Father's Day Massacre; the worst bikie violence in the world | 60 Minutes Australia

bravery courage challenge heartbreak are not normally words attributed to Father's Day, but Sunday, September 2, 1984 was a Father's Day like no other, not before and fortunately not because it was the day that two rival motorcycle gangs They went to war in the car park of a Sydney pub that left dozens injured and seven dead, including an innocent fifteen-year-old girl. The famous Mill para

massacre

remains the

worst

outbreak of cycling

violence

the

world

has ever seen. This Father's Day marks 30 years since that bloodbath. Australia, the images are sometimes violent and confronting because you are about to see and hear compelling first-hand accounts of what really happened that day.

Jah Cross is a tough man, one of Australia's most feared key bosses. They shot him and hit him from an inch away. dead and imprisoned for murder now 71 years old a grand

father

defiantly alive and defiantly defensive to this day for his infamous role in the Mill Para

massacre

of 1984 would you let this dispute this war spread publicly no I didn't, They can't hear us Get it right, they came to see us, it's Father's Day, September 2, a quiet afternoon in the car park of a Western Sydney. The punk war breaks out between two gangs of bikers, jocks, Comancheros and sworn enemies, the Bandidos, when the last shots are fired, the guns, the smoky parking lot is full of wounded and bleeding bikers, six of their brothers in arms lie dead, as well as an innocent fifteen year old girl.

I can see in an hour that she's probably smart smiling at me for doing this for her. It has now been 30 years since that shocking day which was absolutely Unbelievable in terms of female biker history, there has never been anything like it since then and there was never anything like it before this night within the massacre as crucial witness was never told before . I thought I'm not going to let them get away with this who to fight for decades. of death threats break this life everyone is making gestures like that screaming makes your throat cut cutting your throat for the first time a grieving

father

reveals 30 years of anguish it's just that I can imagine what it looked like that day the detectives spent with the police Australia The biggest criminal investigation ever revealed, the evidence that was never made public should be your blood on your hands today Pavlova and the famous boss himself in their first in-depth investigation into the Division chalk 30 years on what responsibility you will blame yourself for the military massacre Jacque Ross still lives to ride, he's now retired, but for three decades he was the formidable leader of the Comancheros, the motorcycle gang he founded to this day.

Jacque, where are the club colors? With pride when you wear those comment colors, what feeling does that give you? Well, you know? one that is the thread that unites everyone and that gives everyone that identity that identity that tribal loyalty would lead to a spiral of

violence

and Linda Martin would be caught in the middle and like so many of the innocent bystanders of that day have had their lives formed by the motorcycle gangs that went to war in Mill for what I saw were deliberate actions, they were, they were armed, they knew what was going to happen, they were waiting for it to happen, they would hardly be surprised when it happened and the innocent people like you Many innocent people from strict, poor childhoods in the slums of Glasgow were caught up in their war.

Jacques Ross learned to fight and survive at a young age in 1967. The Scot emigrated to Australia after serving six years in the British Army. Army clearing landmines in North Africa and Asia, what values ​​did your military career teach you, comrades, machete, so one thing you learned as a soldier you met in truth, jock never stopped being a soldier, he missed the discipline, the camaraderie, Harley Davidson motorcycles were your other passion? On the central coast of New South Wales in the late 60s, the Comancheros were born when you, Sophie, founded them and these are the first original six, yes, yes, the first six Comancheros.

Loyalty tells me how important loyalty is to you. Extremely, loyalty is an essence. of everything, you're not loyal, I'm not loyal to, you have nothing over the years, the jock recruited a loyal group of men, all looking for something in life, the proud outcasts, the one percenters who They chose to live outside of mainstream society. When did the club start to be formed? When did you choose the weapons? The policeman was always, you know it from the beginning. Look, you're from a different era. I wasn't 2014. Guns were easy to get, so guns were always here. The JA corner club is like a private club. army wrote the rules and drooled their comments mistakes in paramilitary exercises they learned to shoot fight and defend this 1977 film shows the Comancheros of that era in all their splendor an intimidating armed force with the JA cross taking the title of Supreme Commander as Described well how you characterize someone like Jah Cross.

I think he is very uncompromising. I think he is ruthless. Lindsey Simpson is an author and journalist. She co-wrote Brothers in Arms about the biker war that was about to unfold. She has taken over other gangs that she managed. Learn about the domain and the bike scene, but then their own men, the Comancheros, broke away and that was devastating for the jocks in the early 1980s. The hard line of the jocks was causing dissent in the recruiting ranks younger and less disciplined. The athletes' loyal wife, Vanessa, noticed a change. in the atmosphere, what did you say to jock?

