澳大利亚犯罪头目凯思·佩廷吉尔（Kath Pettingill）于本周在养老院去世，享年91岁[1]。这位女性通过六个儿子和一个女儿建立了一个涉及多起重大犯罪的家族犯罪网络[1]。其中，长子丹尼斯·布鲁斯·艾伦被怀疑与11起谋杀案有关[1]。
佩廷吉尔家族的犯罪活动跨越数十年。1978年10月，一名女性射中凯思的左眼，警方将这起案件命名为"Operation Cyclops"[1]。1985年5月，其子杰米炸毁了验尸官法院作为对证人的警告，之后数天杰米因吸毒过量身亡[1]。1988年10月12日，沃尔什街警察谋杀案发生在南雅拉，两名警察史蒂文·蒂南和达米安·艾尔被杀害[1]。此外，另一子维克托·皮尔斯于2002年5月在墨尔本港湾街被枪杀[1]。
佩廷吉尔的故事被改编为电影《动物王国》[1]。
Kath Pettingill, the Australian criminal matriarch who orchestrated a sprawling crime empire through her six sons, has died at age 91 in a nursing home this week [1]. Her decades-long criminal operation, which spanned multiple generations, became so notorious that her life inspired the feature film Animal Kingdom [1].
Pettingill's criminal network was marked by extreme violence and multiple serious crimes. Her eldest son, Dennis Bruce Allen, was suspected of involvement in 11 murders [1]. The family's activities included drug trafficking and armed robbery operations. In October 1978, a woman shot Pettingill in the left eye, an incident that prompted police to launch an investigation designated "Operation Cyclops" [1]. In May 1985, her son Jamie detonated explosives at the Coroner's Court as a warning to potential witnesses and died from a drug overdose days later [1].
The Pettingill name became permanently linked to one of Australia's most infamous police killings. On October 12, 1988, two officers, Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre, were murdered on Walsh Street in South Yarra [1]. Another family member, Victor Peirce, was shot dead on Bay Street in Port Melbourne in May 2002 [1]. With six sons and one daughter, plus three adopted children, Pettingill built a criminal dynasty that left a lasting imprint on Australian crime history [1].