Issue 24: Chow Hayes - The Celebrity Criminal
The media loves nothing more than getting the juicy details to a crime that may have taken place. Some criminals shy away from the limelight, while others manipulate the media and use it to their advantage. John Frederick Hayes chose the latter and it led him to become known as Australia’s first ‘celebrity criminal’.
John Frederick Hayes was born on 7 September 1930 in Paddington, New South Wales, though he would be known better as Chow Hayes. He did not have an easy childhood. He was brought up by his grandma and his aunt as he was the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Hayes. His younger years were tough, as he did not have a father figure growing up. Chow’s father had gone to war and returned having PTSD and spent the rest of his days in a mental ward. The grandfather was only around for a short time before dying.
Along with his rough home life, Chow’s schooling wasn’t much better. After his 8th birthday, he was rarely at school. As a cause of this, Chow was sent to a boy reformatory. He had a job as a newspaper boy, though that did not last long. Becoming a teenager, it wasn’t a surprise that he got involved with gang-related crimes in-and-around his local area. The Railway Gang committed crimes such as shoplifting, petty theft and assault. Once more, as people took notice, his family sent him away to Gosford Boys' Home. This home at the time was one of the worst and only helped progress his criminal skills.
With a hair-fine trigger and comfortable with a gun, he became Australia’s first gangster. He was a major player in the Sydney Gang Wars of the 1920s and 1930s. What was different about Chow Hayes was that while many people who were involved in the gang wars carried a razor, he carried a gun. He was a standover man for Kate Leigh and if he turned up on a person's doorstep - they were as good as dead. Also, a moment of pause is that Chow Hayes was not afraid to kill in front of witnesses. Supposedly, he kept them quiet with witness intimidation.
Kate was his boss and his loyalty to her could not break; it was cemented when in 1938 Chow shot Kate’s de facto partner, Henry Jack Butler, and escaped prosecution. A year later, Chow was shot by an unknown person at Glebe. They took him to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, but to avoid investigation, he discharged himself with the bullet still inside his body.
Chow married his childhood sweetheart, Gladys Muriel King, who was better known as Topsy, on 23 December 1932. He had four children, three sons and one daughter.
Like many criminals, he did not shy away from protecting what he thought was rightfully his. One night at a party Chow saw fellow criminal Frank Green and believed he was eyeing off the woman he was dating. He went over and talked to Green about whether he was doing what he suspected. He said he wasn’t and thought that was the end of it when Chow walked away. However, when Green left the party around 4 hours later, Chow appeared with a pipe in his hands, saying words to the effect, ‘I’ve got a present for you.’ before wacking Green over the head. The metal pipe caused Green to fall to the floor semi-conscious, Chow gave him a beating that would be so bad that Green would be in hospital for a month.
Throughout his life, he spent many years in prison for a succession of crimes. These crimes included small felonies such as drunkenness, all the way to capital murder.
Murders
In the end Chow admitted to killing 5 people, though it is believed that it could be double that number of victims.
One victim was a fellow criminal who sealed his fate when the gangs went head to head. Instead of taking out his intended target, William Lee, who was better known as Bobby, shot and killed one of Chow’s family members by mistake. It had been a case of mistaken identity when Bobby thought Chow was at home listening to the radio; he had in fact chosen to go out that night and it was instead his nephew, Danny Simmons.
Wanting revenge for the slain family member, Chow and his sidemen broke into several houses because they heard Bobby was staying there. Finally conceding that he would not get anywhere that night, he took his wife out to Zeigfield club, as she had been asking for him to take her.
Later on that night, Chow was shocked but also delighted to see Bobby was sitting at another table. The two spied each other and Chow walked over. There was a brief confrontation and Bobby thought he would be safe being amongst a nightclub full of people. That lapse in judgment cost Bobby his life. Chow, not caring who witnessed it, pulled out his gun and shot him multiple times. The force of the blasts threw Bobby 10 feet.
Police did not catch Chow immediately after the nightclub killing though because they went into hiding. Along with his accomplice, Joey, the pair stayed hidden for 6 weeks. A Sydney detective known as Ray Kelly, nicknamed Gunner, was the police who finally caught the pair.
It was Bobby’s killing that would see him spend extended time in jail. However, that was not before two mistrials due to witnesses being too scared to speak on the record. It was, in fact, Chow who pleaded guilty during his third trial in 1952. It is said that he did this for the love of not wanting anything to happen to Topsy. Though he was sentenced to hang, his conviction was commuted because the NSW Government took capital punishment off the books. However, he spent the next 20 years in prison, during which he had part of his ear bitten off.
Once out of prison, he went back to extorting money from many of Sydney’s most dangerous criminals. Chow went back to jail in 1973 for committing grievous bodily harm on Gerald John Hutchinson when he sliced his face and arms with a broken bottle. He was released from custody for the last time in 1978. The years in prison had, of course, a strain on the marriage, nevertheless, Chow was always very proud that his wife was who he referred to as a ‘square head’. They were people who kept their noses clean and out of the business of being a criminal.
Celebrity Status
Upon release, Chow wrote a book, so he went in search of a writer to help him spread his side of the story to the world. He approached David Hickie, who although was originally reluctant, he agreed to meet with him. Hickie thought Chow would be an interesting person to explore the psyche of, Chow wanted to cash in on his notoriety. The book took five years to produce, which included three years of interviews and two years of editing. They released it in 1990.
Chow was also the subject of a portrait for the Archibald Prize that was painted by Bill Leak.
Chow also appeared on TV for multiple interviews, where he stated he had no remorse for what he did.
Throughout the author tour, the media were enamored with Chow. How he discussed these crimes without even flinching. It was a topic that interviewers were not expecting. Unfortunately, the author-subject relationship did not last between the two. Even though the book did not sell well, Chow was convinced that Hickie had millions he thought was rightfully his. In 1993, dying from cancer, Chow was still threatening Hickie.