Colin McLaren

Colin McLaren is an Australian documentary film maker, crime writer and former police detective sergeant and task force team leader. A feature length telemovie about his life by Underbelly Productions, starring Sullivan Stapleton in the title role, aired in 2011 in Australia and other territories.

Police career

The major phase of McLaren's police career took place during the 1980s and 1990s. McLaren rose through the police ranks rapidly and when asked to join a covert surveillance unit, he began spying on drug importers and the ringleaders of organised crime, before going undercover and organising covert stings. As a member of some of the most high-profile task forces in Australia, McLaren, as a suit and tie detective, worked on the Walsh Street murders of police constables Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre,[1] the Mr Cruel child rapes and the murder of thirteen-year-old Karmein Chan,[2] and the bombing of the Adelaide NCA police headquarters where he was task force leader. McLaren then went undercover, where for two years he infiltrated Australia's mafia in the guise of a money laundering art dealer, in what is still the largest undercover sting in Australian history. Eleven Mafia bosses received sentences of up to 13 years each for major drug trafficking and racketeering.[2] He also went undercover for another year to gain evidence on the mafia responsible for the NCA bombing. Six Mafia members were jailed. He ended his police career as a permanent lecturer at the detective training school, his subjects being 'crime scene management' and 'field investigations'.

After leaving police work, he developed his interest in Italian style gourmet food and wine, designing the Italian villa 'Villa Gusto' in the countryside in north-east Victoria, Australia.[3][4]

Writing career

McLaren began writing in 2005, commencing on his first book, which became a best seller. He has now penned six books to date. McLaren's first book, Infiltration, is a non-fiction book detailing his efforts as a suit and tie detective and undercover agent who infiltrated the Mafia.[5] McLaren followed this up with On the Run, a non-fiction book about McLaren as his Mafia alias, Cole Goodwin, which has been adapted to a screenplay. McLaren's third book, Sunflower, is a historical work depicting the experiences of his grandfather, one of Australia's longest-serving foot soldiers from the First World War.[6][7] McLaren co-wrote the fourth Underbelly book with famous Australian authors Andrew Rule and John Silvester.

He then published his fifth book, JFK: The Smoking Gun, concerning the assassination of John F. Kennedy, in November 2013. McLaren decided to approach the assassination of Kennedy as a cold case investigation.[8] After more than four years of work, made far quicker and easier by the availability of documents such as the Warren Commission report and testimony as searchable files, McLaren found lost testimonies of dozens of witnesses, which told a different story to the Warren Commission outcome. He published his book both in the USA and Australia.

From 2016 to 2018, along with psychologist and documentary maker Eve Ash, McLaren researched the case of the murder of Bob Chappell in Hobart Tasmania, where Susan Neill-Fraser was convicted of killing her de facto husband on their yacht. For two years, McLaren spoke to hundreds of people, witnesses and police and produced a book called Southern Justice, to be released in 2019. It details an alternative view of the murder and shows that other persons may have been involved and that Neill-Fraser may be innocent. His hypothesis has seen him called to give evidence at the Supreme Court, in early 2019.

McLaren's current writing project is about the Sicilian mafia. He has been based in Italy since early 2018 and his book is expected to be published in 2020.

TV series and episodes

McLaren's police career has been the focus of various television documentaries, and the Underbelly Files: Infiltration telemovie series screened on Channel 9.[9]

McLaren is a technical advisor for many TV series and films in the crime genre, among them the Screentime Films trilogy of Tell them Lucifer was Here, The Man that Got Away and Infiltration. Also the TV series Squizzy about Squizzy Taylor, a gangster from the 1920s, for which McLaren wrote storyline material. McLaren also contributed to Killing Time, the television mini-series based on once corrupt lawyer Andrew Fraser's life, produced by FremantleMedia, TV1 and Film Victoria. McLaren has narrated episodes on Crimes That Shocked Australia and many other one-hour TV episodes about crime families, gangs and his knowledge of them.

