THE GANG VENDETTA.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 155, 4 July 1927, Page 10

THE GANG VENDETTA.

MELBOURNE GUNMAN r MURDERED. t SILENCE OF WITNESSES. c 1 SERIOUS POSITION. 7 j (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, June 30. TJie vendetta which has been simmer- ( ing between rival gangs at Darlingliurst, - flared suddenly when Frank Hayes was 1 shot, early this month, and broke out P into definite open warfare last week . when Norman Bruhn, well-known Mel- ■ bourne gangster and gunman, was mur- ; dered in Charlotte Lane, Darlingliurst. Two of the leading gangs in the underworld war in Sydney have been the Razor Gang, so named because of their [ fondness for- slashing their victims with . the razor, and the Dope Gang, comprising . men engaged in the illicit peddling of : cocaine and morphia amongst drug I addicts in Sydney. Bruhn was one of the , leaders of the Razor Gang, It was his i idea, it is believed, that led to a number

. of hold ups of members of the Dope! . Gang, who, engaged in an unlawful . calling, could not seek police assistance when they were robbed and slashed by ' their rivals. i Bruhn, suspected of having shot a man i in Melbourne, and with having robbed others, had been in New South Wales for i months. Melbourne police, knowing his i victims there, would not proceed against i him, being content so long as he was out of their State. Bruhn had a long list of i hold ups to his credit here, though none of his victims would make any official , complaint, and, indeed, expressed polite surprise when police questioned them. , The fight has been going on for i months, reprisals by the Dope gang • invariably following a robbery by their i rivals. I These fights came to a head with the ' shooting of Frank Hayes, in Liverpool • Street, Sydney, early in the mouth, witi nesses stating that Hayes made for a ' man-in a car with an open razor in his hand, before the other man pulled a ] gun and shot him. Some hint of what < they were up against was gathered by < the police when they interviewed Hayes ] in hospital. He refused to say a word which might implicate anyone in the \ shooting, though it is certain that he , knew who had wounded him. Minor fights followed this affair, but last Wednesday night Bruhn, after threatening several others in a sly-grog shop at parlinghurst, was shot dead in a lane near by. So far as the police have been able to ascertain, Bruhn left the place in company with another man, and was walking through the lane, when one of two men who were waiting in the shadows stepped out, brushed Bruhivs • companion aside with the statement. > "You're not in this," and pumped five 1 bullets into Bruhn, all in vital spots. Brulin lingered for a few hours; but < though a magistrate attended to take

f his dying depositions, be would not sa] anything, and, so far as he was con cerned at any rate, carried the name o his murderer to the grave with him That there are many men in Darling hurst who know who the murderer wai is evident, but though detectives havi interviewed a score of them, they at profess ignorance. Soine, in fact, admii that they know but will not tell. Thej take the attitude that the quarrel is » private one, and they will settle il amongst themselves. In that connection it is freely admitted that several friends of Bruhn have com< over from Melbourne with the sol< object of wreaking vengeance on the murderer and his friends, and as tliej number several gunmen in their ranks it is expected that there will -be niort shooting and probably more murders But the police have stated that thej intende to clear the undesirable element from the city, and they are active in arresting suspects on vagrancy charges and as suspected persons. The policy is to harry the men who are known to belong to the gangs so much that they will leave the city of their own volition. As far, however, as getting any definite information in connection with the murder is concerned, the police find themselves up against a wall of silence that nothing will break. Bruhn's two brothers came over from Melbourne, and superintended his funeral. He was buried at Rookwood Cemetery, considerable interest "'being taken in the event.