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****WARNING: Some listeners may find the content discussed in this episode distressing****

The doctor who examined the 17-year-old who was brutally raped by Bradley Edwards in 1995 has recalled the horrific injuries the teenager suffered that night.

In Day 23 of the Claremont serial killings trial, Dr Amanda Barnard gave evidence saying while she had examined thousands of women during her career as a doctor for the sexual assault resource centre, the injuries inflicted on the 17-year-old by Bradley Robert Edwards almost 25 years ago had stayed with her.

Bradley Edwards pleaded guilty to the rape, in which he abducted the teenager while she was walking to a friends’ house in Claremont on February 11, 1995. 

He grabbed the 17-year-old from behind, bound her hands, put a hood over her head and carried her to his van, where he tied her legs, drove her to Karrakatta Cemetery where he then brutally raped the teenager twice.

Dr Barnard, who was working at the sexual assault resource centre at the time told the court how the teenager’s examination was ‘painful and difficult’, saying, “I think the things that made this particular case stick in my mind were the violent nature of assault by a stranger, the fact that she had been hooded and restrained, the extent and painfulness of her injuries and given the fact of her youth and that she was a virgin,” 

But while on the stand, the doctor was quizzed about how she collected samples from the teenager, how they were stored and who she sent them to.

The defence say these samples – which were found to have Bradley Edwards’ DNA on them were cross-contaminated with the fingernail clippings from Ciara Glennon.

But the prosecution say they were never even stored on the same shelf, let alone could be contaminated, and previously called the suggestion of cross contamination an “exercise in errant fantasy”.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps as they take you through day 23 of the Claremont serial killings trial.

If you, or anyone you know has been affected by the content in this podcast, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14

Or the sexual assault resource centre on 1800 199 888

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When police arrived at the scenes where Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies had been dumped, they didn’t have to wear gloves to prevent cross contamination.

On day 22 of the Claremont Serial Killings trial, former forensic police officer Robert Hemelaar took the stand for a third day where it was revealed there wasn’t a big focus on preserving a crime scene in the mid 1990s.

He said there was no protocol for wearing gloves and covers for their boots, only that gloves should be worn while handling ‘deceased matter’, for their own safety.

During his cross examination by defence lawyer Paul Yovich, Mr Hemelaar admitted he had handled some evidence - a tree branch - with his bare hands.

The court had been told tree branches had been pulled off nearby trees and placed over both Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies to partially conceal them.

He also said a key piece of evidence, a hair sample from Ciara Glennon which the prosecution says contained fibres matching unique Telstra shorts, the kind issued to Bradley Edwards while he was working at Telstra, had not been videoed while being collected from Ciara’s body. It was revealed that the sample had also not had tamper-proof tape stuck on the container until years after it was collected.

Cross-contamination is the main case the defence has said will provide reasonable doubt about whether Bradley Edwards is the Claremont aerial killer.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they take you through Day 22’s evidence, and answer some of your questions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former forensic police officer Robert Hemelaar gave his evidence for the whole of day 21 of the Claremont serial killings trial.

He narrated an hour-long video from Ciara Glennon’s burial site, revealing graphic details and forensic clues as to how police collected and stored DNA samples found on the 27-year-old’s body.

Joined in the studio by forensic expert Brendan Chapman, Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Emily Moulton take you through exactly how forensic officers collect samples, and most importantly, how they avoid contamination.

A key piece of evidence was also hinted at during the trial - the fact that some of Ciara Glennon’s fingernails were broken, coupled with the defensive wounds on her arms, the prosecution said that Ciara fought for her life the night she died.

But under those broken fingernails, the prosecution says was Bradley Edwards’ DNA.

Join the Claremont in Conversation team as they take you through day 21 of WA’s trial of the century.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On day 20 of the Claremont serial killings trial, the court was given a glimpse into the life of Jane Rimmer through photographs taken from inside her house days after she went missing, a woman’s life frozen in time.

Images from the 23-year-old child care worker’s house and belongings were shown to the court by former forensic police officer Robert Hemelaar, who searched Jane’s Wembley flat.

Bills, papers, even a KFC voucher had been left on her dining table revealing the life frozen in time of a young woman who was never to return.

When Jane's body was found 55 days later, police swarmed the scene. Today one of those officers, former forensic police officer Robert Hemelaar told in graphic detail how her body was found, and how forensics went about moving her body.

The video officer for police also gave evidence on day 20. Justice Stephen Hall ruled that the vision he took was too distressing to be shown to the public gallery, but as Tim Clarke and The West Australian's court reporter Shannon Hampton explain, they didn't need to see the vision to get a picture of what was happening.

