Australia GILLES MATTAINI: Missing from Tamarama, Sydney, NSW - 15 Sept 1985 - Age 27

Gilles Jacques Mattaini was last seen walking near Mark's Park in Sydney on September 15, 1985. He is believed to be a victim of the Bondi anti-gay hate crime murders.


Media - https://www.crimewatchers.net/media...amarama-sydney-since-sept-15-1985-age-27.342/

 

[Scorpio]

The Gay-Hate Decades: 30 unsolved deaths

The NSW Police Force has admitted its officers may have made serious mistakes while re-examining potential gay-hate murders among a list of 30 unsolved deaths. An SBS investigation has uncovered a failure by police to check even basic details for some of the men, resulting in an erroneous...

www.sbs.com.au

Gilles Jaques MATTAINI

September 15, 1985 | Police say ‘possible’ gay-hate murder

There has been no trace of Gilles Mattaini, a French gay man who was living in Bondi, since a neighbour saw him walking on the coastal path that follows the cliffs between Bondi and Tamarama on September 15, 1985. The path skirts Marks Park, a gay beat which Mattaini frequented. But he was not reported missing until 2002. “It appears that some miscommunication between his friends led to a mistaken belief that he had been reported missing,” police say in their review of the case. Mattaini’s partner was out of the country and believed another friend had filed a missing person’s report with Bondi police, but it was never found.

In 2005, the then Deputy State Coroner Jacqueline Milledge ruled Mattaini was dead. She could not determine how but said he likely met a similar fate to Ross Warren and John Russell who, she found at the same inquest, were murdered at the same gay beat four years later.

Police now say: “Based on the associated location, this is possibly a gay-hate crime.” Mattaini had been estranged from his father and his mother told police he had attempted suicide previously in France. But friends believed he had a positive outlook at the time he disappeared, according to police. They announced a $100,000 reward last year – 10 years after it was recommended by Milledge – for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a person or people responsible for Mattaini’s death.

 

[Scorpio]

No Cookies | Daily Telegraph

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www.dailytelegraph.com.au

$300k reward to help solve suspected gay hate deaths of John Russell, Ross Warren and Giles Mattaini
Staff writers, AAP
June 23, 2015 7:28am

NSW Police have announced three $100,000 rewards for information on the disappearance of two gay men and the death of another in Sydney’s east during the 1980s.
The body of John Russell, 31, was found at the bottom of a cliff at Marks Park in Tamarama on November 24, 1989.

The barman, who worked in the eastern suburbs, was last seen alive drinking with friends at a hotel in Bondi the previous day.

Ross Warren, 24, a news presenter from Wollongong, also disappeared the same year.

He was last seen driving along Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, on July 22, 1989, after socialising with friends.

His keys were found two days later on rocks below the cliff top at Marks Park and his car was located nearby. His body has never been found.

Both Mr Russell and Mr Warren’s deaths were ignored for a decade and written off as an accident and a missing person. A coronial inquest subsequently found they were both murdered by being thrown from Bondi’s cliffs.

Police are also seeking information on 27-year-old French national Giles Mattaini, who was last seen by a neighbour walking on the coast track at Tamarama on September 15, 1985.

He was not reported missing until 2002, with the NSW coroner later finding he was also deceased.

Police say the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide Team have been reviewing the three incidents in recent years, based on the coroner’s findings that they were possibly the result of gay hate-related crimes.

The rewards of up to $100,000 each are for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the deaths of the three men.

“We will follow up each and every piece of information that is provided to us,” Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Michael Willing, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Speaking on behalf of the families of Mr Warren and Mr Russell, Peter Rolfe from the Survivors After Murder support group said they had been “haunted by the deaths of Ross, John and Giles”.

“We would implore you to take advantage of the rewards being offered, so that not only may our haunting be resolved but, in some small way, your haunting may also be relieved,” he said

 

[Scorpio]

Deaths of Gilles Mattaini, Ross Warren and John Russell - NSW Police Public Site

www.police.nsw.gov.au

Police have welcomed three rewards of $100,000 each for information relating to the disappearance and suspected deaths of two gay men and the death of another in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in the 1980s.


Gilles Mattaini, a 27-year-old French national living in Bondi, was last seen walking along the coastal walking track at Tamarama on 15 September 1985 by a neighbour. He was not reported missing until 2002, with the Coroner later finding he was deceased.

Ross Warren, 24, a news presenter from Wollongong, was last seen driving along Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, on 22 July 1989 after socialising with friends. His keys were found two days later on rocks below the cliff top at Marks Park, Tamarama, and his car was located nearby. His body has never been found but the Coroner found he was deceased.

