Naked City

Epizodai

• In a world of two-bit gangsters, Charlie Wootton was the last old-school crook 26.05.2026 37min

  One of the underworld's old guard passed away quietly this year.Charlie Wootton didn’t need to be well known to be well respected in shadows occupied by hard men, controlling Melbourne’s illegal gaming industry long before the glittering behemoth of Crown casino.Though he posted death notices paying tribute to notorious crooks killed in the gangland war, Wootton was determined to keep a low profile, never mentioning the names of the celebrities and politicians who would attend his illegal gaming dens.Today, his son Robert Wootton talks to John Silvester in an unusual episode of Naked City. Unusual because decades ago, those same gaming houses run by Charlie Wootton were the target of Sly’s father, a respected gaming detective by the name of Fred Silvester. Further reading/listening The singing detective, Naked City, season one. John Silvester's latest story – 'Greed and hubris: The inside story of a legal scandal.'  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• My brother, the Great Bookie robber 19.05.2026 22min

  On April 21, 1976, six bandits raided the Victoria Club where Melbourne’s biggest bookies were settling their accounts with cash. No one knows the exact figure, but the take was supposed to be in the vicinity of $15 million.Just after the armed robbery, and a few kilometres away at a pub in the suburb of Windsor, Greg Carroll was meeting his brother, Ian Revell Carroll.Greg remembers the smirk on his brother’s face when news of the robbery broke while they tucked into lunch.What he didn’t know was that his brother was one of the six bandits behind one of Australia’s most notorious, and successful, heists.Today, Greg speaks to John Silvester about the genius of the stick-up and then, the curse of the Great Bookie Robbery. For more: Gregory M Carroll's book '11 Minutes'  A tour of the Naked City: Melbourne's crime secrets revealed by John Silvester. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• Naked City special: A conversation with John Silvester 12.05.2026 1val 22min

  A couple of months ago we held a night for subscribers to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, a conversation with John Silvester, hosted by crime and justice reporter Erin Pearson. We recorded the whole thing and so for today’s episode, we bring you this special episode with Sly. In the conversation, Sly shared how he became a journalist and then all the highlights from his long career – from the gangland war in Melbourne and his dealings with Carl Williams, how a Christmas card from Mark "Chopper" Read sparked a long relationship, and what was so different about Erin Patterson, who was convicted - and since appealed - of the notorious mushroom murder case. You too can have access to nights like this by becoming a subscriber.  Background reading, watching and listening: Sly’s latest column – ‘You’re gunna get it’: How police stared down a double-murderer and prevented further carnage A tour of the Naked City: Melbourne's crime secrets revealed by John Silvester See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• Don’t play god, don’t mess with their mail – in prison with the worst of the worst 05.05.2026 53min

  Brian Coghlan is laid back, an asset he was able to use in his workplace. As a prison officer, he quickly learnt that being seen as a good guy around bad people was the key to life behind bars.For 26 years at Port Phillip Prison, he dealt with the worst society had to offer – sex offenders, serial killers and manipulative mass murderers who knew they were destined to die in jail.He spent most of those years working in the top-level protection unit that housed the likes of Peter Dupas, Julian Knight, Raymond "Mr Stinky" Edmunds and the Bega schoolgirl killers.Coghlan decided very early to deal with each inmate on the basis of how they behaved in jail, not what they did to get there.In this episode, he talks to John Silvester about the tricks to surviving in jail, as an inmate and as a prison officer, and his unique insight into some of the country’s worst inmates. Background reading/viewing John Silvester's full story on Brian Coghlan – 'Dealing with Victoria's most notorious killers'. John Silvester's latest column – '$500 to firebomb: How crime gangs are outsourcing Melbourne’s Bar Wars.' Foreign Correspondent, ABC, 'The man from Tobasco: The story of Carlos Cabal Peniche.' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• The champion boxer and the crime boss who wanted him dead 28.04.2026 42min

  Barry Michael was a professional boxer who made his name in the ring as a smart and brave fighter with a kit of wicked body punches.Alphonse John Gangitano, a mobster who preferred a king hit to a fair fight, was in the corner of the talented Lester Ellis when Michael took Ellis’ world title.The trouble was, Gangitano wanted the title back.In today’s episode of Naked City with John Silvester, Michael recounts what happened when Gangitano ambushed him in a Melbourne nightclub, and what happened when "Sly" took him on in the ring. Background reading John Silvester’s story on Barry Michael. All of John Silvester’s stories and columns. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• The cop, the sovereign citizen and the arrest that ruined a life 21.04.2026 43min

  Michael Aston loved being a cop, or more specifically, a road policing officer. He said it was the best job in the world, until it wasn't. Aston is no longer a cop, with his career and mental health disappearing into the quicksand of the legal system where no one is accountable. It was 2020, and the start of the dark days of COVID, when Aston was policing then-premier Daniel Andrews' lockdown laws that prevented Victorians from travelling outside a five-kilometre radius.  On a road outside of Coldstream, north east of Melbourne, Aston tried to pull over a driver to check his work permit – and encountered a sovereign citizen. This was years before the name Desmond 'Dezi' Freeman ripped into the public's consciousness for shooting three police officers, two fatally, in the Victorian High Country. But back in 2020, Aston's run-in with a sovereign citizen changed his life. Aston and his wife, Deanna, open up to John Silvester in today's special episode of Naked City.   Background reading John Silvester's full story on Michael Aston. All of Sly's columns, and stories. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• The top cop who used his music career to find Tony Mokbel 14.04.2026 42min

