The ABC removes TV series into Juanita Nielsen death after serious issues

The ABC has pulled a true crime series into the death of Sydney heiress and journalist Juanita Nielsen after serious problems arose with claims aired in the program.

Juanita Nielsen was last seen alive on July 4, 1975 at the Carousel Club owned by Abe Saffron.

The ABC has removed a two-part miniseries investigating the 1975 murder of journalist and activist Juanita Nielsen from its streaming platform after new information cast serious doubt on some of the program’s key claims.

Originally airing in September, Juanita: A Family Mystery broadcast allegations from retired lawyer John Innes that he was placed in Long Bay Gaol as an undercover investigator in an attempt to extract information from Eddie Trigg, an associate of Sydney underworld figure Abe Saffron.

Mr Trigg was one of three men charged in 1977 over a failed attempt to kidnap Nielsen – the founder of alternative newspaper NOW – four days before she disappeared.

But the series has been temporarily removed from view – as have two accompanying podcast episodes and an online article – after the ABC received information that cast “serious doubt on some of Innes’ claims”. They were removed “in order to address concerns about the accuracy of Innes’ claims”, a statement reads.

Nielson, whose father was heir to the Mark Foy’s retail fortune, had gained prominence for her newspaper’s opposition to developments in Kings Cross.

She was last seen alive on July 4, 1975 at the Carousel Club owned by Saffron. Her handbag was found eight days later alongside a freeway near Penrith but her remains were not found.

A coronial inquest in 1983 pronounced Nielsen dead, but found insufficient evidence to indicate how she had died. A separate parliamentary inquiry later concluded the police investigation had been hampered by corruption.

The miniseries into Nielsen’s death was created by entertainment company Wildbear and compiled with the involvement of two of Ms Neilsen’s relatives, Keiran McGee and Pip Rey.

Mr Innes told the ABC that Triggs had told him Nielsen was taken to the nearby Lido Motel before being murdered. “(Trigg) said to me … I throttled her,” he said.

An ABC spokesman told The Australian that the broadcaster was “reviewing that content in order to address concerns about the accuracy of Mr Innes’ claims”.

“It is 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,” he said on Sunday.

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

“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.”

The removal of the Juanita ­Nielsen miniseries comes just five weeks after an independent review found the ABC’s Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire series was misleading and implied a relationship between Saffron and former NSW premier Neville Wran.

The review, co-written by former Four Corners reporter Chris Masters and Sydney University academic Rod Tiffen, said the documentary had “overreached” and aired allegations of political corruption which were “vague, anonymous and unhelpful”.

The review found “no solid evidence” that Wran had a social relationship with Saffron, nor credible evidence of a “direct relationship between Saffron and Wran” at all.

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