The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 9

FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 1998 9 www.smh.com.au Rome honours a kitchen knight-errant By DAVID DALE After 42 years of bringing good food to the barbarians, Sydney's longest-serving Italian restaurateur, Beppi Polese, has finally been rewarded ith the equivalent of a knighthood from the Italian Government. Beppi, 72, has been invited to Rome to receive the award of Cavaliere della Repubblica Ital-iana (for services to industry) from the President of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, on June 26. But he won't be able to go. He is booked in for minor surgery next week, and he'll still be convalescing when the ceremony takes place. Then, as soon as he has recovered, he'll be back in his East Sydney restaurant, persuading customers to take a chance on his latest renditions of traditional Italian delicacies.

As far as Beppi knows, only six other Italian-born Australians have received the Cavaliere honour. "I never mixed with the Italian Consulate or the Italian Chamber of Commerce, so I am quite surprised by this honour. Apparently, they are knighting me because I kept my Italian identity in my food for so many years," he said yesterday. Beppi arrived in Sydney in 1952 after training as a waiter in Venice and Milan, and opened his restaurant in 1956. Initially, it was a struggle.

When he tried to serve mussels or calaniari standard dishes from his own heritage the Australian customers wouldn't touch them, saying they were 44 1 found it all so strange, so different, so unaccepting of what I am trying to do," he recalls. "People weren't used to the type of food we were serving. The only Italian thing they knew was spaghetti. I thought, once or twice, about going back to Italy, but after all, I am a fighter I saw in this country a future that if you persist, you will succeed." Over the years, pioneers like Pi "If you persist, you will succeed" Beppi Polese at his labour of love. Photograph by GEORGE FETTING Beppi brought Australians around to being adventurous eaters and, nowadays, calaniari and mussels are standard items on club menus.

Beppi's has become a Sydney institution; then, in 1992, Beppi's wife, Norma, and his son, Marc, opened a second successful rant Mezzaluna in Potts Point. Beppi can be found in his restaurant every lunchtime, encouraging the sampling of bac- cala (salt cod) and bollito misto (various meats and sausages simmered in spicy stock). And he's pleased to find that in the '90s, customers are more open-minded than they were in the '50s. Woman shot dleal 6Tbecaiise (L GL there9 ne wa JUUL $100,000 bail for bikie charged with three murders in city dance club A man on murder charges over the execution-style deaths of three bikie gang members was freed on bail yesterday to await a trial unlikely to take place until late next year. Bruce Malcolm Harrison, 36, of Liverpool, is facing three charges of murder and one of attempted murder over the shootings at the Blackmarket dance club at Chippendale on November 9 last year.

The Bandidos motorcycle club president, Michael Alexander Kulakowski, 41, Sasha Milenkovic, 33, and Rick Destoop, 24, all died in the shootings. A fourth man was shot in the head but survived. Harrison was committed last month to face trial in the Supreme Court, which Justice Peter Hidden was told yesterday was unlikely to happen until late next year. A vital female witness in the case had given three conflicting statements about Harrison's movements at the time of the shooting, his barrister, Mr Patrick Costello, told the judge. There was also evidence the woman had been taking alcohol and possibly drugs for about 18 hours before the shootings occurred, he said, and the club was so dark at the time she could not have seen some of the things she claimed to have.

Bail had been refused at a hearing on January 22 before Justice Michael Grove but, apart from the witness's inconsistent statements and the probable long delay of the trial, new circumstances had emerged which justified reconsideration by Justice Hidden, Mr Costello said. Tests of Harrison's clothing revealed no powder burns, and this information was available to prosecutors at last month's committal hearing but was not put before the magistrate, Mr Costello said. Justice Hidden granted bail, with $100,000 in sureties, ordered Harrison to report daily to Liverpool police and not to contact Crown witnesses or approach overseas departure points. AAP 9 fj 4 i partner, gagged and covered with blood, lying beside her bed. A diamond ring he had bought her was missing.

Police believe Rose discarded the jewellery after being given a false value on its $15,000 worth. In evidence tendered to the court yesterday, police said Rose had confessed last August to the murder of Ms Holford. He told detectives he used a screwdriver to carry out the stabbing. Dressed neatly in a blue blazer and white shirt, Rose peered out from pebble spectacles, occasionally shaking his head as the prosecutor, Mr Chris Maxwell, QC, revealed details of his killings. The court was told that if Rose had not confessed, many of the murders might still be unsolved.

