Pettingill family
Encyclopedia
The Pettingill family is an infamous Melbourne
-based criminal family, headed by matriarch Kath Pettingill. Family members have many convictions for criminal offences including drug trafficking, arms dealing and armed robberies. The film Animal Kingdom
and TV series Janus
and Phoenix
have been inspired by the real life events concerning the family.
Two of Kath Pettingill's sons, Victor Peirce
and Trevor Pettingill would face a murder trial for the 1988 Walsh Street police shootings
, with both acquitted along with two fellow defendants. Victor Peirce's de facto wife, Wendy, would later claim her husband planned and carried out the murders with the fellow accused.
and South Yarra areas during the 1980s.
Allen was alleged to have ordered the deaths, or committed the murders himself, of 15 people. Allen died of heart failure in 1987 while in prison custody awaiting trial for murder.
Police officer Roger Rogerson
received his first criminal conviction in 1985 for involvement in drug trafficking when he was charged with conspiring with Allen to import heroin.
He is very skilled in court and is the jailhouse lawyer of the family. He was released from prison in 2002 after serving time for an armed robbery conviction.
Victor Peirce was murdered in Bay St, Port Melbourne, whilst parked outside a supermarket on 1 May 2002. It would later be alleged in court by barrister and Queen's Counsel
Robert Richter that the now-deceased contract killer Andrew Veniamin
had murdered Peirce. Veniamin was shot and killed during an argument in 2004 in a Carlton
restaurant.
She entered witness protection for 18 months, estimated to have cost approximately $2million. At trial, she refused to give evidence against the accused and all men were later acquitted. In October 2005, Wendy Peirce gave a media interview detailing how her husband planned and carried out the Walsh Street police shootings for which he was charged and later acquitted.
In September 2008 Wendy Peirce was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to threatening and stalking former lovers of her ex-partner Victor who was murdered in 2002 during Melbourne's underworld war. The threats included using Facebook
to make death threats.
On 15 December 2009, Wendy and Victor Peirce's 24-year-old daughter, Katie Peirce, was found dead in her home in Greensborough
from a suspected drug overdose. It has been reported in the media that she had been suffering from a serious heroin addiction
. At the time of her death, she and her mother were on bail for an incident at the Clare Castle Hotel in Port Melbourne
on 28 March 2009, when Mark Lohse, a regular patron at the hotel, was attacked with a meat cleaver and left seriously injured with a deep and long gash across his face, three fractures to his jaw, broken teeth and facial nerve damage. Police allege that Wendy and Katie Peirce and a third woman agreed to pay Tong Yang A$
200 to assault Robert Sales, the father of a woman who was dating Katie Peirce's ex-boyfriend. Sales had been sitting one table away from where the assault occurred but was outside having a cigarette at the time of the assault, and in a case of mistaken identity Mark Lohse was hacked across the face with the meat cleaver. Senior County Court
judge Geoff Chettle said at the plea hearing the incident was "the worst example of intentionally causing serious injury he has seen." Tong Yang pled guilty to charges of intentionally causing serious injury but Katie and Wendy Peirce both pled not guilty to charges that included attempted murder and intentionally causing serious injury and Katie was bailed pending a committal hearing which had only been partly heard at the time of her death. Wendy Peirce was in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
in Deer Park
when her daughter died. Wendy Peirce's lawyer said he had spoken to her on the phone on 15 December 2009 to inform her of her daughter's death and would apply to the prison for permission allowing her to attend the funeral.
Pettingill was charged and acquitted over the Walsh Street police murders.
Trevor's son Jamie Pettingill has two criminal convictions including one for assault.
.
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
-based criminal family, headed by matriarch Kath Pettingill. Family members have many convictions for criminal offences including drug trafficking, arms dealing and armed robberies. The film Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom (film)
Animal Kingdom is a 2010 Australian crime drama written and directed by David Michôd, and starring Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Luke Ford, Sullivan Stapleton, Jacki Weaver and James Frecheville...
and TV series Janus
Janus (TV series)
Janus is an Australian drama television series screened on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1994 and 1995. Two series were produced, with a total of 26 episodes....
and Phoenix
Phoenix (TV series)
Phoenix is an Australian police drama television series. Phoenix screened as two thirteen-part series on Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1992 and 1993....
have been inspired by the real life events concerning the family.
Two of Kath Pettingill's sons, Victor Peirce
Victor Peirce
Victor George Peirce was an Australian criminal from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Peirce was a member of the Pettingill family, headed by matriarch and former Richmond brothel owner Kath Pettingill....
and Trevor Pettingill would face a murder trial for the 1988 Walsh Street police shootings
Walsh Street police shootings
The Walsh Street police shootings was the 1988 murder of two Victoria Police officers, Constables Steven Tynan, 22, and Damian Eyre, 20. The officers were responding to a report of an abandoned car when they were gunned down about 4.50am in Walsh Street, South Yarra, Australia on 12 October...
, with both acquitted along with two fellow defendants. Victor Peirce's de facto wife, Wendy, would later claim her husband planned and carried out the murders with the fellow accused.
Dennis Allen
Denis Allen (nicknamed Mr. Death or Mr. D) was the oldest son of Kath Pettingill. Allen was sentenced during the 1970s to a ten-year prison sentence for rape and was reported to have been a major player in drug dealing in the RichmondRichmond, Victoria
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra...
and South Yarra areas during the 1980s.