Join Tim Clarke, Natalie Bonjolo and Shannon Hampton as they take you through day 20 of the Claremont Serial Killings trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senior police officers who attended the burial sites of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennons' bodies have described the 'mayhem' and 'organised chaos' which became the crime scenes when the women's bodies were found.

In particular, when the body of the third woman to go missing, Ciara Glennon's body was found in shrub land in Eglinton, both police and the media started using the term 'serial killer'.

This intense interest by the media was brought up in court on day 19 of WA's trial of the century. As detectives tried to preserve the scene, camera screws also tried to capture every moment. One senior officer even mentioned one reporter by name, that was 7News journalist Adrian Barich, who he said was arrested on the scene of Ciara Glennon's burial site, but as Adrian explains, as a rookie sports journalist, it was something he'd never expected to witness, and gives us his account of what happened.

The case also focussed around contamination. It was revealed a key piece of evidence which the prosecution says links the Karrakatta rape the murders of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon had been unaccounted for in the WA Police database for almost a year.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, special guest Adrian Barich along with Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they discuss day 19 of the Claremont serial killings trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a two-week break, the trial of the century resumed at Perth’s Supreme Court, only to be adjourned again after just half an hour.

The reason? Prosecutors needed to go to a stationary store to buy projector screens to block out gruesome images of the burial sites of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies that were set to be shown as evidence.

The families of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon had voiced their concerns about the evidence being shown to the public, and the judge agreed the vision and images would simply be too distressing.

The court was packed out for the resumption of the trial, so closing the court while the gruesome evidence was shown wasn’t going to be an easy option.

So instead, when video of the day Jane Rimmer’s body was found was shown, only the judge, the lawyers, the witnesses and Bradley Edwards could see it.

Tim Clarke, Natalie Bonjolo and criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps discuss why this was an unusual move, and what it means for the rest of the trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was by pure-chance Jane Rimmer's body was found.

A woman driving with her husband and children driving in Wellard stopped on the side of the road after a rooster ran out. Kids being kids, they wanted to chase it.

The mother, Tammy Evans decided to pick some death lilies and out of the corner of her eye, 'the biggest death lily' she had ever seen popped into view.

Before grabbing onto it, something brushed her leg. She thought it was a stick, but it was a foot. That was the only feature that assured Tammy that what she had stumbled across was human.

She had found Jane Rimmer's body. While her husband went for help, she said she just couldn't leave Jane and stayed with her until police arrived.

That was August 3, 1996.

The third victim, Ciara Glennon went missing on March 15, 1997. With two women missing and one dead, the state was on high alert.

Then, the day police had been dreading, a second body found.

April 3, 1997, a man looking for wild cannabis leaves came across Ciara Glennon's body off a bush track in Eglington, 40 kms north of Perth.

The headline in the West Australian newspaper the next day said it all: "The State is in Mourning."

He said he thought a kangaroo had died, and being 'nosey' he went to check if a joey was in its pouch, but instead found the body of the 27-year-old.

On the final day of the trial for the year, the court also heard from the men the prosecution called 'The Burger Boys' - one of which yelled to her that she was 'stupid for hitch hiking'

The prosecution reached the end of their 'civilian witnesses'. Next year will see what has been described as 'the battle of the scientists', the DNA and fibre evidence which is so crucial to this case.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

March 14, 1997 was the last time Ciara Glennon was seen alive. She’s been at a work function and by all accounts she didn’t want to go out that night, because she had her sister's hen's night the next night. But she was convinced to go out to Claremont.

She’d only been back in Perth for two weeks, after travelling for six months. In this podcast, Tim Clarke and Damien Cripps ask whether she had known about the other missing girls as well as the rest of Perth, simply because she wasn’t in the country when Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer went missing.

In May 1997, WA Police released a re-enactment of Ciara’s final hours in a desperate attempt to jog someone’s memory of the night of March 14, and the early hours of March 15 1997.

Eleven people did see Ciara that night. On day 16 of the Claremont serial killings trial, they gave evidence of seeing a woman matching Ciara’s description walking alone on Stirling Highway. Some witnesses say they saw her talking to a man in a white car, even starting to get in.

In a tragic premonition, a worker at a Thai restaurant over the road from where she was last seen even made a passing comment that “she might be the next girl to go.”

Ciara’s body was found 19 days later near a scrub track in Eglington, 40 km north of Perth.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps as they dissect day 16 and answer listener questions.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On August 3, 1996 - 55 days after 23-year-old child care worker Jane Rimmer went missing, a woman picking flowers with her family found her body.

She immediately told her husband who rushed for help.

Jane’s body was badly decomposed, covered in leaves and small shrubs.

