The man behind the most daring prison escape in Australian history is coming back to Goulburn.
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John Killick escaped from Silverwater Prison in 1999 with the help of his then girlfriend Lucy Dudko, who had hijacked a helicopter at gunpoint to pick him up.
Mr Killick has an affinity with Goulburn, having spent seven years here as an inmate of Goulburn Jail.
But in a little known fact revealed in his new book – in the days after the daring escape, when police were searching everywhere for the pair – they were holed up in a motel in Goulburn.
Why Goulburn?
“We thought they are not going to look for us in Goulburn - it is like going into the lion's den. If I was a cop, I wouldn't be looking for us there,” he said.
Though he was nearly recognized here while buying a newspaper in town.
“I had a close call when I went to a newsagent to get the papers - and we were on the front pages of all of them - and I saw a prison officer in there that I knew. He was only a few metres away from me. I kept my back to him and quickly left,” he said.
This Bonnie and Clyde pair were eventually captured after 45 days on the run.
He was sentenced to 23 years and she got 10. For many years they still wrote love letters to each other in prison. Prior to this Killick had already spent long stretches in prison for his audacious bank robberies.
Mr Killick learnt to write while in prison. He is a natural and engaging storyteller and his new book The Last Escape is a great read.
He said he wrote the book to get his side of the story out there.
“I wanted to get the real story out. I thought if I am going to write it I am going to tell it warts and all and not make any excuses,” he said.
“I am not going to say I had a poor childhood, etc because a lot of people have poor childhoods but make good.
“I accept I was bad. Gambling had a lot to do with it, with why I robbed banks.
“Once mum died, I left home and got mixed up with the wrong crowd and I was in Long Bay in January 1960 and from then on it was mostly downhill.
“That said, I did make a go of it at one point. I was married and straight for five years. Then when I got done for something I didn’t do and went back inside it ruined my marriage.”
“I also also wrote the book as a message to young men to steer clear of a life of crime,” he said. “It is for rehabilitative purposes too.”
“There are also human interest stories in there as well about other notorious criminals that I met inside.
“I have also documented how brutal the prison system was and how it has changed over 50 years.
“I think the book also sits well in the library of True Crime because I go right back. I have told people about the way the Australian prison system has been over the last 50 years.”
Mr Killick is in Goulburn for a book signing of his book The Last Escape at Cafe Book at 1pm on Friday, May 25. More online.