John Killick (born 1942), is an Australian criminal and author. He is best known for escaping from Sydney's

Silverwater Correctional Complex The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is oper ...

with his partner by helicopter on 25 March 1999.

Background

Killick has spent more than 30 years in jail, first going to jail in 1960. He started robbing banks in Sydney in 1966 to pay gambling debts, becoming Australia's first decimal currency bank robber when he held up the Canley Heights ANZ bank on 14 February. In what was called the "Perfect Alibi case", Killick was framed by

Roger Rogerson Roger Caleb Rogerson (3 January 1941 – 21 January 2024) was an Australian detective sergeant in the New South Wales Police Force and a convicted murderer. During his career, Rogerson received at least thirteen awards for bravery, outstanding ...

and convicted of a bank robbery in Adelaide on the same day he was reporting to a police station in Sydney as part of his bail conditions. On 25 March 1999, Killick's then-girlfriend

Lucy Dudko Lucy Dudko is a Russian-Australian woman convicted of hijacking a helicopter in 1999, which she used in the Prison escape, escape from Silverwater Correctional Complex of convicted armed Robbery, robber John Killick (Australian criminal), John Ki ...

, armed with an inoperable

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy gun", "Chicago typewriter", or "trench broom") is a blowback-operated, selective-fire submachine gun, invented and developed by Brigadier General John T. Thompson, a United States Arm ...

, hijacked a helicopter which was conducting a tour of the

Olympic Park An Olympic Park is a sports campus for hosting the Olympic Games. Typically it contains the Olympic Stadium and the International Broadcast Centre. It may also contain the Olympic Village or some of the other sports venues, such as the aquatics ...

site in the lead up to the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. She forced the pilot to land in the nearby Silverwater Jail and pick up Killick who was waiting in the exercise yard. The duo were on the run for 45 days before being captured by police.

Publishing

While in jail, Killick took to writing and has authored three books about his life: ''Gambling For Love'', ''The Last Escape'', and ''On The Inside''. Australian geologist

Ian Plimer Ian Rutherford Plimer (born 12 February 1946) is an Australian geologist and professor emeritus at the University of Melbourne. He rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. He has been criticised by climate scientists for misinterpre ...

encouraged and assisted his writing career. Killick's 2023 book ''Outlaw'' deals with his time as an inmate in Victoria's notorious Pentridge Prison. Killick has expressed remorse about his crimes.

In popular culture

John Kerr wrote the story of the 1999 prison escape in the 2003 book ''Wanted: John & Lucy: Rescue by Force, Silverwater Prison, 25 March 1999''. The 2015 single " Long Loud Hours" by Australian

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

musician

Urthboy Tim Levinson, better known by the stage name Urthboy, is an Australian hip hop MC and producer from New South Wales. He is widely known for his solo music under the moniker Urthboy, as a founding member of the hip-hop group The Herd, and for c ...

tells the story of the 1999 escape, viewed from Dudko's perspective. In 2015, Killick appeared on the season one episode 'Ex-Prisoners' of the Australian TV series ''

You Can't Ask That ''You Can't Ask That'' is an Australian TV series created by ABC (Australian TV network), ABC Television that first went to air in August 2016. its seventh season is on air in Australia. The series took a rest in 2023, but is expected to retu ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Killick, John Living people 1942 births">Living people"> ...

Background

Publishing

In popular culture

See also

References

References