Meanwhile a couple riding horses nearby found a knife on the ground not too far away.

When they reached the woman who found the body, she told them she had stayed with Jane because “she didn’t want to leave her alone.”

We heard a witness break down on the stand today as she recalled that day Jane’s body was found.

We also heard from the woman who could be one of the last people to see Ciara Glennon alive on March 14,1997.

During her testimony, for the first time, we heard about the police investigation and the man who was the prime suspect, subjected to years of being watched by police, pretty obviously as well.

As Alison Fan - the only journalist to interview Lance Williams while he was a suspect - explained, as soon as she finished talking to him, she called the Assistance WA Police Commissioner and told him they had the wrong guy.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they wrap up week three of the Claremont Serial Killings Trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The night Jane Rimmer disappeared, on June 9, 1996, two couples - separately - heard blood-curdling, ’traumatic’ screams.

One witness recalled hearing a scream that just suddenly stopped. Then silence.

The two couples lived in the then-rural area on the outskirts of Perth called Wellard.

Fifty-five days later Jane’s body would be found in bushland in between their houses.

As The West’s Emily Moulton - who has been live blogging the court proceedings - explains, one couple remembered a smell coming from just off the road as they regularly drove past. They said they dismissed it as a dead animal.

Day 14 of the Claremont Serial Killings trial also recounted Ciara Glennon’s final night.

She was the last woman to go missing. She had only been home for two weeks from 6 months abroad when she disappeared.

Her parents were on high alert at this stage in March 1997, with two girls missing and one their bodies having been found, as soon as they reported their daughter missing, police swooped.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Emily Moulton and Tim Clarke as they discuss day 14.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jane Rimmer disappeared in the early hours of June 9, 1996 from Claremont. Her body was found 55 days later on August 3 in bushland in Wellard.

On June 9, 1996, a man was riding a horse in Wellard, when his horse spooked. He fell off and found a guess watch.

That watch turned out to be Jane Rimmer's.

Day 13 of the Claremont serial killings trial heard the man didn't report the watch to police until after Jane's Body was found. It turns out he fell just two metres from where her body was dumped.

Before she disappeared, friends of Jane Rimmer relived the decision the 23-year-old made to stay out alone while her friends caught a taxi home the night she disappeared.

One friend, Lynda Donovan remembered a conversation she had with an emotional Jane the night she disappeared - a typical conversation many friends have had after a few drinks, only now it's a heartbreaking reminder of her friend, and her feelings about herself that night.

The court was shown more CCTV of the night Jane Rimmer was last seen alive, also, for the first time, vision of Ciara Glennon in Claremont was shown.

But probably the most important part of this vision was what wasn't able to be seen - Bradley Edwards.

The man the prosecution says killed Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon was nowhere to be seen.

Police said out of all of the vision they've managed to obtain from the nights the two women disappeared, there's no evidence of the man the prosecution say killed the two women in any of the vision.

Criminal defence lawyer Tom Percy QC joins Natalie Bonjolo and Tim Clarke to discuss why the day's proceedings go little way to proving Bradley Edwards is the Claremont serial killer.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The last pictures of Jane Rimmer alive were shown to a stunned court room on day 12.

The images of the smiling and laughing 23-year-old was shown to the people in the court, who watched on in silence for the entire time the videos were played.

Jane was last seen outside Club Bayview in Claremont at 12.04am on June 8, 1996. At the time, the security cameras recorded on a loop, only capturing 13 seconds at a time.

The CCTV shows Jane standing outside the club. The security vision flicks over to other cameras around the club, and 32 seconds later it comes back to that same spot, but Jane is gone.

32 seconds is all it took for Jane Rimmer to vanish.

It wouldn’t be until almost 2 months later that she would be found. Her body found in bushland in Wellard, half an hour south of Claremont. She’d been murdered, her throat cut.

As Natalie Bonjolo, Alison Fan and Tim Clarke discuss, how different this investigation would be if those security cameras flicked over at different times, would we see what happened to Jane in her final night?

The ‘sliding doors’ moments that The West’s Tim Clarke has described before have become a theme in this case.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**WARNING: this episode contains distressing content***

The terrifying, graphic and distressing account of a regular night-turned living nightmare of a teenager, who was abducted and raped by Bradley Edwards was read to the court on day 11 of his murder trial.

In February 1995, the 17-year-old was walking to a friends’ house from a night out in Claremont, when she was grabbed from behind, a cloth was shoved in her mouth, her hands were tied and a hood placed over her head.

Completely helpless, she was carried to a car, driven to a cemetery and raped.

Bradley Edwards was charged with her rape, along with the three murders in 2016, but up until this year had always maintained his innocence. That was until three weeks before his trial, he pleaded guilty to the rape.

