EXCLUSIVE
Bank robber-turned-TikTok star Russell Manser had been doing well since he was last released from prison, but he was still sometimes considered a fraud.
For at least the past year, Manser had been living in a luxury Sydney harbor front apartment on King Street Wharf, where he died on Saturday night.
NSW Ambulance was not aware of being called to the scene, but police attended the address near Barangaroo after friends said Manser was found “unconscious”.
There were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the 56-year-old’s death and a report was being prepared for the coroner.
Manser was a serial bank robber who spent 23 years in Australian prisons until he turned his life around and founded ‘Voice of a Survivor’ to help victims of abuse.
Pictured: Russell Manser inside his apartment near Barangaroo in Sydney’s CBD.
Reformed criminal Russell Manser is pictured with his girlfriend, Liliana Gagic.
Their apartment block 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 in prison as a youth after being sexually assaulted by other inmates.
Manser was open about his stints in rehab and his ongoing battle with addiction and recovery and often shared updates about his life on social media.
In a video, she told her Instagram followers about her morning routine.
After waking up, he would write a list of things he was grateful for, before taking a two-minute cold shower, making his bed, and heading to the cafe beneath his apartment block.
In December, she shared an Instagram video in which she talked about having to learn to be vulnerable to heal from the trauma she suffered.
“Because if I didn’t, he was going to kill me,” he said. ‘I was going to be a statistic. I was going to commit suicide.
A source close to Manser said the victims’ advocate had been taking steroids and supplements while “training.”
“And he had damage from drug use over the years,” the source said. ‘People think that if (a recovering drug addict) dies it has to be because of the team. It is not like this.
Manser talked about testosterone replacement therapy and how to take ‘the juice’ in another Instagram video last month.
Pictured: The apartment block where Russell Manser was found “unconscious” on Saturday night.
Russell Manser told his Instagram followers that he starts his day by going to the cafe beneath his apartment block (pictured).
“I’m not here promoting it, denying it or saying I’m in it,” he said.
“All the juice is going to do is make you stronger, it’s going to make you stronger, so obviously you’ll be able to speed up the results.”
Another source close to Manser said his family was shocked by his loss.
“There is nothing more we can tell you at this time,” that source said. ‘It’s just going through the normal processes. It’s with the medical officers.
‘There is nothing sinister, let’s put it that way. “Unfortunately, it is one of those horrible things that has happened.”
Manser had about 134,000 followers on TikTok and recently shared a video about 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 who suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse.
Ron Isherwood, a retired career criminal who has spent decades helping recovering drug addicts, had been a mentor to Manser.
“Everyone gets caught up in the social media hype that he was an influencer and everything else,” Isherwood said.
“The only reason he was influencing is because he wanted people to be aware of the abuse that happened to him and hundreds of thousands of others.”
Russell Manser told his Instagram followers that he starts the day by making his bed (pictured)
Isherwood, who founded a recovery program called The Truth About Addiction, said Manser had struggled to achieve success after turning his life around.
“He couldn’t really cope with that life, a successful life,” she said. ‘I think Russ thought he was a fraud, but he was having a lot of success.
“The thing about Russell is, no matter what anyone said, he had a heart of gold. I always told him, ‘You have a head of spaghetti but a heart of gold.’
‘Don’t get me wrong, his ego got in the way and sometimes he said stupid things. She would call him and say, “Dude, you’re out of line,” but he was just a good human being.
On Sunday night, Manser’s partner, Liliana Gagic, posted a series of photos of them together on Instagram.
In the caption, she wrote: “Goodbye my lover, 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. “Be happy with yourself,” Manser said.
Women’s rights campaign group Equality Light Gratitude thanked Manser for speaking out against domestic violence.
“He defended women and domestic violence issues in general, saying that it is never okay to use control, restraint or violence,” the TikTok post read.
Russell Manser published a book about his life of crime and the sexual abuse he suffered behind bars
‘What a great example of reform. Why did we have to lose one of the good men so soon? Prayers are with his loved ones.’
Another friend wrote a lengthy Facebook tribute to Manser in the early hours of Monday morning.
In the post, she said Manser encouraged her with calls and text messages, which “saved” her from relapse and returning to prison.
“Russ saved me so many times it’s not funny, he saved me from relapse, he saved me from going back to prison with his words of encouragement, his phone calls and messages,” she wrote.
“Above all, it gave not only me but many others hope and strength when the system tried to break us.”
“It taught me that no matter what your past is like, your future can still be as bright as you want, you just have to work for it and always believe in yourself.”
Adam Washbourne, of an organization called Fighters Against Child Abuse, posted a tribute video on Facebook.
“Russell is much more than the final redemption arc, he is much more than the child abuse survivor who went from children’s homes to prison to have a media empire and a publishing deal,” he said.
“He’s also probably the best teammate you’ll ever have – he’s the absolute definition of joy when your teammates win, even if it doesn’t involve you.”
Russell Manser was a convicted felon who turned his life around and became an advocate for assault victims.
“I absolutely love you Russell and you will be missed dearly.”
Manser was the youngest of six children and grew up in Mount Druitt in western Sydney.
His parents were British immigrants who supported their large family by working in factories.
He previously said there was no domestic violence or alcoholism in his family, but noted that convicted criminals returning from prison to Mount Druitt were feted by some parts of the community.
He noticed that the criminals had new cars, nice clothes, and attractive girlfriends, while everyone else seemed exhausted and miserable, waking up at 5 a.m. in the middle of winter to work a 10-hour shift at a factory.
The year Manser turned 17, he stole a Porsche at Whale Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches and was locked up for 12 months in Long Bay Jail.
He recalled that a prison officer threw his mattress on the floor of a cell he shared with two men in a protective wing of the prison that 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 injection of heroin in exchange for his silence.
Before being sent to an adult prison, Manser had spent time in a youth detention center at Daruk Boys Home in Windsor, northwest of Sydney.
A few days into his six-month sentence, guards sexually abused him.
“The first night I saw staff getting the children out of bed and into the toilet block,” Manser told the ABC’s Australian Story programme.
‘The second or third night I could smell one of the staff breathing on me, and his breath was like a sewer.
“He took me to the ablution block and sexually abused me.”
Manser emerged from prison a shell of his former self and with a heroin addiction.
He then robbed five banks in the early 1990s, on one occasion stealing $90,000 from the Commonwealth Bank in Lane Cove, north of Sydney.
Manser was sentenced to 15 years in prison when he was 23, with a non-parole period of seven and a half years.
After his latest stint behind bars, Manser founded Voice of a Survivor.
Manser had a podcast called The Stick Up, which featured guests including businessman Mark Bouris, Australian rapper Ay Huncho, NRL star Liam Knight and former criminal turned porn star Dale Egan.
He also became known for revealing what life was like inside some of Australia’s harshest prisons and what their most infamous inhabitants were really like.
Manser is survived by his two children, Ky and Bayley.