John Russell, 31, a barman who worked in the eastern suburbs, was last seen alive drinking with friends at a hotel in Bondi on 23 November 1989. His body was found the next morning at the bottom of the cliff top at Marks Park, Tamarama, suffering injuries consistent with a fall from a cliff.

 

[Mel70]

It's really disgusting a reward of such a large amount has to be offered in order to try to illicit information.

 

[Kimster]

It's really disgusting a reward of such a large amount has to be offered in order to try to illicit information.

And it still didn't work!

 

[GrandmaBear]

So they offer a reward more than ten years after recommended. And then the reward has to be for information that leads to not only an arrest but a conviction. Yeah, good luck with that.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

New insight into Bondi anti-gay deaths

A NSW inquiry has probed the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a French man in Bondi dating back to 1985.

thewest.com.au

NSW inquiry offers insight into Bondi LGBTQ deaths in 1980s​

Thu, 23 February 2023

The disappearance and possible death of a young gay man in Sydney in the 1980s has been probed as part of an inquiry into a spate of hate crimes during the period.

Gilles Mattaini was a 27-year-old French national living in Bondi who last seen by a neighbour near Marks Park, a popular gay beat in Sydney, in September, 1985.

 

[Scorpio]

This is outrageous. This inquiry is really exposing the culture within the NSW Police Force.

Police deliberately refused to investigate Bondi deaths as gay hate crimes, inquiry told

An inquiry into suspected unsolved deaths suspected of being gay hate crimes has heard NSW Police sought to discredit a coroner's finding that the deaths of three men in Bondi in the 1980s was likely murder.

www.abc.net.au

NSW gay hate inquiry hears police deliberately refused to investigate Bondi deaths as homicides​

ABC Illawarra
/ By Tim Fernandez
Posted 15m ago15 minutes ago, updated 13m ago13 minutes ago

NSW Police sought to discredit a coroner's findings relating to the deaths of three men suspected of being the victims of gay hate crimes, an inquiry has been told.

he Special Commission of Inquiry into unsolved deaths suspected of being LGBTIQ hate crimes heard details about the deaths of WIN News newsreader Ross Warren, French national Gilles Mattaini and bartender John Russell in the late 1980s.

In 2005 the then-deputy NSW state coroner Jacqueline Milledge found Mr Warren and Mr Russell were the victims of homicide at Marks Park in Bondi. She was unable to make a definitive ruling on Mr Mataini's death but believed he was also likely killed by "gay hate assailants".

The ruling was largely based on a brief of evidence from Operation Taradale, an investigation into the deaths led by NSW Police Detective Sergeant Stephen Page in 2000.

In 2015 Strike Force Neiwand was established to further investigate the three deaths.

Counsel Assisting Peter Gray SC told Commissioner John Suckar that Strike Force Neiwand however was not interested in investigating the deaths as homicides.

"What we submit, commissioner, is the evidence establishes that Strike Force Neiwand made virtually no attempt to investigate, as homicides, the deaths of any of these three men,' he said.

"Notwithstanding that coroner Milledge had expressly found that the deaths of Mr Russell and Mr Warren were homicides and had expressed the view that the death of Mr Mataini probably was as well.

"Instead, what Neiwand did was to direct its very considerable efforts and resources over the better part of two years, to attempting to build a case for contradicting and overturning the findings of coroner Milledge."

Following a two-year investigation Strike Force Neiwand found the deaths of Mr Warren and Mr Russell as "undetermined" overturning the ruling to Coroner Milledge.

The inquiry heard Strike Force Neiwand failed to inform the Coroner, DS Page or the families of the deceased about this outcome.

The inquiry heard the coroner found that the evidence collected by Operation Taradale could be used in a future investigation, however there was no review of the findings for many years after.

In 2012 Detective Senior Constable Taylor from the Unsolved Homicide Team reviewed the case and suggested there was an opportunity to investigate suspects.

Mr Gray told the inquiry that Strike Force Niewand however did not contact any of the 116 persons of interest which were uncovered as part of an undercover operation into suspected murders of gay men during that period.

This included gang groups such as the Parkside Killas who Mr Gray said were "systematically involved in the assault and robbery of gay men in Marks Park".

"All of these documents make clear that Strike Force Neiwand made a deliberate choice not to pursue persons of interest, such as gang members even though operation Taradale had identified many such persons 15 years earlier."

The inquiry heard that Strike Force Neiwand's reports were "replete with very serious criticisms" of Operation Taradale and the work of DS Page.

However, Mr Gray said this criticism was "conspicuously absent" from the evidence deputy police commissioner Michael Willing and investigation supervisor Detective Sergeant Steve Morgan provided to the inquiry.

Detective Sergeant Morgan admitted to the inquiry the criticisms were unjustified and that the work of Operation Taradale was "very thorough and appropriate".

