Murder of Pat Shannon
Pat Shannon was murdered the night of October 17, 1973 at the Druids Hotel in South Melbourne. Shannon, who was Secretary of the infamous Painters and Dockers union, was undertaking a fundraiser for an injured worker and union member when he was shot by Garry Harding ands Kevin Taylor. Witnesses claim that Shannon uttered the words "you cunt" and fell backwards after being fatally shot three times.
Pat Shannon, born Patrick Bowe in 1928 in Melbourne Victoria, who was was best known as secretary of the Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union, known colloquially as the Painters and Dockers Union.[1]
Background
Shooting
Harding even took police to the spot, No 2 South Wharf, where the murder weapon had been ditched in the water immediately after the hit.
It was later retrieved by police divers.
The gun belonged to Longley, although "The Texan" to this day maintains his innocence.
Longley was eventually convicted and jailed for his involvement in Shannon's killing
Kevin Taylor was picked up by Homicide detectives acting on Harding's confession, and was taken to Russell Street Police HQ, where he initially pleaded innocence.
But on being presented with the still-wet murder weapon, Taylor coughed up and also pointed the finger at Longley as the instigator.
Taylor alleged he was offered $6000 to shoot Shannon.
Harding had told police was only the spotter in the hit and he hadn't expected Shannon to be killed - only warned.
While it was not a traditional painters and dockers hotel, it is often associated with the union, largely because of the 1973 murder of union secretary Pat Shannon who was gunned down at the hotel. Billy ‘The Texan’ Longley, a key figure in the union, was found guilty of Shannon’s murder that he had instigated although not directly executed. he Melbourne waterfront has been the setting for
murder and mayhem over the past three decades.
Now the code of silence which used to rule the
docks has been broken by one of Australia’s most
feared criminals, Billy Longley. Longley, now
serving life in Pentridge for organising the
gangland slaying of union secretary Pat Shannon,
used to be the toughest man in the Painters and
Dockers’ Union. This is an amazing union. Ail five
of its executive have criminal records: of the
five-man management committee, only one, Alan
Richardson, has not. In this exclusive interview
with DAVID RICHARDS, Billy (“The Texan”)
Longley tells the story of dockland crime.
“THE CODE of silence on the
waterfront is strict. All the careless
people on the docks are in the cemetery.
As they say, dead men tell no tales. The
code of silence is there to be honored.”
They call him the “Texan” because of
his habit of wearing a broad-rimmed hat
and carrying a rod (gun), though his
charm and mannerisms are more like
those of an English gentleman. But Billy
Longley, 56, admits he is no “bible
seller.” At his 1975 trial for organising
the murder of union secretary Pat
Shannon, he was described by police as
an “evil genius,” “mastermind” and
“godfather figure.”
To the criminal element on the
waterfront, he’s the man they fear most
because he knows too much. There’s a
contract out on his life and he knows he
is not safe anywhere, least of all in jail. A
few weeks ago acid was tipped on him
while he was asleep. They were aiming
for his face but failed. Only just though;
the acid burned holes in the blankets
wrapped round him.
Longley has always proclaimed his
innocence in the Shannon murder, and
he has chosen to speak now because he
believes it is his best chance of getting a
re-trial and perhaps ending the
prospect he faces of spending the rest of
his life in prison.
Though Longley’s knowledge of the
legal and illegal activities of the Painters
and Dockers’ Union is unique, he is no
police informer. “I have never and will
never talk to the police,” he says in a
quiet, reflective voice. But he talked to
me about the criminal world of the
waterfront, something the police have
been unable to penetrate.
Longley’s frank confessions throw
new light on some of Australia’s most
audacious crimes, such as the
disappearance of Alfred “The Ferret”
Nelson and the MSS robbery.
First, he spoke about the Painters
and Dockers’ Union. “It is corrupt,” he
asserts. “The present day executive is
there illegally. They are a bunch of
criminals. Everything they do stems
from the barrel of a gun or the fear of a
gun. My being here is the result of the
gun: I am kept here by the barrel of a
gun. It is the root of all evil.
“There is no doubt the union
elections were rigged. I would love
them to hold a fresh election; even from
here in Pentridge I know I would win. I
still have many friends among members.
“It is ironic that I should be here in
Pentridge. I am not guilty of the crime
that put me here. At my trial it was
revealed that a contract had been put out
on my life. I think it was for about
SIO,OOO. The people who gave evidence
against me openly revealed that painters
and dockers had me marked as a dead
man. To them it was only time.
