Rape led to horror death
FORMER ARMY VET A TROUBLED SOUL
THE former soldier who blew himself up on a suburban street told friends he was kicked out of the Australian Army after bashing a superior who had raped him.
News Corp Australia can reveal the troubled life of Clent Wilson, the 43-year-old man who died after a homemade explosive vest he was wearing exploded.
A father-of-three who had served as a mechanic in the Army, Mr Wilson was born and raised near the Victorian border town of Swan Hill, where he was known for being a handyman who could fix anything mechanical, and as a keen waterskier.
But in recent years his life had been chaotic and troubled, marked by mental illness, drug abuse and relationship breakdowns.
A close friend of Mr Wilson said he had boasted long ago that he would “go out in a blaze of glory”.
On January 22, he died in suburban Hallam when the explosive device he had constructed out of vehicle airbags detonated as he drove over speed humps. He was driving away from the house he had previously shared with his onoff girlfriend in neighbouring Dandenong.
Family and close friends said he had not been the same since leaving the Army 20 years ago.
Mr Wilson’s friend, who asked not to be identified, said the former serviceman had told only a few close confidants he had been raped during his time in the Army.
He said Mr Wilson told him he had reacted by bashing his rapist, and had consequently been dishonourably discharged from the Army.
“Twenty years ago he told me this, crying in my shed,” the friend said.
“So many people said that after the Army he was a different person, but they didn’t know why. Now they’ll know.”
The explosive device Mr Wilson built did not appear to contain any projectiles, was unsophisticated and relatively low velocity, and did not cause major structural damage to his car.
The explosion, at 11.40am on a Saturday, blew out the sunroof and windscreen, and saw the vehicle continue straight on for another 400m, down Nettle Drive in Hallam, through a roundabout on to Young Rd and on to Homewood Blvd.
It came to a stop when it collided at low speed with a car parked outside a nursing home on Homewood Blvd.
Mr Wilson’s body was found inside the vehicle.
Investigators immediately ruled out any potential terrorism motive.
The core p erson erson is a fantastic p
Friends said Mr Wilson had been in a tumultuous onoff relationship with a woman and had moved out of the house they previously shared and was often sleeping in his car.
Friends and family said he had separated from his wife in 2009 and battled mental health issues and drug addiction.
He once tried to shoot his estranged father, Tony Wilson, who told News Corp from his workshop at Swan Hill this week that his son was “living in another world down there” in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburbs.
The younger Mr Wilson had several brushes with the law in recent years, involving traffic offences and family violence, and had an escalating drug addiction.
“Mostly it was ice, but he’d take anything: this, that and whatever,” his friend said.
“With the right things in place and the right systems in place, he probably would never have ended up the way he was.”
It is not known if Mr Wilson had lodged a complaint with the Army and his claims appear to have never been formally tested.
An Australian Defence Force spokeswoman would not comment on Mr Wilson’s rape allegations but confirmed he was a former member.
He had served with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the armoured reconnaissance unit which was based at Darwin’s Robertson barracks during his time in the Army.
It is now based at Townsville’s Lavarack barracks, where it provides armoured reconnaissance and is equipped with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and light-armoured fighting vehicles.
A source who served with him in “2Cav” said he had a reputation as a “crazy f--ker” while in the Army.
Mr Wilson’s death is being investigated by the Victorian coroner and the Royal Commission into Defence and Veterans’ Suicide.
Neither would comment on individual cases, but a source familiar with the coronial investigation said the Arson and Explosives Squad was building a copy of the explosive vest he was wearing at the time of his death.
Veterans Affairs Minister Andrew Gee said he was aware of the incident and the DVA would “provide any assistance it can to the coronial inquiry” if approached.
Despite his troubles, Mr Wilson’s friend said he was “underneath it, one of the best people you’d ever meet”.
“The core person is a fantastic person,” he said.
“I wouldn’t have stayed mates with him for all that time if he wasn’t a good bloke.”
As a civilian, Mr Wilson was adept at making small bombs, and once “nearly killed an apprentice” when a practical joke with one went wrong.
He was known among waterski racers and car enthusiasts in Swan Hill as a “genius” mechanic who could cobble together elaborate contraptions from spare parts he found at wrecking yards.
“If he couldn’t fix it, nobody could,” Mr Wilson’s friend said.
Mr Wilson was farewelled at a private cremation attended only by close family and friends.
Lifeline: 131 114 or lifeline. org.au
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Defence All-Hours Support Line provides support for ADF personnel on 1800 628 036 or defence. gov.au/health/healthportal.
Defence Member and Family Helpline provides support for Defence families on 1800 624 608.