Chopper Reid dies

Remove this Banner Ad

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
Just saw a 60 minutes ad, he has done an interview with them in the last few weeks apparently admits to 4 unsolved murders.

Saw the promo you were referring to, last night. Will be interesting to see which murders he claims.

The police probably think Chopper is full of sh_t, but I daresay they'll be tuning in.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
The final Chopper Read interview screens 8.10pm tonight on 60 Minutes. They also have a Dolly Parton thing happening in the same program - so either story could appear first.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

sprockets

Cancelled
Crime Board Sleuth BeanCoiNFT Investor
Oct 15, 2004
5,562
9,546
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
Other Teams
Richmond
The final Chopper Read interview screens 8.10pm tonight on 60 Minutes. They also have a Dolly Parton thing happening in the same program - so either story could appear first.
Bit of a theme happening there, he murdered people and she murdered music.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
So the 4 murders Chopper Read claimed on 60 Minutes were >

1971 - Shot Painter & Docker DES COSTELLO outside the Leinster Arms Hotel (Collingwood) and planted the body at the Shot Tower.

1974 - With the assistance of Mad Charlie, bashed & strangled fellow inmate & convicted paedophile REGINALD ISAACS. The official finding was suicide.

1987 - Shot SAMMY THE TURK at St Kilda Esplanade. Pleaded self defence and was found not guilty.

2002 - Shot SYD COLLINS for a second time, ironically again with his own gun, and buried the body in Casino NSW near a football ground.

I guess it's a case of believe it or not?
 
Jul 3, 2009
2,178
3,733
tigerland
AFL Club
Richmond
Very interesting interview. I assume the police will take a look around any football grounds in casino.

Looking at an old article Sidney Collin's ute was found at Tabulam, 40 mins from Casino.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
1_chopper-victims-300x0.jpg
 

lemon chicken

Cancelled
Jan 31, 2008
4,708
782
Mordialloc
AFL Club
Essendon
Sammy the turk was a bit of a let down, fairly widely acknowledged he did that one. Not sure I believed the last one and going by Wiki the dates for his Jacko tour don't match up.
 
Wonder if Chopper's last claimed kill was actually a joke to force the police in to digging up Casino oval or atleast wasting police resources?
I feel sorry for his kids though.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
Wonder if Chopper's last claimed kill was actually a joke to force the police in to digging up Casino oval or atleast wasting police resources?
I feel sorry for his kids though.

You wouldn't put it past him. Last night's interview looked like Chopper just grabbing one more piece of notoriety before the final curtain came down.
 

Kalmah

Draftee
Oct 21, 2013
6
1
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Sammy the turk was a bit of a let down, fairly widely acknowledged he did that one. Not sure I believed the last one and going by Wiki the dates for his Jacko tour don't match up.
Where did you find the tour dates? Was he touring with Jacko at the time or with others? I doubt he'd do something like that in his presence.

The Sidney Collins confession came as a bit of a shock and I'm not sure if I really believe it. I think if Collins went missing the same day in the same town Chopper was passing through he would of been questioned a bit more heavily than he did. Would Sid be so stupid as to go to his show alone and get in a car alone with him?
"So when was the last time Sid was seen?"
"Oh, he was just going to a chopper read performance Sir".

I didn't know about the Des Costello murder either. I wonder who he done it with.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
Where did you find the tour dates? Was he touring with Jacko at the time or with others? I doubt he'd do something like that in his presence.

The Sidney Collins confession came as a bit of a shock and I'm not sure if I really believe it. I think if Collins went missing the same day in the same town Chopper was passing through he would of been questioned a bit more heavily than he did. Would Sid be so stupid as to go to his show alone and get in a car alone with him?
"So when was the last time Sid was seen?"
"Oh, he was just going to a chopper read performance Sir".

I didn't know about the Des Costello murder either. I wonder who he done it with.

Regarding The Collins disappearance >

"Mr Collins, a former president of the Black Uhlans outlaw motorcycle club, vanished in suspicious circumstances during a trip in late August from his Gold Coast home to northern NSW to recover an underworld debt.

He was reported missing by his son on September 1 and his Falcon XR8 ute was found the next day more than 100 kilometres away near Tabulam, west of Casino on the NSW north coast".

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/10/29/1035683412560.html

I doubt Collins would have gone near Chopper - let alone taken him in his car to his home - like Chopper claimed last night.

Regarding the Costello shooting >

I think Chopper mentioned a name who assisted him moving Costello's body from the Leinster to the Shot Tower - can't recall who he claimed it was though?
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Sep 22, 2011
40,580
87,831
Your girlfriend's dreams
AFL Club
Essendon
Sammy the Turk is obviously true

Costello... not sure. I guess the thing that sort of gets me is would they really trust a 17yo virgin to pull that off. Apparently he had help, possibly the other party pulled the trigger and Read helped with the body etc

Not sure about Issacs though very possible. Wonder if there were any injuries indentified post mortem that line up with Reads story

Collins is doubtful. Wonder if anybody could place Chopper there at the time
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
...Not sure about Issacs though very possible. Wonder if there were any injuries indentified post mortem that line up with Read's story..

