombers were…

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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Brief Summary

The episode details the investigation and arrests following the Russell Street bombing, focusing on key suspects and their motivations.

Key points

The Reward Announcement. The government announces a $500,000 reward for information on the bombing case.
Constable Angela Taylor's Funeral. Over 1,000 people attend the funeral of Constable Angela Taylor, the first female officer to die in duty.
Peter Reid's Arrest. Peter Reid is arrested after a violent confrontation with police, revealing a complex web of crime.
Carl Zelinka's Confession. Carl Zelinka finally confesses to police about his involvement with the Minogue brothers and Peter Reid.
The Minogue Brothers Arrested. Police arrest the Minogue brothers in a coordinated raid, closing in on the bombing case.
The Arrests. Several individuals were arrested in connection with the bombing, leading to a complex investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I've done my time, crime is never the answer.

Stan Taylor reflects on his past.

20:21WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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