Real Crime with Adam Shand

Debbie Fahey’s death in a Melbourne motel room in 1981 was treated as a heroin overdose. But more than four decades later, troubling questions remain.Multiple syringes. Four foils of heroin. No obvious heat source to prepare the drug. And a strange telegram that appeared to explain Debbie’s state of mind.Then there is the man in her life: Alistair Farquhar "Sandy" MacRae — later convicted of four murders — who identified Debbie’s body and described himself as her fiancé.Were these simply the circumstances surrounding a tragic overdose? Or was somebody trying to make Debbie’s death look like one?

In this special From the Desk, Adam Shand examines the anomalies in the original investigation and makes a direct appeal to anyone who knew Debbie, MacRae, or Melbourne’s drug scene in 1981.Someone may still know what happened inside that motel room. After 45 years, it’s time to talk.

Listen to the full epsidoe with Debbie's daughter, Des here 

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Like thousands of young Australians in the 1980s, Patrick McKenzie became addicted to heroin and found his way to Sydney's King Cross joining a sub-culture of drug users who financed their habit by committing petty crime. It took five days in jail for him to begin to see a life beyond drug addiction but the road to recovery was difficult, including multiple stints in rehab, relapses and the painful restoration of personal relationships. Patrick takes Adam Shand through his story of self-destruction and redemption.

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Was Debbie Fahey's death really a murder? In 1981, Deborah “Debbie” Fahey died from a heroin overdose; her death was apparently another tragedy of Melbourne’s drug scene.
But was there more to the story?

In an earlier episode, former detective Noel Ashby identified convicted killer Alistair Farquhar MacRae as a possible suspect in a series of heroin deaths during the 1980s—deaths that may have been made to look like suicides or accidental overdoses.
After hearing that episode, Debbie’s daughter, Des, contacted us. Together, we uncovered an extraordinary connection: MacRae had been Debbie’s boyfriend.

In this episode, Des tells the deeply personal story of the mother she lost and the disturbing questions that have remained unanswered for more than four decades.

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Sixteen years after the death of Carl Williams, the Melbourne gangland war continues to resonate as Australia’s most famous underworld war. In this week’s From the Desk episode, Adam Shand reflects on why the Underbelly war continues to fascinate the public even as the death toll in Sydney‘s gangland conflicts continues to rise.

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In Part Two of Real Crime: Live at the Stanley Pub, Adam Shand sits down with Daniel Saunders — the man who discovered a glitch in his bank account that seemingly gave him access to unlimited money.

What followed was four months of outrageous spending, new friends, gambling, luxury hotels and a life that spiralled completely out of control. But eventually, Daniel did something almost as extraordinary as finding the glitch: he tried to give the money back.

Daniel tells Adam what really happened, why he ultimately turned himself in, what prison was like — and whether, knowing everything he knows now, he'd do it all again.

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A special double episode this week, Adam Shand is taking Real Crime on the road with Dan Saunders of The Glitch podcast visiting historic Stanley in northeast Victoria for a live event at the Stanley pub, in association with Turnip Media. In this first episode, Adam tells how he got into crime writing during Melbourne’s gangland war and recounts some of his near-death experiences

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This week I posted about disturbing revelations involving Australia’s Family Court. I was inundated with messages from women who believe the system failed them—and left their children in danger.

In this episode of From the Desk, I examine claims that protective mothers are being ignored, disbelieved, or financially broken by a process they entered to keep their children safe. I ask whether allegations of abuse are being properly investigated, whether children’s voices are being heard, and whether an expensive and secretive system is sufficiently accountable when the consequences of getting it wrong can last a lifetime.

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For more than 20 years, Adam Shand has asked detectives across Australia: has a psychic ever genuinely helped solve a crime?

In this episode, Adam speaks with Richard Saunders from Australian Skeptics about the $100,000 prize awaiting anyone who can prove they possess psychic abilities under controlled conditions. The money is real—but can anybody pass the test?

Together, they examine the claims made by psychics, the techniques that can make their predictions seem convincing, and why families and investigators may turn to the supernatural when conventional leads have run out.

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Jamie Burchell once made his living selling drugs and he was very good at it but he paid for it with years in maximum security and a struggle with anxiety and depression. Now free and living alone in the bush, the man once dubbed the Craigslist drug dealer speaks candidly about fatherhood, regret. self-sufficiency and his chance to build a life beyond crime

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More than one in three Australians—37 per cent—say they would support bringing back the death penalty. But supporting an execution in principle is very different from carrying one out.In today’s From the Desk, Adam asks the uncomfortable question: if the state is permitted to take a life in our name, who must bear the burden of actually doing it? Would those demanding the ultimate punishment be prepared to enter the execution chamber, carry out the sentence—and live with having taken another person’s life?

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He was dubbed the “Wolf of Whiteman Street," a Crown Casino high roller whose extravagant lifestyle allegedly included lavish parties, VIP treatment, and extraordinary spending.

But behind the glamour, police allege Sy Giang Nguyen was funding his lifestyle through a multimillion-dollar fraud against the charity where he worked. Nguyen is facing hundreds of charges, and the allegations remain before the courts.

Herald Sun senior reporter Seb Costello joins Adam Shand to unravel the extraordinary story of Nguyen’s rise, the world he inhabited, and the allegations that brought it crashing down.

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Ralph Carr was sentenced to six years in prison, with a four-year non-parole period, for two rapes and a sexual assault. For many, the punishment feels profoundly inadequate.

In this edition of From the Desk, Adam Shand examines why the judge could not sentence according to public anger alone—and how precedent, proportionality, comparable cases and Carr’s personal circumstances shaped the result. He also asks what could happen if other complainants came forward and Carr were convicted of further offences. Could a new sentence keep him behind bars for considerably longer?

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Alistair Farquhar "Sandy" MacRae is a quadruple convicted murderer who killed without mercy. At 77, MacRae is eligible for parole after completing his jail sentence in South Australia but questions remain whether he killed other people, including women who worked in massage parlours in Melbourne in the 1970s. Former Victoria Police assistant commissioner Noel Ashby dealt with MacRae and tells Adam Shand he might have got away with several other murders and should not be released, despite finishing his jail time and his advanced age. 

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Australian Simon Carman is facing the possibility of the death penalty over the alleged murder of 17-year-old Tunchanok Donhomla in Thailand. Sydney lawyer Tony Taouk joins Adam Shand to examine the case, explain how the Thai legal system operates and assess whether a death sentence is likely to be imposed—and, crucially, whether it would ever be carried out.

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In this bonus epsiode From the Desk Adam asks the question. Australia is getting tougher on youth crime — longer sentences, stricter bail laws and “adult time for adult crime.” But with youth detention costing more than $1 billion a year and around 85% of young offenders returning to the system, is locking kids up really making us safer? Adam Shand looks at the disturbing crimes driving public anger, the teenagers being recruited by organised crime, and why tougher punishment alone may be failing to stop the next generation of offenders.

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Former Australian Federal Police commander Glen McEwen spent 35 years confronting organised crime, terrorism and international crises. His new book, Crime, Chaos and Controversy, takes readers behind the scenes of operations including the Bali bombings and the dramatic Thai cave rescue. Glen joins Adam Shand to reveal what happens when police must make life-and-death decisions amid uncertainty—and the personal cost of leading when the world is watching.

