Off Duty | The Guardian Investigates

Of all the hearings Alex Villa had been through in nearly 11 years, Jennifer knew this could be the one. In her possession was the disc with the FBI cellphone map – evidence that prosecutors had never turned over. But in a system that had fought Alex at every turn, would it finally be enough to set him free? This is the final episode of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Alex was in prison for life, and Jennifer and Eric discovered they’d become captives to the case, too – the ‘termites’ digging in at every level of their lives. For the first time, they thought about giving up. But then they got their hands on a disc they’d never seen before. This is episode six of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Raul Palma, the video game repair specialist who found the evidence that could break open Alex’s case, had gone missing. Again. As Jennifer and Eric worry that Raul has been spooked, they must face the prosecutors in a ‘bone-crushing’ courtroom battle for Alex’s life. This is episode five of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Since the day he was arrested, Tyrone Clay had been asking police to look at his PlayStation. He said he had been playing NBA 2K11 on the night of the murder. For years, the console sat in an evidence room gathering dust while the FBI claimed it was broken beyond repair. That’s until the attorney Eric Bisby came along. This is episode four of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Se...

Unlike the other suspects, Alex Villa refused to confess. He was released after 48 hours, but the police weren’t done with him. Not by a long shot. To build their case, the state relied on three people who claimed they overheard Alex saying he did it. But do their stories check out? This is episode three of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

Within 72 hours, three men confessed to having murdered Officer Clifton Lewis. But in time, they all recanted, insisting they never had anything to do with the murder. So if they didn’t do it, why did they say they did? This is episode two of Off Duty, an investigation by the Guardian’s Melissa Segura

On the evening of 29 December 2011, Officer Clifton Lewis was moonlighting as a security guard at a Chicago minimart when two men walked in. They shot Lewis several times, then took off with his gun and police star. A week later, police had their suspects: four men affiliated with a gang called the Spanish Cobras. For hours, under intense police questioning, they all said they didn’t do it. But th...

In 2011, a Chicago police officer is murdered. Police find four suspects. Three confess. But the fourth refuses to break. He’ll embark on a 12-year battle to prove his innocence, against a system that refuses to admit it might be wrong. The latest podcast series from Guardian Investigates. Coming soon

A backlash against FBS grows and Emilee and Yolande respond to the growing crisis. This is episode six of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

Emilee and Yolande had grown an ideology and seeded it globally. A reach investigative reporters Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne could not have fathomed when they started reporting on the story. They set out to see just how far FBS has spread. This is episode five of a year-long investigation

Within months of the death of Lorren’s baby, Journey Moon, and the public backlash against the Free Birth Society that followed, Emilee Saldaya took the FBS membership private, turning the business into a global multimillion dollar empire. This is episode four of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

When Lorren Holliday got pregnant in 2018, she joined Emilee Saldaya’s Facebook group and quickly became hooked on the Free Birth Society podcasts. It was a decision that led to tragedy. This is episode three of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

Who is Emilee Saldaya, the woman behind the Free Birth Society movement? And how did she meet her business partner Yolande Norris-Clark? Do either woman have the credentials they are claiming? This is episode two of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power. By free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life. This is episode one of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne

At 13, Gina Rinehart read a book that would help shape her worldview – Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The novel’s capitalist underpinnings promote the idea that people should strive to be their best industrial selves. In this episode, we explore how these values are playing out in Rinehart’s life today, including her proposal to build a coalmine in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. And we hear how author and...

Gina Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, is well known as a pioneer of Australia’s iron ore industry but few realise Hancock started his mining career on a smaller scale and digging for a different substance – blue asbestos. Hancock and his partner started the mining operation at Wittenoom in the 1940s before selling it to CSR, which mined the area for 20 more years. Wittenoom has become synonymous w...

In the previous episode, we covered historical claims made over the years that Lang Hancock, Gina’s father, had two unacknowledged daughters with separate Indigenous women. Now, the daughter of Sella Robinson, one of the Indigenous women who claimed to be Hancock’s daughter, speaks publicly for the first time

It’s the portrait of Gina Rinehart that launched 1,000 memes, went viral globally and became Australia’s Mona Lisa. But it’s also a symbol of how wealth intersects with other areas of life, including art and sport. How does Rinehart use her money to control her image – and what would she rather you don’t see? This episode is about power and control, and the colonial history of Australia. It contai...

Twenty years ago, John Hancock had dinner with his mother, Gina Rinehart. He says it’s the last positive interaction he had with her. In an in-depth interview, he explains how his relationship with her fell apart and discusses a high-stakes legal case that could threaten the foundations of her empire

We unpack the bitter rivalries, court battles and family conflicts behind the Hancock fortune, and consider a fundamental question: is Rinehart a mining heiress or is she a self-made mining magnate? We look at her crowning achievement to date in her time at the helm of Hancock Prospecting – owning and operating her own iron mine at Roy Hill, something her father was never able to do

How does Gina Rinehart, like her father before her, use wealth and power to influence Australian politics? Rinehart’s first major foray into the political spotlight was successfully lobbying against Labor’s mining super-profit tax in the early 2010s. But what did she learn from her father, Lang Hancock, who campaigned to overturn the iron ore export embargo in the 1950s, setting the foundation for...

Gina Rinehart tops Australia’s rich list, worth almost $40bn. She’s also a climate sceptic, a Trumpette and a litigant – even against her own kids. Her life reads like a script from the TV series Succession. Senior correspondent Sarah Martin has spoken to her critics and her defenders to try and understand who Gina Rinehart really is. In this episode, Martin starts with her childhood, and the enor...

According to Beto Marubo, if Dom and Bruno did the same expedition in 2025, they would face the same levels of danger. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, returns to the Javari valley and meets those risking their lives daily basis to fight the threats from organised crime. Is it possible to save the Amazon? For all links mentioned at the end of this episode, visit Missing in...

Funerals are held for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira and there is hope that the election of President Lula will mean new protections for the Amazon – and that the killers of Dom and Bruno will face justice. But organised crime is widespread and deep-rooted. The investigative journalist Sônia Bridi tells the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips about a man who allegedly not only may...

The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, recalls the moment that he and others on the search team found Dom and Bruno’s belongings in a hidden area of flooded forest. The team finally discover what has happened to the men