15 Luglio 1977 Griffith (Australia) Scompare il deputato Donald Bruce Mackay
Donald Bruce Mackay (Griffith, 13 settembre 1933 – Griffith, 15 luglio 1977) è stato un deputato australiano, politico liberale del Nuovo Galles del Sud e attivista anti-droga, morì a soli 44 anni per omicidio.
Preoccupato del crescente traffico di droga nella zona in cui viveva e a conoscenza di un grande campo di marijuana nei pressi di Coleambally, Mackay informò la squadra antidroga di Sidney che procedette a diversi arresti portando in carcere quattro persone di origini italiane.
Il 15 luglio 1977, Mackay scomparve dal parcheggio di un hotel dopo aver bevuto con gli amici e non fu più trovato. La sua auto fu trovata vuota e contenente tracce di sangue e proiettilli calibro 22. La sua scomparsa fece notizia e molti credettero che il responsabile fosse l’esponente della ‘ndrangheta australiana Robert Trimboli.
A fine 2008 il Rotary Club di Griffith eresse un memoriale sulla Banna Avenue, la strada principale di Grifitth, per onorare il trentesimo anniversario del suo omicidio.
Nel 2009 Andrew McFarlane ha interpretato il ruolo di Mackay nella serie televisiva Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities.
Fonte: Wikipedia
Fonte: news.com.au
Articolo del 14 luglio 2017
Australia’s first political assassination: hitman, the Mafia, and a body stuffed into a bin
di Megan Palin
AUSTRALIA’S first political assassination involved a hitman and the Mafia and ended with an innocent father of three young children dead.
AUSTRALIA’S first political assassination involved a hitman and the Mafia and ended with an innocent father of three young children dead.
It’s been 40 years since NSW politician Donald Mackay, 43, went missing from the car park of a hotel in Kooyoo Street, Griffith, on the evening of 15 July, 1977. But the case is far from closed with police this week renewing their appeal for information regarding the Mafia murder.
His body has never been found, but extensive police investigations and a 1984 Coronial Inquest concluded that Mr Mackay died of wilfully inflicted gunshot wounds.
Three bullet casings were found and blood was smeared on the door of his locked van.
Since then, three men have been convicted of conspiring to murder the once-Liberal party candidate while a Royal Commission named six others who may have ordered the brutal killing.
Police have never been able to charge the hit man who pulled the trigger despite exhaustive inquiries, including a coronial inquest which found the father of four died of gunshot wounds.
Mr Mackay is believed to have been murdered in his rural hometown for telling police the whereabouts of marijuana farms owned by the Australian-born mafia.
Mafia insider, Gianfranco Tizzoni, testified that he paid Melbourne hit man James Frederick Bazley $10,000 to carry out the murder.
He said he acted as a middle man for notorious crime figure Bob Trimbole who had agreed to organise the contract killing on behalf of Griffith crime figures. Police allege Tizzoni was present during the murder and that he helped dispose of the body.
Trimbole and Tizzoni have since died.
In 1986, Bazley was sentenced to life over a double murder, nine years for the conspiracy to murder Mr Mackay and a further four years for a $270,000 armed robbery.
He has always maintained his innocence and was released from prison in 2001.
NSW Police said they were fully committed to finding answers for his desperate family.
“Donald Mackay was a highly-respected member of the community and became well known throughout Australia as an anti-drugs campaigner, and his murder — Australia’s first political assassination — shocked us all,” Griffith Local Area Commander, Detective Superintendent Michael Rowan said.
“This is further compounded by the fact his family has not been able to lay his body to rest.” Detectives attached to Strike Force Fitr have urged anyone with information to come forward.
“Investigators remain in contact with the family and I can’t tell you the pain they feel for not knowing where his body is,” Det Supt Rowan said in a statement.
“It’s hard enough to know justice hasn’t been served but never having the opportunity to lay your loved one to rest and say a proper goodbye is heart- wrenching.”
The NSW government’s reward for information that leads to Mr Mackay’s remains was increased to $200,000 in July 2012.
— With AAP
megan.palin@news.com.au
The Disappearance of Donald Mackay
Crime Investigation – Reel Truth Crime – True Crime – Pubblicato il 21 nov 2018
Donald Bruce Mackay was an Australian businessman. He was also a prominent substance abuse campaigner who came to media attention and fame in 1977 through the circumstances of his murder, which has never been solved.
Hosted by respected journalist, Steve Liebmann, CIA uncovers the true stories behind these cases through chilling re-enactments and access to the key detectives, family members and witnesses involved.
(Foto da screenshot video youtube)
