One of NZ’s most notorious crims dies
One of New Zealand’s most feared and violent criminals, Leslie Maurice Green, has died in Auckland aged 82.
A bank robber who always carried a gun, he also had a fondness for violence.
In the 1980s, he was charged but not convicted of being part of the team behind what was then the country’s biggest armed robbery – a security van raid in the car park of an Auckland supermarket which netted $294,524.
In the 1990s, police described him as the ‘‘most wanted criminal’’ in New Zealand after he went on a bank robbing spree.
His death is significant beyond ending the career of a man who spent much of his life on the run or in prison.
His name has been linked to numerous unsolved murders and disappearances in both Australia and New Zealand.
Green was named by Australian police as a suspect in the deaths of Australians Bernard Gray and Maria Fiore, who had links to the Mr Asia syndicate.
He was in Sydney when the pair disappeared after having dinner with him.
As an associate of many of those in the Mr Asia syndicate, Green used five aliases during trips to Australia.
Sources have told Stuff Australian police had an interest in Green right up to the time he died, still hoping to solve a number of murders linked to the Mr Asia group.
Green hated snitches and would not cooperate with police.
He is rumoured to have written a biography outlining his career but that has never been confirmed. New Zealand police have never formally interviewed Green on the case of Marion Granville who disappeared in Naenae in 1980.
Sources have told Stuff there is little doubt that Green was involved but there was no evidence to charge him.
Known as the ‘‘Old Man’’ by fellow criminals, he began offending in 1954 at the age of 17.
Born on February 16, 1937, he spent his early life on the West Coast before embarking on a life of crime.
Green had at least 49 convictions and was sentenced to 119 years in jail, serving about 30.
Although he was safe-cracker and burglar, he gained a reputation as a bank robber after going on a spree – using a silver-barrelled .44 Magnum handgun – that netted him $550,000.
He pleaded guilty when caught and was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
In recent years he settled down to a solitary life in Auckland, riding a bike and refusing interviews with media.
His death was reported by fellow career criminal Arthur Taylor who visited him in his Auckland home and found him suffering from malnutrition.