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Recent arrests in Melbourne of individuals alleged to be connected to offshore organised crime bosses have raised hopes police may be turning the tide on the arson campaign that has beset Melbourne. Adam talks with Detective Inspector Graham Banks of Victoria Police’s Eclipse taskforce.

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The Northern Territory’s homicide rate is more than five times the national rate, while communities including Alice Springs and Katherine experience extraordinary levels of assault and domestic violence. Adam Shand draws on his own experience working in Nhulunbuy more than 40 years ago to examine the role of alcohol, disadvantage and intergenerational trauma — and asks the question: after decades of interventions and promises, what has actually been proven to reduce the violence?

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For 25 years, former NSW prison officer Simone Patterson lived with the consequences of sexual harassment and assault by a male colleague. Then she decided to pursue justice — and succeeded. Simone joins Adam Shand to explain why she waited, what it took to go to court, and what finally being heard meant to her.

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In the 1970s, Peter Vaitos was one of Australia’s most notorious sexual predators, known as the “Silver Gun Rapist.”

But behind the headlines, the crimes and the prison sentence was a family forced to live with what he had done.

In this episode of Adam Shand, talks with Vaitos’ daughter, Stacey, about growing up with a father capable of terrible crimes, the moment she began to understand who he really was, and the impact his offending had on her life and her family.

It’s a deeply personal conversation about shame, forgiveness, loyalty, anger and the difficult truth that the families of offenders can become victims too.

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Using the allegations against convicted rapist Ralph Carr as a starting point, Adam Shand explores the hidden power imbalance at the heart of sexual abuse. Drawing on conversations with another alleged victim who feared Carr’s influence, this episode examines how authority, reputation and fear can silence victims for years—and why understanding that imbalance is essential if we want justice to prevail.

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Paul Terrance Mallinder was found guilty of the 1985 shooting of Kay Nesbit, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. For more than four decades, he has maintained that he did not commit this crime that left an innocent woman disfigured.

In this rare and confronting interview, Mallinder tells his story in his own words. He speaks about the investigation that led to his conviction, life behind bars, and why he believes the justice system got it wrong.

This is not an endorsement of Mallinder’s claims. It is an opportunity to hear directly from one of Australia’s most controversial convicted criminals.

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In Part 3 of his interview, former Victorian Armed Robbery Squad detective Steve Beanland details his battle with Victoria Police over allegations he made regarding sexual misconduct at the Police Academy.Faced with a lack of support from the police hierarchy, Beanland goes to war with his former employers and finds himself in custody facing serious criminal charges. Over several years, he struggles to clear his name and to recover from bipolar disorder and depression.       

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From the Desk, Adam examines two of Melbourne’s most haunting child disappearances: Karmein Chan and Bung Siriboon. Many believe they’re connected because both victims were young girls from Asian families. But does the evidence support that conclusion?

Listen to Mr Cruel here 

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Nicole Morris has spent years searching for answers in Australia's most haunting missing-persons cases. In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, she discusses her book Lost, the human stories behind unexplained disappearances, and why so many families remain trapped between hope and heartbreak. Drawing on her work with the Australian Missing Persons Register, Nicole offers a rare insight into the enduring impact of not knowing and the relentless search for truth.

Read the book here

Find out more here 

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In 1990, Victoria passed an extraordinary law to keep notorious violent offender Gary David (Webb) behind bars after his sentence had expired. Former Victorian MP Neil Cole was one of the few politicians to oppose the legislation, arguing it ignored the reality that David was suffering from severe mental illness. In this fascinating interview, Cole reflects on a decision that reshaped Australian law and asks whether preventive detention has become an increasingly accepted response to managing dangerous offenders.

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Australia's illicit tobacco trade has fuelled a wave of firebombings, extortion and organised crime. But is history about to repeat itself with alcohol?In this episode of From the Desk, Adam Shand examines how rising alcohol excise may be creating new opportunities for criminal syndicates. From illegal distilleries and counterfeit spirits to billion-dollar tax losses and dangerous contaminated alcohol, he explores the unintended consequences of government policy and asks whether Australia has found the right balance between protecting public health and preventing organised crime.

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Janine Haskins tells Adam about her campaign to reform police investigations of suicides and the coronial process in the ACT after the 2020 death of her 23-year-old daughter Bronte. Janine believes that police need to avoid tunnel vision when approaching the suspected suicide of young people where there may be other possibilities. The ACT coroner found that Bronte had taken her own life, but her mother is not convinced and wants other families to avoid the same situation.

This episode contains discussions of suicide, mental health, substance dependency, trauma, and the death of a young person. Some listeners may find this content distressing. Please listen with care.

If this episode raises concerns for you or someone you know, support is available:

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Lawyer and former NSW politician Peter Breen argues that two of Australia's most controversial murder convictions deserve fresh scrutiny. He explains why he believes the convictions of Phuong Ngo for the murder of MP John Newman and Steven Wayne "Shorty" Jamieson for the murder of Janine Balding were unsafe, raising questions about indemnified witnesses, disputed police interview techniques and evidence that, he says, points to serious miscarriages of justice.

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In a new Friday bonus episode, From The Desk, Adam gives his thoughts on the Melbourne tobacco wars and what's driving the unprecedented wave of arson attacks orchestrated from offshore by Kazem Hamad's crime syndicate. Despite recent successes, police can't arrest their way to success.   

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For detective Steve Beanland, the investigation into the murders of Rod Miller and Gary Silk did not end with convictions. In Part Two, Steve speaks openly about the toll the case took on his mental health and on a job he had loved for 25 years. He reflects on the personal cost of policing major crime and explains why, despite the trauma, he chooses to dwell on the good times, the friendships and the sense of purpose that came with being a detective.

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Two police officers gunned down in cold blood—Rod Miller and Gary Silk’s murders in August 1998 stunned Australia and ignited one of Victoria’s most intense manhunts. Former Armed Robbery Squad detective Steve Beanland was on the front line. In Part One, he takes listeners inside the relentless investigation, revealing the pressure, drive, and emotional toll of chasing the killers and how the case reshaped both his life and the career he once loved. He also reflects on working with Adam to piece together his story for a book, confronting the enduring impact of the Silk and Miller murders.

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David Cunningham has long believed his sister Anita and her travelling companion Robin Hoinville Bartram were victims of serial killer Ivan Milat. But new evidence suggests Milat was in New Zealand when the pair disappeared. In a deeply personal interview, David reflects on his lifelong search for answers as Adam examines fresh evidence placing Whiskey Au Go Go bomber John Andrew Stuart in the area and asks whether police have been fully transparent about one of Australia's enduring missing persons mysteries.

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Investigative journalist and podcast host Jay Walkerden joins Adam to discuss Badge of Betrayal, his explosive investigation into disgraced Tasmanian police officer Paul Reynolds. The series examined decades of child sexual abuse allegations, failures of accountability, and the shocking decision to grant Reynolds a police funeral despite concerns about his conduct. Walkerden explains how the podcast helped trigger a parliamentary inquiry into Tasmania Police, exposing deeper questions about institutional culture, transparency, and the protection of vulnerable victims. It's a story of persistence, public interest journalism, and the pursuit of truth.

