27-02-2024, 09:44 PM
A bit late for this !
I haven't read much of interest this year so far, until The Bassett Rd Machine Gun Murders by Scott Bainbridge. Something that has always interested me, and it's all been rumour for 60 years. Dec 1963, a couple of weeks after the JFK assassination I remember that, Bassett Rd maybe not as much, I was 10.
Lots of information, and it is real gangland stuff, it would make a really good movie....trouble is, it's a New Zealand story, and we all know the real drama happens in other countries. Someone mentioned often - John Banks ! He was brought up with nice relatives, but went to live with his father as a teenager...Dad used to blow safes, and little Johnny drove the getaway car. He also met the 2 guys killed only a few days before, and even handled the murder weapon - these days, if found it would have his DNA on it...luckily well in the past for Banksy. A big break in the case came when Robert Muldoon brought in a key witness, when he was MP for Tamaki. Not really a gangland murder, just the usual...a woman involved, and a couple of men after her. Not a machinegun murder either really, it was on single shot.
In the dodgy crowd I hung out with as a young guy, Bassett Rd was mentioned often, some guys seemed to have first hand knowledge of it, and the talk was always about Ron Jorgensen, not a mention of Dirk Gillies who did the actual shooting.
I hope I haven't spoiled it for you...
I haven't read much of interest this year so far, until The Bassett Rd Machine Gun Murders by Scott Bainbridge. Something that has always interested me, and it's all been rumour for 60 years. Dec 1963, a couple of weeks after the JFK assassination I remember that, Bassett Rd maybe not as much, I was 10.
Lots of information, and it is real gangland stuff, it would make a really good movie....trouble is, it's a New Zealand story, and we all know the real drama happens in other countries. Someone mentioned often - John Banks ! He was brought up with nice relatives, but went to live with his father as a teenager...Dad used to blow safes, and little Johnny drove the getaway car. He also met the 2 guys killed only a few days before, and even handled the murder weapon - these days, if found it would have his DNA on it...luckily well in the past for Banksy. A big break in the case came when Robert Muldoon brought in a key witness, when he was MP for Tamaki. Not really a gangland murder, just the usual...a woman involved, and a couple of men after her. Not a machinegun murder either really, it was on single shot.
In the dodgy crowd I hung out with as a young guy, Bassett Rd was mentioned often, some guys seemed to have first hand knowledge of it, and the talk was always about Ron Jorgensen, not a mention of Dirk Gillies who did the actual shooting.
I hope I haven't spoiled it for you...
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