Australians are lapping up their weekly, almost daily, dose of crime and all matters of vice.
Media Man and Gambling911 continue their probe into both real crime and TV entertainment drama down under.
Australian viewers can't get enough of crime TV, so it appears, with Network Nine Australia doing a first showing of the 'Australian Families Of Crime' featuring Melbourne underworld figure, Carl Williams, on the very same day as his real life death in HM Prison Barwon.
Williams was bashed to death by two inmates using a blunt instrument. It occurred in or around the prison gym, around the middle of the day, occurring to various media reports.
His death comes just days after Sydney's 'King Of The Cross' John Ibrahim, featured in Nine's 'Underbelly' left for an overseas trip to Dubai.
The debut and following episodes of the seven-part series are expect to draw big numbers as Australia's TV networks roll out the big guns as the TV ratings war goes ballistic.
Underbelly's Vince Colosimo is narrator and the documentary-drama will be probing the likes of Carl Williams, original 'King of the Cross' aka 'Mr Sin' Abe Saffron, serial killer Ivan Milat and George Freeman aka 'The Gambling Man', among others.
Freeman's illegal gambling dens are part of Australian folklaw, not to romanticize his illegal enterprises. Media Man long time friend and sometime associate, the late Tim 'Earthquake' Bristow, mixed in some of the same circles as Freeman. Some similarities could be drawn between Bristow and Melbourne's most famous "consultant and mediator" Mick Gatto. Both men were very high up on the food chain and many people would think of them as 'Godfather' type identities. Williams on the other hand was a drug dealer who attained some financial wealth and was well known to pay others to do his dirty work (killings) for him, in order to try to protect and grow his criminal enterprise.
Killer Carl has described himself as a semi-professional gambler, and was banned from James Packer's Crown Casino on the 2nd April 2004 by Australian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon under the Casino Control Act.
Punters and readership at large, please note that crime usually doesn't pay, and frequently leads to bad consequences. Happy hunting and good punting.
*Greg Tingle is a special contributor for Gambling911
*Media Man http://www.mediamanint.com is primarily a media, publicity and internet portal development company. Gaming is just one of a dozen industry verticals they cover.
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