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John Silvester

Reporter · AU

Indexed articles, last 90 days
11
Latest publication
Oct 2, 2026
Outlet visibility, for The Age
Top 10K sites
Earliest in this view
Jul 10, 2026

Latest articles

  1. Article · Oct 2, 2026 · John Silvester

    ‘You’re right, I’m a cop. Now kill me’: The undercover officer who bluffed his way past a shotgun (opens the original)

    Excerpt · English

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    As an undercover cop “Donny Wilson” wanted a hero’s death – anything to stop the pain that infected his real life. In a perverse way, his desire to die kept him alive. With a shotgun pointed at his head and accused of being an undercover agent, his reckless response convinced the gunman he was clean. “You’re right, I’m a cop. Now do your end and kill me, you coward,” Wilson yelled back in a potentially fatal game of brinkmanship. The bikies who surrounded him burst out laughing. He had won this

  2. Article · Sep 25, 2026 · John Silvester

    ‘Everyone deserves a name’: How forensic scientists solved the 22-year mystery of ‘Alcove Man’ (opens the original)

    Excerpt · English

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    You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. He was polite and well-dressed, the homeless man with a neat, white beard who became a fixture in Nicholson Street, Carlton North. No one remembers when he arrived, but they know when he left. The man, who for years would sweep the driveway and hang his few possessions on hooks in a small alcove protected from the street, was found dead on May 23, 2004. The locals who knew him always wondered wher

  3. Article · Sep 23, 2026 · John Silvester and Lachlan Abbott

    Topic | Big Build royal commission | The Age (opens the original)

    Excerpt · English

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    Wayne Gatt’s police and industrial relations background will mean he takes an aggressive approach to the scandal plagued construction sector. Chris Kourakis’ royal commission started at the top. But he also signalled his willingness to stand back and interrogate some bigger, long-overdue questions about how we got here. Follow for live updates on day one of the Royal Commission into the Integrity of Major Public and Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects in Victoria. The distribution of nake

  4. Article · Sep 18, 2026 · John Silvester

    Ron Crawford hired a hitman to kill his wife – and got away with it (opens the original)

    Excerpt · Critical tone · English

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    You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. When Ben Crawford was told his father was dying and he should fly home from Japan to say goodbye, he refused. “What was I going to do, strangle him?” Ben had idolised his dad. “He was a good father and my best mate.” Yet by 2017, the relationship was over and for good reason. Ron Crawford, a respected pharmacist, hired a professional underworld hitman to kill his wife, Anne Louise Crawford, and go

  5. Article · Sep 11, 2026 · John Silvester

    ‘He had no conscience at all’: The killing machine on the cusp of parole (opens the original)

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    He is 77 years old now and probably not a risk to anybody. Dangerous crooks often have nicknames that reflect their CVs, such as Christopher Dale “Rentakill” Flannery, Dennis “Mr Death” Allen, Stan “The Man” Smith and Roger “The Dodger” Rogerson. Then there is Alistair Farquhar MacRae, known by friends, enemies, the detectives who arrested him and the prison officers who guarded him for decades – as Sandy. This was due to the colour of his hair, most of which has long gone, rather than the soil

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