You can listen to the show here 

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In the second part of Adam's journey into super max jails within jails, former bank robber Doug Morgan takes us into Jika Jika, the high-tech successor to H Division in Pentridge Jail. The futuristic concrete and glass division allowed staff to keep inmates under surveillance at all times, but the sterile and dehumanising design took its toll, leading to extreme violence and a protest fire that caused the death of five inmates.

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In this episode of Real Crime, Adam Shand speaks with writer and former Pentridge inmate Ray Mooney about the brutal reality of H Division the notorious “prison within a prison” designed to break the will of men who refused to surrender. Ray recalls the bashings, isolation, rock-breaking yards and psychological toll of a place hidden from public view, while also reflecting on how it shaped criminals, damaged lives and ultimately helped turn him into a writer

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When Sergeant Benedict Bryant was found guilty of dangerous driving over the death of Jai Wright — a teenager riding a stolen motorbike who collided with Bryant's stationary unmarked police car — the verdict sent shockwaves through the NSW Police Force. Bryant didn't go to jail, but the conviction may cost him everything. And the ripple effects could reshape policing across the state.

Adam Shand speaks with Dr. Michael Kennedy, former NSW police officer and senior lecturer in the policing program at Western Sydney University, about what the Bryant verdict really means for the officers on the beat, for pursuit policy and for the future of law enforcement in NSW.

Kennedy pulls no punches. He argues that Bryant was let down by a system that cleared him at every level: Professional Standards, the DPP and the oversight body, before a politically charged prosecution pursued him anyway. Forced to fund his own defence, Bryant opted for a judge-only trial because he couldn't afford a jury. Now he carries a criminal conviction and every commander in NSW is quietly asking themselves the same question: next time, do I give the order?

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He spent four decades as one of Tasmania's most respected detectives, not by working the politics, but by working the streets. David Plumpton retired in 2015 as a detective inspector with Tasmania Police, but his legacy isn't built on rank. It's built on something far rarer: the ability to make the most dangerous, guarded, and ruthless criminals open their mouths.

Adam sits down with "Plumo" to explore a lost art in modern policing - the walk and the talk. Plumpton breaks down the psychology of getting people to talk, his philosophy of "business, nothing personal," and why sincerity is the most powerful tool in any interrogation room. He also reveals why, inside Tasmanian prisons, the word went around: don't talk to Plumpton.

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For nearly six years, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty commanded the New South Wales Homicide Squad, overseeing more than 450 murders, a wave of organised crime killings, and some of the most complex mass-casualty investigations in the state's recent history, including Bondi Junction.

Now retired after a 40-year career, Danny sits down with Adam Shand to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to run one of Australia's most demanding policing units. They cover the investigative "surge" model that put almost every organised crime murder before the courts in a single year; why the first 48 hours has given way to the first two weeks; the psychology of killers who refuse to give up a body — from Bruce Burrell to Chris Dawson; the promise of forensic investigative genetic genealogy; and the unsolved cases that still keep him up at night.

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When Sergeant Benedict Bryant pulled into Henderson Road on the morning of February 19, 2022, he had travelled 800 metres from Redfern Police Station to respond to a serious crime in progress. What followed took 3.9 seconds, and cost him his career, his finances and his freedom.

Adam Shand is joined by Retired Chief Inspector Paul Fownes, who has been supporting Bryant's legal fight and fundraising appeal. Together they examine the detail of what actually happened that morning, the coroner's conduct, the decision to bring in a barrister who had previously prosecuted police over an Aboriginal death in custody, and what this conviction means as a precedent for every officer who responds to a dynamic situation in seconds, with a legal system watching in slow motion.

Paul Fownes Support Page:

https://www.sergeantbryantfight.com/

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She didn't stumble into cold case forensics: she invented it.

Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick is a nuclear physicist, former rocket scientist, and the founder of California-based Identifinders International, and she's the woman who pioneered the technique now known as forensic investigative genetic genealogy. Adam sits down with Colleen to trace her remarkable journey from laser science and space shuttle research to building family trees that catch killers, and hears how she cracked cases that had defeated generations of detectives, including the 20-year-old murder of teenager Sarah Yarborough and Australia's most enduring mystery, the Somerton Man.

Colleen pulls back the curtain on how FIG actually works, the limits of commercial DNA databases, and why the technology is only getting more powerful. And she and Adam share a fascinating conversation about a potential future project - using genetic genealogy to identify and repatriate human remains taken from colonial Zimbabwe, currently sitting nameless in British museums. If you've got a skeleton in your closet, Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick will find it.

Identifinders International Website: https://identifinders.com/

GEDmatch Website: https://www.gedmatch.com/

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What began as a conversation about Ned Kelly, Dezi Freeman and the myth-making around Australia's most notorious outlaws, suddenly took an unexpected turn, and became something far more powerful.

Adam Shand was a guest on his mate Luke Bona's Bonafide podcast to explore the parallels between Kelly's rebellion and Freeman's modern-day sympathisers, and the romanticised legacy of Australian bushranging. But when Luke's Indigenous identity came up, Adam did what he does best - he asked the question no one else had thought to ask.

For the first time on any public platform, Luke Bona reveals the story of how he came to be raised in a white family on Sydney's northern beaches, unaware of his Wiradjuri heritage. Born at Crown Street Women's Hospital to a 16-year-old Aboriginal woman from Bourke, Luke was left in a Bondi orphanage — and the circumstances under which his biological mother lost him are deeply troubling. 

It's a story of identity, loss, and the long shadow of adoption — one that Luke has carried for years, including the devastating decision by his adoptive mother to write him out of her will after he went searching for his roots.

Listen to Luke Bona's Bonafide Podcast HERE

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DNA evidence has been called the gold standard of forensic science — but is the justice system placing too much faith in it?

Adam Shand speaks with Jae Gerhard, one of Australia's leading independent forensic scientists, about the hidden limitations of DNA evidence and what they mean for criminal prosecutions. A former scientist with the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police Force, Jae now works as an expert witness advising defence lawyers on what the DNA in their cases actually tells us — and what it doesn't.

From trace DNA that can travel on a handshake to gloves that become vectors for contamination, Jae reveals how easily evidence can be misread, mishandled, or misrepresented in court. She takes Adam through landmark cases including Farah Jama, who spent sixteen months in prison for a crime he didn't commit — convicted largely on DNA evidence that was never what it appeared to be.

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Graeme Alford had it all mapped out: a criminal law practice in Melbourne, the trust of the underworld, and a fast-track to the top. Then the drinking and gambling caught up with him. He raided his client trust fund, did time in Pentridge and on release somehow managed to pull off one of the most inept armed robberies in Australian history - earning himself a second lagging.

Inside, something shifted. Graeme bulldozed the wreckage of his old life and rebuilt from scratch. Brain training, biographies of successful people and a cast-iron decision to become the master of his own destiny.