I told him something is wrong with them. I said they are acting really weird and strange, suddenly a year before thousand and to save his club from fragmentation, jock surrendered to his men and they relocated the Comancheros from their clubhouse in western Sydney, approaching the city, they found their new base in a waterfront mansion on Sydney Harbour, which then, although it was the beginning of the fall, was the beginning of the end, the beginning of the end, yes, that's it. It's unlikely to be a place for white neighborhoods, it sure is. I mean, it's some of the best real estate in Sydney.

Really, when you look at it, the Louisa Road Burch brothers' gentrified piece was shattered with the explosion of Harley's own rock bands and wet t's. t-shirt contests the young Comancheros celebrated a lot the old guard hated the truth is that this house is the

worst

nightmare of athletes this is where he lost control of his club. I think the other thing to say as well is that culturally he was very different, I mean he lost. control because the kids wanted the view and a better lifestyle and they wanted to get away for military exercises, so I think for them it showed how much they had gotten away from work in a matter of weeks.

The athlete announced that he would divide the club in a wild way. the men could stay and form a city chapter sportsman and their loyalists would return to the more familiar surroundings of Sydney's western suburbs if they were comfortable in Birch Grove, there was no area in the place, in retrospect it was a game It was a disaster for me and they told it like the old people. It was that we didn't fit in, but this was much more than a clubhouse and an athlete who felt out of place. It was about ego and personalities. The Birchgrove Chapter would end up under the command of Anthony Spencer, who was the command president under his own name. by Snodgrass or brat, tell me about brat when he came out, what did you think of him?

He was our last guy, who is our soul, so we took him in and he grew on you, you took him under your wing, essentially that relationship didn't go very well. It evolved as a father and son relationship. Big brother, little brother, father and son, where were we when he said it? But the brat would do the unthinkable after a trip to the United States to buy bicycle parts. He returned with a bomb with which he had secretly negotiated permission. to form an Australian chapter of the Bandidos, he and his 30 men were forming a rival gang, the man who had been like a son to a sportsman was now a traitor, I'm sorry, come to my job as an assassin at the entrance, but we quit to the watch we gave to Carlson and We all joined together for the hands, okay man, Shuki, son, so pick up the colors, bye, I can't believe you accepted it, I bet I'll tell you an oath and my soul with these, so these were your men, they have been disloyal to you now.

We don't want to let all ties be cut. The seeds of Mill Pyrrha had been sown. How did you come back? Move the Sheraton. No one could know that in just a few months there was a long-barreled firearm. Barbara's death would end in bloodshed. Played and broadcast for young and old, that means 60

minutes

. The year is 1984 and Australia's most violent biker war is brewing. Leanne Walters is 15 years old and about to become the innocent face of the milp era massacre that she bought from her father. her a Father's Day gift and she is on her way to see him after watching the bike swap meet in the Viking tavern parking lot, but Leanne never gets to see her father on Father's Day.

Shot dead in the battle between the notorious Comancheros led by Jock Ross and the newly formed Bandidos led by the brat Spencer, it remains the

world

's worst outbreak of bike violence and, as a result, some images are disturbing and discretion is advised. viewer. Jah Cross was a marked man, he and Snotty were once brothers in arms. now bitter rivals there were threats, beatings and an apparent attempt on Jaques's life when a mysterious car knocked him off his bicycle a spiral of violence that was getting out of control then in the night how did you get the Sharapova brother back you ordered it to be a consensus it has to be done without being told without being ordered yes, it was knowing that something had to be done, what message you were hoping to see, the message was withdrawn, you pushed too far but there was no push back from either side of the fuse. it was lit jocke you have returned to mill for since that day in 1984 now what does this place mean to you it is not a happy place it is the final showdown will occur at the viking temple Amil for pub that will always be engraved with a key and criminal folklore what Do you think about what happened here that night? so many people died here that day so you know you don't know how much you miss a person when they are gone, don't you know that the passage of time has never dulled this journey For Rex Walters, he has come to be with his daughter Lianne as he has done in all special occasions for 30 years.

Tomorrow, Lian, I brought you some beautiful flowers, you know, April, it's a birthday and when that day comes, you chat and you know it's cold. A feeling passes through me and I cross the cemetery and say a few words. I know it's you. It may seem silly, but it's what every parent would do. Lagaan was 15 years old and a refugee. Her parents divorced. She lived with a friend's family. She had a factory. work and dreamed of better times ahead, coach driver Rex saw LeAnn just a few days before Father's Day in 1984. LeAnn walked in and greeted Dad, gave me a big kiss and a hug and said, I'll be there on Father's Day to see each other.

