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Russell ‘Mad Dog’ Cox is a former Australian bank-robber and prison escapee. Cox was born in Balmain in 1949 as Melville Peter Schnitzerling. He displayed an aptitude for theft at an early age, being known in his local area for stealing bicycles left unattended. He had a largely uneventful schooling, but perhaps it was these early seemingly innocuous crimes of childhood want that paved the way for Cox to develop into Australia’s most respected and successful bank-robber. Did the rush of adrenaline Cox first felt as a young man as he stole set him on an addictive path of vice and larceny that would lead to him forever trying to recapture that first high? Cox became known as an armed robber during the late 60’s before being sentenced to his first long term jail stint for theft in the early 70’s. He was an extremely skilful burglar, and was also extremely cunning. Although his nickname amongst police and the press was “Mad Dog” due to his habit of opening fire at police and bystanders when interrupted during robberies, Cox’s a.k.a. amongst his fellow crooks was slightly kinder. They called him “the Fox” – a reference to the fact that he was meticulous in his planning, was extremely clever, knew when to strike and had marvellous powers of observation.

Escape from Long Bay

Cox was imprisoned at Long Bay jail in 1975 when he and two other inmates led a daring escape attempt. The trio had managed to smuggle a Berretta pistol into the jail, and were able to follow a delivery truck into a caged section of the prison entry gating. The two guards inside the van were removed – one was taken hostage and one was forced to open a weapons cabinet, giving these dangerous men access to .38 rifles. One of the prison guards was then cast off, but the other was then placed across the bonnet and windscreen of the van to prevent prison sharpshooters from attempting to take out the escapees. Cox then steered the truck out of the Long Bay jail gates onto Anzac Parade under heavy fire from the rear from alerted wardens. As luck would have it, the prison truck was rammed by a bread van, and prison guard gunfire managed to blow out the tires rendering the van useless. Cox and his fellow criminals then proceeded from the vehicle on foot, still using their prison guard hostage as a human shield. Another heavy exchange of gunfire resulted in two of the escapees (including Cox) and the prison guard being shot and wounded. Whilst the guard was taken to hospital right away, Cox and his partner were left wounded, bleeding and in shock on the floor of Long Bay Jail’s OBS cells for 26 hours. It was only when the remainder of the prison population threatened a full-scale riot that medical staff were reluctantly allowed in to treat the would-be escapees. For his role in the failed breakout, Russell Cox was sentenced to life in prison, and was transferred after his trial not to Grafton, which historically was Australia’s safest jail, but to Katingal.

The Electronic Zoo Katingal was revolutionary in its day; located within Long Bay Jail walls, it was said to be one of the most high-tech, sophisticated prison systems in the world. It was a cold, sterile, bunker-like facility which was built to house the worst of the worst in the Australian prison system. It had electronically locking doors, no natural light, only air-conditioned re-circulated air, cells had no loose fixtures, and inmates would only be allowed one hour of exercise time for every twenty-four spent in Katingal. Conditions were poor as inmates complained that ventilation systems didn’t work and that the unit became very humid, earning Katingal the names “The Blockhouse” and “The Electronic Zoo”. Katingal was a very isolating experience. Cox arrived at Katingal in 1976 and the following year the jail received a flush of new inmates as a result of the failed escape attempt from Maitland jail. These inmates included Raymond Denning, Dick Lynott, Steve Shipley, Roy “The Red Rat” Pollitt, Terry Humphries, Freddy Owens and William “Billy the Kid” Sutton. Together with Cox, the Maitland inmates forged a plan to escape from Katingal that would involve a hacksaw blade being smuggled into the supermax facility so that bars could be cut on a transport van which ferried inmates to and from court. The blade was smuggled in wrapped in carbon paper so as not to trip the metal detectors and was given to Cox, who used the blade to cut through a bar atop Katingal’s exercise yard, which was open to the elements and was the only place prisoners could experience natural light. On November 4th, 1977 Cox asked the warden on duty if he could return to the exercise yard to retrieve his shoes. Once there, Cox removed a table tennis paddle from his clothes and wedged it into a crack in the exercise yard wall forming a step. From here he was able to remove the bar he had previously cut and climb onto the exercise yard roof. After climbing down, Cox still had to scale two fences, both over four meters high and topped with razor wire. Although he was spotted by guards shimmying over the second of these fences, he was free. Cox had escaped from the jail which was said to be escape-proof. Due to his connections in the underworld, Cox was able to make it to Melbourne from Sydney’s Katingal, and thence to England where he stayed until 1980. Cox then travelled to Germany and in 1982 returned to Australia, settling in Victoria where he began work as a labourer. This would have been the last heard about Russell Cox, but in 1988 his old Katingal inmate Ray Denning was able to escape from Goulbourn Jail, and in eight days was able to track Cox down – something that Australian Federal and State Police had not been able to do in over ten years. It is unknown whether the two committed any armed robberies during their short reunion as has sometimes been reported. Both Cox and Denning were arrested following a fiery shootout at a Shoppingtown Village in Doncaster in Victoria.

Betrayal

Ray Denning went on to turn police informant against Cox and the entire Katingal/Maitland gang, meaning that when Cox stood trial for his Katingal escape the charge really stuck. Sentenced again to life in prison, Cox was later able to have his sentence down-graded to 29 years, with a shorter non-parole period. Cox was also acquitted of all charges for the 1983 murder of notorious Painter & Docker Ian Revell Carroll. Cox experienced a change of heart during this stint in jail however, and instead of attempting escapes, sought to improve the lives of others by entering into a mentoring role in the first offenders program, earning him a reprieve from supermax in Goulbourn to maximum security in Grafton for the final years of his sentence. Perhaps the reason Cox’s reform lies with his long suffering wife Helen Deane, who has stood by Cox through years of escapes, bloodshed and danger.

Release and later life

Russell Cox walked free from Grafton Jail in 2004, and he is now living and working as a labourer on Queensland’s Gold Coast.