What followed was extraordinary. A clerkship led to a career bringing Norman Schwarzkopf, Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev to Australian audiences. Then came a second reinvention: as an addiction counsellor, opening a rehab centre built on the belief that recovery happens in real life, not away from it. He's 77, 43 years sober, and still not done.

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Four Australian women, known as the ISIS Brides, returned home from Syria in May this year. Two were charged with crimes against humanity and slavery offences allegedly committed overseas. A third faced terrorism-related charges. And yet another 20 or more remain stranded in Syrian refugee camps, unable to get home.

The question isn't whether we like them. The question is whether the law applies equally to everyone.

Adam Shand is joined by Brisbane-based immigration lawyer Tanguy Mwilambwe of Sambi Legal to unpack the legal reality behind the headlines. Why can't the government simply keep these women out? What's the difference between joining ISIS and fighting with the IDF? And what does it mean for all of us when politics starts overriding the rule of law?

From temporary exclusion orders to mandatory visa cancellations, child brides to slavery charges, this is a story about what Australian citizenship actually means — and what we lose when we decide some citizens don't deserve its protections.

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When Doug Morgan first sat down with Adam Shand, the plan was simple: get both twins on the record, tell the full story of Victoria's After Dark Bandits, and move on. Nearly a year later, Adam is back with Doug for one final conversation — and this time, it's personal.

More than fifty years on from the bank and betting shop robberies that defined their notoriety, Doug Morgan is done looking back. He's running youth workshops, mentoring young people away from the path he took, and quietly tending to the memory of the father who shaped him. In this candid closing chapter, Doug reflects on the loyalty that drew him into a life of crime, the intimidation he witnessed and despised inside Pentridge, and the strange, volatile brotherhood that has defined his life far longer than any prison sentence.

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More than a century separates them, but the cases of Harry "Breaker" Morant and Ben Roberts-Smith share a troubling echo — Australian soldiers prosecuted for killings carried out in the fog of war, on foreign soil, in conflicts already morally compromised by the powers that sent them there.

Adam Shand sits down with Sydney lawyer Tony Taouk of Magna Carta Lawyers, whose essay in Lawyers Weekly drew a compelling parallel between the two prosecutions. From the chaos of the Boer War to the mountains of Afghanistan, Tony unpacks why applying civilian criminal law to battlefield conduct is one of the most difficult — and consequential — legal challenges Australia now faces.

How do you prove intent when decisions are made in seconds under fire? How do you reconstruct events from 14 years ago with no crime scene, no forensics, and immunity witnesses who were allegedly there when it happened? And when a prosecution feels politically expedient, does it risk creating the very martyr it seeks to hold accountable?

Real Tony's Essay in Lawyers Weekly Here: https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/sme-law/44239-when-the-battlefield-enters-the-courtroom-the-roberts-smith-prosecution

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Victorian police officer Stuart Grimley has seen it all — three years as a Kalgoorlie copper rubbing shoulders with the Gypsy Jokers, stints in Major Drugs and Crime Command and two years working sexual offences cases that left images he'll never unsee. Then, in 2018, he did something most cops never do: he got elected to State Parliament under Derryn Hinch's Justice Party banner.

He lost his seat in 2022 and went back to Victoria Police, where he's now an operational safety and tactics instructor. But Stuart's not done with politics. He's launching the Frontline Workers Party — a new movement representing police, paramedics, nurses, firies, teachers and corrections officers ahead of the Victorian state election.

Adam sits down with Stuart to talk about the psychological toll of child exploitation investigations, the frustration of watching offenders walk free after months of painstaking police work, the $30 million machete amnesty debacle, and why Stuart believes the only way to fix a broken system is to get back inside it.

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Melbourne is burning. A mystery cartel is laying siege to the city's hospitality industry — firebombings, drive-by shootings, bashings at family homes — and nobody knows exactly who's behind it, or why.

Herald Sun crime reporter Seb Costello has been on the frontline of the story, breaking exclusive after exclusive using old-fashioned shoe leather. Adam and Seb unpack what's known, what's rumoured, and what keeps not adding up.

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Australia's illicit tobacco war has a new front — and it's more dangerous than ever.

When tobacco kingpin Kaz Hamad was captured in Iraq earlier this year, many hoped it would signal the beginning of the end for the country's booming black market cigarette trade. Instead, his disappearance has thrown the market into chaos, and the firebombings, shootings and targeted attacks are back.

Adam Shand sits down with Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist Chris Vedelago of The Age, who has been at the forefront of covering this story since the violence first erupted in March 2023. Together they trace how a government excise policy — designed to discourage smoking — inadvertently handed organised crime a multi-billion dollar opportunity,and how one man, operating from a prison cell, built a cartel that came to control 40% of the illicit drug trade in Australia.

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Ron Isherwood was born into Melbourne's underworld — son of Big Ron, a feared enforcer in the notorious Painters and Dockers Union. By 16, he'd fired his first shot. By 17, he was facing attempted murder charges. By 19, his mother was dead and heroin had taken over everything.

In this episode, Adam speaks with Little Ron — now 71 — about growing up in the shadow of a violent, domineering father, his front-row seat to Melbourne's painters and dockers wars and his close brush with Roger Rogerson, the corrupt detective who silenced anyone who got too close to the truth.

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Sam Jones did hard time, faced drug and weapons charges, and by his own admission had a very twisted idea of what it meant to be a man. At 37, he's something else entirely — a trauma counsellor using breathwork and lived experience to help others find their way out.

In this episode, Adam speaks with Sam about the childhood wounds that set him on a path of crime and addiction, the fake brotherhood he found and the six months in a Sunshine Coast rehab that changed the course of his life. 

Find more about Sam Jones and Unbreakable here:

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.unbreakablespirit.co_&d=DwMFAw&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=QRM3oaA988YHZWJl3EPR_CLNVsMUzP7PSqo8KYpcnWo&m=zMMZS6xvI0806EzWLZwxCuRWKQysMF4mCmcB0lSS6dhXaiFclSDNUyXGUI0tAE8G&s=HiI2Bf5muUqcWcYfPy9yiqQqMBK-_Ok_b2af1EVqfGA&e=

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He is Australia's most decorated living soldier — a Victoria Cross recipient charged with the alleged murder of five unarmed Afghan detainees. But does losing a civil defamation case make Ben Roberts-Smith a convicted war criminal? Adam Shand thinks not, and he's found one of the country's most experienced criminal defence barristers to explain why.

Philip Dunn KC has spent a career in the criminal courts defending the highest-profile cases in Australian legal history. In this episode, he unpacks the critical difference between a finding on the balance of probabilities and the far higher bar of proof beyond reasonable doubt — and why confusing the two is dangerous. He also examines the dramatic and arguably prejudicial arrest of Roberts-Smith, the extraordinary use of four indemnified witnesses, the absence of forensic evidence and the very real threat that relentless media coverage poses to a fair trial.

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Peter Morgan was one half of Australia's most audacious crime duo — identical twins who pulled off a string of armed robberies and became the country's most wanted.

In Part Two of Adam's conversation with Peter, the story picks up in the aftermath of the 1979 Heathcote bank robbery, in which Senior Constable Ray Koch was shot.

