How do you make sense of murder?
They’re the agonising questions that linger whenever someone’s life is cruelly taken by another. Now researchers hope to provide at least some of the answers for their loved ones.
Behind The Scenes
Putin’s Night Wolves bikies sink claws into Australia
A notorious Kremlin-backed bikie gang with ties to the intelligence services and a hatred for western democracy is actively recruiting in Australia after quietly setting up clubs across the eastern states.
Massive domestic violence spike hits NSW town
Domestic violence in this NSW town has seen an increase by an astounding 64.5 per cent, as the Sydney suburb with the lowest rate of incidents was also revealed.
Depraved rapist’s filthy lair revealed
Strewn with rubbish, filthy bedding and shackles — this is the squalid kidnapper’s lair where a European backpacker was held captive for two days and raped by hobby farmer Gene Charles Bristow.
US legal eagle takes Staircase Down Under
The US lawyer from hit Netflix series The Staircase will join a panel of legal experts at an event in Brisbane this month.
How Australia was kept in the dark on Pell
The US media site that first broke news of George Pell went to extreme lengths to report his guilty verdict — and they’ve vowed they’d do it again.
New twist for Miranda Kerr’s accused intruder
A US judge has issued a new order against Australian man Shaun Haywood who allegedly attempted to murder a security guard outside supermodel Miranda Kerr’s former home.
Secret underbelly of Brisbane’s karaoke bars
Illegal alcohol, suspected drug use or prostitution, and wild drunken brawls – Brisbane’s karaoke scene has a dark side and police are eyeing anti-bikie laws as part of a crackdown on dodgy venues.
Nicola Gobbo: The girl who wanted to be somebody
Late-night jail visits and bags of cash were part of Nicola Gobbo’s world. There were death threats, a firebombing and demands for $20m. How did a former private school prefect from a well-known family weave herself such a dangerous web?
Why prison doctors want Pell moved
Prison doctors are pushing for the immediate relocation of George Pell, expressing concerns for the disgraced Vatican cleric who has so far spent three nights behind bars.
What life in prison will be like for Pell
George Pell’s stunning fall from grace hit home hard when he spent his first evening behind bars on Wednesday night, swapping marble staircases and gilded ornaments for concrete floors and fixed stainless steel fittings. There’ll be no banquets or expensive wine, only basic prison food.
Top cop to bow out on significant date
Ian Stewart’s “interesting journey” in the Queensland Police Service will come to an end on what could be interpreted as a very symbolic date in terms of the force’s chequered history.
The rise and fall of Cardinal Pell
He was a popular student, a promising footy player, an Oxford scholar, Archbishop of Australia’s two largest cities and a cardinal. How did George Pell climb the ranks of the Catholic Church — and how far can he still fall?
What really happened in secret Pell trials
Fewer than 50 people were there the moment a Victorian jury handed down one of the most stunning verdicts in history. Here’s why George Pell’s case was heard in secret — and what unfolded in court that could not be reported until today.
Samantha Knight’s killer playing the system
The serial paedophile who drugged, molested and killed nine-year-old Samantha Knight has never applied for parole during his 17-year jail term, meaning he could walk free — with no restrictions — in June.
Prison officer ‘took photo of gun being held to her head’
A young female prison officer has been suspended after reports she took photos while on a hospital escort of a loaded gun being held to her head — and sent them to fellow staff.
‘No human being should have endured what Anita did’
Such was the nature of her injuries, police who worked on the Anita Cobby case and brought her pack of killers to justice struggle to this day to talk about the level of brutality she endured.
The runaway psycho who scared Iddles
Legendary detective Ron Iddles claimed many scalps in his storied career, but one suspect made a creepy first impression during a police raid. And the murderous quadruple killer was on the loose, after a brazen escape from Pentridge Prison’s notorious D division.
Milat top cop’s near encounter with death
Former detective and Assistant Commissioner Clive Small, who led the team that captured Ivan Milat, has revealed his near brush with his own mortality.
The powerful prison gangs of Melbourne
They’re feared and ferocious. From the Prisoners of War to the pair responsible for Tony Mokbel’s stabbing, these are the most notorious and feared gangs in our state’s prisons.
Attack interrupts Mokbel’s bid for release
Insiders say Tony Mokbel has become obsessed with the prospect of getting back into court, as the drug kingpin wrote longwinded letters prompted by revelations in the Lawyer X scandal, demanding his release.
How deadly cartels are moving into Australia
Police have warned of a “tsunami” of drugs like ice and heroin flooding our shores, thanks to powerful Mexican cartels. How did they get a foothold in Australia — and how do authorities stop them?
Why Mokbel’s still a big-wig inside Victoria’s toughest jail
Gangland drug lord Tony Mokbel has transformed from street boss to powerful enforcer at Barwon Prison, with fears he could be continuing to call the shots beyond the prison walls.
Hitman’s jailhouse magazine protest shot down
Gerald Preston is one of South Australia’s most notorious killers and he’s trying to overturn a new prison policy which he likens to those found in a “third-world gulag”.
Inside the team keeping kids safe from online predators
Ten years ago, a Federal Government program was set up to better educate Australians on the dangers to children on the internet. Chris Clarke has been given a terrifying insight into just how depraved the world beyond our computer screens can be.
Crime scene cleaner: I speak for the dead
DONNA Naylor has learned that reality and horror movies aren’t so different from each other … “but for me life is worth living, even if it means cleaning up after the dead”.