  Former deputy commissioner and counter-terrorism boss Ross Guenther had a unique life before policing, playing in big bands with music greats Jerry Lewis and Barry White.He was no slouch in his policing career either, heading up the counter-terrorism squad for Victoria Police.In this episode of Naked City, he talks to John Silvester about a foiled terrorism plot, and how his music career helped him hunt down Tony Mokbel after the drug boss’ infamous escape to Greece.  And if you want to read all of Sly’s stories, click here.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• They were violent young offenders. But something happened to these ‘lost boys’ of Port Phillip 07.04.2026 26min

  Anne Hooker worked as a prison officer for 13 years for Corrections Victoria, and Port Phillip Prison for a further 23 years.She also set up and ran a unit in jail called Penhyn, which housed young men aged 18 to 25.The unit became so highly sought after within the prison system that there was a waiting list to enter it, and as Hooker explained to Naked City host John Silvester, the environment she created in there led to recidivism rates (the times an offender returns to prison) slashed.Anne Hooker is one of a handful of experts who has the practical and academic experience to provide at least some of the answers to the country's – and particularly Victoria's – youth crime epidemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• We'll be back soon 31.03.2026

  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• True detective, Part 2: Hunting a cannibal, and other tales of homicide 24.03.2026 57min

  Sol Solomon has investigated some of the country's worst, most high-profile and just plain bizarre homicides.In part two of his interview with Naked City's John Silvester, the former detective talks about some of the most difficult cases - such as investigating the murders of police officers Gary Silk and Rodney Miller. And the best, like hearing a killer confess to a cold case murder of a single mother during an elaborate undercover sting.He also reveals the strangest case...investigating a real-life cannibal.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• True detective, Part 1: The hitman, and the corruption case of the century 17.03.2026 1val 5min

  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.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• A cold case, a new suspect, and a mother who has never given up 10.03.2026 26min

  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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• The cop, the actor and the true tale of the Underbelly series 03.03.2026 32min

  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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• The real story of Melbourne’s gangland war 24.02.2026 38min

  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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• Armed robbers and detonating bombs: Inside the elite police squad 17.02.2026 28min

  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.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• He lived by the three rules of policing, before it all came undone 10.02.2026 37min

  Tim Peck was an experienced homicide detective who worked on some of the country’s most notorious murder investigations, including the Maria Korp ‘body in the boot’ case. But the things that made him a crack detective, would also be the things that slowly brought him undone. In this special episode of Naked City, Peck shares his rise and fall, and rise again, with John Silvester. This episode includes a confronting discussion about suicide. If this content raises any issues for you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• Mr Cruel, Part 2: Criminal profiler John Kelly on Australia's most notorious child kidnapper 03.02.2026 14min

  John Wayne Gacy, the Zodiac Killer, the Green River Killer (aka Gary Leon Ridgway) – name a serial killer, criminal profiler and psychotherapist John Kelly has profiled them all. Now he’s turned his attention Down Under, to notorious child snatcher Mr Cruel, and his insights are compelling.You can read Sly's story here: https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-new-profile-of-mr-cruel-who-may-have-been-a-burglar-before-he-was-a-killer-20240704-p5jr1e.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• Mr Cruel, Part 1: The case of Karmein Chan and whether detectives got it right 27.01.2026 16min

  When a third girl was kidnapped in just a few years, police suspected one offender: Mr Cruel.Before Karmein Chan, 13, in 1991, there was 10-year-old Sharon Wills in 1988 and 13-year-old Nicola Lynas in 1990.In this special two-part episode on the notorious child snatcher who terrorised Melbourne streets, John Silvester speaks to the first police officer who was on the scene at the Chan abduction.The former sergeant, Rod Phillips, still wonders whether detectives were too quick to believe Karmein was taken by Mr Cruel and that they should have been looking in another direction, far closer to home.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• He was an international thief targeting wealthy Australian homes, until one slip-up 20.01.2026 15min

  During the span of one week in July 2020, designer goods, cash and jewellery were stolen from eight homes in Melbourne’s affluent Toorak.It took a year for police to identify the pattern and the extent of the burglaries – some reaching as far as Queensland and totalling millions of dollars. The chief burglar’s planning was impeccable, until one slip-up.In this episode of Naked City, crime reporter John Silvester interviews the detective who nabbed a meticulous international cat burglar.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
• A little girl murdered, a mother vindicated: Solving the case of Bonnie Clarke 13.01.2026 29min

  In 1982, single mother Marion Wishart, looking to make ends meet, invited a lodger to stay in her home in the suburb of Northcote in Melbourne. She could not have predicted what would happen next.What followed was one of the city’s most notorious child murders, that of her daughter, six-year-old Bonnie Clarke.In the first episode of a new season of Naked City, crime reporter John Silvester tells the story of a mother wrongly accused of her daughter’s murder, and a detective who, many years later, was determined to right a most wretched wrong.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.