Peter recounts the desperate hours after the shooting — hiding from roadblocks, hitching into Bendigo, and coming within seconds of a second violent confrontation with an off-duty officer. He reflects on the psychological weight of Pentridge Prison, how he broke out of not one but two so-called escape-proof jails and what it really took to walk away from crime for good.

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He spent two years terrorising country banks and TABs across Victoria. He shot a police officer. He robbed the same bank three times. And he did it all as one half of Australia's most audacious criminal duo — the After Dark Bandits.

Peter Morgan is the lesser-heard voice of the infamous Morgan twins. While his brother Doug has told his side of the story, Peter has stayed largely silent — until now.

In this first of a two-part conversation, Adam Shand sits down with Peter for an afternoon-long interview months in the making. They go back to the beginning: a hard-working, hard-living builder father who moonlighted as a bank robber; a childhood steeped in tough love and frontier masculinity; and the twin upbringing that would eventually see two identical brothers take turns behind the balaclava across 27 armed hold-ups — without police realising there were two of them.

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When two Victoria Police officers were murdered by sex offender Dezi Freeman, it shone a harsh light on what frontline policing really costs. Adam Shand sits down with recently retired Victorian officer Jason Doyle — whose raw column in The Age sparked national conversation, to talk about a career lived entirely on the road.

From welfare checks that turned deadly, to serving in the aftermath of Black Saturday and losing a close friend in the fires, Jason opens up about the split-second decisions that never leave you, the PTSD diagnosis he pushed through for years and the moment the nightmares finally broke him.

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In 2016, Adam Shand covered the disappearance of Rigby Fielding in a single radio segment — and then moved on. Ten years later, Rigby's family is still waiting.

Rigby Fielding was 53 years old when he vanished on August 15, 2015, after calling his mother to say he was on his way home from Perth to Rockingham. He never arrived. Now his sister Stephenie joins Adam to walk through a decade of unanswered questions, police indifference, and a trail of leads that were never properly followed.

His bag was recovered in bushland near the Spectacles Wetlands — a known meeting place for gay men. A person of interest was quickly cleared without explanation. CCTV footage from Perth train station, the last confirmed sighting, went missing. Dating app chat logs were never investigated. And all the while, the family knocked on doors, called hospitals, and were told he was 53 — he was allowed to go missing.

Stephenie believes foul play was involved. Adam agrees — and draws a direct line to the Bondi hate crimes of the eighties and nineties, where a pattern of dismissal allowed killers to go free. With only six officers in Western Australia's entire missing persons unit across 2.5 million square kilometres, the system was failing Rigby before the search had even begun.

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Adam Shand had a front-row seat to exactly the kind of incident his latest guest spends every day managing. After stepping in when a drunk man harassed women on a Melbourne train — only to watch Victoria Police's Protective Services Officers handle it with quiet, professional authority — Adam sat down with Acting Superintendent Sean Halley from the Transit Safety Division to unpack what's really happening on the network.

From knife operations in Frankston to gang activity at high-risk stations, Sean pulls back the curtain on the work of PSOs — sworn officers with the same powers as police who are the frontline of safety across Melbourne's rail system. He also tackles the big question: should bystanders intervene, or hit the button and let the professionals do their job?

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When three armed intruders broke into  "Michael"'s Melbourne home in the dead of night, they weren't expecting a fight. Armed with machetes and a gun, the men ransacked his home demanding money. What they got instead was a man who refused to back down.

Bloodied but unbeaten, "Michael" held his ground using nothing but a decades-old ornamental sword and the muscle memory of martial arts training he hadn't used in 20 years. No one has been arrested. And "Michael" suspects someone he trusted set him up.

Adam Shand sits down with "Michael" inside the home where it happened — carpets ripped up, locks still being changed — to hear a raw, first-hand account of survival, betrayal and a justice system that's yet to deliver answers.

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In 2008, Melbourne man Fred Boyle was convicted of murdering his wife Edwina in October 1983 — then keeping her body sealed inside a 44-gallon drum for 23 years, moving it with him from house to house as he raised their two daughters.

Tracey Franze knew Edwina through a shared love of horses in the late 1970s. She watched Fred's cruelty up close — towards animals, towards the truth and ultimately towards the woman who devoted her life to her family. When Edwina vanished, Tracey and her friend Lee went to Dandenong Police Station. They were dismissed.

Now, almost 40 years on, Tracey has come forward with something she's never spoken about publicly. It's raised questions that have never been answered, and a possible connection to one of Victoria's most chilling unsolved cases — the Tynong-Frankston murders of the early 1980s.

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In June 1980, Maria James was stabbed 68 times in her Thornbury bookstore. Her killer was never charged. For years, investigators and a high-profile podcast pointed the finger at local parish priest Father Anthony Bonjourno — but Phil Cleary has always believed the real killer was someone else entirely.

Phil Cleary is no stranger to violent crime. In 1987, his sister Vicki was murdered by her ex-partner Peter Raymond Keogh. And the deeper Phil dug into the Maria James cold case, the more he became convinced Keo was responsible for that killing too.

In this episode, Adam Shand sits down with Phil Cleary to lay out the case against Keogh — a man with a documented history of violence against women, a flimsy alibi that was later rescinded, a witness who picked him out of a photo board years after the murder, and a chilling statement made to Vicki weeks before her own death: I'll do to you what I did to the woman in the bookshop.

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Kay Docherty was 15 years old when she vanished on July 1979. She'd told her mum she was going to babysit at a friend's place. Her twin brother Kevin was supposed to pick her up at nine. He never got the chance.

Forty-six years later, her twin brother Kevin Docherty, is still searching for answers — and still fighting to be heard. Adam talks to Kevin Docherty about the night Kay disappeared, the letters that were never properly investigated, the toll of 46 years of unanswered questions, and why this inquiry may be the family's last real chance at the truth.

Unsolved Murders and Long-term Missing Persons Inquiry

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****Content Warning:****

This episode contains discussion of the abduction, sexual assault and murder of children. Listener discretion is strongly advised.

In August 1973, two girls vanished from Adelaide Oval at a Saturday afternoon football match. Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, and Kirsty Gordon, 4, walked to the toilet at 3:45pm and were never seen again.

For decades, the prime suspect was Errol Radan — a convicted paedophile held under an indefinite detention order in a Queensland prison until his death in 2022. He never spoke publicly about the girls. He never confessed. Or so we thought.

Adam Shand speaks with "Ted" — a former Queensland prison officer who ended up on the other side of the bars after a conviction of his own. Placed in the same high-security protection unit as Radan, "Ted" spent three months playing chess with a man the other inmates refused to go near. And one afternoon, leading up to Christmas, Radan broke his silence.

What he said to "Ted" has stayed buried for over fifteen years. Until now.

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Mark "Hammer" Dixon spent years on the road with Roger Rogerson and Mark "Chopper" Reed — working security, collecting debts and sharing hotel rooms in outback Queensland. And in that time, Rogerson said things he probably shouldn't have.

He told Dixon the two men convicted of the 1973 Whiskey Au Go Go firebombing — which killed 15 people — were innocent. That he'd written them up. He hinted that Donald McKay's body was never going to be found in Griffith, because investigators were looking in the wrong state. He let slip, in an unguarded moment over a glass of red, exactly who pulled the trigger on undercover cop Michael Drury in 1984.

