Juanita Nielsen ABC series temporarily removed over ‘serious doubt’ in claims

A two-part ABC miniseries investigating the murder of Juanita Nielsen has been temporarily removed after new information cast doubt on some of the program’s claims.

A two-part ABC miniseries investigating the murder of missing Sydney heiress, journalist and activist Juanita Nielsen has been temporarily removed from the national broadcaster’s streaming platform after new information cast doubt on some of the program’s claims.

Juanita: A Family Mystery aired earlier this month, off the back of the ABC podcast Unravel: Juanita, and dived into the 1975 disappearance of Ms Nielsen who was aged 38.

Both the miniseries and the podcast featured an interview with John Innes, who claimed to have been placed in jail as an undercover investigator to extract information from key suspect, Eddie Trigg, an associate of Sydney underworld figure Abe Saffron.

In 1977, Mr Trigg was one of three men charged over a failed attempt to kidnap Ms Nielsen four days before she disappeared.

“[Trigg] said to me … I throttled her,” Mr Innes said of his interaction with Mr Trigg, who also supposedly told him that Ms Nielsen was taken to the Lido Motel before being murdered.

Sydney journalist, activist and heiress and editor of 'Now' Newspaper Juanita Nielsen in 1968. Nielsen disappeared in 1975 after crusading against developers in Kings Cross, Sydney.

Ms Nielsen disappeared on July 4, 1975 and was believed to be murdered despite a corpse never being found.

The interview also featured in an episode of the ABC podcast The Signal and a story published on the broadcaster’s website.

“Following publication, new information came to light casting serious doubt on some of Innes’ claims. Some of this information had been unavailable to the content makers; some was available but not discovered,” the ABC said in a statement.

“The TV series has been temporarily removed from ABC iview, and episodes 7 and 8 of the podcast series have been temporarily removed from the ABC website and podcast platforms, in order to address concerns about the accuracy of Innes’ claims.

“The episode of The Signal and the digital story have also been removed.”

An ABC spokesman told The Australian that it’s “important to note that the program makers attempted to verify those claims, such as by speaking with and/or seeking interviews with current and former NSW Police officers, including those Mr Innes said he worked with in the early 1980s”.

“The program makers also sought comment from NSW Police, which chose not to repudiate Mr Innes’ claims until after they were broadcast,” he added.

“However, while some information concerning Mr Innes was not available to the program makers, we acknowledge that additional steps should have been taken to verify his claims.”

Police divers search the Nepean River near Penrith for Ms Nielsen on July 14, 1975. Picture: News Corp

Ms Nielsen, who was a member of one of Sydney’s richest families and an heiress to the Mark Foy’s department store fortune, was a passionate campaigner against property development in Kings Cross.

In the early 1970s, Ms Nielsen, a print journalist and publisher, used her independent newspaper, NOW, to campaign against proposed plans to replace Victorian-era terraces with high-rise apartment blocks in the inner city party hub.

She made an enemy of a developer who was losing millions each year and is believed to have paid for Mr Saffron and his cohorts to knock off Ms Nielsen.

Aged 38, she vanished on July 4, 1975 after entering the Carousel Club; her handbag and its contents were found days later discarded on a motorway near Penrith.

A 1983 coronial inquest pronounced Ms Nielsen dead, concluding that she was most probably killed. But it found insufficient evidence to indicate how she may have died or who was involved.

In June, the NSW government announced a $1 million reward for information about Ms Nielsen’s death.

– with Candace Sutton