95 trial days and 95 episodes (plus a few bonus ones) later,

WA's trial of the century has officially come to a close.

The trial has been harrowing at times, it's been informative and eye-opening, but ultimately heartbreaking for the families and the three women who's lives were tragically taken too soon.

So, what happens next? Justice Stephen Hall reserved his judgement until September 24, and will spend the next three months carefully analysing every piece of evidence, every witness statement and every conclusion both the prosecution and defence asked him to make - all to decide if Bradley Robert Edwards is the Claremont Serial Killer.

In this bonus episode, Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke, Alison Fan and producer Kate Ryan discuss the trial, how they are feeling following the Australia’s longest running and most expensive criminal investigation, and they’re expecting when the verdict day comes.

Thank you to the podcast contributors Damien Cripps, Brendan Chapman and Tom Percy QC, all who gave their time to help us understand the concepts of the trial and the complicated science.

And a massive thank you to The West Australian’s Emily Moulton, who worked tirelessly for 95 days live blogging every moment of the trial, without which a daily podcast would have been a lot harder to put together.

Catch up on the Claremont Serial Killings trial at thewest.com.au and stay tuned to the Claremont in Conversation podcast for more bonus episodes over the next few months.

For those wanting more on WA’s trial of the century, The West Australian has 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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everything’s been said, the evidence is out in the open and now Justice Hall has a massive task ahead of him.

After 95 days and more than 200 witnesses, WA’s trial of the century -  the Claremont Serial Killings trial has come to a close, with the defence finishing their closing statement with the words,

“A conviction founded on inadequate evidence would not constitute proper closure".

Using the final day of his closing statements to focus on the fibre case against his client, Paul Yovich put forward a scenario of contamination theory, that Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon could have picked up the same fibres nine months apart through ‘coincidence’.

He also conceded the person who killed Jane also killed Ciara, but  that person wasn’t Bradley Edwards.

He also said there’s no evidence that person also abducted and killed Sarah Spiers.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they discuss the final day of this mammoth trial, and how the victim’s families must be feeling, after the trial of the man accused of the murders more than two decades ago.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Day 94 of the trial, and the fourth day of Paul Yovich’s closing statements, the defence focussed on Ciara Glennon’s disappearance.

The court had previously been told the night the she disappeared, the accused Claremont Serial Killer Bradley Edwards was supposed to be in Dawesville seeing friends, but didn’t show up until the next morning.

Those friends told the court the reason he gave for his lateness was because he was ‘trying to reconcile with his wife’.

The prosecution say that night he killed Ciara Glennon and dumped her body in Eglington.

But the defence put up a different reason - those witness’s memories were inaccurate and Bradley Edwards was actually breaking up with his girlfriend.

But that girlfriend, who gave evidence on day 4 of the trial (titled Ex Wife and Sex Lives for a catch up) said he broke up with her in April, telling her he’d met someone else. The court heard he met his second wife on April 1.

Justice Hall was quick with questions and queries for Paul Yovich, telling the defence lawyer that didn’t make sense.

As Tim Clarke and Alison Fan discuss in this episode, when Bradley Edwards broke up with that girlfriend, he told her the name of the woman he was leaving her for. If that happened in March, it would have been a premonition.

Paul Yovich also questioned why, if he did it, he would drive more than 100 kilometres out of his way to dump a body - to which Justice Hall quickly replied that if he did it, he probably wanted to distance himself from the crime scene as much as possible.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they discuss the questions Paul Yovich brought up surrounding Ciara Glennon’s disappearance.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Yovich told the court Sarah Spiers was the victim of a grave crime, but Bradley Edwards didn’t commit that crime.

Making sure to tell the court he didn’t “intend to trivialise Ms Spiers’ death, or disrespect her. Quite the contrary.”

He told the court Sarah Spiers was the victim of a grave crime, ‘a blameless victim’.

The 18-year-old called for a taxi at 2.06am in the early hours of January 27, 1996. A taxi arrived three minutes later, but she was gone, and was never seen again.

Previous witnesses have told Mr Edwards was at work early the next morning. Paul Yovich said logic dictates that it couldn’t be possible for Bradley Edwards could have killed Sarah Spiers, because it would have left just a six-hour window for him to kill and dispose of his victim, then arrive at work at 7.30 the next morning.

But another witness, who kept journals, told the court Mr Edwards may have got to work later that morning.

As far as what he did the night before, Alison Fan describes in this episode that Paul Yovich was quite blunt in some of his statements around Bradley Edwards’ the night Sarah disappeared, saying “We don’t know and you can’t speculate” and “You can’t fix the evidence to fit the case.”

He asked, why would he choose that night above all others? And as we know, the prosecution have abandoned the emotional turmoil evidence, which the state had previously relied on, saying that Bradley Edwards was abandoned by his first wife, who had left him for another man, that night she rejected him.

But that evidence can’t be used anymore.

Bradley Edwards’ defence lawyer questioned the timeline the prosecution mapped out for how they say Sarah disappeared.

