interview
into the darkness
Co-authors Sandra Harvey and Lindsay Simpson at the launch of Brothers In Arms 1989.
So we walked up and I said, “Do any of youse guys want a schooner?” in my best bogan accent,” laughs Scottish-born Lindsay, who grew up in Africa and New Zealand. Five months pregnant at the time, Lindsay stayed sober while Sandra went ‘onefor one with the bikies’. After many rounds at the pub, the Bandidos invited the journos back to the clubhouse. “I can remember saying to Sandra, ‘What’s our escape plan if things get hairy?’ and she turned to me, with bloodshot eyes, and slurred, ‘Pig’s got beautiful eyes’.” With most of the Comancheros in jail, Lindsay and Sandra sourced alternative connections. “We made contact with a Comanchero ‘old lady’ who invited us to a bikie and moll night at the Black Uhlans clubhouse in Penshurst. [Black Uhlans are another outlaw bikie gang.] I remember arriving, undercover, dressed as a bikie moll, with the ‘old lady’ and my then-husband, walking down a long alley filled with steam from the Harleys – it looked like a Fellini movie,” tells Lindsay. “I remember thinking it was the point of no return because there was only one way in or out.” Fortunately, no harm ever befell the two young writers. “Except for this one instance, we always made it known who we were. We didn’t want to be like Hunter S. Thompson, trying to be ‘one of the boys’, and I think that protected us because we weren’t deceitful.” Although, Sandra did buy a motorbike during the course of their investigations, “What the bikies would have called ‘Jap shit’ – a Yamaha,” laughs Lindsay. In April 1985, seven months after the shootout, Lindsay and Sandra interviewed Bandidos leader Anthony ‘Snodgrass’ Spencer in Parklea Jail. “I was struck by how incredibly sad he was,” recalls Lindsay. “He felt such a huge responsibility because he had led the Bandidos there.” One week later, Snoddy hanged himself in jail. “It was tragic hearing that news. We had found out from his girlfriend, Lee, that Snoddy at age four or five had found his mother dead in the bathtub after she committed suicide, and he’d never known who his father was,” tells Lindsay. “In many ways, we always felt that this was the real story; Snoddy was in this vulnerable state and
44 DUO MAGAZINE JULY 2012 duomagazine.com.au
[Comanchero leader] Jock Ross was this strong personality with a motorcycle club and a family that Snoddy could belong to. And that’s very much how it’s played in the mini-series…. The reason I write about crime is because that’s where the most human of stories take place.” “You can never forgive people for doing such horrible things, and certainly never forgive them for doing it in a public place, but when you’re writing a story over three years you get to know those people as people,” shares Lindsay. “My three-week-old son’s first outing was to the courthouse for the sentencing of the bikies in June 1987. The bikies and the police had followed my pregnancy, so in a strange way there was a connection there.” Delving into the depths of true crime involving outlaw gangs, secretive clubs, convicted criminals and the death of an innocent 14-year-old girl is no doubt an emotional adventure. “Writing true crime is a dark place to go into. It’s not a black space you want to visit continuously,” reveals Lindsay, who, in addition to her five true crime books, has also had one novel plus two non-fiction works not based on crime (one on how to raise twins) published. “Immersion journalism is so compelling for a writer, but it forces you to do a lot of soul searching.” Brothers in Arms: Bikie Wars was released on DVD June 21, dedicated to the memory of Sandra. “I don’t think I would have had the guts to write this book without her,” says Lindsay of the woman with whom she co-wrote three true crime novels, including My Husband My Killer which was made into a telemovie in 2000 by Screentime. “We were best friends, like sisters. We couldn’t even tell who wrote what we were that in-tune with each other.” Brothers in Arms by Lindsay Simpson and Sandra Harvey is available as an eBook from Amazon or hard copy from bookstores.