Today, the victim’s words - taken from a police statement days after the attack - echoed through the court room, and even though it was read out by the lead prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo, as Tim Clarke explains, he’s sure almost everyone in that room was affected by her harrowing, and graphic account.

We know Bradley Edwards is a rapist, but the prosecution want to argue he's also a murderer, and her statement will help them try to prove that.

In this episode, hear the defence argument that shocked the podcast team.

To read some of the rape victim’s statement, go to thewest.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Valentine’s Day in 1988 in Huntingdale, a teenager went to bed alone after spending the day with her boyfriend.

She was woken up by someone lying on top of her. Thinking it was her boyfriend, she said she didn’t feel scared. That was until she touched that person’s face. The person lying on top of her wasn’t her boyfriend, but was an intruder.

That intruder was Bradley Robert Edwards, who pleaded guilty to the attack 30 years later.

Day 10 of the Claremont serial killings trial heard from this victim, as she told of her ordeal, and of the kimono that was left behind after the attack.

That kimono would become crucial in the police investigation, and the prosecution’s case against Bradley Edwards.

The day also heard from the family of the second woman to disappear, Jane Rimmer, and the ordinary day that would turn out to be her last.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they dissect the day’s events.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The voice of Sarah Spiers haunted the court as her final phone call, a call to a taxi service was played during evidence on day nine.

Sarah Spiers was last seen in the early hours of January 27, 1996. She was out with friends at Club Bayview, and just after 2am decided to go leave. Alone. She called a taxi to take her to Mosman Park, but she never got there.

Today, we heard from one of those friends she was out with that night, recalling the final words she ever said to her friend.

The prosecution say, instead of getting home in a taxi, Bradley Edwards picked her up and murdered her.

The court heard from three people who heard screams in Mosman Park at around 3am that night, describing the 'blood curdling screams' that have stayed with them for more than two decades.

It was a highly emotional day, with a statement read out from Sarah's sister Amanda, a court room in tears and a witness consoled as she left the stand after giving her evidence. 

Justice Hall said he has decided not to release Sarah's last phone call to the public, because he believed it would cause undue stress to her family. The West's Legal Affairs Editor Tim Clarke was in court and describes the the moment her voice was played for the second time in this trial.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Emily Moulton as they dissect day nine of the Claremont Serial Killings trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A taxi driver who accepted a job at 2am, a man who saw a lone woman on the side of the road, and the missing minutes of the last time Sarah Spiers was ever seen.

Three minutes was all it took for the 18-year-old to disappear. She called for a taxi at 2.03am on January 27, by the time the taxi arrived at 2.06am, she was gone.

Day eight of WA's trial of the century tried to shed some light on that time, with the taxi driver who was supposed to pick her up taking the stand, as well as a man who could have been the last person to have ever seen Sarah Spiers in a 15-second glance.

The day also heard from more women who say they had encounters with a man in a white Telstra van in the mid-1990s in the Cottesloe and Claremont areas, known as "The Telstra Living Witnesses", and as podcast guest, criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps explains, why it could be a misunderstanding.

Join Damien, along with Natalie Bonjolo and Tim Clarke as they dissect the day's events.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was massive day in court, with eight witnesses taking the stand, including the woman who was attacked from behind by the accused Claremont serial killer, Bradley Robert Edwards in 1990. She spoke about her ordeal publicly for the first time.

He pleaded guilty and was convicted on common assault.

As Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan discuss, her testimony was animated and detailed, and she recounted the terrifying ordeal, now known as "The Hollywood Hospital incident" like it was yesterday, the day she said she thought she was going to die.

For the first time, it was revealed that Western Australian Police were looking into Telstra vehicles as early as July 1996, just a month after Jane Rimmer went missing and before Ciara Glennon was murdered.

The court also heard from three other women, known as 'The Telstra Living Witnesses' who the prosecution say had close encounters with a man in a white van, driving around Cottesloe and Claremont picking up vulnerable women.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a new week of evidence starts in the Claremont serial killings trial, the court takes on a different format for the day.

While the court waited to hear from the man who impregnated Bradley Edwards' first wife, two former Telstra employees gave evidence, and they were asked  - very specifically - about uniforms.

The West's legal affairs editor Tim Clarke explains why the specific colour of the Telstra uniforms, when they were issued and the process of ordering them is so important to this trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In what’s already been a week of bombshells, day five, despite being a shorter day, was no exception.

Former friends of Bradley Edwards, a couple named Murray and Brigita Maria Cook took the stand.

Mr Cook told of his annoyance when Edwards never showed up to a pre-planned holiday in Dawesville, an hour south of Perth, on March 14 1997 - the night Ciara Glennon disappeared.

