Jackie Carpenter

Jackie Carpenter (1935) is a Sydney casino and crime kingpin with a close relationship with the Calabrian Mafia in Australia, particularly the Modafferi 'ndrina.

Biography
Born in 1934 Jackie is the adopted child to Ray Carpenter, a former longshoremen turned hard gangster who made a name for himself in the late 1920's taking control over the docks union and profiteering on the arrival of merchant ships by "taxing" the cargoes. In the early 1930's Ray expanded his operation into smuggling, brothels and gambling with close connections with Modafferi 'ndrina. Jackie's mother was a prostitute operating in one of Ray's brothels who had given birth to a baby girl of an unknown father. After discovering the mother did not want the newborn child Ray took the baby into his care with the intention to hand it over to the Catholic Church but he soon found an instant bond to the little girl and raised her as his own daughter after giving her the name Jackie.

Early Life
Ray entrusted his loyal driver and butler, Parker, to care for Jackie during his time away from home and Parker become Jackie's life time driver and protector. In her younger years Jackie had a strong Catholic faith, reading the bible and saying her nightly prayers. She was enrolled into an exclusive girls school in Sydney where she discovered a fondness for mathematics. In her spare time she read classic literature and her relationship with friends grew less and less. She enjoyed her own company, her books and time with her father. As she grew older her faith declined and she took a personal interest into her father's business.

Jackie left school at the age of 16 to work for her father and soon discovered a talent for business, watching the races and later became a professional gambler. Her business abilities and drive quickly gained the respect from her father and he saw her as a potential successor to her his criminal operation.

Rise to Power
When Ray fell ill in the late 1950s he entrusted the business to Jackie. It was a move that took his associates by surprise and many challenged the idea of a woman (who was an adopted child at that) taking on a vast criminal network. Between 1958 and 1960 saw a period of turmoil from allies and rivals seeking to take over the Carpenter operation with many seeing Jackie as a weak and easy target to muscle in on. Jackie responded with violent force and by Christmas of 1960 nine people had been killed on her orders.

Her violent show of power brought her close with Bruno Modafferi was head of a powerful Calabrian Mafia clan who had close ties with her father. His crime empire began dealing directly with Jackie, using her bookmaking services as one of his many means to launder money from the proceeds of crime. This relationship with the Modafferi 'ndrina made her virtually untouchable to rivals and law enforcement.

From 1961 Jackie cemented her reputation and status within the Sydney crime world by converting an old decommissioned ship into a major casino. It attracted top level criminals, law enforcement and politicians alike to her gaming tables bringing her immense wealth. She soon discovered that the power of money far outweighed the power of muscle and by 1963 she had disbanded much of her father's criminal organisation so she could consolidate all her efforts into casinos and gambling.

Personality
With a no-nonsense reputation in business Jackie is very cynical and holds little trust for people, only a few have ever entered her inner circle. The most important was undoubtedly Thomas Morello who she began a secret affair with in the mid 1960s and despite him leaving her Margaret Mills (the woman he would later marry), Jackie always maintained an intense love for Morello, even to the point of seeking ways to sabotage the relationship between Morello and Margaret.