“It is not often they fail. I am a
survivor. They have been trying to kill
me for a long time. After so many years,
you put it down to being street-wise.”
Born and bred in the shadows of the
Melbourne docks, Longley was a wharf
laborer for 17 years. In 1967 he became
an official of the Painters and Dockers’
Union. This was to mark one of the most
troubled, violent periods in Melbourne’s,
and even Australia’s, criminal history.
Billy Longley is hated by the
executive of the painters and dockers. I
asked Jack “Putty Nose” Nicholls, the
present secretary, what he thought about
Longley. The reply was unprintable
except for the remark that the safest
place for him was behind bars at
Pentridge or dead.
In tapes smuggled out of Pentridge,
Longley says: “I have been in Pentridge
since 1975. I spent some time in H
Division, which is one of the most
soul-destroying places on earth. I had a
close friend in there, Ray Charlton. He
came to me one day and told me he had
had enough. He was broken-hearted. He
told me that he had left a few things in
his cell and if anything happened to him
I was to have them. That night he died in
his sleep. I have twice been moved to H
Division for no apparent reason. I will
probably have to go back there for
talking to you.”
Longley told me that he did not plan
Shannon’s death in 1973. (Here he
named the man who, he claimed,
planned the execution. The Bulletin has
withheld the name from publication, but
it is available to the police.)
Longley, who claims to have new
evidence to clear him, was convicted
along with two other men, Gary Leslie
Harding, 23, and Kevin James Taylor.
Murder within the union seems accepted
as a normal means of accession to
power, although there is always the risk
Aftermath
Shannon was elected to lead the union in 1972 but was apparently unwilling to stand, however after the disappearance of George Carey, he took on the leadership despite opposition from his eventual killer.[2]
Despite not pulling the trigger, gangster and hitman Billy "The Texan" Longley was found guilty of the 1973 murder of union secretary Pat Shannon, shot at the Druids Hotel in South Melbourne.[3]
The murder of Shannon, along with other alleged crimes associated with the Painters and Dockers, led to the Costigan Royal Commission into the union. Shannon was succeeded as union secretary by Jack "Putty Nose" Nicholls, who when asked why it had been so difficult to identify the trigger men for the murder, declared We catch and kill our own.[1][4]
Aftermath
1. Harding's father received a threat Harding was encouraged to give himself up after his father received an anonymous and ominous phone call:
"The dockies are out to shoot your son. Find him and hide him."[5]
2. Harding confesses and tells police the location of the murder weapon 3. Finger pointed at Longley who had run against Shannon 4. Who pulled the trigger? Kevin Taylor was picked up by Homicide detectives acting on Harding's confession, and was taken to Russell Street Police HQ, where he initially pleaded innocence.
But on being presented with the still-wet murder weapon, Taylor coughed up and also pointed the finger at Longley as the instigator.
Taylor alleged he was offered $6000 to shoot Shannon.
Harding had told police was only the spotter in the hit and he hadn't expected Shannon to be killed - only warned.
5. Gun located and belonged to Billy Longley 6. Convictions for murder Taylor stabs Harding in pentridge
Costigan Commission
The murder of Shannon, along with other alleged crimes associated with the Painters and Dockers, led to the Costigan Royal Commission into the union. Shannon was succeeded as union secretary by Jack "Putty Nose" Nicholls, who when asked why it had been so difficult to identify the trigger men for the murder, declared We catch and kill our own.[1][4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Silvester, John (May 24, 2012). "Killin' on the dock of the bay". The Age.
- ↑ Productions, Plain Sight (December 7, 2021). "The Painters and Dockers wars: Chopper Read, Chris Flannery and the rise of Mick Gatto (Part One)". Medium.
- ↑ Robinson, Russell (12 June 2012). "Underworld enforcer Billy 'The Texan' Longley maintains silence on dock boss Pat Shannon's murder". Herald Sun. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Richard Lewer on Brian "The Skull" Murphy and Billy "The Texan" Longley - Ian Potter Museum of Art". 26 June 2019.
- ↑ Russell Robinson (May 16, 2012). "Gary Leslie Harding's death inevitable after his murder of the Painters and Docker's Pat Shannon".
- ↑ "The Victorian Bar - Oral History".
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