More gay hate crimes uncovered (15/8/2002)

A seventh man believed to have been the victim of gay hate-related violence in Bondi and Tamarama in the late 1980s has emerged.

Paddington Police have confirmed they are investigating the disappearance of 27-year-old French national Gilles Mattaini.

Mattaini was living in Bondi when he was last seen in September 1985.

The investigation into Mattaini’s disappearance has been picked up by detectives working on Operation Taradale -“ a two-year investigation into six deaths and disappearances from Sydney’s eastern suburbs between 1987 and 1992.

Detective Sgt Steven Page has led the investigation. He told the Star police were looking for people who may have known Mattaini to come forward with information.

Mattaini was 170cm tall, weighed between 55 and 60kg and had brown collar-length hair.

Operation Taradale started two years ago to investigate the disappearances or bashing murders of six gay men in Sydney’s eastern suburbs from 1987 to 1990.

Among them was Wollongong newsreader Ross Warren, whose body was never found.

His car was found in a Tamarama street and a few weeks later his wallet turned up on a rock ledge at the bottom of a cliff.

Anyone with information about gay-related violence in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in the mid-1980s to early 1990s, or information about the disappearance of Gilles Mattaini, should contact Paddington Police on 8356 8299.