Naked City

For former homicide detective Sol Solomon, there was only one Carl. Underworld heavy and gangland killer Carl Williams who was to be the star witness into the 2004 murders of police informer Terence Hodson and his wife, Christine.But with his murder, the case against former detective Paul Dale and hitman Rod Collins collapsed.Solomon’s career is littered with high points; catching contract killers, multiple murderers and solving cold cases. But the death of Williams was a low point.You can read the full story here: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/murder-carl-williams-and-a-gun-under-the-table-inside-the-career-of-a-killer-catcher-20260310-p5o968.html
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For more than 30 years, Joy and Roger Membrey – before he died in 2023 – have been hunting for answers over the murder of their 22-year-old daughter, Elisabeth.Elisabeth, a politics graduate who had been offered a trainee journalist position with Channel Ten, went missing from her sharehouse in 1994. Police believe she was killed in the hallway and taken from the scene, though her body has never been found.There have been false dawns. First, the Membreys were told by police they found the killer. But he was cleared. And now, there is a new suspect.Today, John Silvester speaks to Elisabeth's mother Joy about her enduring quest to find her daughter's body, and police investigator Andrew Stamper about the new investigation.
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Melbourne's gangland war in the early 2000s captured the country's imagination. People like Carl and Roberta Williams became household names. Eventually, Eddie McGuire – the then Channel Nine CEO – demanded his team commissioned a television series. It became Underbelly, based on a book written by Andrew Rule and John Silvester.The show created controversy from the get-go. A Supreme Court judge banned it from sale in Victoria as it was so close to the truth it could impact on jury trials, while at the same time, the series was criticised for glamourising gangsters. And as for the gangsters themselves, well, they were being taken out by actors researching their roles, some of whom became so well-known as their criminal characters they would be mistaken for them in the street.And then there was the time Roberta Williams turned up on set, demanding to know who was playing her in the series.In today's special episode of Naked City with John Silvester, actor Rodger Corser revisits the hit series with Stuart Bateson, the real-life detective that his character was based on.

For all of Sly's columns and stories, visit www.theage.com.au.
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The gangland war has become like folklore in the tale of crime in Australia. From 1995, dozens of murders occurred in Melbourne in a wrestle over drugs and egos involving notorious underworld figures such as Carl Williams, Tony Mokbel, and the Morans.At the centre of it all was Stuart Bateson, a detective with the Purana taskforce.Today, John Silvester - who wrote the definitive account of the gangland war - talks to Bateson about what investigating this violent web of crooks was really like, and hear part of a recording of a real gangland hit.Bateson talks to Sly ahead of the release of a new three-part documentary from Channel Nine called Naked City: Hitmen, which screens from March 4.
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John Taylor is one of the longest-serving and smallest (in stature) Special Operations Group members, and its longest-serving bomb disposal expert.Taylor was part of a crack team of officers who had to respond when "troubled genius" and self-taught bomb expert Glenn Saunders sparked a police stand-off, and then, a massive explosion in country Victoria.In this episode of Naked City with John Silvester, Taylor talks about the life and perilous times of the elite police squad. And what he does for fun outside of work, including climbing six of the seven major summits.
You can read the story here: https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/never-try-to-shoot-a-man-through-a-fridge-sog-veteran-s-perilous-life-and-times-20250625-p5ma7k.html
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