Judy Moran

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Judy Moran is the matriarch of the infamous Moran family of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Judy Moran was first married to Leslie 'Johnny' Cole, who was shot dead in Sydney in 1982. Cole was the natural father of her son, Mark Moran, who was murdered in 2000.

Judy Moran was divorced from Cole at the time of his death and had taken up with Lewis Moran. Their son, Jason Moran was murdered in 2003. Judy Moran was estranged from her second husband when he was shot dead in broad daylight in a Melbourne hotel in 2004.

[edit] Publications

Just under two weeks after the death of her second husband, Lewis Moran, Judy Moran signed with celebrity agent Harry M. Miller and announced that she was planning to write a book of her experiences, intending to "clear her estranged partner's name."[1] The announcement immediately brought criticism: both police and the leader of the Victorian Opposition, Robert Doyle, were reported to be "outraged" at the news,[2] and a victims of crimes group called for new legislation to prevent the book from being published.[3] However, while Victorian law prohibits people convicted of a crime from writing or selling stories about those actions, Judy Moran had never been convicted or charged in relation to her family's activities.[4]

Although the book was delayed in October, 2004,[5] it was released in February, 2005 as My Story through Random House, and covered her upbringing in Carlton, the murders of her husbands and two sons, and her relationship with other underworld figures.[6] Less than a week later, Random House recalled the book from sale and pulped 20,000 copies after it was revealed that the book contained false allegations in regard to a deceased Victorian detective, Fred Silvester.[7] At the time Random House stated that the book would be reprinted without the false allegations, and the book was reprinted and returned to bookstores in May of that year.[8] As of August 2005 over 4500 copies of the book had been sold.[9]

In 2007, Moran revealed that she was in the process of writing a second book.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Judy Moran signs with agent", The Age, December 15, 2003. 
  2. ^ Anderson, Paul; Connolly, Fiona. "Crime Pays", Herald Sun, April 12, 2004. 
  3. ^ Hart, Karen. "Crime mum's book move riles victims", Geelong Advertiser, April 13, 2004. 
  4. ^ "Judy Moran signs with Harry M Miller", Sydney Morning Herald, April 12, 2004. 
  5. ^ Buttler, Mark. "Gangland book delay", Herald Sun, October 1, 2004. 
  6. ^ "Crime family matriarch defends book", The Cairns Post, February 8, 2005. 
  7. ^ Bachelard, Michael. "Slur sees Moran memoir pulped", The Australian, February 17, 2005. 
  8. ^ "Crime widow faced death threats", AAP, May 29, 2005. 
  9. ^ Anderson, Paul. "Moran bid for crime payout", Herald Sun, August 12, 2005. 
  10. ^ Hewitt, Sue. "The gang's all here", Sunday Herald Sun, March 11, 2007.