He was also a key expert on a US television show on assassinations called Inside the Evidence which was headed by American anchorman Bill Kurtis. It aired on Reelz TV channel in the U.S. This was followed by a 90-minute documentary of his findings in JFK:The Smoking Gun. The documentary aired on Australian and American television.[10][11][12] Directed by Malcolm McDonald,[13] it features re-enactments, archival footage, and also new interviews with witnesses to the shooting. A one-hour abridged version of this documentary aired in the United Kingdom, entitled JFK's Secret Killer: The Evidence.[14] In the television special, McLaren argues that the truth was covered-up to hide impropriety on the part of Secret Service agents.[15]

Throughout 2016 McLaren, in conjunction with Bedlam Productions of London, produced the 2-hour documentary Princess Diana's Death - Mystery Solved. The documentary aired globally on 10 July 2016. The documentary relies on forensic evidence gathered by McLaren when he visited the original crime scene in Paris on 31 August 1997. (McLaren had previously been a lecturer at the Australian-based Detective Training School specializing in crime scene management and procedures. He used these skills during the Diana special.) McLaren's documentary indicates that both the French and English investigations into the death of Diana were flawed. McLaren interviews many of those involved in the investigation, French police and paparazzi included, as well as crucial witnesses, and concludes that a cover-up existed.

Through 2018 Colin McLaren - with English film director Tim Conrad - created a six-part TV series; "Mafia Killers with Colin McLaren" for Reelz TV. Each episode examines a notorious mobster who murdered his way to the top, to take control of a New York City Mafia family, before they themselves met death or lengthy jail terms. The six mafia bosses are: Sammy 'The Bull' Gravano, 'Teflon' John Gotti, Henry Hill, Vinnie 'The Chin' Gigante, Anthony 'Gaspipe' Casso and 'The Snake' Persico. During the shows Colin shares personal stories as an undercover agent in organized crime families, giving viewers first-hand accounts of his experiences.

McLaren followed this series by appearing in another six-part TV series 'Undercurrent', on Australia's Channel Seven network, aired in 2019. His role was as on-screen narrator and crime expert as the TV series followed him - identifying blunders by police in a murder investigation. During the series McLaren was adamant that the Tasmania police wrongly charged the victim's wife - Sue Neill-Fraser, concluding that the murder was the work of a gang of violent thieves stealing from yachts, who broke into the Four Winds yacht, only to disturb the owner who was sleeping. A violent fight occurred and the owner was murdered. McLaren secured admissions from one of the gang members as well as highlighting overwhelming forensic evidence and discovered many new witnesses who were previously ignored. As a result, McLaren was called to give evidence at the Supreme Court. Subsequently, the judge allowed Sue Neill-Fraser to appeal her conviction.

Currently McLaren is in New York City working on a recurring podcast series with Endeavour Audio on famous deaths that have attracted global fascination. Thus far he has broadcast a 12 part series on the plane crash death of JFK Junior and the car crash death of Lady Diana.

In between his TV work, McLaren remains strongly focused on writing his Italian Mafia book: a true crime history that has never been attempted before, due to the complexities of the subject matter. He has been given full access to the historical records on the mafia, housed in many of the state archives in Italy. The book is due to be published in 2021.

Publications
  • (2009) Infiltration, Victory Books ISBN 978-0-522-85679-8
  • (2010) On the Run, Victory Books ISBN 978-0-522-85703-0
  • (2010) Sunflower, Victory Books ISBN 978-0-522-85762-7
  • (2013) JFK: The Smoking Gun ISBN 978-0-733-63641-7
  • (2019) Southern Justice ISBN 978-0-733-64175-6

See also
  • Mortal Error, original book with similar theory to JFK: The Smoking Gun

References
  1. John Sylvester Retrieved 6 August 2010
  2. Liz Porter Retrieved 6 August 2010
  3. villagusto Retrieved 6 August 2010
  4. "Sold! Villa Gusto bought by Melbourne couple". Good Food. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  5. ebroadcast.com Retrieved 6 August 2010 Archived 17 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  6. scuttlebutt media Retrieved 6 August 2010 Archived 12 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  7. mup.com Retrieved 6 August 2010
  8. I carried the book in my cabin luggage when I winged my way homeward. By the time I arrived in Australia I had read it again and was charged with a desire to undertake a cold-case forensic study into the killing of the 35th President of the United States. McLaren, Colin (2013-10-23). JFK: The Smoking Gun (Kindle Locations 225-227). Hachette Australia. Kindle Edition.
  9. "Infiltration". Underbelly Files. Australia: Ninemsn. 2011. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  10. "'JFK: The Smoking Gun,' TV review: Australian detective concludes that Kennedy died from friendly fire". Daily News. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  11. "JFK: The Smoking Gun". Amazon. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  12. "JFK: The Smoking Gun – Get the Books". reelz.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  13. Listed in film credits, and JFK: The Smoking Gun at IMDb. Retrieved 9 September 2015
  14. "JFK'S Secret Killer: The Evidence". Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  15. Mucha, Peter (13 November 2013). "Shooting holes in theory that a Secret Service agent killed President Kennedy". philly.com. Interstate General Media. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
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