Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Bad Antipodean Dudes

I didn't realize much of Underbelly was based on the singular history of Carl Williams. I like Underbelly because it has a close affinity with Breaking Bad, and wondered whether the production teams were influencing each other over the years:
Carl Anthony Williams (13 October 1970 – 19 April 2010) was a convicted murderer and drug trafficker from the Australian state of Victoria. He was the central figure in the Melbourne gangland killings.

...He was sentenced to life imprisonmen with a non-parole period of 35 years for ordering the murders of three people and conspiracy to murder a fourth (which was unsuccessful). On 19 April 2010, while incarcerated at Barwon Prison, Williams was beaten to death with the stem of an exercise bike by another inmate, Matthew Charles Johnson.

...On 13 October 1999, Williams was shot in the abdomen by Jason Moran because he owed the Morans thousands of dollars. This event gave rise to a lengthy underworld war known popularly as the Melbourne gangland killings. In 2002 after meeting through a mutual friend Tony Mokbel, Carl Williams would court the services of the murderer Andrew Veniamin as his right hand man until late 2003.

...On 19 April 2010 News Limited newspapers including the Herald Sun revealed that Victoria Police are paying $8000 in school fees for Williams' daughter. The reason for the payment was not revealed at the time. However, during the 2011 murder trial, it was revealed Williams had turned informant and had struck a deal with Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland. Williams gave information on several unsolved murder cases believed to have involved corrupt officers and it was also revealed his murderer may have been implicated in at least one. Williams' lawyer Rob Stary said Williams was upset about the publication of the story. There was speculation that the police may have agreed to pay the school fees in exchange for information, and that publication of the story may have led to Williams' death.

...Williams was portrayed by Gyton Grantley in the 2008 Australian television series Underbelly, based on the events surrounding the Melbourne gangland wars from 1995 through to 2004.

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