CLAREMONT: The Trial

After 20 years of hiding in plain sight, sadistic killer and brutal rapist Bradley Edwards will likely never leave jail and die without his freedom, after he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 40 years.

If he makes it that long, he will be 88, taking into consideration time served.

But that just means in 2060 he can apply for parole, it doesn't mean he'll be released.

As Justice Hall revealed his sentence, more than a year since his trial began and almost four years to the day since he was arrested, he told Edwards he would likely die in jail.

"You committed these offences as a much younger man and have had the undeserved benefit of your liberty for many years due to the fact that it took many years to identify you as the perpetrator," he said.

Those offences, he committed in his 20s, but one of his victims, who was 17 at the time bravely told of how the sadistic rapist's act 25 years ago changed her, but wouldn't define her. Her powerful words left even seasoned police officers holding back tears.

“the definition of a coward," The Karrakatta victim said.

“He preyed on weak, vulnerable young women who didn’t stand a chance."

“How pathetic. It has been much easier in terms of impact to realise there was no evil genius at work here, he slipped through the cracks because he is unremarkable.”

"And now I will leave this behind. I will leave this courtroom and finally go and live my life without you in it. I will live it joyously, respectfully and gratefully for myself, my family and for the lives that were lost. I will live and you won’t."

"And as one of the victims of your crimes, I hope you are treated as well in prison as you have treated us."

Even though he didn't give a life without parole sentence, Lee Rimmer, Jane's sister said he was happy, and WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson spoke for a community.

“It is my sincere hope, for the sake of the victims, for the sake of the families and friends and indeed for the safety of our community, that Edwards will never be released from prison,” Mr Dawson said.

In this final podcast, Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke, Alison Fan and Damien Cripps digest, analyse and take in the sentence - and the case that's gripped the state for more than two decades.

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Join the Claremont in Conversation team in this special live event at the University of Western Australia.

Hear stories never told in court, anecdotes from sitting days and opinions from the journalists who covered the mammoth seven-month trial.

You'll also hear some details from Tim Clarke's book, Enigma of the Dark.

To get a copy, head to https://subscriber.thewest.com.au/enigmaofthedark?utm_source=TheWest&utm_medium=PromoCard&utm_campaign=ClaremontBookPreOrder&utm_term=order-now&utm_content=Content or find Enigma of the Dark on Amazon.

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Should Bradley Edwards be allowed to participate in rehabilitation programs in prison? Or should the prison just 'throw away the key'?

Legal expert Damien Cripps joins Natalie Bonjolo in this last episode until the sentencing, discussing how Edwards might be sentenced, and answer some of your questions.

Damien Cripps said Edwards' sentencing will be a difficult task for Justice Hall, and discusses several avenues of how the prosecution and defence will present their cases to the judge.

You've sent in some very interesting questions, and Damien Cripps gives his professional and personal opinion.

We'll be back on December 23 when Bradley Edwards is sentenced on The Huntingdale attack, Karrakatta rape, and Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon's murders.

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Former homicide detective Paul Ferguson has put away his fair share of bad guys. The retired police officer was in charge of the MACRO Taskforce when it was created, after Jane Rimmer disappeared in June 1996, but before that, he worked on, and helped catch one of WA's most infamous serial killer couples - David and Catherine Birnie.

But the disappearances of Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon was one of the cases that not only haunted WA, but many of the police officers who worked it.

The retired detective even interviewed the man he put behind bars, David Birnie, to try and get an insight into the mind of a serial killer.

He investigated when Sarah Spiers went missing. From the start, it was clear it wasn't just another missing woman. The Spiers family and police were onto it straight away. More than 2,000 posters, 20,000 flyers and 50 buses with Sarah's face were distributed throughout Perth.

Police had no idea how she was abducted, or even where she was. The search spanned all over the Perth region, from Black Wall Reach, to Midland, to Serpentine Falls. Sarah had disappeared without a trace.

In this podcast, Paul Ferguson reveals where he thinks Sarah Spiers is.

Five months after the 18-year-old disappeared, he recalls the call he took, the call that police knew was coming, but were dreading. Another woman had gone missing.