He said Edwards told him he was trying to reconcile with his wife, who told the court on an earlier day that he never tried to reconcile with her.

In an eerie admission, Mrs Cook said they had no TV and no radio, so they didn’t know Ciara Glennon was missing.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Alison Fan and Tim Clarke (in the studio) as they discuss the days’ events, as Tim described them, a reverse-alibi.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day four of the Claremont serial killings trial saw a parade of Bradley Edwards’ former lovers take the stand, with intimate details told to the court.

Two of Edwards’ former lovers told of their brief relationships with him, one saying she was ‘fond’ of Edwards.

Day four was also the first day Bradley Edwards appeared to show emotion, seeming to smile as home videos during his time with his second wife were played to the court.

But when his second wife took the stand, she revealed the meticulously detailed journals she kept of his bank statements.

Journals she kept because she said she ‘feared for her life’.

Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Emily Moulton discuss day four.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first witness is Bradley Edwards’ first wife. She took the stand on day three of the Claremont serial killings trial. Her name and identity have been suppressed.

She revealed their bizarre living arrangements, as well as intimate details of their life as husband and wife, including an obsession with a computer, an affair and pregnancy that saw the end of their relationship.

All while prosecutors tried to paint a picture of how emotional turmoil experienced by Mr Edwards coincided with the disappearance of Sarah Spiers, and the deaths of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and The West's court reporter Emily Moulton as they discuss day three of the trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The defence’s opening statement may have only taken 25 minutes, but in that time, Bradley Robert Edwards' defence lawyer, Paul Yovich dropped a bombshell.

He claimed crucial DNA samples - which the prosecution will use as evidence to prove Bradley Edwards is the Claremont serial killer - had been contaminated by lab scientists.

Day two also heard the movie-like investigation of how Bradley Edwards came to be charged with murder.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and veteran journalist Alison Fan as they discuss the Claremont serial killings trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A never-before-heard phone call Sarah Spiers made in the hours before she disappeared. Descriptions of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s final movements. And gruesome evidence shown to a packed-out court on the first day of the accused Claremont Serial Killer, Bradley Robert Edwards’ trial.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and legal experts, criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps and Barrister Nicholas van Hattem as they discuss Day 1 of the trial WA waited 23 years for.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the trial of the century gets underway in Perth, Western Australia, Seven West Media journalists take you inside the courtroom.

Two girls dead, one missing, presumed murdered. The Claremont serial killings, as they have come to be known, struck fear into West Australians for 23 years. Now, the man accused, Bradley Robert Edwards faces trial.

Join us daily for an in-depth conversation with reporters who covered the case of the Claremont serial killings from the start and legal experts who will discuss the case in a language you can understand.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Years pass and with the public losing hope that the horrific mystery will ever be solved, a new suspect emerges. 

Telecommunications technician Bradley Robert Edwards is arrested in a dawn raid. The 50-year-old pleads not guilty and will stand trial for three murders, rape and abduction.

So what is the police case against him? And is it possible that police missed a link that could have led them to the accused man than a decade ago?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the hunt for a serial killer who has struck three times in Claremont continues, police train a laser focus on one very peculiar man who admits to driving the streets and picking up at least one woman. But the man’s mother says enough is enough.

A TV reporter spends an hour with the suspect in his beachside apartment, quizzing him over the case. She concludes that detectives are pursuing the wrong man and contacts the father of one victim to share her view.

Now, more than 20 years later, a former police commissioner says that suspect and his family are owed an apology.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One woman missing, one woman murdered. A city gripped by fear.

Then Ciara Glennon vanishes off the streets of Claremont.

As her grieving father takes up the hunt, police launch the biggest murder taskforce in Australian history.

But when their focus narrows on a suspect, the question is asked: have police got the wrong man?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's 1996 and a blonde teenager stands on the side of the road in the vibrant Perth suburb of Claremont and calls a taxi. By the time it arrives, Sarah Spiers is gone.

A few months later and Jane Rimmer is out with friends in Claremont when she, too, disappears. Her body was found weeks later.

As police desperately hunted a serial killer a third young woman, Ciara Glennon, was snatched and killed.

The West Australian's Gary Adshead takes you inside the Claremont Serial Killings, the biggest criminal investigation in Australian history and a tale which haunts an entire city.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode six of Behind the White Line, with a dozen people pleading guilty following the cops’ audacious fake cocaine sting, instead of celebrating the success of Operation Beech the fallout between enforcement agencies is bitter, as an entirely new threat emerges along with the next wave of drugs bound for our shores.

