Murray Riley
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Rowing | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
1956 Melbourne | double sculls |
| British Empire (and Commonwealth) Games | ||
 |
1950 Auckland | double sculls |
|
1954 Vancouver | double sculls |
Murray Stewart Riley (born 5 October 1925) is an Australian Olympic athlete, who, after leaving a career as a police officer, gained notoriety as a criminal. Riley represented Australia at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics in double scull rowing, winning a bronze medal in 1956. He served as a police officer in Sydney from 1943 until 1962, when he resigned after disciplinary charges were leveled against him. After his resignation from the police, Riley embarked on a criminal career that included convictions for drug trafficking and fraud. He was implicated in the Nugan Hand Bank scandal and associated with leading figures in the American Mafia, including Jimmy Fratianno of the Los Angeles crime family and corrupt Teamsters official Michael Rudy Tham.
Riley participated in the double scull (rowing) events at the Empire Games with Merv Wood, who later became NSW police commissioner, in 1950 and 1954, winning gold for Australia. He also competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics, winning bronze in 1956. In 1952, he and his partner John Rogers were eliminated in the semi-final repechage of the 1952 Summer Olympics men's double sculls.
Riley and Wood, his Olympic double sculls rowing partner, met in the NSW Police Force, where Riley had been a member since 1943. As a young policeman Riley met with, and was mentored by, unscrupulous senior officers like Ray "Gunner" Kelly and Fred Krahe. By the early 1950s, Riley was associating with members of criminal networks including poker machine distributor Ray Smith and Sydney gangster Lennie McPherson.
Riley was awarded the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct and rose to the rank of Detective Sergeant; however, he was subject to disciplinary charges when he took "a communication to a person in gaol". He subsequently resigned from the force in 1962.
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