That was the last time I saw her, that was the last time. Rick says Leanne was a bit of a rebel, but the two remained close. She shared her father's love of all things mechanical and had a fascination with motorcycles, which puts Leanne among the crowd. the viking tavern, like everyone else, leanne doesn't realize what's about to happen, it was meant to be a family day out, it's like a motorcycle parts and car parts market. Linda Martin was also there that day; she remembers naively joking that she had never ventured that far. from home a carefree 22 year old girl was enjoying a day with her biker boyfriend it was just a family day that just so happened to turn into hell Linda is sitting in her car sunbathing when a parade of Comancheros roars through the parking lot bristling with weapons the arrival of the Comancheros set the stage there what was that it was like a cavalcade of them coming down the parking lot so they wanted to be noticed they wanted everyone to know they were there it was a show of force I absolutely saw it They with walkie-talkies I didn't think That was very unusual and there were motorcycles with gun holsters over the handlebars when you arrived that day when you came roaring into this parking lot on your bike what did you think was going to happen? nothing at all no why did you do it? come here because a man does not want to enter here there is no choice Jacque insists that it was a late decision to show up at the exchange meeting and that his men came to be seen but not to find them armed to the hilts because the fence was not attacked, so You're here if you parked the bikes, where did you go?

Well, they ground theirs for a while. No, I went with my friends in the back to see if there was another way in or out. Jacque is still in the back of the pub when at least 30 bandits pulling the Comancheros are outnumbered.number and taken by surprise. The weapons rule out any possibility that this is just a chest-pounding exercise. It evaporates in a matter of seconds. It was on. A long-barreled firearm was produced that was held up in the air and people said, "Put." the gun goes down let's fight like men and suddenly there were all these men grabbing the firearm and it was still in the air and then it went off and it was like a starting gun that was on for young and old once that gun was going off , it's chaos, it's absolute chaos, there were gunshots coming from everywhere, there were people ducking for cover, people searching cars for guns, it wasn't long before a bullet shattered the windshield of the car I was in sitting down and I would be left in pieces. of lead shot in my face and glass I was covered in windshield glass like everyone else Linda's curry for cover as gunshots spread across the parking lot in the chaos it's not clear who's shooting through the noise it was incredible, they weren't just the gunshots coming from everywhere there were people crushing each other with lead pipes with baseball bats with chains people screaming in agony it all happened so fast you were devastated and suddenly there were three bodies on the ground near the back of the parking lot young Leanne Walters is surprised by a bullet from a Rossi tip 357 magnum rifle fired by the bandits, the wounds on the lower part of her face.

They are horrible and they failed instantly. The only use I've heard is that seven people, including a girl, were murdered at Mill Pyrrha and he said yes, he said it was LeeAnn, that was your girl, yes, that's my girl, there were so many kids, there were people throwing their children over the fence, there was a pregnant woman lying in the middle of the parking lot with her husband, who was with me and he wanted to go and find her, there were so many people who were in danger that it made me very angry, dr. The story goes that when you have your machete you have run across the parking lot screaming kill them all.

No, shit, I never said that now and he sells what and you don't say anything. Jacque Ross crosses the parking lot brandishing his signature machine, I just left it the same. I just got off, okay, I got to the first one I knew I met. I will point you to the element. This is what I'm talking about. He crossed my shoulder. He is right below. He's gone. He's gone. I have to do more steps. I'm going to cut them. I'm leaving, then they'll hit me and a man we're going to fall remembers picking me up, so I was the one who got courage under the fire, it's the only weapon I had and he was going to shoot me and the police rushed towards us.

There are dead and dying all around him and a terrifying son Sean was armed with a 12 gauge shotgun that continues on 60 Minutes. John Garvey saw a lot during his 25 years as a police officer, but nothing compares to the carnage he faced when he arrived at the parking lot of the Viking tavern, the scene of the infamous Milp era massacre, not only were there wounded and dead everywhere. , the rival motorcycle gangs, the Comancheros and the bandits, were still armed and locked in a standoff, what John would do next and the risks he would take would be a beacon of bravery on this dark day Sportsman Ross was shot in the head and chest and lies in the midst of the carnage that is the milp era massacre his men, the Comancheros, are fighting with their bitter rivals, the Bandidos, in the parking lot of the Viking tavern in western Syria trapped by fighting Linda Martin is here, in the far corner of the parking lot, sheltered behind a van.