Dixon isn't a criminal. He has no record. But for a stretch of years, he had a front-row seat to one of the most dangerous men Australia has ever produced — and he remembers everything.

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Adam Shand sits down with author Michael Madigan to discuss his book Father Teacher Child Killer, the chilling account of Dieter Pfennig, the South Australian man now serving life for the murders of 10-year-olds Louise Bell and Michael Black.

Louise Bell vanished from her bedroom in Hackham West on the night of January 3rd, 1983 — taken without a sound while her younger sister slept beside her. Six years later, Michael Black disappeared from the Murray Bridge riverbank on what was meant to be his first solo fishing trip. Both cases went cold for years, haunted by false leads, a wrongful conviction and Pfennig's sadistic games with police.

Madigan also explores the disturbing question that lingers: how many more? Pfennig's movements during school holidays, his connections to the families of other missing children and the unsettling echoes of cases like Eloise Worledge and the Adelaide Oval abductions suggest his crimes may stretch far beyond what he's been convicted of.

Father Teacher Child Killer by Michael Madigan is available now.

https://www.booktopia.com.au/father-teacher-child-killer-michael-madigan/ebook/9781764386142.html?srsltid=AfmBOoonKackHoFbhNqJJt3V9MkINs_CjEM_f86JgAFEUKjpGhqOYGjq

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Join host Adam Shand in this episode of Real Crime as he delves into the ongoing quest for justice in the tragic case of Cheryl Grimmer, featuring an update from her brother, Ricky Nash. After years of fighting for recognition, the New South Wales DPP has agreed to review the admissibility of critical confessions made in the 1971 case.

In this discussion, Ricky shares the emotional toll of seeking justice for his sister and reflects on the impact of the case on his family, including his estranged daughter, Melanie. Together, they explore the complexities of their relationship shaped by grief and determination.

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In November 2005, 18-year-old Lauren Huxley was at home alone in Sydney when her life was changed forever. Randomly targeted by violent offender Robert Black Farmer — Lauren was brutally attacked, bound, beaten, doused in petrol and left for dead as her family home was set alight.

It was a crime that shocked Australia. Against all odds, Lauren survived. Now, nearly 20 years later, Farmer is eligible for parole.

In this powerful and emotional episode of Real Crime, Adam sits down with Lauren and her sister Simone to revisit that horrific day, the long road to recovery, and the renewed fear as the man who nearly killed her could soon walk free.

Sign the Petition Here: Deny Parole for Robert Black Farmer

https://www.change.org/p/deny-parole-for-robert-black-farmer

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam sits down with Peter and Belinda Bates— a couple whose love story began behind prison walls and whose shared mission now is to stop the cycle of violence before it destroys more lives.

Raised in a home defined by extreme domestic violence, coercion and control, Peter grew up believing brutality was strength and drugs were survival. By 19 his life had spiralled into tragedy. A confrontation ended in a young man’s death. Charged with murder and ultimately sentenced for manslaughter, Peter would spend 14 and a half years behind bars.

Belinda brings her own story. Having lived through coercive control in a previous relationship, she understands how abuse hides behind silence, shame and normalization. Together, they now work to break the patterns that shaped both their lives.

Find more about their projects here: https://linktr.ee/petebatesproject?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=c9aec04d-d7c5-4bfa-b3cd-ba74989be97b

Peter Bates Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/petebatesproject?igsh=MTY5MWQ2andtZ283bQ==

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In April 1995, Australia’s richest man, Kerry Packer, reported that 285 kilograms of gold bullion had been stolen from a safe inside his Sydney office. It was the largest gold theft in Australian history — a brazen break-in that appeared to be the work of a master safecracker who slipped past 24-hour security without a trace.

But what if the robbery was never a robbery at all?

In this episode of Real Crime, Adam Shand reopens the cold case of “Packer’s Gold.” Three decades on, fresh evidence, retired insiders, and long-buried photographs raise explosive new questions about what really happened inside Packer’s inner sanctum. Was this an audacious underworld heist? An inside job fuelled by betrayal? Or an elaborate multi-million-dollar insurance scam designed to fail from the start?

Featuring interviews with notorious safe-breakers, confidential sources, and new forensic insights into the safe itself, this investigation pulls apart the accepted version of events — and examines whether one of Australia’s most powerful men may have staged the perfect crime.

If the gold was never stolen… who really benefited?

And after all these years, is the truth still locked away?

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam sits down with recently retired Queensland Police Chief Inspector Corey Allen — a cop who never quite fit the mould.

As a teenager, Corey dreamed of becoming a writer. Instead, he spent nearly four decades inside the Queensland Police Service — stretching himself (literally and figuratively) to get in the door. What followed was a career that took him from tactical response units and protest lines to becoming one of the strongest advocates for empathy in modern policing.

Corey reflects on the culture of policing in 1980s Queensland, the glorified myths of “the good old days,” and the hard lessons that reshaped his approach to the job. From arresting 75 people in a single night to realising he was part of the problem, Corey describes the moment he began listening instead of reacting. And how that shift transformed not only his career, but the lives of vulnerable people on Brisbane’s streets.

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In 1987, Vicki Cleary was murdered by her ex-partner, Peter Keogh.

In the first part of this series, Adam spoke with her brother Phil about the legal battle that followed — and the fight to abolish the provocation defence that allowed Keogh to serve just three years and eleven months for her killing. In this second part, Adam sits down with Vicki’s younger sister Lizzy Cleary, who was just 14 years old when her sister was killed.

Lizzy takes us back to the day she was pulled from school and told the news. She speaks candidly about the trauma that never leaves — the courtrooms where her sister’s character was attacked, the rage and fear when Keo was released without the family being told and the complicated relief when he later took his own life.

https://www.vickiclearyday.com.au/

1800 RESPECT – National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service
📞 1800 737 732

Lifeline Australia
📞 13 11 14

DVConnect 
📞 1800 811 811

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In this first episode of a two-part series, Real Crime with Adam Shand examines the deadly risks women face when leaving violent relationships.

Adam speaks with former federal MP and long-time advocate Phil Cleary about the 1987 murder of his sister, Vicki Cleary, by her ex-partner — a killing that exposed deep flaws in Australia’s legal system, including the now-abolished provocation defence that reduced her killer’s charge to manslaughter.

Cleary reflects on decades of campaigning for justice, the ongoing epidemic of domestic violence, and why separation remains the most dangerous time for women. He also shares deeply personal memories of Vicki — a vibrant young woman whose life and legacy continue to fuel a national fight for change.

Get in touch with Phil Here

https://www.vickiclearyday.com.au/

Next episode, Adam speaks with Vicki’s sister Lizzie Cleary about the personal impact of loss and her own journey into advocacy.

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In the 1970s and ’80s, Victoria was in the grip of an armed robbery epidemic. Banks, newsagents and small businesses were hit daily. Gunmen didn’t hesitate. Police were targets. And the Armed Robbery Squad was on the front line.