"The fact that we didn't know how that Sarah had been abducted, the fact that there'd been no commotion and the fact that her body hadn't been found was of major concern through the inquiry team and WA Police.  And then of course the worst thing that could have happened was another girl go missing from the same area," he told the Claremont in Conversation podcast team.

He admitted the disappearance of Ciara Glennon was a blur, because the investigation had become so intense.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and special guests former head of MACRO Paul Ferguson and former WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan as they take you inside Australia's longest running and most expensive murder investigation.

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Bradley Edwards hid in plain sight for more than two decades, but what he didn’t realise, was that he was just simply hidden, and that meant he could still be found.

His DNA was found under Ciara Glennon’s fingernails. She fought for her life, and in that fight, she scratched her killer and hid a part of him to be found by scientists years later.

Dr Jonathan Whitaker is the scientist who found a male DNA profile from the microscopic DNA fragments found under Ciara Glennon’s fingernails.

His testing and retesting of Ciara’s fingernail samples at FSS in the UK in 2008 was the pivotal turning point in the MACRO investigation.

His new method of testing - Low Copy Number - provided the distinctive male profile which later proved to be Edwards.

But at the time, he admits its significance was not immediately apparent.

Dr Jonathan Whitaker speak to Tim Clarke in this episode of Claremont in Conversation: The Verdict, and tells of when he realised his find was indeed the ‘Eureka moment’ that led police to Bradley Edwards.

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May 7, 1990 was the day that changed Wendy Davis’ life.

A social worker at Hollywood Hospital, she was going about her day when Telstra worker and now convicted killer Bradley Edwards attacked her, grabbing her from behind and dragged her back towards some toilets. But she fought him off, and her evidence helped in the conviction of the Claremont Killer.

But Wendy Davis is so much more than just “the Hollywood Hospital victim”. After her ordeal, she had to go on with her life, so she buried the traumatic events, until 2016 when detectives called to tell her, the man who attacked her in 1990, they think is the Claremont Serial Killer.

In this episode, Wendy bravely tells her story, in her own words.

The trauma she experienced, the grief for Sarah, Jane and Ciara’s families, and the anger at Telstra and Edwards is so raw, so emotional, as she tells Natalie Bonjolo and Tim Clarke her experience and why she wants an apology from Telstra, and why she thinks Edwards should have been charged with more than common assault.

Wendy left the job she loved after the attack, the trauma was too much. But Edwards got to keep his job.

In telling her story, Wendy said she feels like it’s been therapeutic. She said she even started jotting down her thoughts into a book, which she admitted may, or may not ever see the light of day, but detail her experiences with the attack, and the resurgence of trauma.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke as they speak to Wendy Davis about the attack which eventually linked Edwards’ name to the crimes at Huntingdale, and the DNA found from the Karrakatta rape victim and Ciara Glennon’s murder.

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Bradley Edwards will 'never' reveal the location of Sarah Spiers. That’s according to leading forensic anthropologist and criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett.

In this episode of Claremont in Conversation: The Verdict, we take you inside the mind of a killer.

Joined by forensic DNA expert Brendan Chapman and forensic anthropologist, criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett, our guests analyse Bradley Robert Edwards fits the profile of a psychopath and what makes someone kill.

During his police interview, Bradley Edwards was seen to barely show any emotion as he was told about the horrific final moments of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon, but when he was asked about his family, he seemed animated.

Dr Xanthe Mallett tells the podcast team psychopaths, a group which she included Edwards in, commonly display lack of emotion, but do when they’re triggered. Usually the only people who see those triggers are their victims.

The prosecution laid out in the first few months of the trial, their idea of what those triggers could have been - emotional upsets - the ‘third wheel’ that moved into Edwards’ and his first wife’s home, her affair with the third wheel, the pregnancy and the sale of their marital home.

As Tim Clarke explains, the prosecution abandoned this theory towards the end of the trial, but he believed it wasn’t because they didn’t think it was accurate anymore, rather, their DNA case was strong enough without it.

Before a body was even found, and WA realised there was a killer roaming the streets of Claremont, police had already made links between the disappearance of the Karrakatta rape victim, Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer, and that was through the forensic process of victimology.

But even with a police investigation linking the disappearance of Sarah Spiers and the murders of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon, without a body, Justice Hall didn’t find there was enough evidence to convict Edwards of her murder too.