One cop’s quest to catch serial paedophile
SHE had no name, no suspect and no forensic evidence, just the knowledge of the terrible harm a serial paedophile had caused 30 years before. Three years of painstaking “old fashion detective work” later, she found him.
Why this man was shot in face ten times
HE was a troubled businessman, she was a former prostitute, her lover was a callous killer. Shyam “Sam’’ Dhody met a brutal end, found dead in his bed after a horrific execution-style murder that had Gold Coast detectives baffled.
How a bank robber turned his tale into Hollywood gold
HE was one of Australia’s most wanted men, with a daring prison escape and multiple robberies on his rap sheet. But Greg Smith turned his fugitive years into an international bestseller, with Johnny Depp set to play Smith. NEW PODCAST — LISTEN NOW.
Killer ex-cop says name taken in vain
HE jokes about police attempts to link him to a string of crimes — but when his name came up in connection with notorious drugs kingpin James Kinch even Roger Rogerson admitted: “It’s an amazing story.”
The Coast’s biggest bikie brawls
THE Gold Coast has long been the backdrop for disputes between rival outlaw motorcycle gangs, but rarely have these arguments spilt into the public sphere. All that changed in 2006 when a violent public confrontation between bikies set plans in motion to have the city’s gangs completely dismantled.
Inside the minds of copycat crims
IT started with needles found in strawberries packed by two brands. It’s exploded to more than 100 incidents of ‘spiked’ fruit. Has the uproar inspired a wave of ‘copycats’?
Inside Coast cops’ ‘worst day ever’
IF you ask any long-serving Gold Coast cop what their worst day on the job has been, they’ll answer May 29, 2011. The day when one of their own — a young father and a good mate — was cruelly gunned down in a brazen tavern robbery.
One life taken, another ruined
CLIFF Lockwood was a big cop acquitted of murdering criminal figure Gary Abdallah, but he still paid a high price after being accused in court of executing a kneeling man like “a dog on a short leash”, writes Andrew Rule. NEW PODCAST — LISTEN NOW.
Chris Dawson’s lover ‘scared’ after wife vanished
AN ex-classmate of the woman at the centre of the “Teacher’s Pet” case has told how the former Sydney schoolgirl was left “damaged” by her marriage to Chris Dawson.
Killer bikie cries lonely over NSW gang laws
THE state’s anti-consorting laws designed to disrupt criminal syndicates in NSW are being used so effectively by Strike Force Raptor that bikies are now crying foul, saying the legislation is making them lonely.
The chilling moment mum was arrested for murder
SARAH Bowles was devastated the father figure in her life was missing, but then came the shocking realisation that police believed her mother had killed him and the family home had been bugged.
Shedding light on dark crimes
YOU know it from TV shows such as CSI — but it was actually a small group of Australian scientists who changed the way police forces around the world view scenes of crime.
Gruesome mystery of Melbourne tourists slain in Greece
WHEN a Melbourne man and his cousin suffered gruesome deaths on a boat off the Greek coast, authorities were quick to close the book. But all was not as it seemed.
The stories behind Melbourne’s most famous criminal nicknames
CHOPPER, Mad Dog, Fat Tony — the nicknames of some of Melbourne’s most notorious crooks are so famous you might not even know their real names. Andrew Rule reveals how they came about. NEW PODCAST — LISTEN NOW.
Secret life of our worst women inmates
THEY are the women too dangerous to be left in the main prison population. Now one woman who served time with them reveals what really happens in maximum security — and the letters the killers sent her.
Border Force detects more enemies than ever before
SEX slaves, foreign fugitives and persons of national security interest are being detected attempting to enter Australia now almost every single day.
Jail boss’ extraordinary move for Bali 9 duo
A JAIL boss from Bali’s Kerobokan prison has made a surprising move to help Bali Nine members Matthew Norman and Si Yi Chen, who are serving life sentences.
How to catch a child killer
IT takes a disturbing amount of evil to kill a child, to snuff out innocence. In turn it takes a special kind of good to investigate, track down and put away that evil. Here is how they do it.
Inside the mind of Perth’s ‘thrill killer’
AS A child, Jemma dressed like serial killers. As an adult, she was on the brink of becoming one – until her “perfect” plan fell apart.
Mugshots 3
MUSLIM terrorist Abdul Benbrika planned to bomb Australian targets such as the MCG, Crown Casino and the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor. New book Mugshots3 reveals how police stopped him.
‘I know something’s wrong’: Mother’s desperate plea
NANCY Fein’s daughter Linda Reed would phone her every day after her lunch break at her department store job. But when her daughter failed to return home from work, a panicked Nancy reached out to the media for help.
The bikie boss with a bounty on his head
COMANCHEROS bikie boss Mick Murray is expected to walk from jail within weeks. But the powerful figure has some formidable enemies — and things have changed on the outside while he’s been doing his time.
The Hells Angels who hit the headlines
THEY’RE the men behind the world’s biggest and baddest outlaw bikie gang. The colourful characters who have kept the Hells Angels in the headlines.
Brazen play by cops brought down dangerous criminal
HE was suspected of being part of a criminal gang responsible for a brazen robbery of an Armaguard van. Problem was the police didn’t have the proof they needed — until they put him in a cell with two undercover cops. READ THE TRANSCRIPTS
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