Kath Pettingill | |
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Other names | Granny Evil |
Occupation | Brothel owner |
Children | 10 |
Conviction(s) | Drug trafficking |
Dennis Allen | |
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Born | November 7, 1951 |
Died | April 13, 1987 |
Other names | Mr. Death, Mr. D |
Criminal penalty | 10 years imprisonment |
Criminal status | Died of heart failure |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | Kath Pettingill |
Conviction(s) | Rape |
Peter Allen | |
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Born | 25 January 1953 |
Criminal status | Still alive |
Children | 3 |
Parent(s) | Kath Pettingill |
Conviction(s) | Armed robbery, assault, drug dealing, drug trafficking |
Victor Peirce | |
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Born | 11 November 1958 |
Died | 1 May 2002 Port Melbourne, Victoria |
(aged 44)
Occupation | Waterside worker |
Criminal penalty | 6 years imprisonment |
Criminal status | Murdered |
Spouse(s) | Wendy Peirce |
Children |
4 Christopher Peirce Born On 1976 Victor Peirce Jnr Born On 1978 Katie Peirce Born On 1985-2009Vinnie Peirce Born On 1992 |
Parent(s) | Kath Pettingill |
Conviction(s) | Drug trafficking |
The Pettingill family is a Melbourne-based criminal family, headed by matriarch Kath Pettingill. Family members have many convictions for criminal offences including drug trafficking,arms dealing and armed robberies.
Members of the family, their associates and real life exploits, have been depicted by actors in television docudramas like the Underbelly series and the 2009 miniseries Killing Time.
Fictionalised versions of family members have been the basis for key characters in the Australian TV series Janus, Phoenix and the film Animal Kingdom. The US Animal Kingdom was based on the Australian film by the same name, albeit with the setting transposed to Southern California.
Two of Kath Pettingill's sons, Victor Peirce and Trevor Pettingill faced a murder trial for the 1988 Walsh Street police shootings, with both acquitted along with two fellow defendants. Victor Peirce's de facto wife, Wendy, later claimed that her husband planned and carried out the murders with the fellow accused.
Denis Allen (nicknamed Mr. Death or Mr. D) was the oldest son of Kath Pettingill. Allen was sentenced during the 1970s to a ten-year prison sentence for rape and was reported to have been a major player in drug dealing in the Richmond and South Yarra areas during the 1980s.
Allen was alleged to have ordered the deaths, or committed the murders himself, of 15 people. Allen died of heart failure in 1987 while in prison custody awaiting trial for murder.