Initial fear gives way to anger and somehow she finds incredible bravery. I took out my camera and thought I'm not going to let them get close. I got rid of this and got under the van and started taking photos. You were trying to capture people with guns still in their hands so you could then say that man shot that man with that gun, how did you have the presence of mind to do it? that in the midst of all that chaos, anger does that to you, I think it clears your mind, Police Chief Detective John Garvey was one of the first officers to rush to the scene.

We were continually receiving updates at that time from the police radio. Thefts had skyrocketed. We got to some point, we got a message that a person who had gone crazy with a firearm on the premises and escalated quickly did absolutely nothing on the trip either, nothing could have prepared you for what we found, dead and dying everywhere. We had a police helicopter above us, there was a lot of confusion, hundreds of people circling around the two gangs had not yet given up when John Garvey entered the biker tavern to start taking people out. He is flying blind and dressed in civilian clothes, armed with a shotgun unfortunately, not knowing the layout of the hotel, I entered through the back door towards the back of the parking lot and at that moment I was confronted by a fellow rhymer, a Chinese known komentera.

Raymond Kirkland was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun. He had seen his friends kill weeds and his friends get hurt. That was pretty tense. I'm a cop. Leave it. What do you mean? You're a cop. You study well. Bicycle said you're not coming in here. That's what you don't do. Don't come in here with a weapon, put down your own weapon. I did it. I agree with him that if I put down my gun, he will hand over his and he agreed to do so. That's a leap of faith on your behalf, good fighter at that stage.

I just wanted to take the tension off him, but once I lowered my gun, he relaxed, gave me his gun and then I think common sense kicked in and the only way we were going to get people there to Treat the wounded was to obtain the rest of the weapons in an act that would earn him praise for his bravery. John Garvey convinces Sunshine to take him to the parking lot without a gun. Her hand extended to undo the keys and pick up his weapons. The carnage counts seven dead four Comancheros two bandits end innocent bystander Leanne Walters What do you think of the young woman who was murdered here caught in the crossfire?

Lee Anne, such a tragedy for her so young. I know the tragedy, but I have the feeling that you don't have any remorse for having fought against the Bandits, you don't regret having used weapons to attack them that day. In fact, we defended, but you had the option, no, they had the option, we were there, they started, they had the option there, but. you also had the option now free of charge no we have no other option you mean how can you not fight them now that they are coming at you? Let's raise our arms and be cut into pieces.

You have a number. They marked me. Dying was the closest thing I've ever seen to a battlefield. I know it's used a lot, but there were actually dead bodies. They walked wounded. There were both. There were cartridges. Baseball bats. Weapons. Mick McGann is still haunted by Father's Day 1984. No level of training could prepare the top detective for what he found in the Viking tenem parking lot. The magnitude of the thing affected me. I've never been to a massacre. Is it notable then that more people didn't die? Oh yeah. oh, I've always said that it was said that a Clairborne Society and they came there on the other side of a war and stuffed everyone else, in addition to the deaths by the keys, 21 were wounded, many of them seriously when Joc underwent surgery to remove shotgun pellets.

The police wasted no time in Operation Hard Walk - he was given full authority to raid homes and begin making arrests. I mean, this is an incredible array of information. This is the history of the world. Massacres in Peru. Now this table contains only a fraction of the evidence gathered by. police, this is the actual Father's Day flyer, Sunday 2nd September 1984, much of this has remained confidential for 30 years, some of the photographs, case notes and witness statements collected by John Garvey and Mick McGann shortly after, the Bandidos have arrived and it was demonstrated by the bikes here and there that they barely slept from the moment the last shots were fired until rounding up the suspects, so it was just a huge report and it really resulted in a massive logistical exercise when you look at it all This I mean what draws both of your attention to exactly what happened that day.

What catches my attention is that here are some photographs that were taken by a girl. These are the photos at all and what Linda Moulton captured tells the story, oh my goodness, those photographs look extraordinary to me. Linda's courage lasted long enough to take seven photographs. The only frames that exist of the real shooter. Her photographs and witness evidence were crucial to the trial police. They placed weapons in the hands of keys and. I revealed who was in what part of the car. I think it's still remarkable that you have the presence of mind to grab your camera while all those guns are going off, hide under this van and capture this massacre that is etched in Australian history.

It's the only weapon I know. had and I was going to fight back and you did I did Flinders bravery it would take a price to come making gestures like those decades of death rates I was getting phone calls saying I'd be dead a father clings to precious memories but that's all I'm left here and finally a hint of remorse has cooled, that's next on 60 Minutes Linda Martin is in the wrong place at the wrong time, one of the many innocent bystanders caught in the middle of the horrific Mill massacre at Father's The day in 1984, but in that moment of madness, Linda finds extraordinary courage to take seven detailed and damning photographs.

