A former Victorian undercover cop says his identity was almost revealed in a risque rendezvous with a notorious criminal matriarch.
Lachlan McCulloch put his life on the line for years — and jailed 16 criminals in one dangerous covert operation during his time in Victoria Police.
After eight years in the force, McCulloch played the part of a would-be drug dealer under the name “Lenny Rogers.”
In a new six episode podcast series called Undercover Cop, Mr McCulloch said one of the scariest moments of his career was when he was almost outed by infamous criminal grandmother Kath Pettingill in 1993.
Pettingill, A drug dealer and brothel madam, was matriarch of the criminal family behind the Walsh St murders of two young policemen.
“She was loud, the queen of the criminals,” Mr McCulloch said.
“She scared hell out of me.”
McCulloch said he got to know Pettingill through his underworld informer “Fran”, who lived across the street from her at Rowville in Melbourne’s outer east.
Fran knew McCulloch was an undercover cop and pretended to be his lover to gain Pettingill’s trust.
Pettingill was sceptical about “Lenny Rogers” because she had never heard of him in crime circles.
“In her eyes, I was a nobody,” he said.
“I hadn’t been in jail. Had no form.”
McCulloch, who was hiding a police listening device, offered to pay $12,000 for a pure ounce of heroin.
But Pettingill was cunning and kept referring to the drug as “A slow car”.
“Slow car?” he asked. “You mean smack?”
Pettingill said “yes” but realised she made an admission so she demanded McCulloch strip.
McCulloch was about to remove his shirt when his supposed girlfriend Fran reached over and grabbed his genitals.
“Don’t search that — that’s mine,” she said.
Pettingill became so angry about the interruption that she forgot about the strip search — and so the saucy interaction saved McCulloch’s life.
McCulloch also detailed the time he was forced into a two-hour gun standoff with “Stacker” mckinnon, a man who killed people with heroin overdoses and stacked dead bodies on top of one another outside his flat.
“I would never advise anyone to work undercover the way I did,” McCulloch said.
“As a manager, I would never allow me to do what I did. It’s too dangerous physically — and way too dangerous mentally.”
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