Mostly it only took a trumped up charge to ruin a reputation and silence a person, but sometimes the rat pack that ruled Perth in the 1970’s would have to resort to murder.
Not the back room, needle in the arm, overdose kind of murder that could so easily be written off, nor the disappearance altogether of troublemakers like anti-drugs campaigner, Donald Mackay and publisher, Juanita Nielsen on the east coast of Australia.
Away from prying eyes in one of the remotest and richest cities on earth, there was no need to hide your crime.
A public display, a theatrical performance, murder in the west was a bit of a joke.
Dressed to impress in her finest ball gown, dripping with expensive jewellery and driving her limited edition luxury car, society madam Shirley Finn was invited to the busiest spot near town for a very special occasion – A kind of modern day public execution – her own murder.
They knew they wouldn’t be caught.
Their power reigned supreme
Juliet Wills worked in television news for more than twenty years. At Channel Nine in Perth she was the Executive Producer of Perth's A Current Affair and Senior Producer of the Afternoon News. She has also worked for the ABC, Channel Ten and Channel Seven.