In the early hours of January 27, 1996, Sarah Spiers made a phone call from a phone box in Claremont, to go to Mosman Park at 2.06am. 3 minutes later, the taxi arrived but she was gone.

Mosman Park resident, Wayne Stewart gave evidence that he heard a woman’s blood-curdling scream at around 3am that same morning, and he saw a car under a street light.

Mr Yovich pointed out that Mosman Park is around a 10-minute drive from Claremont, but the screams were heard at around 3am - around an hour after Sarah was last seen.

He also said Justice Hall could not find that this evidence could prove that the screams came from Sarah, or that the car belonged to Bradley Edwards.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they dissect the fourth day of the defence’s closing statements.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The defence told court today that Bradley Edwards did not intend to kill his rape victim.

That he planned his attack carefully and carried it out efficiently, but murder was not in that plan.

During their closing statements, the prosecution said the Telstra worker intended to kill his rape victim, but was spooked by a passing security officer, dumped his victim in the bushes and left with the intention of coming back to finish his crime.

But the rape victim, who had pretended to be unconscious, ran for help when she realised her attacker was gone.

She said in one of her statements to police in the days after the attack, she thought she was going to die. As Tim Clarke explains in this episode, for the victim, who was in court, today would have been difficult to hear her account of the terrifying attack being scrutinised.

Paul Yovich stressed that they weren’t questioning her account of what happened, and as Tim Clarke says he seemed sympathetic to the fact it was a very serious crime. But his argument was Bradley Edwards is a sexually motivated attacker, but not a murderer.

The third day of the defence’s closing argument focussed on trying to prove just that, why the Karrakatta rape and the murders are different - through attempting to pick apart the fibre evidence, witness statements and the prosecution’s propensity evidence.

Namely, that the Karrakatta rape victim was not killed after her horrific ordeal. Defence lawyer Paul Yovich also pointed to differences in the circumstances surrounding the rape and the murders.

He told the court the Karrakatta rape victim was abducted in a ‘blitz-style attack’, whereas the prosecution say at least Jane Rimmer and Ciara Rimmer were lured into the car, and there was no evidence that Jane or Ciara were sexually assaulted, however, the court was previously told because of the level of decomposition of their bodies, while there was no evidence of sexual assault, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The two cases, now poles apart tell two very different stories. As Damien Cripps explains, this would be an extremely difficult task for Justice Hall to undertake, especially when evidence used by the prosecution, the Telstra Living Witness project was seen by the defence as a weakness to the prosecution, rather than strengthening their case.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Damien Cripps as they discuss day 92 of the Claremont Serial Killings Trial.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, the Claremont in Conversation podcast team are joined by leading Perth criminal QC Tom Percy, who weighs in on the defence case, or lack of, and the seemingly new information which came out in the closing statements.

In relation to the defence’s case, Tom Percy said, “You find your answer in the prosecution case, not necessarily in your own case.”

During his second day of closings, Paul Yovich focussed on the PathWest practises, cleaning regimes and the 10 proven contamination events.

Including one event, in which the DNA from a victim of a completely different case was found on a sample from one of the Claremont victims - a branch which was found on top of Jane Rimmer’s body.

It’s led the team to wonder if the defence has placed enough doubt into the case.

Another doubt the defence aimed to raise was also about the injuries on Ciara Glennon, namely the broken left thumbnail which the prosecution says was when Ciara scratched her attacker, helping produce the male DNA profile which they say is Bradley Edwards.

Paul Yovich produced several other scenarios in relation to how her thumb nail was damaged.

But with this, and other topics, Justice Hall was ready to clarify with questions, which included a suggestion that the defence had evidence Bradley Edwards was with a girlfriend the night Ciara Glennon disappeared.

The court had previously been told Mr Edwards was supposed to travel down to Dawesville on March 14 to stay with friends, but didn’t arrive until late the next morning. The people he was supposed to stay with gave evidence, saying he told them he was trying to reconcile with his first wife, who said during her time on the stand that a reconciliation was never attempted.

Justice Hall told Paul Yovich he would be asking some questions about that when court resumes on Monday.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke, Alison Fan and Tom Percy QC as they discuss day 91 of the Claremont Serial Killings Trial.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The final words of prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo as she wrapped up 7 months of evidence left Tim Clarke saying she believed she could say with authority:

"Physical evidence can't be intimidated and it can't forget.”

"It sits there and it waits to be preserved, detected, evaluated and examined.”

"And it's that forensic evidence which - surrounded and supported by the evidence of the witnesses - has cast light on and unmasked the killer sought by so many and for so long.”

"That evidence, all of that circumstantial evidence in this case, is not tricky. In fact, if you look at the mountain of circumstantial evidence collectively, cumulatively and dispassionately.”

 

"There is no evidence, there is no evidence - when looked at in the context of all evidence - which is inconsistent with the accused man being the murderer of these three women.”

"The state's process of reasoning finding pathways to guilt are based on logic and the evidence. It is difficult to argue against logic.”

"The evidence leads to one offender being responsible for the murders of Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.”

"Bradley Robert Edwards, we say, is the Claremont serial killer.”

Then, the defence took their turn.

