Shandee’s Story podcast exposes boyfriend John Peros’s vile messages to murdered woman

A new podcast exposes the vile secret messages inside a toxic relationship before the shocking murder of young hospitality worker Shandee Blackburn.

In April 2012, popular young hospitality worker Shandee Blackburn was hoping for a fresh start on the Gold Coast after a bad relationship.

But a thousand kilometres from her hometown of Mackay, the abuse followed her.

“You’re a waste of time I can’t speak to you! Then you mock me, c**t you’d be in a coma if you were a guy,” Shandee’s former boyfriend John Peros texted her at the time.

“I am sorry I mocked you,” Shandee texted. “I can’t believe it’s that easy for you to forget all our beautiful memories and moments.”

“You wonder why you’re single and all alone,” Peros replied minutes later.

The pair’s toxic relationship – and Shandee’s brutal 2013 murder – is the subject of gripping cold case podcast Shandee’s Story, created by award-winning investigative journalist Hedley Thomas.

Shandee Blackburn.

Clues left behind by Shandee’s killer are being explored by Thomas who hopes to uncover new evidence that might solve the murder cold case.

These include Shandee’s iPhone 3, recovered at the scene and containing hundreds of text messages between her and Peros that reveal a toxic and abusive relationship in the year before her slaying.

Messages are reproduced with changes for readability.

“You have caused me so much trouble and heartache. Just leave me alone,” Peros wrote.

Shandee replied: “Heartache? You told me to jump off a bridge and that suicide is the best thing I can do for everyone. You also told me I could always count on you to be there for me.”

Shandee Blackburn with John Peros.

Shandee’s Story: Why is her killer still at large?

Shandee, 23, was attacked by a killer wielding a large knife as she walked home from work just after midnight in February 2013.

The killer targeted her face, neck and chest, shearing away part of her scalp in an attack that detectives alleged was personal.

Peros, then 30, was a champion amateur boxer admired for his skill in the ring and described by friends as a gentle, caring soul.

He has always denied involvement and was found not guilty by a jury for her murder in 2017.

His lawyers say police went after the wrong man, allowing the real killer – a local criminal and ice addict with a violent record – to go free.

In 2020, Queensland Central Coroner David O’Connell found Peros did kill Shandee, but did not find fresh and compelling evidence to charge him again under double jeopardy laws.

However, the top-rated podcast has since revealed shocking failures in DNA testing by the Queensland Government forensics lab may have allowed Shandee’s killer to evade justice.

The errors and inconsistencies uncovered by forensic scientist Dr Kirsty Wright, the former manager of Australia’s National Criminal Investigation DNA Database, show the lab failed to detect DNA in a fresh pool of blood, or detect trace DNA from a sample from Shandee’s forearm, or any of Peros’s trace DNA in his own vehicle.

The coronial inquest is set to be reopened after mounting public pressure forced the Palaszczuk government to respond to the lab’s forensic failures.

Shandee’s Story is also examining clues contained in CCTV footage of a figure running hard towards Shandee and then back, as well as a vehicle driving near the murder scene that police alleged was Peros’s distinctive 1994 model Toyota HiLux.

Shandee’s last moments – and a mysterious running man

Many of the messages from Shandee’s iPhone were revealed for the first time in the podcast. Peros’s paranoia is on full display as he accuses Shandee of being unfaithful, accusations she repeatedly denies.

Peros wrote: “Who’s that guy that sent a message to you on Facebook? Looks like you met him and he wants to f**k you? Everyone knows you’re a dirty slut!”

“John, please stop calling me a fat lazy piece of s**t and telling me to jump off a bridge. Please John, I need your support right now and you’re just hurting me further. Please John,” Shandee texted in April 2012.

Shandee said the repeated taunts about her weight wrecked her confidence and she sought advice from a psychic about Peros’s jealousy and paranoia, recording the interaction.

“He said he knows he has to, he just doesn’t know how to stop – to get it out of his head,” Shandee told the older woman.

In a major falling out mid-year – which saw further taunts from Peros – Shandee insinuated that she had cheated on him.

She later swore on her life it wasn’t true, but from his messages it appeared he had taken it badly.

The brutal unsolved murder of Shandee Blackburn that has haunted Mackay for years.

Shandee’s family have welcomed the podcast and look forward to evidence the public has never heard before being shared.

“Something that we’ve always been trying to get out there is what actually happened that night, the truth, and have it accessible to the public,” Vicki says.

“This wasn’t a random attack. All the evidence shows it was a very well-thought-out plan.”

Go to shandee.com.au or wherever you get your podcasts to hear Shandee’s Story

Originally published as Shandee’s Story podcast exposes boyfriend John Peros’s vile messages to murdered woman