Brendan Chapman explains why, even if a miracle happens, and Sarah Spiers’ remains are found, while it would be extremely hard to find any evidence from it, it wouldn’t be impossible - although most of it would still be circumstantial.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke, Brendan Chapman and Xanthe Mallett as they try and delve inside the mind of a killer.

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Bradley Robert Edwards killed Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.

Over the last two days, we’ve heard from the families of those two young, vibrant women taken too soon, their grief unimaginable as their daughters’ killer has been unmasked.

But for the family of another young and vibrant daughter, sister and friend, yesterday’s verdict came with more heartbreak.

The family of Sarah Spiers don’t have closure. They don’t have her body. They’ve never been able to say goodbye.

Today, the podcast team are joined by leading barrister Tom Percy QC, who tells us that Justice Hall could have found Bradley Edwards guilty of Sarah Spiers’ murder.

A bitter pill to swallow for the West Australian public.

The father of Ciara Glennon spoke publicly about the outcome today. He expressed his sorrow for the family of Sarah Spiers, whose body has never been found.

Dennis Glennon said he always knew Ciara would fight for her life, but little did he know that her prolific final fight would lead to the massive DNA breakthrough that would eventually catch her killer.

Despite the police and PathWest errors, Dennis Glennon said he and his family have no criticisms of detectives or scientists.

In this episode, Tom Percy said we must never forget the errors of police, and what has previously been called ‘tunnel vision’ by MACRO detectives in following Lance Williams for years.

Join the Claremont in Conversation team as they analyse the verdict, and have a lively discussion about the possibility of appeals, double jeopardy and Tom Percy’s opinion on why Edwards seemed to show little emotion throughout his trial.

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The Claremont Killer has been revealed.

Bradley Robert Edwards terrorised Perth for two decades, he sparked fear into the hearts of people in Claremont and tore apart families.

As WA’s Police Commissioner said outside court today,

“Bradley Edwards can now be called for what he is - a brutal rapist and a murderer.”

24 years of heartbreak for the families of Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon, today, some closure for two of those families.

Bradley Edwards was found guilty of killing Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon - shaking his head as the verdict was read out.

But it was a bitter-sweet verdict today, as Justice Hall said he couldn’t find, beyond reasonable doubt, that the man who killed Jane and Ciara also killed Sarah Spiers.

Police vowing today, they will never stop trying to find her body and they will never stop trying to get answers for her family.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Damien Cripps as they digest the verdict that WA has waited 24 years for, and share the outpouring of emotion that’s swept through the state in the wake of the verdict.

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Is Bradley Robert Edwards guilty or not guilty?

Only one person knows what the answer to that question is, and he’s taken 12 weeks to make it.

But on Thursday September 24, the world will find out.

Justice Stephen Hall has the weight of two decades of fear, mystery and grief on his shoulders, and in a week, he’ll have eyes of West Australians on him.

Claremont In Conversation is back with the biggest moments of the trial of the century, a week out from the verdict.

In this bonus episode, Tim Clarke says he’s nervous, and it’s understandable why.

A lot of people close to, or invested in this trial are also nervous, because in a week’s time, West Australians will find out if the man standing trial for the last seven months is the Claremont Serial Killer.

But it represents much more than a seven-month trial. As we’ve found out over the course of the last few months, the Claremont Serial Killings case never went cold. Police, families and scientists have been working on the case for the last 24 years.

It was a trial that was so important, not even a global pandemic could stop it, a trial that will literally stop traffic, when road works going on outside the court will stop for day.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they take you through what to expect next week and what it will mean for judicial history after it’s all over.

If you have any questions for the Claremont in Conversation podcast team, send them in to [email protected] 

If you’re new to the Claremont podcast, or want a trial refresher, head to our JUMP IN NOW episodes to hear a detailed run through of the evidence.

The West Australian has also released a two-part video series, as Tim Clarke takes you through the areas which are key to the trial, from Claremont, where the women went missing, to Hollywood hospital and to the sites were Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies were found.

To watch those videos, head to:

Part 1:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-on-a-visual-tour-of-claremont-ng-b881516606z

Part 2:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-to-wellard-and-eglington-ng-b881517153z

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