Michael Duffy’s murderous prose

Michael Duffy has gone to the dark side and is now reporting on crime for a Sydney newspaper.

Dead in the water

It is a Sydney tradition for murderers to take their victims out to sea in a boat and throw them overboard.

The meeting turned nasty and, before Elliot could pull out his weapon, Christiansen shot him in the chest and then in the head. As so often happens with this sort of crime, the killing was the easy bit. The problems began with the disposal of the body, not least because this meant involving more accomplices. Christiansen turned to a Waverley College old boy Jeremy Postlewaight, with whom he had been friends for years.

Postlewaight borrowed a large trailer boat and drove to Christiansen’s house in Annandale, where they met Marcelo Urriola, an old boy of St Pius X College, Chatswood, and Marist Brothers, North Sydney.

He, too, was an old pal of Christiansen’s and the two shared an interest in body-building and anabolic steroids. Waygood also turned up but he didn’t help much because of his bike accident.

Christiansen boasted, “I did that thing” and mimicked the shape of a gun with his hand. Urriola replied that he had “done good”.

Then they went to work. Elliot’s body was stuffed into a large toolbox, which the men transferred to the boat. Blood leaked out which Postlewaight cleaned up. Waygood left and the others took the boat to Drummoyne, launched it, and motored out through the Heads. On the way, Christiansen and Urriola threw up – neither was a good sailor – and drilled holes in the toolbox so it would sink. When they reached a spot where the water was some 130 metres deep, Postlewaight stopped and tied an anchor to the toolbox.

He said a prayer “out of respect” – or so a court was later told – and they pushed the toolbox over the side.

Read full story here…

Starting with the kidnap and murder of criminal and police informer Terry Falconer in 2001, a large team of detectives and analysts has been chasing one of the most brutal groups of criminals in NSW history in relation to suspected crimes including a dozen murders and suspected murders.

‘‘We had no idea the extent of violence we would uncover when we first commenced the investigation,’’ Inspector Jubelin said.

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DRIVE-BY shootings are unique because of the random element involved. In most crimes the criminal has a pretty good idea of the outcome.

With drive-bys, the result can be anywhere between injuring no one and killing an innocent person – and the perpetrator has no control over what targets his bullets will find.

Read full story here…

EVERYONE needs a hobby and ours is keeping track of the legal system’s long-running efforts to bring Mohammed ‘‘Blackie’’ Fahda to trial.

Read full story here…

And Michael’s obituary of a fine man:

Edgar Penzig, motorcycle racer, actor and leading bushranger historian, has died at the age of 80 of complications related to cancer.

Penzig published more than 20 books on colonial and bushranging history and was responsible for countering the view of Ben Hall as an antipodean Robin Hood.

Read full obituary here…