Free The Russell Street Bombing by Vikki Petraitis

alternative methods of self-defence and appropriate force.
     
    And twenty years after the bombing, Detective Chris O'Connor
wonders whether the bombing was used as a decoy for the robbery in Donvale three
hours later. The bombers knew that police from everywhere would head towards
ground zero, while they headed 25km east to rob a bank.
    And O'Connor believes that Stanley Taylor, at 71 years of age, is just as
dangerous now as he ever was.
     
    Given his work to catch her killers, it was fitting when crime
scene examiner Wayne Ashley received the Angela Taylor Scholarship in 1995. He
had completed pioneering work in Australia compiling national databases on both
shoe and tyre impressions and used the scholarship money to travel to Finland to
attend an international conference on such databases. He went on to complete a
Masters Degree in shoe impression evidence, and make connections in the FBI with
similar experts. Ashley's work as a crime scene examiner had taught him to push
the boundaries of investigations. The Russell Street bombing and other cases
like it hinged around forensic evidence. No one would ever underestimate the
importance of a dedicated, highly-trained forensics team working alongside a
team of dedicated, highly-trained detectives.
     
    A couple of years ago, Carl Donadio noticed a small bump on the
back of his right hand. When a doctor cut it out, it was a bit of shrapnel from
the blast eighteen years earlier. It wasn't the first time and probably won't be
the last time that shrapnel finds its way through his system and rises to the
surface to work its way out. It is a reminder of an event that he rarely thinks
about.
    Having a naturally resilient nature, Donadio knows in some ways, he was
simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and was unlucky. But he has had
enough time to ponder the other side of unlucky. He was lucky to survive. He was
lucky to learn profound life lessons at such a young age. He was lucky to be
nineteen and to know how important family and friends where. He was lucky to
carry little permanent damage after such a cataclysmic event. And he was lucky
enough to discover that life was precious and that any day could be your last.
From this, he developed a philosophy of seizing the day and taking opportunities
outside his comfort zone.
    He achieved his early ambition of joining the undercover and surveillance
unit and worked there for most of his policing career. When the opportunity came
to leave the police force to pursue a career in private security, he left after
fourteen years on the job without looking back. He had loved his time in the
police force, but took up the new opportunity with enthusiasm.
    Donadio also learnt about the power of the mind and the body to heal itself.
Having suffered such severe injuries, he is certain that his desperate desire to
get back on his feet served him well and aided in his recovery. He reflects that
in the days of the bombing, the police force, to his knowledge, only had one
psychiatrist. He received no follow up psychological assistance to recover from
his trauma. About six months after the bombing, he was sent a questionnaire from
the police psychiatrist where he had to tick boxes to say how he was feeling. He
duly filled it out and sent it back but never heard anything in response. Things
would be very different today, twenty years down the track.
    And what does Carl Donadio think of the men responsible for his injuries? The
truth is, he doesn't think of them at all. 'The bombing wasn't directed at me,'
says Donadio, twenty years later. 'It was directed at the Victoria Police. I
never took it personally.' And, he says, if he spent time and energy hating
Fatty Minogue then that would mean that Minogue is still winning. And Donadio
won't let that happen.
    Donadio received the Victoria Police Star which is awarded to officers killed
or seriously injured in the line of duty. He still tries to make every day
count.
     
    For Angela Taylor's parents,