The Russell Street Bombing Read Free Page B

were checking the car for identification
marks, they noticed among the blackened remains of the engine, that the chassis
number, located on the radiator support panel, had been drilled out. The drill
was circular and whoever had removed the number, had drilled through the panel
at the beginning of the number, removed the drill bit, then placed it on the
next part of the number, and drilled through again. This had been repeated until
the number had been obliterated leaving a line of joined holes that looked like
a caterpillar.
    This was not the usual method car thieves used to get rid of identification
numbers. If they were removed at all, they were more usually ground down with an
angle grinder. When stolen cars were made to look legitimate, it was more usual
for the numbers to be altered. Numbers that were removed altogether meant that
the person responsible hadn't being trying to legitimise the car at all.
    While Barnes and Kiernan busied themselves with the car and the immediate
bomb area, Wayne Ashley began the wider examination. The first thing to do was
to grid off sections as far as the debris had flown - which in this case
included parts of Victoria Parade, Exhibition Street, Little Lonsdale, to as far
away as sections of Swanson Street. In the immediate bomb vicinity, the grid
squares were five metres by five metres. Further away, they were ten by ten.
Every grid was numbered so that evidence collected in each square could be
labelled and referenced.
    All the bags of evidence would be taken to the Russell Street police
auditorium and stored, waiting for examination. Wayne Ashley knew that while
Russell Street would be closed to traffic indefinitely, the other city streets
would need to be cleared as quickly as possible to allow traffic through.
    Inspector Bruce Knight from the SOG offered his team for whatever tasks
needed their expertise. Members were called in from rest days and it was all
hands on deck. Crime elsewhere didn't take a holiday because Russell Street
exploded and in the middle of the bomb drama, Knight had to send an SOG crew to
an armed hold-up in Donvale while the rest of the squad were used in the bomb
aftermath.
    It was vital to collect as much debris as was recoverable so that the
investigators could piece together what had occurred. The evidence could also
contain clues to link the bomb with its makers. A wheel from the bomb car was
found in the carpark behind the Russell Street building meaning that it must
have been blown right over the roof and over the building behind headquarters
into the carpark. A live detonator was found in the women's gym on the fourth
floor of the police headquarters.
    Police combed the surrounding streets for clues until late into the evening.
The pressure was on, not only to find the bombers, but also on a practical
level, to re-open the surrounding city streets to traffic. The search for
evidence would start again at first light the following day, Good Friday.
    That evening, television news reported that terrorism had hit Melbourne as
'bomb after bomb' exploded in Russell Street. Journalists also reported that
police were checking lists of people who were to appear in the Melbourne
Magistrates Court that day.
     
    After being told that Carl had been injured in the blast, Bev
Donadio asked if it was serious. No, she was told, probably just a broken leg.
She immediately rang the Royal Melbourne Hospital and was told that her son was
having tests. The nurse promised to ring back as soon as she heard anything.
When she called back, she told Bev that the injuries to her son were more
serious than a broken leg and that the family had better get to the hospital as
soon as possible. It was then that Bev panicked.
    Victoria Police had sent a Traffic Operations Group car and driver to the
Donadio's Ballarat home. As soon as the younger two Donadio children had been
collected from school, the family screeched, lights and sirens, all the way to
Melbourne.
    For the injured young