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Keith Faure
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Keith George Faure (June, 1951 - July 2025[2]), from Norlane, Victoria, Australia, is an Australian career criminal, convicted of multiple murders and manslaughters. He was serving life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years for his role in two murders related to the Melbourne gangland killings. Faure's criminal history includes further convictions for armed robbery and breaking and entering.
Key Information
Faure and Chopper Read continued a lengthy prison war while imprisoned in Melbourne's Pentridge Prison during the 1970s and 1980s and Faure features prominently in Read's first few books. Faure was also the basis for the character of Keithy George in the film Chopper,[3] who is stabbed to death in the film's opening scenes. Faure, portrayed by actor David Field, was reported to be unhappy with his portrayal and used his anger at his depiction in the film as a defence in a minor traffic offence.[4] In the drama series Underbelly Faure is played by Kym Gyngell although as with several other characters his name is not mentioned in the series due to a court order.[citation needed]
Criminal family
[edit]Faure's grandfather, Norman Bruhn, was reported to be a Sydney based gangster who operated during the 1920s. He was shot and killed in 1927 during a hit ordered by John Cutmore, who died with Squizzy Taylor in a Melbourne shoot-out four months later.[5]
His brother, Leslie Faure, was serving a 14-year prison sentence for the murder of his girlfriend, killed in 1997.[6] Faure's youngest brother, Noel Faure, was convicted of manslaughter for the 1990 killing of Frank Truscott of Rye, Victoria.[5] Faure has been sent to trial for murder on five occasions and received two murder convictions.
Criminal history
[edit]1976 Clifton Hill ANZ Bank robbery
[edit]On 4 June 1976, Faure and two accomplices set out to rob the Clifton Hill branch of the ANZ Bank. Faure was convicted of shooting Senior Constable Michael Pratt in the back during the robbery. Pratt was later awarded the George Cross award for bravery, however he was forced to retire from the police force due to injuries sustained in the shooting by Faure.[5] Faure was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for his role in the robbery and shooting of Pratt.[7]
Manslaughter of Shane Rowland
[edit]Faure was found guilty of the manslaughter of Shane Dennis Rowland, who was shot dead on 1 May 1976 at a house in Richmond.[5]
Manslaughter of Alan Sopulak
[edit]Faure was found guilty of the manslaughter of prisoner Alan Sopulak in 1976 at Pentridge prison. Sopulak died after he was stabbed nine times in the back with a sharpened butter knife.[5]
Melbourne gangland killings
[edit]Murder of Lewis Caine
[edit]The body of Melbourne underworld figure, Lewis Caine (also known as Sean Vincent[8]), was found dumped in a residential street in Brunswick on 8 May 2004. On 3 November 2005, Faure and Evangelos Goussis were convicted for the murder of Lewis Caine, the first murder convictions related to the Melbourne underworld wars.
Murder of Lewis Moran
[edit]On 31 March 2004 Lewis Moran and associate Herbert Wrout were shot while drinking at the Brunswick Club in Sydney Road, Brunswick. Faure was reportedly paid $150,000 by Tony Mokbel for the murder of Moran, of which $140,000 was collected. On 5 December 2005, during the committal hearing for the murder of Lewis Moran, Faure fainted in the dock and was attended to by paramedics after suffering a suspected stroke.[9] Faure pleaded guilty to the murder of Moran. On 3 May 2006, Faure was sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment for the murder of Lewis Caine and life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 19 years for the murder of Lewis Moran.[7] Faure also gave evidence against others in both of these murders in a deal with the prosecution in return for a reduced sentence.
