The Trial: Australia

This is the definitive deep dive into one of the country’s most infamous true crime stories. In this episode, Wayne unpacks the true story of Brendan Abbott, the man forever known as The Postcard Bandit .  From audacious prison escapes and cross country bank robberies to decades spent in solitary confinement, Abbott’s life has captivated, and divided, the nation for more than 30 years. Wayne...

On October 2024, 35-year-old Nikkita Azzopardi failed to attend a family gathering in Melbourne, an absence so out of character it immediately raised alarm. Within hours, her brothers Darren and Sean would force their way into her home and make a discovery that would change their lives forever. Nikkita had been brutally killed by her partner, Joel Micallef. Charged with murder, Micallef was later...

On the first night of Hanukkah, two gunmen opened fire at Bondi Beach in Sydney. The unthinkable atrocity killed 15 people and injured many more, with the impact still being felt across the world. In this episode, Wayne speaks to freelance photographer Banjo, who witnessed the attack unfold firsthand. Journalist and Bondi local Lucy Manly also joins the podcast to explain what we know so far, and...

In this episode, Wayne is joined by journalist Paul Shapiro to unpack one of the most explosive legal stories to hit Australia this year: the public naming of Tom Silvagni, a 23 year old from one of Victoria’s most prominent AFL families, after a long running suppression battle.  For nearly 18 months, courts kept his identity and family ties secret. But now a judge has now lifted the gag orde...

A quiet North Turramurra street was horrified in the early hours of the morning when a house party descended into sudden, brutal and violent chaos.  The bloody pool party in a $4 million property left a man fighting for his life after being stabbed 10 times. Now one culprit is behind bars for recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.  In this episode, Senior News Reporter Candace Sutto...

When beloved German Shepherd Arnie was reported stolen, the story captured the hearts of thousands across Australia. A viral search effort, media appeals, and a $6,000 reward followed- until a devastating discovery changed everything. Now police allege the dog was ever stolen at all. Accusations of neglect, a late night visit to a Brisbane brothel, and a rapidly unfolding investigation have turned...

Four year old August “Gus” Lamont vanished from his grandparents’ remote sheep station in the South Australian outback, triggering one of the largest searches in the state’s history.  But nearly two months on, police, soldiers, SES crews, divers, and locals have turned up nothing. No trace, no evidence, no clues to what might have happened.  In this episode, Wayne returns to the case wit...

In this episode, Wayne Flower unpacks one of the strangest cases to come out of South Australia this year.  Tamika Chesser, a once familiar face from the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek, now stands accused of murdering her boyfriend, Julian Story, whose headless body was discovered in Port Lincoln earlier this year. Senior crime reporter Candace Sutton joins Wayne to trace Chesser’s timel...

Erin Patterson’s story isn’t over yet. After being sentenced to life in prison, the convicted “mushroom killer” is fighting back, entering a notice of appeal and calling for a retrial.  In this episode, Wayne Flower is joined by top Melbourne lawyer George Balot to unpack Patterson’s seven grounds of appeal, from claims of jury irregularities to allegations of unfair cross-examination. They b...

One morning earlier this year, Venus Bay locals woke up to find 9 dead wombats in the streets- and now they claim they’re dealing with a mass wombat killer. The 9 wombats were found lying by the roadside, some with tyre marks, some moved into strange positions. Investigators found CCTV showing multiple utes driving around that night, swerving across the road. And one of those vehicles was allegedl...

It's been a while since Caroline & Liz had time to catch up and say hello to you all, and with the launch of our exciting new Crime Desk newsletter, thought now was as good a time as any! sign up to the newsletter at newsletter.thecrimedesk.com for free. Become a full member of The Crime Desk with a month’s free trial at  www.thecrimedesk.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

In this episode, Wayne is delving into the surge of violence in Melbourne as part of the ongoing tobacco wars. Targeted attacks, drive-bys, firebombings, even the death of innocent civilians caught in the middle; and the violence is showing no signs of stopping. Joining Wayne is Ryan Naumenko, a former crook turned independent journalist who has made a career exposing the truth of the crimina...

