The First Murderer I Ever Met

For more than thirty years, Mark Dapin has been hanging out with crooks, and both types of cop. In this gripping, often funny and always surprising book, he sorts the tall stories from the truth about true crime, showing us what some of Australias most famous felons are really like.

Mark Dapin was still in school when he met his first murderer a boy called Ian. In reporting the murder Ian eventually committed, newspapers used the clich that it shocked even those who knew him best. But it didnt shock Dapin, because he knew Ian in real life, not in clichs.

Criminals are sensationalised in the press and mythologised in their own stories. In describing criminals, police and prison officers hes spent time with, Dapin searches for the real characters and events. How many of Chopper Reads stories were actually true? What’s it like at home with former murder cop Gary Jubelin? Was the biggest art heist in Australian history carried out by one of Dapins neighbours, the mysterious Sky Blue? And what happens when you go to visit a prison with celebrated escapee John Killick? These encounters are better than a ring-side seat to the underworld: Dapin gets in the ring.

The First Murderer I Ever Met is the truest true crime its what actually happened.