Chopper brags about four murders

Criminal Mark Chopper Read has admitted to four murders, including two that are unsolved, in his last ever interview

Crime figure Mark "Chopper" Read

Crime figure Mark "Chopper" Read died following a battle with liver cancer, his manager says. (AAP)

Career criminal Mark Chopper Read has confessed murdering four people, including missing Queensland bikie boss Sidney Michael Collins, in the last interview before his own death.

His first kill, he claimed, was as a teenager.

Read made the admissions in the tell-all session screened on Sunday night by 60 minutes but recorded 16 days before he died, aged 58, following a battle with liver cancer.

He claimed responsibility for two cold case murders, those of Collins in 2002 and union heavy Desmond Costello in 1971.

Outlaws Motorcycle Club boss Collins, who has been missing since 2002, was previously shot by Chopper in the stomach.

He said he later killed him when they caught up after one of his life-after-crime stage shows in Casino in northern NSW, and buried him near a football oval.

Chopper said his first murder at age 17 involved shooting Costello outside a Collingwood pub.

He recalled dragging the body of the Melbourne painter and docker with the help of an accomplice to the hotel's keg cellar. Police, though, never uncovered his involvement.

The notorious standover man also disclosed that he got away with killing pedophile and murderer Reginald Isaacs in Pentridge Jail in 1974, with authorities believing Isaacs committed suicide.

Chopper claimed he beat the man repeatedly before hanging him in his cell with his bed sheets.

Read said his third killing was that of Siam Ozerkam, aka "Sammy the Turk", in 1987 outside the Bowjangles nightclub in St Kilda, Melbourne.

He said he told police it was a case of self-defence, and was acquitted, with a jury finding him not-guilty.

Read, who spent 23 years behind bars, previously boasted killing over a dozen people but was never found guilty of murder.

Despite the trail of death, Read told presenter Tara Brown he felt no remorse.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP

Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world