Summary of criminal convictions
[edit]| Date | Conviction | Comments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 1974 | Armed robbery in company | Sentenced to 2 years 6 months' imprisonment. | [7] |
| April 1974 | Armed robbery in company | Sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment. | |
| February 1977 | Manslaughter | Sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment. | |
| July 1977 | Manslaughter | Sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment. | |
| November 1977 | Armed robbery in company | Sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. | |
| April 1989 | Armed robbery | Sentenced to 13 years 6 months' imprisonment. | |
| 13 May 2006 | Murder | Sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment. | |
| 13 May 2006 | Murder | Sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 19 years. |
References
[edit]
- ^ [1]
- ^ Is Australia’s most manipulative crook dead? By John Silvester
- ^ Mokbel ordered hit on Lewis Moran News.com.au 4 May 2006
- ^ Let's make a deal Archived 12 February 2009 at archive.today The Age 4 May 2006
- ^ a b c d e Silvester, John (20 May 2004). "Police swoop on gangland suspect". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
- ^ R v Leslie Faure [2000] VSC 208 (4 February 2000), Supreme Court of Victoria).
- ^ a b c R v Faure [2006] VSC 169 (3 May 2006), Supreme Court (Vic, Australia).
- ^ R v Faure & Goussis [2006] VSC 166 (3 May 2006), Supreme Court of Victoria.
- ^ "Murder suspect collapses in court". The Age. 5 December 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2010.
Keith Faure
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Background and Family
Early Life and Influences
Keith George Faure was born in June 1951 in Norlane, a working-class industrial suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia.[1] Norlane's post-World War II environment, characterized by manufacturing and labor-intensive jobs, reflected broader socioeconomic strains in Melbourne's outer regions, including high unemployment and limited educational access that often funneled youth toward informal economies.[5] Faure's family background immersed him in a legacy of criminal activity, with his grandfather Norman Bruhn serving as a key figure in early 20th-century Melbourne underworld violence. Bruhn, a dockworker born in 1894, specialized in armed robberies targeting payrolls and engaged in standover tactics against rivals and businesses, amassing convictions for serious offenses amid the chaotic wharves of the era. Shot dead by police in a 1927 ambush after a string of hold-ups, Bruhn exemplified the raw, opportunistic criminality of Australia's interwar labor fringes, where union disputes frequently escalated into physical confrontations.[6] This hereditary exposure, set against Melbourne's entrenched underclass dynamics—including precursors to organized vice like gambling dens and protection rackets—likely shaped Faure's worldview, absent robust familial or institutional counterweights in a period when juvenile oversight systems struggled with reformative efficacy. The Painters and Dockers Union, notorious for internal thuggery and safe-cracking syndicates in the mid-20th century, underscored the pervasive blend of labor militancy and illegality that permeated such circles, though direct paternal ties remain undocumented in primary records.Family Connections in Underworld
Keith Faure's father, Les Faure, operated as a safe-cracker and held membership in the Painters and Dockers Union amid its era of factional violence and criminal infiltration in mid-20th-century Melbourne.[7] This union, notorious for harboring standover tactics, extortion, and intra-union assassinations, provided a milieu where skills in burglary and intimidation were honed and transmitted across generations. Les Faure's activities aligned with the broader pattern of union-linked crime that predated the formalized gangland wars of the 1990s and 2000s, embedding familial exposure to illicit networks within Melbourne's pre-gangland underworld.[7] Faure's younger brother, Noel Faure, mirrored this trajectory through direct participation in violent crime, including convictions for manslaughter in the 1990 shooting death of Frank Truscott and for the 2004 murder of underworld figure Lewis Moran at a Melbourne internet cafe.[1] [8] Noel also pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury to Herbert Wrout in the same incident, receiving a life sentence with a 25-year non-parole period for the Moran killing alone, underscoring his role as a paid enforcer in escalating underworld feuds. [8] Both brothers faced joint charges in the Moran case alongside associate Evangelos Goussis, highlighting overlapping operational ties within family-influenced criminal circles.[9] Extended kinship further reinforced these underworld linkages, with Faure's paternal grandfather, Norman Leslie Bruhn, establishing a foundational criminal legacy as a Sydney and Melbourne figure involved in robbery and union violence until his 1951 murder.[7] Bruhn's proficiency in safe-cracking and affiliation with the Painters and Dockers exemplified an intergenerational pattern of specialized criminal expertise and associative networks that persisted into subsequent family members' activities, independent of direct collaboration.[7]Early Criminal Activities