Immediately saying rather than looking at the bigger picture, Justice Hall should look to each detail with his opening words:

"When we do get bogged down (in detail) we lose sight of the bigger picture,"

"What the defence says is we must pay attention to the detail, not just the fibre evidence but every aspect of the case and not gloss over anything that doesn't fit the case theory."

Defence lawyer Paul Yovich honed in on what the defence said was the state’s key piece of evidence - Ciara Glennon’s left thumbnail, labelled by scientists AJM40. That fingernail was never tested before 2008, and when combined with AJM42, another of Ciara’s fingernails, found the male DNA profile the prosecution says is Bradley Edwards.

The defence said they aren’t disputing the DNA is Bradley Edwards, they’re disputing how his DNA was found with Ciara’s fingernail samples.

The prosecution says it was because Ciara fought for her life, scratching her attacker. The defence says contamination with samples that are known to have Bradley Edwards’ DNA - the Karrakatta rape victim samples.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Damien Cripps as they analyse the final closings of the prosecution, and the start of the defence’s.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ruthless, efficient, calculating. That’s how prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo described Bradley Edwards when recapping the crimes he’s alleged to have committed, as well as the ones he’s admitted to.

She said his MO was to be prepared to take any opportunity, and that he would create those opportunities by driving around Claremont.

Did the person who killed Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon take trophies from their bodies?

Jane Rimmer was found naked, her clothes have never been found. Ciara Glennon was missing her jacket, shoes and bag - those have never been found either.

That was one of the many questions raised by the prosecution on the third day of their closing statements.

Justice Hall also posed a lot of questions, but to the prosecutor. He queried the evidence around RH17, as well as questioning her statement from the day before, that Mr Edwards intended to kill the Karrakatta rape victim, which led Alison Fan in this episode to query whether Justice Hall was playing devil’s advocate.

The lead prosecutor today took the court through the 10 reasons why they say Bradley Edwards is the Claremont Serial Killer.

That included the DNA and fibre evidence, but also the similarities in Jane and Ciara’s disappearances, injuries and discoveries, and the fact Bradley Edwards had abducted and raped a teenager from the Claremont area the year before Sarah Spiers disappeared.

Sarah Spiers was mentioned during the closing statements, which Justice Hall vigorously questioned, saying he needed to be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Edwards was her abductor, and questioned the timeline.

The prosecutor said the only way Justice Hall could find Bradley Edwards killed Sarah Spiers is if he first found that he killed Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon, which Tim Clarke called ‘reverse propensity’.

However, Alison Fan said in this episode whatever the outcome of this trial, the ordeal won’t be over for the Spiers family, because Sarah’s body has never been found.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they discuss the beginning of the end of WA’s trial of the century.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A disturbing and graphic picture of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s final hours was painted to the court on the second full day of the prosecution’s closing statements.

Prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo told the court it was likely Ciara Glennon was overpowered by her attacker and forced into the foothold of the car. That’s how those fibres got into her hair.

For the first time, it was also revealed that RH17 - the pristine hair sample was found already cut at Ciara Glennon’s crime scene - another disturbing revelation, that the hair had been cut during the attack on Ciara which killed her.

The prosecutor also rebuffed the fibre contamination theories, calling them ‘preposterous’, almost adding humour into the scenarios which would have had to have played out for one of the defence’s contamination theories to hold up.

One of her theories she says holds up, is Mr Edwards’ previous, admitted crimes, or the propensity evidence of attacking lone women - the Huntingdale, Hollywood Hospital and Karrakatta attacks. She even went as far as saying while Mr Edwards didn’t kill the Karrakatta rape victim, he intended to, but was somehow disturbed, left the scene and came back to kill his victim who he thought was unconscious.

The prosecution will finish up their mammoth 88-day case tomorrow as their closings are expected end, leaving the defence to start their closing statements.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they take you through the details of Australia’s longest running and most expensive murder investigation, and the new revelations that have come out, even during closings.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Without any distractions or delays, Day 87 of WA’s trial of the century began.

Bradley Edwards’ DNA was found with Ciara Glennon’s fingernail samples because she fought for her life, scratching or gouging at her attacker moments before her death.

That was according to the prosecution during closing statements.

The prosecution told the court Bradley Edwards’ DNA was preserved under Ciara Glennon’s fingernails, after she tried to fight off her attacker - shown through defensive wounds to her arms and broken fingernails - and that DNA survived for 19 days under her fingernails out in the elements in bushland off Pipdinny road in Eglington.

In what’s been described as a recap of ‘the greatest hits’ of the mammoth trial, the prosecution looked to counter every theory of contamination put forward by the defence.

The closing statements detailed how it would be virtually impossible for Bradley Edwards’ DNA could have been found with Ciara Glennon’s fingernail samples through contamination. The prosecutor also detailed how similarities in fibres found on the victims could show that the person who raped the teenager at Karrakatta cemetery also killed Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.

The prosecution say that person was Bradley Robert Edwards.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Damien Cripps as they take you through the start of the prosecution’s closing statements in WA’s trial of the century.

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

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.