In this episode ofReal Crime, Adam Shand sits down with former Victoria Police detective Rod Porter, a proud member of the Armed Robbery Squad during its most violent era.

Rod takes us inside a time when policing was raw, relentless and often deadly. He recounts the 1987 fatal shooting of prolific heroin-fuelled robber Mark Milano — a split-second decision that would haunt him for decades. He describes the surreal seconds after shots are fired, the trauma of facing a coroner’s inquest and the personal toll that high-stakes policing took on his marriage and family life.

He also speaks candidly about handling one of Australia’s most infamous criminals — Mark “Chopper” Read — who became his informer before the notorious Bojangles nightclub murder. The relationship would drag Rod into controversy and scrutiny, adding yet another layer of pressure to an already dangerous career.

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The disappearance of three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer from Fairy Meadow Beach in 1970 has haunted Australia for more than five decades. But the impact of that crime didn’t stop on the sand dunes that day — it rippled through generations of one family.

In this episode of Real Crime, Adam Shand speaks with Melanie Grimmer, Cheryl’s niece and the daughter of Cheryl’s brother, Ricky. Melanie shares what it’s like to grow up in the long shadow of an unresolved crime — carrying inherited guilt, fear, anger and grief for an aunt she never knew.

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On July 28, 1992, a meticulously planned armed robbery at Melbourne Airport ended in bloodshed.
More than a million dollars was stolen from an Ansett Freight terminal — but the gang never made their escape.

In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam speaks exclusively withSteve Barci, the third member of the crew — a seasoned armed robber who has never spoken publicly about the crime until now. But this conversation goes far deeper than the robbery itself. Barci breaks his silence todefend Normie Lee’s legacy, responding to recent media claims linking Lee to the infamous Mr Cruel child abductions. 

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Between the ages of 13 and 27, Dean King didn’t spend a single full year out of jail. A hardened criminal shaped by violence, addiction and the prison system, he was destined to die behind bars — until one explosive moment in rehab changed everything.

Dean recounts the day the floodgates finally opened, forcing him to confront decades of buried pain — a turning point that led him away from crime and into an extraordinary second life. Today, Dean is a successful businessman, author of King Hitand a living example of what radical self-accountability can achieve.

Get Dean King's "King Hit" book here:
https://www.kinghitbook.com/

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam sits down with Lewis Mbwela, an Iboga practitioner trained in the traditional West African medicine used for centuries by the Bwiti people. Unlike clinical Ibogaine treatments now appearing in the West, this experience involves the full Iboga root — a powerful plant medicine said to confront trauma at its source.

What begins as an observational journey becomes personal when Adam decides to undergo the treatment himself. He shares his unfiltered experience, the physical and psychological effects, and what he witnessed among Australian Special Forces veterans struggling to come home from war.

Learn more about Lewis here: https://www.instagram.com/ibogazw?igsh=MWViMWt5dndmYnpiMQ==

Lewis 'Mbela Badiango' talks IBOGA Plant Medicine

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In March 1982, Daphne Enid Sansbury’s body was found at Victoria Park Racecourse in Adelaide. No one was ever held accountable. More than forty years later, her children and grandchildren are still living with the trauma of her death — and of a system that took her children, silenced her voice and failed to deliver justice.

Through intimate family testimony, archival evidence and investigative reporting, Adam Shand retraces Daphne’s life: from government policies of assimilation and forced child removal, to the night she was last seen alive and the flaws that surrounded the police investigation that followed.

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On his first day at Paddington Police Station, 19-year-old Tony Russell attended a welfare check at the Sydney factory of celebrated wallpaper designer Florence Broadhurst. What he discovered inside would become one of Australia’s most notorious unsolved murders — and the beginning of a lifetime of unanswered questions.

In this powerful episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Tony Russell speaks publicly about that day for the first time. He describes finding Florence Broadhurst’s body, the evidence he says was overlooked and the extraordinary decision to erase his presence — and his testimony — from the official investigation.

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In 1963, a 19-year-old Perth man became the face of one of Australia’s most devastating miscarriages of justice.

In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam speaks directly with John Button, now in his 80s, about the night that changed his life, the brutality of a forced confession, and the system that chose expediency over justice. Button recounts living under the shadow of a wrongful conviction for nearly 40 years, the toll it took on his mental health and family and the bitter reality of being exonerated but never truly compensated.

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam speaks with former radio newsreader Lance White, who was the victim of a savage attack at a suburban Perth train station. Set upon by a group of young men simply looking for someone to bash, Lance survived — but the long-term psychological toll would change his life forever.

Thirteen years on, the attackers have never been caught. Despite CCTV footage and detailed descriptions, justice never came. But the story takes an extraordinary and disturbing turn when Lance’s DNA, later places him under suspicion for a completely separate and serious crime.

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam sits down with NSW Legislative Council member Jeremy Buckingham, chair of a parliamentary inquiry into unsolved murders and missing persons cases. What begins as a New South Wales investigation is rapidly expanding into a nationwide probe, uncovering chilling links between Milat and dozens, possibly scores, of unsolved killings across Australia.

From lovers’ lane executions to savage stabbings, from Queensland highways to Victorian backstreets, Buckingham lays out disturbing patterns, missed connections and institutional failures that may have allowed one of Australia’s most notorious killers to operate for decades with impunity.

Unsolved Murders and Long-term Missing Persons Inquiry

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam sits down with retired NSW Detective Sergeant Damian Loone, a relentless investigator whose 35-year career spanned some of Australia’s most haunting cold cases. From the murder of Lynette Dawson, to the disappearance of Cheryl Grimmer and the killing of Rachel Childs - Loone reflects on the victories, the heartbreaks and the cases that still refuse to let go.

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam sits down with Mark De Bono — a man whose life collided head-on with Melbourne’s criminal justice system during one of its most notorious eras.

Mark recounts a chilling firsthand experience inside Russell Street Police Headquarters in the mid-1980s, where he says detectives dangled him out a window to force cooperation. A story whispered about for decades, but rarely spoken about publicly. The conversation spirals into a raw and unflinching account of addiction, trauma, violence and survival inside Victoria’s most feared institutions, including Pentridge Prison.

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam sits down with Father Peter Norden — the former Catholic chaplain of Melbourne’s notorious Pentridge Prison and one of the most trusted figures inside Australia’s criminal underworld.

From the brutality of the infamous H Division, Norden offers a rare, first-hand account of life behind the bluestone walls. He speaks candidly about prison violence, institutional abuse and how harsh punishment often turned petty offenders into hardened criminals — all while building trust with some of the most feared men in the system.

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In this episode, Adam Shand uncovers the chilling legacy of one of Queensland’s most feared and controversial police officers: Superintendent Mervin Henry Stevenson. 

Adam speaks with Elliot Hannay, former editor of the Townsville Bulletin, who had multiple disturbing encounters with Stevenson during Queensland’s pre-Fitzgerald era—an age defined by corruption, cover-ups and intimidation at the highest levels. Hannay reveals threats, mysterious suicides, allegations of cattle duffing, drug operations, arms smuggling and the suspicious deaths and disappearances that many locals still whisper about today.

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, we revisit Phillip's story.