1970s Armed Robberies
On 4 June 1976, Keith Faure and two unidentified accomplices, all masked and armed, entered the ANZ Bank branch in Clifton Hill, Melbourne, ordering staff to lie on the floor while demanding cash from the tellers.[10] [4] Off-duty Senior Constable Michael Pratt, unarmed and driving past the scene, intervened by entering the bank and attempting to disarm one robber, only to be shot in the back by Faure at close range; Pratt survived but suffered permanent spinal injuries.[10] [4] Faure was arrested shortly after and convicted of armed robbery along with the shooting of Pratt, receiving a four-year prison sentence that highlighted his early reliance on firearms in escalating petty theft to violent hold-ups.[11] [2] Faure's involvement in this robbery exemplified his pattern of repeat armed offenses in the mid-1970s, building on prior minor convictions and contributing to his profile as a career offender before age 25.[4] Additional 1970s convictions included armed robbery and breaking and entering, often involving targeted financial institutions amid Victoria's rising hold-up rates, though specific dates beyond the Clifton Hill incident remain tied to his broader custodial record without isolated trial details.[2] This period aligned with a national surge in armed robberies across Australia, including Victoria, where bank heists proliferated due to economic stagnation post-1973 oil crisis, high unemployment exceeding 5%, and rudimentary bank security like minimal alarms and unarmed guards, enabling opportunistic groups to net thousands in untraced cash before improved policing responses in the late 1970s.[12] [13] In Melbourne alone, incidents like multiple bank raids in a single day by 1977 underscored enforcement gaps, with over 300 reported armed hold-ups in Victoria that year, though Faure's actions were not excused by systemic under-resourcing but reflected deliberate escalation in a low-risk environment for violent offenders.[13]Initial Prison Conflicts
Faure's initial incarcerations in the 1970s followed convictions for armed robberies, including a 1976 ANZ bank robbery in Clifton Hill where he shot Senior Constable Michael Pratt in the back.[4] These sentences placed him in HM Prison Pentridge, a maximum-security facility in Melbourne notorious for its harsh conditions and inmate hierarchies enforced through intimidation and physical confrontations. Survival in such environments demanded aggressive posturing and readiness for violence, as weaker inmates faced exploitation or assault, fostering a worldview centered on dominance to avoid victimization. Pentridge's overcrowding and flawed prisoner classification system exacerbated tensions, mixing violent offenders with others and enabling aggressive inmates to exert control, as noted in a 1977 coronial inquest into prison deaths.[14] The coroner observed that "people of violence appeared to rule Pentridge Jail," with authorities failing to curb this dynamic, which perpetuated retaliatory cycles rather than rehabilitation. Faure navigated these pressures by adopting confrontational tactics, including participation in brawls and standoffs, which court records from subsequent proceedings described as indicative of his emerging hardness amid the facility's unchecked brutality. This era's prison experiences solidified Faure's reputation among inmates and guards as a resolute figure unwilling to yield, based on associate accounts in later trials highlighting his role in quelling threats through force.[1] The absence of effective intervention programs, coupled with resource strains holding over 1,000 inmates in aging infrastructure designed for fewer, causally reinforced recidivism and escalating aggression, transforming short-term sentences into crucibles for entrenched criminal resolve.[14]Manslaughter Convictions
Killing of Shane Rowland