On September 27, four-year-old Gus Lamont disappeared without a trace from a remote sheep station in South Australia. Despite the largest search operation in the state's history, there’s still no sign of him.  In this episode, Wayne is joined by Daily Mail senior reporter Karleigh Smith, who’s been on the ground covering the case. Together, they cut through the swirling rumours, debunk the AI...

In this episode of The Trial Australia , Caroline is returning to join Wayne for a dive deep into the latest bombshell developments in the Erin Patterson case. The Victorian DPP is now appealing Patterson's sentence, calling the 33 year non-parole period for three murders and one attempted murder "manifestly inadequate." Wayne and Caroline unpack the implications and examine why this sentence is n...

In 2021, Tom Phillips disappeared into the bush with his three children. They remained hidden for years, and despite a mammoth police hunt, headline news, and even an $80,000 reward, their whereabouts remained unknown. But that suddenly changed when a police encounter with Phillips quickly escalated into a shootout, and the fugitive father was shot dead. However, the story doesn’t end there, as qu...

In this episode, Wayne Flower is looking at the heartbreaking and tragic house fire that claimed the lives of two children and injured a third- and the mother of all three who now faces charges of negligent manslaughter. Shania Lee’s lawyer says that there was no way, and no evidence, that she could have known what was going to happen that night. But the police hold a more distressing belief, alle...

In the first of our weekly episodes, Wayne Flower looks at the gripping and ongoing manhunt for Dezi Freeman, a sovereign citizen fugitive accused of killing two Victorian police officers. With Australia’s largest tactical police operation underway, Paul Cale, known as the country’s toughest soldier, joins the podcast to analyse the manhunt. He explains why Freeman may have remained undetected, wh...

In this emergency episode Caroline and Wayne have the moment Erin Patterson was sentenced to life in prison. She will serve at least 33 years for the murders of Don and Gail Patterson and Heather Wilkinson, and the attempted murder of Heather’s husband Ian. For the first time ever in Melbourne’s Supreme Court, the judge was broadcast live as he told her she had shown no pity for her victims. He al...

In this special extra episode Caroline and Wayne have the words from the victims of Erin Patterson as they addressed a court in Melbourne today. Erin Patterson sat in the dock listening intently as members of the families told her she had taken the lives of people who only did good in the world, and they asked over and over again how she could have gone through with her “cold and calculated” plan...

In this special episode Caroline and Wayne have more shocking allegations made against Erin Patterson in court. These were kept from the jury during the trial and until today we weren't allowed to reveal them to you either. But we can now explain the details of four attempts she made to poison and kill her husband, Simon - months before she murdered his parents with death cap mushrooms. Hosted on...

In this final episode of this series - for now - Caroline and Wayne interview one of the key witnesses in the case. Dr Chris Webster suspected Erin Patterson of doing something “macabre” within minutes of seeing her at the hospital and he said as two of the people she poisoned were lying in beds feet away from her she didn’t even go to see them. His evidence was crucial in helping to convict her o...

In this episode Caroline and Wayne have exclusive CCTV footage of Erin Patterson visiting a tip - within half an hour of her lunch guests leaving her house. The video has never been seen before and this tip visit was never disclosed to the jury. So what exactly was she getting rid of? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s the day after the jury returned their guilty verdicts for Erin Patterson. She is now one of the world’s most notorious killers and today we wanted to try to analyse what makes someone so seemingly ordinary become a mass killer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Erin Patterson is a mass murderer. The jury in Victoria, Australia have today found her guilty of murdering her in-laws by poisoning them with deadly death cap mushrooms. The jury agreed that she lured them to her house by lying about having cancer, before she fed them a deadly meal. Then as they got sicker and sicker, she played lego and she went to Subway. In today’s episode Caroline and Wayne h...

In this episode Caroline and Wayne have the moment the jury started their deliberations. After giving them their final instructions, the judge, Mr Justice Beale, balotted the jury down from 14 to 12 and told them to start considering their verdicts. We also explain why the jury will not be allowed to go home now until they have decided on those verdicts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...