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How the Stoccos took everything from family

The family of a man gunned down during Gino and Mark Stocco's reign of terror along Australia's east coast have come face to face with the father and son fugitives in court.

The decomposed body of Rosario Cimone was found hidden under bushes three weeks after he was killed.

"The state of our father’s body meant we never had the opportunity to say goodbye, to tell him that we loved him," Mr Cimone’s daughter Maria Perre said.

The Stoccos lead an eight-year crime spree across three states, finally leading to their arrest in 2016.

It wasn't until the pair was arrested and held in custody that two more victims mustered up the courage to speak out about the night that the Stoccos ruined their lives.

On the run: Mark and Gino Stocco preyed on innocent farming families to put them up
On the run: Mark and Gino Stocco preyed on innocent farming families to put them up

From one disaster to another

Rick and Sandra Zipsin were fortunate enough to survive Black Saturday, only to lose their farm when the Stoccos burnt it down.

It was a huge blow after they let the Stoccos into their home, fed and even clothed them. They couldn’t afford the fire levy after Black Saturday so for the first time in their lives, weren't insured. The family was devastated – they had lost everything and had to move in with Rick’s parents.

The sawmill that has allowed the Zipsin family to begin restoring their business
The sawmill that has allowed the Zipsin family to begin restoring their business

Finally, they have something to celebrate as Lucas Mill has generously restored the Zipsins’ portable sawmill free of charge. It has given the family a purpose again and enabled them to start rebuilding their farm. Rick has been hard at work on it, with the help of wife Sandra and their two children.

The Zipsins would like to thank all the Sunday Night viewers who have so far generously donated money. They still have a long way to go before they can get their lives back though, so if you too can help with a donation, tools or equipment, please get in touch with Rick and Sandra: https://www.gofundme.com/2ay8e8aw

The Stocco reign of terror

When Rick and Sandra Zipsin’s family and farm survived the brutal Black Saturday bushfires, they counted their blessings. Then they met Mark and Gino Stocco.

The fires had raged around their property for two weeks but the Zipsins’ damage was thankfully limited to fencing and a Blackwood plantation. The family, cattle breeders and seed producers for 30 years, hired Gino and Mark Stocco to help them repair the damage.

The father and son, already on the run from the law, had found the Zipsins’ details in a farming directory – their work in exchange for meals and accommodation.

The couple formed a friendship with the Stoccos, and the pair would come and go from the Zipsins’ over the next four years – the Stoccos were good workers and Rick would happily rearrange his schedule to accommodate the sorts of tasks Gino and Mark enjoyed.

“They did a neat job on everything they did … and they pretty much chose what they felt comfortable doing,” Rick said. “We never asked them to do anything we wouldn’t do ourselves. They said we treated them better than their own family on occasion.”

Rick Zipsin had more than $800,000 worth of property burnt
Rick Zipsin had more than $800,000 worth of property burnt

Mark would play cricket with Rick and Sandra’s kids and they even spent an Easter together.

But after their first visit in 2009, the Stoccos began arriving unannounced, and there was less work Rick needed help with on the farm.

“Their visits were also starting to eat into our family time so we gently hinted that it was getting a bit much if they turned up out of the blue a few times a year,” Rick said.

“We asked them to give us a bit of a break but they were always welcome back.”

Whether it was these words in April 2013 or something else that led to a devastating turn of events, they still don’t know.

Six months later, they awoke just after midnight to find their hay shed on fire. The flames were 50 metres high.

RICK AND SANDRA HAVE SET UP A GO FUND ME SITE TO HELP REBUILD THEIR FARM, YOU CAN FIND DETAILS ON HOW TO DONATE MONEY AND EQUIPMENT HERE:
www.gofundme.com/2ay8e8aw

“We couldn’t save anything,” Rick said.

“We were asked if it could have been internal combustion but we knew it wasn’t. We had been baling hay for 34 years. We would never bale wet hay.”

They never suspected the Stoccos. And unfortunately, the shed wasn’t insured.

“We had always had insurance but after Black Saturday, we couldn’t afford the new fire levy. We figured we had been lucky so far so didn’t insure the sheds and machinery, just the house – it was only ever going to be temporary,” Rick said.