On 1 May 1976, Keith Faure shot Shane Dennis Rowland to death at a residence in Richmond, Victoria.[2][4] The incident occurred amid Faure's early involvement in armed robberies and underworld associations, though specific triggers linking Rowland's background—a figure connected to Melbourne's criminal milieu—to the confrontation remain undocumented in trial records.[4] Faure faced charges initially encompassing murder but was convicted by a jury of manslaughter, reflecting judicial determination that intent to kill was absent or mitigated by circumstances such as potential provocation or heat-of-moment escalation, as distinguished from premeditated homicide under Victorian law at the time.[2] Sentencing details for this offense integrated into Faure's cumulative penalties for contemporaneous crimes, including armed robbery, without isolated public records specifying a standalone term reduction.[4] The verdict underscored evidentiary focus on the shooting's impulsive nature over deliberate planning, consistent with manslaughter classifications in Australian jurisprudence.[2]Shooting of Alan Sopulak
In November 1975, inmate Raymond Allen Sopulak, aged 26, died at Pentridge Prison in Melbourne following a violent altercation involving Keith George Faure, then 26, and fellow prisoner Colin Raymond Corrigan, both of whom were subsequently committed for trial on manslaughter charges.[14] The coronial inquest highlighted the prison's environment as one dominated by "men of violence," with Sopulak having sustained fatal stab wounds inflicted using an improvised weapon fashioned from a butter knife.[14] Faure was convicted of manslaughter in relation to Sopulak's death, marking his second such conviction that year after the killing of Shane Rowland.[4] Trial proceedings centered on the circumstances of the stabbing, with evidence indicating multiple wounds consistent with a sharpened implement, though specific details of Faure's defense—such as claims of confrontation or provocation—were not upheld to negate criminal liability.[4] The conviction reflected judicial assessment of excessive force in a prison setting rife with interpersonal conflicts, rather than premeditated murder. Faure received a sentence that, combined with his prior manslaughter term, resulted in approximately six years served before parole in 1982, during which period he demonstrated patterns of recidivism upon release, including further armed offenses.[4]Role in Melbourne Gangland Wars
Context of the Underworld Conflict
The Melbourne underworld conflict of the late 1990s and early 2000s arose primarily from competition over lucrative illicit drug markets, particularly the importation, production, and distribution of amphetamines, which generated substantial profits for organized crime groups.[15] The Moran family, led by figures such as Lewis Moran, established significant control over these operations, leveraging established networks to dominate supply chains and enforce territorial claims through intimidation and violence.[16] This dominance created tensions with rival operators seeking market share, as the high margins from amphetamine trafficking—far exceeding traditional vices like gambling or protection rackets—intensified incentives for aggressive expansion and elimination of competitors.[15] A pivotal event occurred on January 16, 1998, when Alphonse Gangitano, a prominent enforcer with ties to multiple factions, was shot dead in the laundry of his Templestowe home, marking the onset of escalated hostilities.[17] Gangitano's elimination dismantled existing balances of power, producing a vacuum that allowed independent hitmen and opportunistic freelancers to operate for hire amid fragmented alliances.[18] The resulting instability fueled retributive killings, as groups like the Morans and emerging players responded to perceived threats with targeted assassinations to reassert control over drug revenues, perpetuating a cycle where each death prompted further vendettas rather than resolution.[17] Victoria Police's initial response was hampered by limited resources and intelligence gaps, permitting at least 18 underworld murders between 1998 and mid-2002 before decisive intervention.[19] This inaction stemmed from underestimation of the conflict's scale and reliance on reactive policing, allowing profit-driven feuds to proliferate unchecked.[20] In response, the Purana Taskforce was established on May 12, 2002, specifically to probe these gangland killings, marking a shift toward coordinated investigations that eventually disrupted the violence through arrests and asset seizures.[20]Murder of Lewis Caine
