Author(s): Andy Muir

True Crime

In the 1920s, the notorious gangster Squizzy Taylor, one of Melbourne's most colourful underworld figures, evaded imprisonment by witness intimidation and jury fixing. Renowned for dressing loudly, the diminutive criminal was also a pickpocket, pimp, armed robber, fraudster, extortionist, race fixer, sly grogger, drug dealer and sometime actor and poet who modelled himself on the American bootleggers and manipulated the media. Between 1913 and 1916, Squizzy was linked to several violent crimes, including murder and armed robbery, and in 1919 he was one of the main figures in the Fitzroy Vendetta, a series of gangland shootings where rival racketeers fought for territory. In his wake Squizzy left a trail of misery and heartache but in the end he got what he wanted. People still remember his name.