The way Read told the Isaacs story last night, he said he repeatedly struck Isaacs to the head and after that repeatedly struck him to the body. Therefore Isaacs should have been black & blue from the beating he received. Hardly consistent with what a suicide victim should look like, and if the coroner was doing his job the suicide theory would have gone straight out the window...

...assuming Chopper was telling the truth of course ;)
 

lemon chicken

Cancelled
Jan 31, 2008
4,708
782
Mordialloc
AFL Club
Essendon
Where did you find the tour dates? Was he touring with Jacko at the time or with others? I doubt he'd do something like that in his presence.



I only went off Wikipedia which says the tour was in 2005 but I found an old article later on that had part of an interview that said he was on a tour in Adelaide in 2002, he also did a book launch around different parts of the country in 2002. There's a thread on here too which backs up that he was on tour in 2002 http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/what-do-people-think-of-chopper-read.42513/ I also watched his movie again last night hadn't seen it for years but can't recall if he had any input, at the start of it when he is in prison there is some references to the Painters & Dockers war.
 
Aug 17, 2006
23,225
21,445
AFL Club
Geelong
I only went off Wikipedia which says the tour was in 2005 but I found an old article later on that had part of an interview that said he was on a tour in Adelaide in 2002, he also did a book launch around different parts of the country in 2002. There's a thread on here too which backs up that he was on tour in 2002 http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/what-do-people-think-of-chopper-read.42513/ I also watched his movie again last night hadn't seen it for years but can't recall if he had any input, at the start of it when he is in prison there is some references to the Painters & Dockers war.

I don't know a heap about Read's relationship with the P&Ds, but he was a long-time ally and protector of Bill 'The Texan' Longley, who was a union heavyweight with the P&Ds and was convicted of the murder of union secretary Pat Shannon in the early 70s. Also, in the famous 'Overcoat War', Keith Faure (who was opposed to Chopper) had strong P&D connections. The Kane brothers were also recognised as Dockers and, while they apparently weren't exactly friends of Chopper's, I don't think they were enemies either.

By the sounds of things, you couldn't be a significant figure in the Melbourne underworld at the time without having some connections within the P&Ds, but due to the war with Faure and many of the prisoners with P&D ties in Pentridge wanting Longley dead, I don't think Chopper was considered to be an ally of theirs.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
Further regarding the Isaacs "suicide" from the Herald Sun >

As the (retired) policeman who arrested Isaacs in 1974 told me last week, "It's hard to hang yourself from a door knob - unless you've got a couple of blokes helping you." It was an open secret in prison that prisoners wanted Isaacs dead. Also it's no secret some warders turned a blind eye to Read's prison violence because it suited their purposes.

www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/andrew-rule-examines-mark-chopper-reads-claim-from-the-grave-that-he-killed-four-people/story-fni0ffnk-1226743659708

> That Chopper claims he beat Isaacs up first still doesn't stack up though.
 

Kalmah

Draftee
Oct 21, 2013
6
1
AFL Club
Port Adelaide
Well I guess Andrew Rule doesn't seem to think he did it. I still maintain that the matter would of been pursued a lot more rigorously if Collins went missing the same time as Chopper was passing through town. Instead of just the standard routine line of inquiry he received over it.

As far as the Issacs murder I tend to believe that one. He has been telling that story for a long time and I get the feeling the prison staff back in the 70's would of been happy to turn their back to the murdering of someone who committed those crimes.

Does anyone know of what happened to Choppers old mate he called "Dave the jew"? He mentioned him in a lot of books and says he committed many crimes but was never jailed. He had a picture of him in one of his books I think his real name was David Epstein. He said he made him his godfather of his first son. The Tasmanian police also hid away all the witness's in the Collins case because they heard he was travelling over from Melbourne to get rid of a few of them.

In Choppers last book he wrote he said that Dave is basically a schizophrenic these days and just walks around talking to himself.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
Aug 17, 2006
23,225
21,445
AFL Club
Geelong
The only other possible reason for making up such a fanciful story was if someone he knew had actually done the deed and he wanted to draw attention away from the real killer. Possible, but I think even Chopper would realise that he's story would be torn to shreds within 12 hours and all he'd succeed in doing is drawing more attention to the case. So I would suggest that Dixon is on the money and Chopper hasn't the faintest idea who did it.
 

Dan Cooper

Victory Salute
Sep 26, 2013
8,071
4,822
Red Corner
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Boxing
The only other possible reason for making up such a fanciful story was if someone he knew had actually done the deed and he wanted to draw attention away from the real killer. Possible, but I think even Chopper would realise that he's story would be torn to shreds within 12 hours and all he'd succeed in doing is drawing more attention to the case. So I would suggest that Dixon is on the money and Chopper hasn't the faintest idea who did it.

In Dixon's book he is fairly frank about Chopper. For instance he says Chopper often gambled away the touring entourage's takings and they struggled to get paid - and he said that well before Chopper died.

On that basis, if Dixon is calling bullsh_t on Chopper's 60 Minutes interview, I believe him.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back