Lewis Caine, a convicted murderer with longstanding underworld ties including associations with figures like Carl Williams, was killed in an execution-style shooting on May 8, 2004, at a bar in Melbourne's St Kilda area.[21][22] Caine had been dining with Williams and his wife the previous evening, highlighting his embedded role in the escalating gangland conflicts driven by drug trade disputes and personal vendettas.[23] Keith Faure and Evangelos Goussis were charged with the murder, pleading not guilty at their joint Supreme Court trial in October 2005.[24] The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence, including ballistic links potentially tying weapons to prior crimes and witness accounts of the pair's movements, though specific forensic details tying them directly to the shooting scene were contested by the defense.[22] On November 4, 2005, a jury convicted both men after deliberating for several days, rejecting claims of mere presence at the scene without intent.[22] The killing was alleged to stem from a contract issued amid the chaotic retribution cycles of Melbourne's gangland wars, with police sources implicating Tony Mokbel as the financier who commissioned hits against rivals like Caine to protect his amphetamine empire, though Mokbel was never charged in this case.[25] Faure, already imprisoned for prior manslaughter convictions, received a 24-year sentence for Caine's murder on May 3, 2006, reflecting the court's view of it as a deliberate, professional execution rather than impulsive violence.[21] This conviction underscored the disorganized vendetta nature of the conflicts, where figures like Caine—himself a shooter in earlier hits—became targets not through structured organization but reactive eliminations fueled by betrayals and unpaid debts.[21] Goussis, convicted alongside Faure, later pursued appeals citing evidentiary issues, but these did not overturn the verdict.[26]Murder of Lewis Moran
Lewis Moran, a prominent figure in Melbourne's underworld, was fatally shot on March 31, 2004, at the Brunswick Club on Sydney Road in Brunswick, while his associate Herbert Wrout was wounded in the same attack.[27] [28] The assassination occurred amid escalating violence in the Melbourne gangland wars, driven by disputes over drug trafficking territories, where the Moran family had been implicated in prior aggressions against rivals including the killings of associates linked to Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel.[21] Keith Faure, along with his brother Noel Faure and Evangelos Goussis, was charged in May 2005 with Moran's murder and the attempted murder of Wrout; court proceedings revealed the hit was commissioned for a reported fee of $150,000, allegedly arranged by Mokbel.[9] [29] Keith Faure pleaded guilty to the murder on May 3, 2006, as part of a plea deal that included testimony against other figures, resulting in a life sentence with a non-parole period of 19 years, to be served cumulatively with prior terms.[21] His brother Noel, identified as the primary gunman, also pleaded guilty and received life imprisonment with a 23-year minimum term.[8] The convictions underscored Faure's operational role in executing the hit as retaliation, reflecting the tit-for-tat logic of the conflict where Moran's elimination targeted the family patriarch following the deaths of his sons Mark (2000) and Jason (2003), which had intensified rivalries over control of amphetamine distribution networks.[21] The Moran murder prompted an escalation in Victoria Police's Operation Purana, which had been launched in 2002 but saw increased resources and arrests post-2004, contributing to over 30 convictions in the gangland series through enhanced surveillance and informant cooperation.[21] Faure's subsequent cooperation as a crown witness further aided prosecutions, though his credibility was questioned due to his extensive criminal history and potential self-interest in the deal.[21]Other Alleged Involvement
Underworld informers provided statements to Victoria Police indicating that Faure operated as a freelance hitman during the Melbourne gangland wars, accepting assassination contracts from opposing factions such as those aligned with Carl Williams or the Moran family, driven by monetary incentives rather than loyalty.[30][2] This cross-factional approach, as described in police briefings, positioned him as an opportunistic enforcer unbound by the primary alliances fueling the conflict, with payments reportedly ranging from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per hit based on informant estimates of underworld economics.[30] In conjunction with the 31 March 2004 shooting death of Lewis Moran at the Brunswick Club, Faure, his brother Noel Faure, and Evangelos Goussis were charged with the attempted murder of bystander Michael Wrout, who was wounded in the same incident; Faure was convicted solely of Moran's murder, with the attempt charge failing due to insufficient evidence linking him directly to Wrout's injuries beyond proximity to the scene.