Allen was alleged to have ordered the deaths, or committed the murders himself, of 15 people. Allen died of heart failure in 1987 while in prison custody awaiting trial for murder.
Police officer Roger Rogerson
Roger Rogerson
Roger Caleb Rogerson is a controversial former detective-sergeant of the New South Wales Police Force. Rogerson was convicted of perverting the course of justice and lying to the 1999 Police Integrity Commission...
received his first criminal conviction in 1985 for involvement in drug trafficking when he was charged with conspiring with Allen to import heroin.
Peter Allen
Peter Allen is the second oldest son of Kath Pettingill. He has spent 28 years in prison. He is a violent armed robber and has a long list of assault charges. He ran a heroin empire which allowed him to purchase a mansion in Lower Templestowe. This was later taken off him due to the Proceeds of Crime act. He continued to deal heroin in jail.He is very skilled in court and is the jailhouse lawyer of the family. He was released from prison in 2002 after serving time for an armed robbery conviction.
Victor Peirce
Victor George Peirce was the sixth son of Kath Pettingill. Together with his de facto partner, Wendy Peirce, he fathered four children. He was convicted for drug trafficking and served a six-year prison sentence during the 1990s. He once worked as a bodyguard for murdered businessman Frank Benvenuto.Victor Peirce was murdered in Bay St, Port Melbourne, whilst parked outside a supermarket on 1 May 2002. It would later be alleged in court by barrister and Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
Robert Richter that the now-deceased contract killer Andrew Veniamin
Andrew Veniamin
Andrew "Benji" Veniamin was an Australian criminal, convicted car thief, murderer accused of killing 7 underworld figures and was one of the key figures involved in the Melbourne underworld killings...
had murdered Peirce. Veniamin was shot and killed during an argument in 2004 in a Carlton
Carlton, Victoria
Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...
restaurant.
Wendy Peirce
Wendy Peirce was the defacto partner of Victor Peirce. The couple never married but produced four children from their long term relationship.She entered witness protection for 18 months, estimated to have cost approximately $2million. At trial, she refused to give evidence against the accused and all men were later acquitted. In October 2005, Wendy Peirce gave a media interview detailing how her husband planned and carried out the Walsh Street police shootings for which he was charged and later acquitted.
In September 2008 Wendy Peirce was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to threatening and stalking former lovers of her ex-partner Victor who was murdered in 2002 during Melbourne's underworld war. The threats included using Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
to make death threats.
Katie Peirce
On 15 December 2009, Wendy and Victor Peirce's 24-year-old daughter, Katie Peirce, was found dead in her home in Greensborough
Greensborough, Victoria
Greensborough is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule. At the 2006 Census, Greensborough had a population of 20,214....
from a suspected drug overdose. It has been reported in the media that she had been suffering from a serious heroin addiction
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
. At the time of her death, she and her mother were on bail for an incident at the Clare Castle Hotel in Port Melbourne
Port Melbourne, Victoria
Port Melbourne is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km southwest of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government areas are the cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, Port Melbourne had a population of 13,293....
on 28 March 2009, when Mark Lohse, a regular patron at the hotel, was attacked with a meat cleaver and left seriously injured with a deep and long gash across his face, three fractures to his jaw, broken teeth and facial nerve damage. Police allege that Wendy and Katie Peirce and a third woman agreed to pay Tong Yang A$
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
200 to assault Robert Sales, the father of a woman who was dating Katie Peirce's ex-boyfriend. Sales had been sitting one table away from where the assault occurred but was outside having a cigarette at the time of the assault, and in a case of mistaken identity Mark Lohse was hacked across the face with the meat cleaver. Senior County Court
County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...
judge Geoff Chettle said at the plea hearing the incident was "the worst example of intentionally causing serious injury he has seen." Tong Yang pled guilty to charges of intentionally causing serious injury but Katie and Wendy Peirce both pled not guilty to charges that included attempted murder and intentionally causing serious injury and Katie was bailed pending a committal hearing which had only been partly heard at the time of her death. Wendy Peirce was in custody at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
Dame Phyllis Frost Centre
Dame Phyllis Frost Centre is a maximum security women's prison located at Deer Park, Victoria, Australia. It was designed by Guymer Bailey Architects Pty. Ltd. and built in 1996 as the first privately designed, financed and operated prison in Victoria...
in Deer Park
Deer Park, Victoria
Deer Park is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank...
when her daughter died. Wendy Peirce's lawyer said he had spoken to her on the phone on 15 December 2009 to inform her of her daughter's death and would apply to the prison for permission allowing her to attend the funeral.
Trevor Pettingill
Trevor Pettingill is a son of Kath Pettingill. He has a history involving drugs and burglaries. He has multiple convictions for firearms and drug-related offences, and has served several jail terms. He has been described as a "career criminal".Pettingill was charged and acquitted over the Walsh Street police murders.
Trevor's son Jamie Pettingill has two criminal convictions including one for assault.
Jamie Pettingill
Son of Kath Pettingill. Died of a heroin overdose in 1985 aged 21. Was alleged to be involved in an armed robbery in Clifton HillClifton Hill, Victoria
Clifton Hill is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. The border between Clifton Hill and Fitzroy North is Queens Parade and Smith Street. Merri Creek defines the eastern border of Clifton Hill. Its Local Government Area is...
.