Read more of The West Australian's coverage here:

https://thewest.com.au/podcasts/behind-the-white-line/behind-the-white-line-how-drug-cartels-are-making-a-fortune-by-adding-cheap-deadly-opioids-to-their-cocaine-c-22475544

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode five of Behind the White Line, as governments wage an endless war on drugs, we meet a group of forty-something friends who are occasional coke users. While many are unaware of the risks with taking cocaine, our real-life users are equally shocked to learn about the brutal underbelly of the drug trade directly from a man who’s lived in the cartel’s shadow.

Read more of The West Australian's coverage here:

https://thewest.com.au/podcasts/behind-the-white-line/behind-the-white-line-why-supply-not-demand-is-the-reason-for-the-spike-in-cocaine-c-22441368

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode four of Behind the White Line, back in Western Australia, police continue to track the fake cocaine, as one by one, key players are caught red handed. More than half of Australia’s annual coke supply intercepted in one hit. But not everyone is happy. As two DEA agents are kicked out of Australia, a turf war breaks out between State and Australian Federal Police which will lead to bad blood for years to come.

Read more of The West Australian's coverage here:

https://thewest.com.au/podcasts/behind-the-white-line/behind-the-white-line-top-dea-agent-says-australia-needs-to-introduce-anti-mafia-laws-to-lock-up-kingpins-c-22408106

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode three of Behind the White Line, we talk to a West Australian Police operative who goes deep undercover, as part of a DEA sting to nab a big-time drug trafficker in Nairobi. Stakes are high as “Tommy” infiltrates the drug cartel. The dangerous operation is a precursor to an even more daring sting to intercept the biggest cocaine haul in Australian history.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode two of Behind the White Line, drones patrol the night sky as police drop 1.2 tonne of fake cocaine bricks into the Indian Ocean. It doesn’t take long for an unsuspecting crew to reel in their ‘catch’ but as the weather turns nasty, things go from bad to worse for the cocaine syndicate, as cops make their move.

Read more of The West Australian's coverage here:

https://thewest.com.au/podcasts/behind-the-white-line/behind-the-white-line-cartel-crackdown-over-1-billion-cocaine-rip-off-fears--c-22343809

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode one of Behind the White Line, Richard Baker gets suited and booted to attend the swanky Birdcage at Flemington, where racegoers make a beeline for the toilets to ‘rack up’. As the world’s highest users of cocaine per capita, Australia has become the number one target of Mexican cartels and crime syndicates. With a billion-dollar shipment headed Down Under, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) hatches a brazen plan with local cops from the small city of Perth, Western Australia, called Operation Beech.

Read more of The West Australian's coverage here:

Behind The White Line: New podcast delves into turf war following huge cocaine seizure during Operation Beech

Behind the White Line: International cocaine sting which caused turf war between AFP, WA Police, and US agents

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An investigation into Australia’s cocaine binge, Behind the White Line, traces the trail of white powder, from narco to nostrils. The series goes inside a $1 billion shipment, exposing a police turf war between the United States' DEA, the AFP and WA cops over an audacious sting to outwit a Mexican cartel.

With exclusive interviews of high-ranking detectives, undercover operatives, DEA agents and coke users, Behind the White Line, examines the human cost of the world’s glamour drug hosted by investigative journalist Richard Baker.

Available from 21 May on LiSTNR's Secrets We Keep, on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An investigation into Australia’s cocaine binge, Behind the White Line, traces the trail of white powder, from narco to nostrils. The series goes inside a $1 billion shipment, exposing a police turf war between the United States' DEA, the AFP and WA cops over an audacious sting to outwit a Mexican cartel.

With exclusive interviews of high-ranking detectives, undercover operatives, DEA agents and coke users, Behind the White Line, examines the human cost of the world’s glamour drug hosted by investigative journalist Richard Baker.

Available from 21 May on LiSTNR's Secrets We Keep, on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Although Dezi Freeman is no longer a threat, the ideology he embraced continues to spread through Australia’s growing sovereign citizen movement.

In this final episode, 7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos examine the question authorities are quietly asking: how many more people like Dezi Freeman are out there?

To understand the scale of the movement (and why it attracts people like Freeman) Michael speaks with legal expert Harry Hobbs, who has been closely tracking the rise of sovereign citizen ideology in Australia.

Harry breaks down the beliefs at the core of the movement, who it attracts, how it spreads online, and what the Dezi Freeman case reveals about where this is heading.

Dezi Freeman: The Hunt is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.

Listen to the podcast on Secrets We Keep or watch the vodcast on 7Plus.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He was known to the world as Dezi Freeman, but that wasn’t the name he was born with.

