The Ghost: Melbourne's Hospitality Crime War | Seb Costello

Introducing - Creating Mr Cruel

A new show from Adam Shand. Welcome to The Adam Shand Collection Subscribe now for the first 3 episodes ad free and early on Apple Podcast Series 1 - Creating Mr Cruel. For more than 30 years, the name Mr Cruel has haunted Melbourne.  He was meticulous, terrifying and seemingly vanished without a trace  leaving behind one of Australia’s most disturbing unsolved crime mysteries. But in this gripping six-part investigation, Adam Shand uncovers secret forensic evidence that challenges everything police thought they knew about the case.  Across the series, we revisit the abductions, the fear that gripped suburban Melbourne, the assumptions that shaped the investigation, and the hidden evidence that may overturn them all. Was Mr Cruel really the offender police believed they were hunting or has the truth been buried in the evidence all along? See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

3.9 Seconds: The Prosecution of Sergeant Ben Bryant | Paul Fownes

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/] https://www.sergeantbryantfight.com/ [https://www.sergeantbryantfight.com/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

The Woman Who Invented Cold Case DNA | Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick

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/]: https://identifinders.com/ [https://identifinders.com/] GEDmatch Website [https://www.gedmatch.com/]: https://www.gedmatch.com/ [https://www.gedmatch.com/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Such Is Life: Luke Bona's Untold Australian Story | Luke Bona

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 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/bonafide-with-luke-bona/id1801841940] 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 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/bonafide-with-luke-bona/id1801841940] 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 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/bonafide-with-luke-bona/id1801841940]   See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

The Fingerprint of the 21st Century - And Its Flaws | Jae Gerhard

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. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.