Mr Willing meanwhile admitted some of the Strike Force's reports were "completely wrong" and "ridiculous".

 

[Scorpio]

'Extraordinary': Former NSW homicide squad boss concedes gay-hate death findings overturned

An inquiry into the gay-hate crimes in Sydney in the late 1980s hears police internally reversed findings by the state coroner, rather than look into the murders.

www.abc.net.au

Former NSW homicide squad boss concedes gay-hate death findings overturned​

By Jamie McKinnell
Posted Tue 21 Feb 2023

New South Wales' former homicide squad boss concedes it's "extraordinary" a secret strike force effectively reversed coronial findings over the suspected gay-hate deaths of three men in the 1980s without speaking to any persons of interest.

Mick Willing, who commanded the homicide squad between 2011 and 2017, is giving evidence at a special commission of inquiry into suspected LGBT hate deaths in NSW between 1970 and 2010.

Among dozens of cases within the inquiry's scope are the deaths of French national Gilles Mattaini in September 1985, along with barman John Russell and television newsreader Ross Warren, both in 1989.

Following a lengthy inquest in 2003 and 2004, deputy state coroner Jacqueline Milledge made findings that Mr Warren and Mr Russell were the victims of gay hate-related homicides — and there was a strong possibility Mr Mattaini's death involved similar circumstances.

But, the current inquiry has heard a team of investigators known as Strike Force Neiwand, established in 2015, re-investigated the three deaths.

It concluded, in 2017, that each should be treated as "inactive" and "not to be revived", as counsel assisting Peter Gray SC put it unless new information came to light, and that while homicide couldn't be ruled out, other causes of death were "as likely or more likely" in each case.

The inquiry was shown an email from a strike force Neiwand member at the beginning of its work, attaching a list of between 50 and 100 persons of interest.

But progress reports, also shown to Mr Willing, suggested there was no real attempt to pursue suspects and instead investigators focused on victimology and theories of suicide or misadventure.

The commissioner, Justice John Sackar, put it to the witness that it was "pretty breathtaking" NSW police internally reversed the decision of the coroner, who sat for a lengthy period and heard from many witnesses, without having spoken to one person of interest.

"It's extraordinary, isn't it?" Mr Sackar said.

"Yes," Mr Willing replied.

 

[Scorpio]

Ex-NSW Cop Reveals He Witnessed Gay Bashings By His Police Colleagues In Sydney In 1980s - Star Observer

A former NSW police officer has come forward to reveal that he witnessed his colleagues bashing gay men in an organised manner in Sydney in the 1980s.

www.starobserver.com.au

Ex-NSW Cop Reveals He Witnessed Gay Bashings By His Police Colleagues In Sydney In 1980s​

Shibu Thomas
October 5, 2022

A former NSW police officer has come forward to reveal that he witnessed his colleagues bashing gay men in an organised manner in Sydney in the 1980s.

“I’m doing it because I want the people who are victims of this conduct to be validated and for them to have their stories accepted,” former cop Mark Higginbotham told Channel Nine’s true crime program Under Investigation.

Higginbotham joined the NSW Police as a fresh-faced 19-year-old constable in the 1980s. The young police officer left the NSW police force in disgust after seeing and witnessing horrible conduct of his fellow officers. He later joined Victoria Police where he retired as a decorated police officer.

The latest episode of Under Investigation took a look at the spate of bashings and murders of gay men and trans women in Sydney and NSW between 1970 and 2010.

Higginbotham said he didn’t participate in the police violence, but admits he shares a responsibility. “For people that were there in Moore Park, (they) didn’t look at me and think there’s a poor boy from the suburbs who’s been bullied into attending. They saw a New South Wales Police officer with a baton in hand and they would have been as terrified for me as anyone else in the group so I apologise for being part of that,” said the former cop.

Higginbotham told the program that these organised gay bashings occured multiple times during his time in the force and there were officers who protected others guilty of hate crimes.

In 1983, Higginbotham and his partner were out on patrol when a gay man approached them and reported that he had just been bashed. Higginbotham tracked down the accused, arrested him and took him to Darlinghurst police station to charge him for the crime.

“I was typing out a document that was called a fact sheet when I became aware of the presence of the shift surgeon – senior person in the police station at the time. He started to scream at me, scream abuse at me. ‘We don’t charge ‘poofter bashers’ here. What have you done?’ And he was enraged and did overwhelm me,” recalled Higginbotham, adding that he felt “powerless”.

Higginbotham, however, charged the accused and the next day the victim, who was a gay journalist wrote about it in his paper. The former police officer said it led to him being treated as an outcast in the police station.

“I was told that I had brought aggravated shame on the police station because I had not only charged a man with ‘poofter bashing’ – I am comfortable using the phrase but that’s the way it was described – but it had been reported. People would not work with me. I was labeled a “***got”. And people would would overtly announced that they would not work with a “***got”,” said Higginbotham .

