About

David Francis Everett was born in Tasmania in 1962. He joined the army as an apprentice mechanic at age fifteen, and the Australian SAS Regiment at twenty-one. He left the army in 1986 to fight with the Karen people of Burma.

In 1991, after committing an armed robbery of a Hoyts cinema complex in Perth, David and two other ex-SAS men were arrested on drugs charges (which they were later acquitted in court). While out on bail, David faked his own abduction and absconded to Queensland. During his time on the run, he committed several audacious crimes, including setting off Australia’s biggest criminal-initiated explosion.

In 1993, in the midst of planning a gold-mine heist, he was caught by police and charged with armed robbery and sentenced to seventeen years and nine months in prison. After an appeal from the DPP, his sentence was increased to twenty years (minus two years for time served and consideration of a guilty plea).

While in jail, David completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in International Relations and Journalism; in 1999 he graduated with Honours in Strategic Studies. He was released in 2002, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). David is currently enrolled in the Asian studies PhD program at the University of Western Australia. He has two children.