Those photos would be crucial in helping detectives round up and convict the culprits. Linda would have to testify in court and so she was forced to hold on to her courage for a long time how difficult it was to go to court and identify these cyclists to stand in front of them it was very difficult they were behind a perspex screen but there were so many of them and everyone was making gestures like they were cutting your throat cutting your throat we was getting phone calls threatening me call saying if he testified he would be dead did you ever think about keeping his mouth shut not giving evidence no I wasn't in that court for a reason because he was not going to let them get away with it when the defendants arrived at the prison vans around 80 police officers had completely surrounded the courtroom each of the farewell keys was charged with seven counts of murder, the astonishing figure of three hundred and one The charges across the scale of the trial were extraordinary and remain the longest in Australia at 13 months.

Inside the courtroom had been specially remodeled to accommodate 21 defense attorneys and six prosecutors. In the end, 30 of the Farewell Keys were imprisoned, but Bandidos boss Anthony Snoddy Spencer was not. Without waiting for a verdict, he took his own life in prison. All murder convictions would later be reduced to manslaughter. Jacques would be five years and three months old. Why did the massacre of the mill fathers occur? What is written? I think the important feature in all of this is William Ross Jacque Ross I think he is a very intelligent figure, very calculating, very dominant and he is responsible for all those things that happened that day.

Is he responsible for the seven people who died there? I think he should have blood on his hands today. I think he was in jail Jacques Ross remained president of the Comancheros and kept the imprisoned Club members in line. He was a model prisoner whose good behavior resulted in a reduced sentence. His daughter Holly was just a little girl when Dad left. I remember we would be there. You know a lot, I know we went there every other day that we weren't in court, we were there on the weekends, I mean, I don't remember it being a jail and that's not what I knew, it's what you thought of course.

This is the castle, dad's castle, yes your dad has a fierce reputation, how do you defend it? I see him as a strong person, very loyal, he will never leave your side, Jacque, why is this place so special to you? That's what all men do. they are bidding this year I was going to the club if there is a place for JA Cross to reflect 30 years later it is here in Palmdale Cemetery and the foghorn Comancheros Morial yes, Leroy, yes, sparrow and dog, yes, they were all there, that it was mill for that was my peer there was a little old heart in the club, you know when you are here now and you look at their names, what do you think, how do you reflect on it? sad, you know you'll really give up to be with them.

The legacy for Linda Martin has been a lifetime of threats that forced her to move and change jobs several times. Only now, after 30 years, does she feel able to break her silence. Do you feel as if over the years you have lived and examined your life? shoulder that I did for a long time how long did it take before you stopped doing that before you got rid of that fear? I would say25 years 25 years you have received death threats for so long that by now you would be completely forgiven for not speaking at all, why are you speaking on this anniversary?

I think it's important to remember the innocent people that were out there, it was a family day and I think the victims have been lost in it now, this is your gift, that was my gift. yes, if the Rideau that happens when you don't think about Leanne is now every day, I care, he's locked up now and that's it. Jane's Rex Walters holds on to cherished memories, the Father's Day gift LeeAnn never had the chance to give. him and the clothes he was wearing the day he died. You know, people might think more about why you keep them, but I can just imagine what it looked like that day.

Yes, but that's all I have left. You know I can. look an hour, she's probably smart smiling at me for doing this for her, it would be possible because you were honoring her memory, yes, four members of the biker gang were waiting for the boss of the common chair, oh, when he came out free at nine o'clock On his release this morning, Jah Cross remained a formidable figure leading the Comancheros until his retirement in 2003. It's hard to imagine given his notoriety, but Jock is no different from any other retired grandfather at 71, how does he describe you? today?

Oh man, these days his life is. dominated by a different club with different colors for the last 20 years, he served as a decorated captain of the Rural Fire Service, but mil terra remains the defining event of his life to this day. What happened in that parking lot remains the worst outbreak of bike violence. Has the world ever seen a war between men who would not turn back Jacque 30 years on what responsibilities they will blame you, do you dress to the mill for slaughter? If it could be a change. I changed it, but what was it all about?

Nothing really at the end of The Day Prayed Ego, possibly, how did it feel to revisit that parking lot at the Mill for Strange? I was okay, actually, when I was talking to you, it's probably a copper night. My daughter for Mia says that whenever she got cold for no reason, I just got cold. I think this is the first time I've heard you express that kind of emotion about what happened that day. My goal is that regret, possible sadness, I don't know what happened.