“We had no hay left. All the machinery was burnt. We had to buy other gear for the upcoming hay season. We had another shed – we needed 350 bales to go in there, so we got more machinery.

"We tried to insure it all but our insurance company, who had been with us for 12 years, insisted on sending two builders out to give us a quote. In the past, we had just been able to do it on the phone. Our contact there, who we thought was a friend and used to pop in for coffee, wouldn’t even take our calls.”

Gino Stocco is escorted by two policemen into Dubbo police station. Photo: AAP
Gino Stocco is escorted by two policemen into Dubbo police station. Photo: AAP

They instead enlisted the help of friends with paddocks in the district to help store their hay and machinery but when they eventually brought it back to their farm, disaster struck again.

Four days after the Zipsins put all the hay and machinery in their remaining two sheds, they too were lit up in the middle of the night. They lost all their machinery and hay.

“We had lost everything. The value was well over $800,000 and we were no longer insured."

“We were also terrified. We couldn’t go out in the paddocks – we realised someone was targeting us. Were they going to set fire to our house next, with us in it?

"We didn’t have any help from the police. If anything, they had a go at us. They roasted us, asking about our family and friends but we said we all get along. Still, the cops didn’t trust us. We told them that we’d never stepped on anyone’s toes.”

The Zipsins lived in paralysing fear that someone had a vendetta against them.

“Sandra and I couldn’t sleep,” Rick said. “We cried a lot. We’d lost our livelihood and we were terrified. We were scared to leave the house.”

They made the difficult decision to sell their cattle and rent out their farm so they could still pay the bills. Rick, Sandra and their two kids had to move in with Rick’s parents.

It was only when they were alerted to a Facebook campaign to catch the Stoccos, led by other victims Doug Redding and Ian Durkin, that the Zipsins realised who might be responsible for the arson attacks.

Doug Redding began a campaign to bring down the Stoccos
Doug Redding began a campaign to bring down the Stoccos

Doug and Ian had even more frightening news – the Stoccos were heavily armed and had stolen at least three weapons from each of their properties.

“One of my neighbours recognised the Stoccos, having seen them at our house,” Rick said.

The Zipsins couldn’t believe it.

“It’s as if the Stoccos have become different people to the ones we knew,” Rick said.

“And we had told the police about them too – we’d always had their real names. They knew they worked here.”

Police finally closed in on the father and son 'modern-day bushrangers' in October 2015, arresting them at a vacant property in Dunedoo.

Now the Stoccos are caught, facing lengthy jail time, it has given them Zipsin family peace of mind but it doesn’t get them their farm back.

More victims: Ian and Shelley were also hit by the Stocos posing as farm hands
More victims: Ian and Shelley were also hit by the Stocos posing as farm hands

“All we want to do is farm again – even the kids keep asking about when it will happen,” Rick said.

“I’m building another house – converting a horse shed into a living area just to give me something to do as I’m still unemployed.

"I can’t just go to the bank and ask for $800,000 to start again. We couldn’t even get any money from our community bank that we had pledged money to when it opened.

Rick and Sandra are just one of many families stung by the Stocco rampage, with more coming forward since the arrest, and it has cost them almost everything.

They are desperate to get back on their feet and put their fateful meeting with two of Australia's most wanted men behind them.

“Before now, I had been my own boss and helped the community out wherever I could. I donated a lot of money to other farmers affected by the 2009 fires. Now I’m on my own. Just to buy herds of cattle is hundreds of thousands of dollars. This has ruined two years of my life.

“I haven’t said anything to the media until now – I wanted to wait until the Stoccos were caught. We were just too scared. Now that they have been arrested we are hoping to get some financial assistance to help get our lives back – even some second-hand tools or farming equipment would help us enormously.”

RICK AND SANDRA HAVE SET UP A GO FUND ME SITE TO HELP REBUILD THEIR FARM, YOU CAN FIND DETAILS ON HOW TO DONATE MONEY AND EQUIPMENT HERE:
www.gofundme.com/2ay8e8aw