“There must be people in New South Wales Police who I worked with. I mean, there were many, many young people my age, many 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds working at Darlinghurst (police station). It’s not far-fetched to think that people still work there. It was wrong. It was clearly wrong to poke with a stick, hitting someone on the head. There’s no moral confusion about that. It’s ugly, it’s wrong. It’s criminal. And it’s done in police uniform,” said Higginbotham.

Under Investigation spoke to Kint Verity, who was a teenager in Sydney in the early 1980s, and reported to the Cronulla Police Station about being gay bashed. Verity said he received no “empathy” and it scared him so much that he ran out without filing a report.

The other shocking case was that of Alan Rosendale, who was attacked by a group of men in Moore Park. A witness Paul Simes told Under Investigation that he reported the licence plate of the attackers’ vehicle to the police and was told it was an unmarked police car.

 

[Guess Who]

This is outrageous. This inquiry is really exposing the culture within the NSW Police Force.

Police deliberately refused to investigate Bondi deaths as gay hate crimes, inquiry told

An inquiry into suspected unsolved deaths suspected of being gay hate crimes has heard NSW Police sought to discredit a coroner's finding that the deaths of three men in Bondi in the 1980s was likely murder.

www.abc.net.au

NSW gay hate inquiry hears police deliberately refused to investigate Bondi deaths as homicides​

ABC Illawarra
/ By Tim Fernandez
Posted 15m ago15 minutes ago, updated 13m ago13 minutes ago

NSW Police sought to discredit a coroner's findings relating to the deaths of three men suspected of being the victims of gay hate crimes, an inquiry has been told.

he Special Commission of Inquiry into unsolved deaths suspected of being LGBTIQ hate crimes heard details about the deaths of WIN News newsreader Ross Warren, French national Gilles Mattaini and bartender John Russell in the late 1980s.

In 2005 the then-deputy NSW state coroner Jacqueline Milledge found Mr Warren and Mr Russell were the victims of homicide at Marks Park in Bondi. She was unable to make a definitive ruling on Mr Mataini's death but believed he was also likely killed by "gay hate assailants".

The ruling was largely based on a brief of evidence from Operation Taradale, an investigation into the deaths led by NSW Police Detective Sergeant Stephen Page in 2000.

In 2015 Strike Force Neiwand was established to further investigate the three deaths.

Counsel Assisting Peter Gray SC told Commissioner John Suckar that Strike Force Neiwand however was not interested in investigating the deaths as homicides.

"What we submit, commissioner, is the evidence establishes that Strike Force Neiwand made virtually no attempt to investigate, as homicides, the deaths of any of these three men,' he said.

"Notwithstanding that coroner Milledge had expressly found that the deaths of Mr Russell and Mr Warren were homicides and had expressed the view that the death of Mr Mataini probably was as well.

"Instead, what Neiwand did was to direct its very considerable efforts and resources over the better part of two years, to attempting to build a case for contradicting and overturning the findings of coroner Milledge."

Following a two-year investigation Strike Force Neiwand found the deaths of Mr Warren and Mr Russell as "undetermined" overturning the ruling to Coroner Milledge.

The inquiry heard Strike Force Neiwand failed to inform the Coroner, DS Page or the families of the deceased about this outcome.

The inquiry heard the coroner found that the evidence collected by Operation Taradale could be used in a future investigation, however there was no review of the findings for many years after.

In 2012 Detective Senior Constable Taylor from the Unsolved Homicide Team reviewed the case and suggested there was an opportunity to investigate suspects.

Mr Gray told the inquiry that Strike Force Niewand however did not contact any of the 116 persons of interest which were uncovered as part of an undercover operation into suspected murders of gay men during that period.

This included gang groups such as the Parkside Killas who Mr Gray said were "systematically involved in the assault and robbery of gay men in Marks Park".

"All of these documents make clear that Strike Force Neiwand made a deliberate choice not to pursue persons of interest, such as gang members even though operation Taradale had identified many such persons 15 years earlier."

The inquiry heard that Strike Force Neiwand's reports were "replete with very serious criticisms" of Operation Taradale and the work of DS Page.

However, Mr Gray said this criticism was "conspicuously absent" from the evidence deputy police commissioner Michael Willing and investigation supervisor Detective Sergeant Steve Morgan provided to the inquiry.

Detective Sergeant Morgan admitted to the inquiry the criticisms were unjustified and that the work of Operation Taradale was "very thorough and appropriate".

Mr Willing meanwhile admitted some of the Strike Force's reports were "completely wrong" and "ridiculous".

So they very well might have been reported missing but the report was never officially filed? Seems likely to me by this.