In this episode, 7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos trace Dezi Freeman’s origin story, uncovering new details about his childhood, the influences around him, and the pivotal moments that shaped his worldview — revealing the reality of the man behind the myth, and how he became radicalised.

Dezi Freeman: The Hunt is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.

Listen to the podcast on Secrets We Keep or watch the vodcast on 7Plus.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a case as high-profile as Dezi Freeman’s, the manhunt, his sovereign citizen beliefs, and the conspiracy theories surrounding his life (and death) have often overshadowed the human toll left behind.

In this episode, 7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos shift the focus to the two Victoria Police officers killed by Freeman: Detective Leading Senior Constable Neil Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart. They explore who these men were, the lives they lived, and the lasting impact of their deaths.

Cassie also speaks with Victorian Police Association CEO Wayne Gatt about how the force coped with the grief and trauma of losing two of their own while carrying out one of the largest manhunts in Victorian history.

Dezi Freeman: The Hunt is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.

Listen to the podcast on Secrets We Keep or watch the vodcast on 7Plus.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The hunt for Dezi Freeman wasn’t just a manhunt. It was a battle on hostile ground.

Police moved into a community that didn’t trust them, didn’t want them there, and in some cases, openly opposed them. As tensions rose, investigators pushed on, determined not to lose their grip on the case.

In this episode, 7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos reveal the resilience of the officers who stayed the course, and the deeply confronting evidence they uncovered, including allegations of child sex abuse and hundreds of child exploitation files found on Freeman’s computers.

Dezi Freeman: The Hunt is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.

Listen to the podcast on Secrets We Keep or watch the vodcast on 7Plus.

CONTENT WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS REFERENCES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE, GUN VIOLENCE AND SUICIDE. LISTENER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

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Once police received the tip-off that exposed Dezi Freeman’s hideout, they moved in — quietly.

For seven days, officers hid in dense bushland, watching the remote property, waiting for the moment to strike. They knew Freeman had already evaded capture once. If he ran again, they might not get a second chance.

7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos take you inside the high-stakes surveillance, the planning behind the takedown, and the risks facing officers on the ground, as they closed in on one of Australia’s most wanted fugitives.

Dezi Freeman: The Hunt is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.

Listen to the podcast on Secrets We Keep or watch the vodcast on 7Plus.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7NEWS Crime Editor Cassie Zervos was at home with her newborn when a police source gave her a scoop: Australia’s most wanted fugitive, Dezi Freeman, had been found and shot dead. She became the first journalist to break the story.

Freeman, a self-described ‘sovereign citizen’, had been on the run for seven months after allegedly killing two police officers. What followed was one of the largest and most intensive manhunts in recent Australian history.

7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos take you inside the case from every angle — what happened, how it unfolded, Freeman’s ideology, and the impact on those left behind.

Dezi Freeman: The Hunt is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.

Listen to the podcast on Secrets We Keep or watch the vodcast on 7Plus.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When two police officers were shot dead in regional Victoria, the man accused vanished into the bushland. What followed was one of the most extensive manhunts in Australian history.

7NEWS journalist Michael Usher and Crime Editor Cassie Zervos take you inside the case from every angle: what happened, how it unfolded, his ideology, and the impact on those left behind.

Dezi Freeman: The Hunt, is a 7NEWS and LiSTNR co-production.

Listen to the podcast here or watch the vodcast on 7+.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the crisis of child exploitation gripping Australia, for the next few weeks, Secrets we Keep feed brings you the LiSTNR award-winning series, Children in the Pictures, an investigative podcast about the global fight against online child exploitation, following Australian investigators as they track offenders hiding in plain sight across the internet.

The series exposes the scale of abuse, the emotional toll on those working to stop it, and the disturbing ways technology is being used to harm children worldwide.

In this bonus episode of The Children in the Pictures, Jon Rouse reveals he had no idea what he was getting into when he joined Taskforce Argos to set up their first internet investigation. What he found was a problem so vast and unique that he needed to petition for legislation to catch up with the crimes his team was fighting.

If you'd like to hear more of Brent Sanders interviewing detectives about their careers, search "Crime Insiders" and look for episodes titled 'Detectives'.

Content Warning: This series delves with sexual abuse against children. Listener discretion is advised.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the crisis of child exploitation gripping Australia, for the next few weeks, Secrets we Keep feed brings you the LiSTNR award-winning series, Children in the Pictures, an investigative podcast about the global fight against online child exploitation, following Australian investigators as they track offenders hiding in plain sight across the internet.

The series exposes the scale of abuse, the emotional toll on those working to stop it, and the disturbing ways technology is being used to harm children worldwide.

In episode eight, The Love Zone is gone for good, but the threat remains.  Akhim Dev hears from experts and investigators about the next frontier of child exploitation, which is leaving kids vulnerable to grooming, blackmail and extortion— and starting earlier than parents would ever suspect.