His first victim was 58-year-old Edward Cavanagh, shot four times through the door of his Hoxton Park home as he arrived from a night out, cradling the two dozen oysters he had bought in his local pub. Rose went to the house armed with a shortened rifle and killed Mr Cavanagh, who was a standover man and associate of the late underworld figure Robert Trimbole, Mr Maxwell told the court. Mr Cavanagh's de facto wife, Carmelita Lee, 21, was gagged and bound. She had been about to have a bath when Rose showed up, ready to kill Mr Cavanagh in revenge for beating up his mate. After killing Mr Cavanagh, Rose shot Ms Lee four times, telling police later: "I had to kill her.

She was there." Another victim, Ms Kerrie Pang, a 40-year-old mother of five, was stabbed in the throat in the back office of her Gladesville massage parlour killed by Rose and a mate, allegedly for a $10,000 fee. After killing Ms Pang and shooting one of her staff, a 25-year-old single mother named Fatima Ozonal, who worked in the parlour for a few extra dollars, Rose, set the premises alight, leaving his victims' bodies to burn. Mr Maxwell told the court Rose had given undertakings to testify at the criminal trials of at least three people accused of involvement in the murders. Justice Levine adjourned the case for sentencing at a date to be fixed. By AMANDA PHELAN A series of killings which had baffled police were cleared up yesterday when one of Australia's most wanted men, who admitted killing one woman "because she was pleaded guilty to five murders.

Lindsey Robert Rose, 43, shot dead a man and three women, and killed a fourth woman by stabbing her at least 32 times with a kitchen knife. One of his victims was shot so she could not identify Rose after he had gunned down her de facto husband in a revenge killing for a mate. A tale of stalking, burning, stabbing and maiming revealed yesterday that some of Rose's targets were contract killings, but others were victims simply because they crossed the killer's path. Others were earmarked because they were wealthy and vulnerable. Rose's lawyer, Mr Stuart Littlemore, QC, told Justice David Levine in the Supreme Court yesterday that a psychiatric assessment would be desirable, given the nature of the case.

Police believe Rose, whose listed occupations are paramedic and fitter and turner, started his killing rampage 13 years ago. His toll of victims included Reynette Holford in January 1987, Kerrie Pang and Fatima Ozonal in February 1994, and Edward Cavanagh and Carme-lita Lee in January 1984. Yesterday, the court heard that Rose had been shielded by his close friend and drinking partner, the disgraced detective Allan Thomas, who had given him the revolver used in two of the shootings. However, it was Thomas who eventually led police to Rose, revealing in a six-hour session before the NSW Crime Commission what he knew of the killer's trail of slaughter. Rose became the subject of a major police manhunt and was described as the country's most wanted man when he disappeared in July 1996.

He was extradited from Adelaide in April last year. Some of the families of his victims wept at the back of the court as Rose pleaded guilty yesterday. But for others, justice came too late. One elderly man, a suspect in the murder of his partner, died without having the chance xl IXJ -ts4 Victims and their murderer: Fatima Ozonal, top, Reynette Holford and Lindsey Rose to clear his name. His partner was killed by Rose as she confronted him during a burglary in January 1987.

Rose had been tipped off that the residents of a West Ryde mansion would make wealthy pickings, but as he rifled the home, he was challenged by Ms Reynette Jill Holford. He stabbed her 32 times, then strangled her. Ms Holford's partner, millionaire developer Bill Graf, 79, who slept through the killing, became a police suspect He died several years later, before his name was cleared. Mr Graf had found his Factory fitted air conditioning The limited edition Magna Solara V6 Sedan and Wagon feature $3,600 worth of extras at no extra cost. To arrange a test drive, contact your nearest Mitsubishi Dealer, or freecall us on 1800 802 930 for additional information.

Cruise control 15" alloy wheels Unique interior trim Front and rear mudflaps Colour co-ordinated front grill, exterior mirrors and side body mouldings. Phil may have form after taking firm stand Under the Census and Statistics Act of 1905, failure to complete the forms is an offence carrying a maximum daily fine of $100 per form. Mr Tripp estimates his combined bill for non-compliance could top $6,000, but he is refusing to accede to ABS demands. He claims the forms are "irrelevant" to his business of producing sport and music directories. "I'm about to become the civil disobedience poster child for conscientious objection to futile paperwork," Mr Tripp said yesterday.

He is appear in St James Local Court next month. By KENDALL HILL A self -described pin-up boy for civil disobedience is challenging the might of the Australian Bureau of Statistics over what he calls its "frivolous" surveys. Newtown music publisher Mr Phil Tripp was summonsed a fortnight ago for refusing to complete business forms sent to him last year by the ABS. MITSUBISHI MOTORS.