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Australian True Crime

An Old School Outlaw - Part One

Australian True Crime

Meshel Laurie

True Crime

4.6979 Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Former bank robber John Killick spent over 30 years behind bars and made headlines in 1999 when he escaped Sydney’s Silverwater prison by helicopter.


Across three episodes, he shares his incredible life story, from high-profile heists to encounters with Australia’s most notorious criminals.


Now an author of eight books, Killick reflects on love, crime, and survival inside the country’s toughest prisons.


Click here to view and purchase John Killick's books.


Do you have information regarding any of the cases discussed on this podcast? Please report it on the Crime Stoppers website or by calling 1800 333 000.


Click here to subscribe to ATC Plus on Apple Podcasts and access all ATC episodes early and ad-free, as well as exclusive bonus episodes.


Got a True Crime question you want answered on the podcast? Send us a question by recording a voice message here.


For Support: 

Lifeline  on 13 11 14

13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)

1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732


CREDITS:

Guest Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on instagram.

Guest: John Killick

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

This episode contains extra content from The Guardian.


GET IN TOUCH:

https://www.australiantruecrimethepodcast.com/

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Send us a question to have played on the show by recording a voice message here.

Email the show at [email protected] 

Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime.



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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Once you go to jail, your code of ethics turned upside down.

0:05.0

What is normal to life outside is not normal in jail.

0:09.7

The old school crim was a hard guy.

0:17.6

We don't often release three episodes of Australian true crime featuring one guest,

0:23.0

but this guest is a rather exceptional man.

0:26.2

Former bank robber John Killick has spent more than 30 years in jail since his first stint in 1960.

0:32.7

He escaped custody three times.

0:35.3

Most notoriously, he escaped Sydney's maximum security

0:38.5

silver water prison by helicopter in 1999. John has written eight books, including

0:45.4

gambling for love, The Last Escape, and On the Inside My Life Inside Australia's Most

0:51.2

Notorious Prisons. There's a link in the show notes to John's website

0:55.5

where you can buy these titles.

0:58.0

Over the course of the next three episodes,

0:59.8

we'll hear the truly incredible life story of John Killick.

1:03.0

We'll hear about his interactions with

1:05.0

and impressions of some of Australia's most notorious criminals,

1:08.9

including Chopper Reed, Roger Rogerson and Ivan Malat,

1:12.9

and we'll also hear about the love affairs that often provided pivotal turning points in his life.

1:18.9

Like many of Australia's most infamous men, John Killick's childhood was troubled,

1:24.1

and in this first of our three parts, we'll hear about that and his earliest crimes.

1:29.9

This is Australian true crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this

1:34.5

podcast is created, the Wurundri Woi Wurang people of the Koolin Nation. And a warning, this

...

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