Dev realises he must move from documentary observer, to messenger for children’s rights. As he is given access to global halls of power, Dev explores how we can help victim-survivors, and how parents like himself can educate their kids to keep them from harm.

Content Warning: This series delves with sexual abuse against children. Listener discretion is advised.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the crisis of child exploitation gripping Australia, for the next few weeks, Secrets we Keep feed brings you the LiSTNR award-winning series, Children in the Pictures, an investigative podcast about the global fight against online child exploitation, following Australian investigators as they track offenders hiding in plain sight across the internet.

The series exposes the scale of abuse, the emotional toll on those working to stop it, and the disturbing ways technology is being used to harm children worldwide.

In episode seven, prolific abuser K has been careful to hide his identity, but a digital slip up has led Argos to a crucial clue. 

And while their investigation into The Love Zone is their most successful yet, the strain of the job is starting to take its toll. So how do you balance your work saving children’s lives, without damaging your own?

The fight to bring you the story of The Love Zone leads to a surprising encounter with the former kingpin, Shannon McCoole, in an Australian court. It raises questions about how we can stop perpetrators from continuing to hurt children. 

Content Warning: This series delves with sexual abuse against children. Listener discretion is advised.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the crisis of child exploitation gripping Australia, for the next few weeks, Secrets we Keep feed brings you the LiSTNR award-winning series, Children in the Pictures, an investigative podcast about the global fight against online child exploitation, following Australian investigators as they track offenders hiding in plain sight across the internet.

The series exposes the scale of abuse, the emotional toll on those working to stop it, and the disturbing ways technology is being used to harm children worldwide.

In episode six, a glitch on The Love Zone site puts Argos’ operation in jeopardy.

The Love Zone’s most obsessive moderator is beginning to suspect the site has been infiltrated by law enforcement.

Argos must act quickly to throw off the scent— triggering a global police operation that spans three continents . Then, the team sets its sights on one of the most prolific abusers ever encountered— for legal reasons, we call him K. 

Content Warning: This series delves with sexual abuse against children. Listener discretion is advised.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the crisis of child exploitation gripping Australia, for the next few weeks, Secrets we Keep feed brings you the LiSTNR award-winning series, Children in the Pictures, an investigative podcast about the global fight against online child exploitation, following Australian investigators as they track offenders hiding in plain sight across the internet.

The series exposes the scale of abuse, the emotional toll on those working to stop it, and the disturbing ways technology is being used to harm children worldwide.

In episode five, the Argos team set out to impersonate the head of an online child abuse board. Although not an easy task, the team see it as the only way they can find and save vulnerable children around the world.

As their hunt leads them to Europe, back in Australia, Shannon McCoole’s home town of Adelaide deals with the shockwaves of discovering the horrifying access this abuser had to kids in the community.

And Akhim Dev learns how children who are victim-survivors come back from their abuse, with strength and storytelling.

Content Warning: This series delves with sexual abuse against children. Listener discretion is advised.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the crisis of child exploitation gripping Australia, for the next few weeks, Secrets we Keep feed brings you the LiSTNR award-winning series, Children in the Pictures, an investigative podcast about the global fight against online child exploitation, following Australian investigators as they track offenders hiding in plain sight across the internet.

The series exposes the scale of abuse, the emotional toll on those working to stop it, and the disturbing ways technology is being used to harm children worldwide.

In episode four, the police move in and confront Skee at his home. His real name is Shannon McCoole.

Hear never-before-shared police footage of McCoole’s dramatic arrest and prison interviews that reveal the full extent of the power he wielded as head of The Love Zone. 

McCoole’s arrest presents Argos with a rare opportunity to hunt down TLZ’s most depraved operators, one by one.

Content Warning: This series delves with sexual abuse against children. Listener discretion is advised.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the crisis of child exploitation gripping Australia, for the next few weeks, the Secrets we Keep feed brings you the LiSTNR award-winning series, Children in the Pictures, an investigative podcast about the global fight against online child exploitation, following Australian investigators as they track offenders hiding in plain sight across the internet.

The series exposes the scale of abuse, the emotional toll on those working to stop it, and the disturbing ways technology is being used to harm children worldwide.

In episode three, Argos are closing in on The Love Zone’s head administrator Skee. Documentary maker Akhim Dev travels internationally to speak to experts who work directly with abusers, in order to find out why they’re so hard to stop. 

Back in Queensland, Taskforce Argos try a new tactic in their search for Skee, with unexpected results. They’re going in…

Content Warning: This series delves with sexual abuse against children. Listener discretion is advised.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.