EXCLUSIVE
Bank robber turned TikTok star Russell Manser had done well for himself since leaving prison for the last time, but still sometimes considered himself a fraudster.
Manser had lived for at least the past year in a luxurious apartment on Sydney Harbour, at King Street Wharf, where he died on Saturday evening.
NSW Ambulance had no record of being called to the scene, but police attended the address near Barangaroo after friends said Manser was ‘unresponsive’.
There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the 56-year-old’s death and a report was prepared for the coroner.
Manser was a serial bank robber who spent 23 years in prisons in Australia until he turned his life around and founded ‘Voice of a Survivor’ to help victims of abuse.
Pictured: Russell Manser in his apartment near Barangaroo, in Sydney’s CBD
Reformed criminal Russell Manser is pictured with his girlfriend Liliana Gagic
His apartment building has a swimming pool (pictured), a gym and is located on Sydney Harbour
He had a history of drug use, including heroin, a habit he picked up as a young man in prison after being sexually abused by other inmates.
Manser was open about his time in rehab and the ongoing battle with addiction and recovery, often sharing updates about his life on social media.
In one video, he told his Instagram followers about his morning routine.
After waking up, he wrote a list of things he was grateful for before taking a two-minute cold shower, making his bed and going to the cafe below his apartment building.
In December, he shared an Instagram video in which he said he had to learn to be vulnerable in order to heal from the trauma he suffered.
“Because if I didn’t, I would die,” he said. ‘I would become a statistic. I was going to kill myself.”
A source close to Manser said the victims’ attorney had been taking steroids and supplements while “training his ass.”
“And he has been damaged by drug use over the years,” the source said. “People think that if (a recovering drug addict) dies, it’s because of the equipment. That is not true.’
Manser talked about testosterone replacement therapy and getting the juice in another Instagram video last month.
In the photo: the apartment building where Russell Manser was found ‘unconscious’ on Saturday evening
Russell Manser told his Instagram followers that he starts his day by going to the cafe below his apartment building (photo)
“I’m not here to promote it, deny it, or say I’m doing it,” he said.
“All the juice does is make you stronger, it makes you stronger so you can obviously speed up the results.”
Another source close to Manser said his family was shocked by their loss.
“We can’t tell you anything else at this time,” the source said. ‘It just goes through the normal processes. It’s with the medical officers.
“There’s nothing sinister, just put it this way. It’s unfortunately one of those terrible things that happened.”
Manser had about 134,000 followers on TikTok and recently shared a video discussing Asian gangs in prisons and days earlier the disappearance of missing Ballarat mother Samantha Murphy.
Fans and loved ones flooded social media to pay tribute to Manser, praising his work as an advocate for those victims of physical, psychological and sexual abuse.
Ron Isherwood, a retired career criminal who helped recover drug addicts for decades, was a mentor to Manser.
“Everyone gets caught up in the social media hype about him being an influencer and everything else,” Isherwood said.
“The only reason he was influential is because he wanted people to be made aware of the abuse that had happened to him and hundreds of thousands of others.”
Russell Manser told his Instagram followers that he starts the day by making his bed (photo)
Mr Isherwood, who founded a recovery program called The Truth About Addiction, said Manser had struggled with success after turning his life around.
“He couldn’t really handle that life, a successful life,” he said. “I think Russ thought he was a fraud, but he pulled it off big time.
“The thing about Russell is, no matter what anyone tells you, he had a heart of gold. I always said to him: “You have a head of spaghetti, but a heart of gold”.
‘Don’t get me wrong, his ego got in the way and he sometimes said stupid things. I called him and said, ‘Mate, you’re going too far,’ but he was just a good person.”
On Sunday evening, Manser’s partner Liliana Gagic posted a series of photos of them together on Instagram.
In the caption, she wrote, “Goodbye my love, until we meet again.”
Former inmate Max Beer posted a video with Manser on TikTok with the caption: “RIP my brother, my best friend.”
In the video, the two men talked about the importance of staying motivated and not comparing yourself to others. “Just be happy with you,” Manser said.
Women’s rights campaign group Equality Light Gratitude thanked Manser for his speech against domestic violence.
“He stood up for women and DV issues in general, saying it is never okay to use control, restraint, or violence,” the TikTok post said.
Russell Manser has released a book about his life of crime and the sexual abuse he suffered behind bars
‘Such a great example of reform – why did we have to lose one of the good men so early? Prayers are with his loved ones.”
Another friend wrote a lengthy Facebook tribute to Manser early Monday morning.
In the post, she said Manser encouraged her with calls and texts, which “saved” her from relapsing and returning to prison.
“Russ has saved me so many times that it’s not funny that he saved me from a relapse. He saved me from going back to prison with his words of encouragement and his calls and messages,” she wrote.
“Most importantly, he gave hope and strength not only to myself, but to many others when the system tried to break us.”
“He taught me that no matter what your past looks like, your future can still be as bright as you want it to be, you just have to work for it and always believe in yourself.”
Adam Washbourne, from an organization called Fighters Against Child Abuse, posted a video tribute on Facebook.
“Russell is much more than the ultimate redemption arc, he is much more than the child abuse survivor who went from boys’ homes to prison and had a media empire and a book deal,” he said.
‘He’s also probably the best friend you can have – he’s the absolute definition of cheer when your friends win, even when you’re not involved.
Russell Manser was a convicted criminal who turned his life around and became an advocate for abuse victims
“I absolutely love you, Russell, and you will be greatly missed.”
Manser was the youngest of six children and grew up on Mount Druitt in Sydney’s west.
His parents were British migrants who supported their large family by working in factories.
He previously said there was no domestic violence or alcoholism in his family, but he noticed convicted criminals returning to Mount Druitt from prison were celebrated by some parts of the community.
He noted that the crooks had new cars, nice clothes and attractive girlfriends, while everyone else looked exhausted and miserable – waking up at 5am in the middle of winter to work a 10-hour shift at a factory .
The year Manser turned 17, he stole a Porsche from Whale Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches and was locked up in Long Bay Prison for 12 months.
He recalled a prison guard throwing his mattress on the floor of a cell he shared with two men in a protection wing of the prison, which was used to house convicted pedophiles.
“Have fun, guys,” the officer told them.
Manser was abused that night, and again a few nights later by a third inmate who offered him his first shot of heroin in exchange for his silence.
Before being sent to an adult prison, Manser had spent time in juvenile detention at the Daruk Boys Home in Windsor, northwest of Sydney.
Within days of his six-month prison sentence, he was sexually assaulted by guards.
“The first night I saw staff taking children out of bed and taking them to the sanitary block,” Manser told ABC’s Australian Story.
“The second or third night I smelled one of the staff members breathing on me, and he was breathing like a sewer.
‘He marched me into the toilet block and sexually assaulted me.’
Manser left prison a shell of his former self, harboring an addiction to heroin.
He then robbed five banks in the early 1990s, on one occasion stealing $90,000 from the Commonwealth Bank in Lane Cove in Sydney’s north.
Manser was sentenced to 15 years in prison at the age of 23, with a non-parole period of seven and a half years.
After his last stint behind bars, Manser founded Voice of a Survivor.
Manser had a podcast called The Stick Up, which included businessman Mark Bouris, Australian rapper Ay Huncho, NRL star Liam Knight and ex-criminal turned porn star Dale Egan.
He also became known for lifting the lid on what life was like in some of Australia’s toughest prisons and what their most notorious residents were really like.
Manser is survived by his two sons, Ky and Bayley.