Adam sits down with veteran barrister Philip Dunn KC to unpack the verdict in one of Australia's most shocking criminal trials: the mushroom lunch murders. Erin Patterson has been found guilty of killing her former in-laws and attempting to murder a fourth guest using deadly mushrooms.

🎧 Want the full story? Listen to the complete episode now on Real Crime with Adam Shand

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, we revisit Louise's story.

In this gripping episode, Adam is joined by forensic archaeologist Dr. Louise Steding to revisit the unsolved 1953 murder of 14-year-old Shirley Collins. Shirley disappeared on her way to a birthday party in Melbourne, only to be found brutally murdered days later at Mount Martha.

Read Dr Lousie Steding's Book "Inconceivable Malice: Profiling the Killer of Shirley Cooper"here:

Amazon

🎧 Want the full story? Listen to the complete episode now on Real Crime with Adam Shand

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, we revisit Tina's story.

Adam Shand is joined by former detective Tina Kemp to revisit one of Australia's most baffling unsolved murders — the 1998 car bombing of John Furlan. They unpack the cast of shady characters, including a dodgy car dealer with mafia ties, a confessor with a dark past, and a bomb maker who may still be out there. 

🎧 Want the full story? Listen to the complete episode now on Real Crime with Adam Shand

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In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, we revisit Ed's story.

Ed Toller scammed nearly $1.8 million from unsuspecting investors—not to fund a lavish life, but to feed a gambling addiction he couldn’t control. In this raw and revealing episode, Ed sits down with Adam Shand to unpack the real cost of compulsive betting, the lies that spiraled out of control, and the prison sentence that changed everything.

🎧 Want the full story? Listen to the complete episode now on Real Crime with Adam Shand

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In 1994, Derrick was shot 14 times in under five seconds during an attempted arrest, sparking a 41-hour siege and a lifelong exploration into human durability. Derrick takes us inside the moment time stood still, the three hours he lay bleeding under constant gunfire, and the mental conditioning that kept him alive. 

Adam and Derrick also unpack the hidden psychological toll on police, the failures and victories of trauma management and the uncomfortable truths about guilt, responsibility and recovery.

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The Beaumont Children. The Adelaide Oval Abductions. The Family.
For decades, South Australia has lived under the shadow of unsolved child abductions — cases stained by secrecy, fear and whispered allegations of powerful networks operating with impunity.

In this episode, Adam speaks with journalist and Sleepers podcaster Bryan Littlely, who has uncovered new and disturbing information about Leslie Davis — a convicted child abuser who, Bryan argues, may be a credible suspect in both the Beaumont disappearance and the Adelaide Oval abductions.

Follow Bryan's Sleeper's PodcastHere: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/sleepers/id1830708583

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In this powerful episode, Adam reunites with Tom De Souza, a young man he first met a decade ago while documenting Tom’s descent into methamphetamine addiction in the podcast Meth Destruction. Tom was just 13 when he spiralled from scholarship student to juvenile detention, drug use and violent crime.

Now 30, Tom has found sobriety, purpose, and a sense of home within himself. He’s travelled the world, become a journalist, and is directing a feature documentary — The Long Road Home — exploring identity, redemption and his journey across Indonesia by motorbike. In a raw and deeply moving conversation, Adam and Tom reflect on the moments that saved him, the ones that nearly destroyed him, and the friendships that shaped both paths.

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When Australia’s most volatile moments unfold — a siege, a suicide attempt, a hostage situation, or a person in deep crisis — there’s one specialist quietly working to bring everyone home alive: the police negotiator.

In this gripping episode, Adam sits down with Leading Senior Constable Lee Wolahan, one of Victoria Police’s most experienced and respected negotiators. Across more than 800 critical incidents, Lee has faced people at the edge — physically, emotionally and psychologically — and helped guide them back to safety.

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In this episode, Adam sits down with Australia’s most recognisable criminal psychologist, Tim Watson-Munro — a man who has spent nearly 50 years staring into the darkest corners of the human mind. From Parramatta Jail in the 1970s to some of the most notorious cases in Australian criminal history, Tim has assessed thousands of offenders, earning the trust of hardened criminals and the respect of courts and the public. But Tim’s story isn’t just about what he witnessed, it’s about what it cost him. At the height of his career, the weight of extreme violence, trauma and expectation began to take its toll. 

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Former Victoria Police detective Narelle Fraser spent 27 years confronting some of the darkest corners of humanity—homicide, sexual assault, missing persons. But no case has stayed with her more than the disappearance of Lorraine Joy (Yardley) Carter, a vulnerable young woman who vanished in 2002 and was never found.

In this episode, Narelle opens up to Adam about the emotional toll of policing, the weight of unsolved cases and the devastating impact of PTSI (post-traumatic stress injury) on her career and life. She revisits the investigation into Lorraine’s disappearance, the troubling behaviour of Lorraine’s husband Murray Carter and the heartbreaking reality that Lorraine’s parents died without ever knowing what happened to their daughter.

Follow Narelle's Podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/narelle-fraser-interviews/id1637791533

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Illegal tobacco is no longer a back-alley trade — it’s a billion-dollar criminal economy fuelling arson, extortion, murders and a full-blown underworld war across Australia. In this explosive episode of Real Crime, Adam Shand uncovers how half of all tobacco consumed in Australia has slipped into the shadows, and why the government’s own excise regime is driving the demand.

Adam speaks first with freight-forwarding director Kelly Crossley, who is on the frontline of the smuggling pipeline. She reveals how syndicates exploit the container trade, steal legitimate ABNs, forge identities and slip tonnes of illicit cigarettes through overstretched border systems — sometimes within sight of police stations.

Then Adam sits down with former AFP officer Rowan Pike, who established Australia’s first illegal tobacco strike team. For a decade, Pike warned that sky-high excise, lax policy, and a lack of coordinated enforcement would create exactly the chaos we’re seeing now. Pike breaks down how the black market exploded, why seizures barely make a dent and why Australia is now facing a criminal landscape more profitable than the drug trade.

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In this powerful and deeply confronting episode, Adam Shand speaks with survivor and advocate Marita Murphy, who has spent more than 50 years trying to be heard. At just seven years old, Marita was brutally assaulted by two teenage boys—a crime her family discouraged her from reporting and one that would shape every part of her life.

Marita opens up about the trauma she carried into adulthood, the toll on her family, the failures of the justice system, and her relentless pursuit of truth. She also shares how she tracked down her perpetrator herself, why she created her award-winning documentary You Be The Judge, and what keeps her fighting not only for her own case, but for victims everywhere.

Watch You Be The Judge here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh1ODu2JdSA

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In this episode of Real Crime, Adam Shand speaks with former Victoria Police officer and intelligence specialist David Bartlett, the founder of the Safer Places Network—an ambitious new system aiming to transform how CCTV is used in Australia.

From the Jill Meagher investigation to missing persons, aggravated burglaries and retail crime, Adam and David break down how one camera can make or break a case—and why it still takes police up to 85 hours to obtain critical footage. David reveals the technological gap between law enforcement and the private sector, the privacy debates that stall progress and the surprising willingness of everyday Australians to voluntarily join a nationwide camera network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.