Death and Subsequent Media Reports
Al Grassby, who had been treated for cancer, died on 23 April 2005, two days after suffering a heart attack, after several months' pneumonia. He was survived by his wife Ellnor Grassby and his daughter Gabriella Davis, and his partner of 25 years, Angela Chan.
After Grassby's death, a number of revelations were made in the media, particularly in relation to his alleged links with the Calabrian Mafia (known as the 'Ndrangheta) in Griffith and to the events surrounding the disappearance and probable murder of Donald Mackay. Beginning on 9 May 2005, the Melbourne Herald Sun ran a series of articles alleging that Grassby used his influence to thwart a National Crime Authority investigation into the Mafia, and to "let mafia criminals into Australia", and that he was "paid to do the mafia's bidding", including receiving a $40,000 payment from the Griffith Mafia to smear Barbara Mackay.
Giafranco Tizzoni, a Mafia supergrass, identified Grassby as being at the "beck and call" of the Calabrian Mafia for at least 40 years and according to the National Crime Authority the Mafia funded Grassby's election campaigns. One of Al Grassby's closest associates was Toni Sergi, the man identified in court and in Parliament as the Mafia leader who ordered the execution of Donald Mackay.
A decision, in 2009, by the Australian Capital Territory's Labor Chief Minister Jon Stanhope to erect a statue of Al Grassby in Canberra has been the subject of some controversy. Grassby's various criminal connections were featured in the television crime drama Underbelly.
Read more about this topic: Al Grassby
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