[31][32] Faure maintained that any involvement in such events stemmed from self-defense against perceived threats in the volatile underworld environment, a claim echoed in his not-guilty pleas and trial testimonies, though prosecutors highlighted evidentiary gaps from unreliable witnesses and forensic inconsistencies as reasons for non-conviction on the attempt.[31] Faure's broader alleged ties to unprosecuted gangland hits were referenced in police investigations, but lacked corroboration sufficient for trial, often relying on hearsay from informants with potential biases tied to plea deals or rival vendettas; these claims positioned him as implicated in auxiliary killings peripheral to major factional targets, though no further convictions materialized owing to challenges in securing admissible testimony amid the era's witness intimidation.[9]Legal Proceedings and Convictions
Trial Outcomes for Gangland Murders
Keith Faure and Evangelos Goussis stood trial in the Victorian Supreme Court for the murder of Lewis Caine, shot dead on May 8, 2004, in Brunswick, Melbourne.[33] The prosecution presented evidence including the defendants' initial false statements to police denying involvement, contradicted by forensic and witness testimony establishing their presence at the scene.[34] Unlike Faure's prior manslaughter convictions, which hinged on reckless but unintended outcomes, the jury convicted both men of murder on March 2, 2006, after deliberations emphasizing premeditated intent within the gangland feud's retaliatory dynamics.[33] Faure separately faced charges for the March 31, 2004, murder of Lewis Moran, ambushed at a Melbourne internet cafe.[3] Initially pleading not guilty alongside his brother Noel Faure and Goussis, Keith Faure entered a guilty plea to the murder on May 3, 2006, amid indications of a plea deal that avoided a full trial.[3] This contrasted with the contested Caine proceedings, where gangland context—Moran's ties to the slain Williams brothers—bolstered proof of deliberate execution over manslaughter-level negligence.[3] On May 3, 2006, Justice Robert Osborn sentenced Faure to 24 years' imprisonment for Caine's murder and life imprisonment with a 19-year non-parole period for Moran's, served concurrently under the plea arrangement.[3] The joint sentencing reflected evidentiary overlaps, including payments traced to underworld figures for the hits, though Faure's cooperation via the plea mitigated against harsher minimums.[25] These outcomes underscored judicial reliance on direct participation evidence and feud-driven motive to affirm murder liability, distinguishing from earlier cases lacking proven premeditation.[3]Summary of All Major Convictions
Keith Faure's earliest major convictions occurred in the 1970s for multiple armed robberies, resulting in several prison sentences that established his entry into organized crime centered on violent property offenses.[1] These were followed by two manslaughter convictions in the late 1970s or early 1980s: one for the May 1, 1976, shooting death of Shane Dennis Rowland in a Richmond house, and another for the shooting of Alan Sopulak during a confrontation linked to underworld disputes.[2][1] Specific sentences for these manslaughters are not detailed in court records, but they contributed to Faure's pattern of recidivism, with release followed by reoffending in escalating violent contexts driven by criminal economic pressures. In the context of the Melbourne gangland wars, Faure's convictions advanced to murder in the mid-2000s. He was found guilty by a jury of the October 28, 2004, murder of Lewis Caine, shot in a Brunswick laneway amid rivalries over drug trade territories, and sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment on May 3, 2006.[21] Separately, Faure pleaded guilty to the March 31, 2004, murder of Lewis Moran, gunned down outside a Melbourne gym in a targeted hit tied to underworld vendettas, receiving a life sentence with a 19-year non-parole period on the same date.[21][1]| Offense Type | Key Examples | Approximate Period | Sentence Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armed Robbery | Multiple incidents | 1970s | Several prison terms (cumulative years not specified in records)[1] |
| Manslaughter | Shane Rowland (1976 killing); Alan Sopulak (shooting) | Convictions late 1970s/early 1980s | Imprisonment terms (exact durations unavailable)[2][1] |
| Murder | Lewis Caine (2004); Lewis Moran (2004) | Convictions 2006 | 24 years (Caine); life with 19-year non-parole (Moran)[21] |