\u201cIt used to be an unwritten law, especially in organised crime, that you don\u2019t touch family, and you don\u2019t touch women. I think that rule of engagement has been thrown out the window, it\u2019s disregarded now. I think they just don\u2019t care any more, they don\u2019t discriminate if you\u2019re male or female,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The shooting has police and observers puzzling over why Fadlallah warranted an organised hit and how deeply she was involved with the criminal underworld. Was her death simply the product of the company she kept? Or was she a player? Have the rules towards women changed or was she a woman who stepped outside the usual rules for women associated with organised crime?<\/p>\n Sydney underworld figure Tilly Devine right with her former rival Kate Leigh in 1948.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>Sun News<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Two of Sydney\u2019s best known organised crime figures have been women \u2013 the infamous Tilly Devine, and her fierce competitor Kate Leigh.<\/p>\n The two women were not garden-variety criminals,<\/strong> but the city\u2019s foremost crime figures during the 1920s and start of the 1930s, according to author Larry Writer who wrote about the duo in his book Razor<\/em>, which formed the basis of Underbelly: Razor, <\/em>a drama broadcast on Nine, the publisher of this newspaper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThey were criminal masterminds,\u201d he told The Sun-Herald<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had gangs that did their bidding. They were running the equivalent of million-dollar enterprises in brothels, sly grog [the unlicensed sale of alcohol] and various criminal enterprises.\u201d<\/p>\n A number of murders were committed at the behest of the two women, Writer said.<\/p>\n The duo managed to make their way in the patriarchal world of 1920s Sydney underworld by being \u201cmore ruthless and smarter than the men\u201d, Writer said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were also very intimidating, they overcame obstacles through sheer willpower.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the intervening 100 years, no woman has been as prominent in the criminal life of the city as Devine or Leigh, but that doesn\u2019t mean women have not played a significant role in organised crime.<\/p>\n Historically, organised crime has been \u201ca very patriarchal thing\u201d linked to traditional extended family values and structures, where a strong male figure looks after a larger group of families, former NSW detective and criminology associate professor Dr Michael Kennedy told The<\/em> Sun-Herald<\/em>.<\/p>\n Outsiders often incorrectly perceived the women in these groups as powerless or subservient, he said. But women involved in crime families or organisations could be \u201cup to their necks\u201d in the business and were even permitted to dabble in their own ventures as long as those didn\u2019t become a liability to the larger enterprise.<\/p>\n Fingerprint dust covers a car in Hendy Avenue, Panania, where Lametta Fadlallah was shot.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>Nick Moir<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n These women tended to keep a lower profile and attract less police attention than their male counterparts, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One senior officer said women associated with crime gangs were not naive: \u201cThey aren\u2019t out there doing drive-bys, but they know what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s rare that they are the top of the tree, but they are certainly fair game if they are.\u201d<\/p>\n At times, women have got their hands very dirty.<\/p>\n As a gangland war raged in the city\u2019s south-west between the Bankstown and Blacktown chapters of the notorious Brothers 4 Life gang a decade ago, a Sydney paralegal with no criminal background began dating a high-profile gang member while he was imprisoned inside Goulburn\u2019s high-security Supermax.<\/p>\n The woman, who cannot be identified except by the court-appointed pseudonym of Witness M, went on to become a highly ranked gang figure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Aged 32, Witness M drove a getaway car from one gangland hit and one attempted murder in 2013. She later pleaded guilty to one count of being an accessory before the fact of murder and being an accessory before the fact to discharging a firearm with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, gangland widow and organised crime figure in her own right Roberta Williams pleaded guilty to blackmailing and recklessly injuring a TV producer in Melbourne.<\/p>\n Women have also found themselves in the firing line before Fadlallah\u2019s murder. As the Brothers 4 Life\u2019s two chapters fought against one another, one woman, Lola Hamzy, was shot<\/a> through the front door of her western Sydney home. The 2014 crime remains unsolved. The year prior, Maha Hamze, was shot at 21 times with eight bullets<\/a> hitting her in the legs as a result of a dispute over money between her relative and another man.<\/p>\n Kennedy believes that Fadlallah had \u201cbecome a liability for one or a number of reasons\u201d. Since her death, the underworld has begun to speculate she was cooperating with law enforcement. \u201cIn this area, everyone\u2019s always suspicious of everyone else. If people have been getting arrested around her, there\u2019d be questions being asked\u201d. A senior detective speaking to the Herald<\/em> last week was prepared to venture<\/a> that Fadlallah was \u201cthat rarest of Sydney gangsters \u2013 a woman\u201d.<\/p>\n Fadlallah\u2019s mother described her last week<\/a> as not a gangster but \u201cthe life of the party\u201d \u2013 something Kennedy thinks could have contributed to her demise.<\/p>\n He told The Australian<\/em>: \u201cIt might be OK to be the life of the party in Hollywood but not if you\u2019re part of an organised crime structure, where you want to keep a low profile.\u201d<\/p>\n Fadlallah had become known to police through her two marriages \u2013 she was married to former Telopea Street gang member Shadi Derbas, who was sentenced to five years imprisonment for tampering with evidence in a murder, then later married the late Kings Cross standover man Helal Safi.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 48-year-old is known to police, has a history of having associations and relationships with other identities that are known to police. Because of that, one theory is that she would have been more than likely the intended target. The 39-year-old woman sitting next to her is an innocent party in all of this,\u201d the Homicide Squad\u2019s Doherty said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While Fadlallah had a limited criminal record, there are suggestions she was involved in the sale of drugs. Investigators are pursuing that, as well as a past romantic relationship gone awry or being in serious debt, as key lines of inquiry in the large-scale investigation that will see officers interview dozens of witnesses, comb over months worth of CCTV footage and speak at length to sources within the underworld.<\/p>\n Loading<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got multiple crime scenes, retrieved many forensic exhibits, including vehicles and ammunition,\u201d NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really only early days and too early to speculate about cause, motive, anything.<\/p>\n \u201cThey all take time, unfortunately. I wish it was CSI<\/em> and it went very quickly, but it doesn\u2019t. That\u2019s just reality,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. <\/i><\/b>Sign up here<\/i><\/b><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/picture><\/div>
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