Motive & Method

Was an innocent man sent to the gallows in Australia’s most infamous - and final - execution?
On February 3, 1967, Ronald Ryan was hanged for the murder of a prison guard during a chaotic escape from Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison - an execution that shocked the nation and would ultimately help bring an end to capital punishment across Australia.

Just over a year earlier, Ryan had escaped Pentridge, triggering a 19-day manhunt. After his capture, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, despite conflicting evidence surrounding the fatal shooting.

When the countdown to the gallows began, Premier Henry Bolte refused to grant clemency, igniting a wave of outrage across the country - newspapers campaigned against the execution and protesters filled the streets.

But Ronald Ryan was hanged and his death helped fuel the movement that would ultimately see capital punishment abolished across Australia.

More than 50 years later, the question remains: was Ronald Ryan guilty of murder - or did Australia execute an innocent man?

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Her death was ruled a suicide. But was crucial evidence missed that could point to foul play?
When Nadine Haag was found dead in her Sydney apartment in 2009, police immediately treated her death as suicide. But her family refused to accept it and began their own investigation, uncovering evidence they say police had missed, including the words “He did it”.
Four years later, a Coroner overturned the police ruling - handing down an open finding.
Now, Nadine’s sister Tasia Haag is using her experience to support other families and push for change. She joins us after giving evidence to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved missing and murdered cases and explains why she believes too many families are still left fighting for answers.

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Australia is seeing a disturbing trend of teenagers engaging in extremely dangerous, and potentially fatal, sexual acts.
After a 16-year-old girl reportedly died during a suspected sexual strangulation act, experts are warning how mainstream these practices have become.
Research shows more than 50% of young Australians under 35 have engaged in the dangerous sexual practice of strangulation.
In this episode Tim and Xanthe investigate how social media and pornography are shaping views of risky sex among teens, and ask who is ultimately responsible for addressing misogyny, consent and youth safety.

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After 25 years, could forensic experts uncover new leads from the final clue in this case?
In December 2001, Janine Vaughan was seen on CCTV getting into a red car outside a Bathurst nightclub - then she vanished. 
In this episode, her brother Adam and sister Kylie reveal how missed witnesses, unexamined evidence and the destruction of a blood-and-hair-covered knife may have cost investigators crucial answers. After speaking at the Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved cases in NSW, they sat down with Tim & Xanthe to share what it’s been like to investigate their own sister’s disappearance for almost 25 years.
Plus, what it means to have the police finally agree to hand over crucial CCTV evidence for advanced analysis.
With a million-dollar reward still on the table, Janine’s family is asking the police to give anyone who comes forward with answers immunity from prosecution.

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Did Ivan Milat really act alone? And could lost documents link him to unsolved murders?
The Crown prosecutor who put Ivan Milat behind bars believes the notorious serial killer may have had help with some of the murders.
This episode, Tim and Xanthe take you inside the latest NSW parliamentary hearing into unsolved murders and missing persons where crucial questions were asked, and answered. The hearing revisited two unsolved cases - Peter Letcher and Dianne Pennacchio -  with questions raised over whether a missing brief of evidence could contain a link to Milat.
And the head of the state’s Homicide Squad concedes, with 400 boxes of archived evidence, there could be more answers buried in the files.

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She killed her three children. But was she in control of what she was doing?
The Lindsay Clancy case has gripped the world - a mother accused of killing her three young children, and a trial that ended in a dramatic hung jury after weeks of conflicting evidence about postpartum psychosis, medication and criminal responsibility.
In this episode, emergency physician and trauma expert Dr Josh McConkey takes us inside the medical evidence, examining what we know about Clancy’s mental state, the medications she was prescribed, the injuries to the children and the question of whether psychosis can coexist with planning and intent.
We explore the warning signs families and clinicians may miss, how quickly postpartum psychosis can develop and where the line lies between documented medical evidence and speculation. With the charges still standing and a crucial court hearing ahead, what happens next could reignite one of the most closely watched criminal cases in the world.

Watch the full video episode on YouTube at Crime Central Australia HERE.

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Two unidentified bodies were found years apart and thousands of kilometres away from eachother- Then came the chilling discovery that they were a mother and her young daughter.
When the remains of a young woman were discovered in the notorious Belanglo State Forest, no one knew who she was. Her identity remained a mystery for five years, until the horrific discovery of a toddler's body on the side of a highway, and the heartbreaking truth they were mother and daughter. 
This episode, Xanthe takes us through why Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter Khandalyce were never reported missing - and how they were finally identified.
Plus the depraved actions of the man who killed them - and his calculated deception designed to convince family and police they were still alive. 

Watch the full video episode on Youtube at Crime Central Australia HERE.

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Leslie Ball didn't just disappear, someone went to extraordinary lengths to erase him.
But a trail of forged signatures, fraud and burnt evidence couldn't keep this 33-year-old cold case buried forever.
In this episode Xanthe and Tim are joined by News.com.au investigative reporter Jo Townsend to untangle the mysterious 1993 disappearance of 71-year-old Leslie Ball. Townsend details her deep dive into her podcast Witness: Perfect Alibi, exposing how an ex-cop's web of fake documents and fabricated timelines obscured the reality of Ball's murder.
Together, they explore the dark financial motives, the devastating emotional impact on Ball's daughter Le-Chelle and the haunting theory of where his remains may be hidden.  

Learn more about the investigation here at news.com.au
Or Listen to 'Witness: Perfect Alibi' on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

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For years, Christopher Flannery AKA 'Mr Rent-a-Kill' was the man Australian mobsters hired to make people disappear - until he became a target and vanished into thin air himself.
In 1985, after becoming a volatile liability who simply knew too much about corrupt police and syndicate bosses, the feared assassin vanished without a trace. 
In this episode, Tim and Xanthe sit down with former detective and author Duncan McNab to unravel Flannery's violent trajectory from a troubled youth in Melbourne to the high-stakes underworld of Sydney. Together, they examine the infamous hit on police officer Mick Drury, his shady links to notorious corrupt cop Roger Rogerson and the lingering theories behind Australia's most enduring underworld disappearance.

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From unvetted science to coerced confessions, catastrophic failures in Australia's justice system have stolen decades from innocent people for crimes they didn't commit.
In this episode Xanthe and Tim sit down with Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist Neil Mercer to discuss his new book, Falsely Convicted. Mercer details how the Australian criminal justice system has catastrophically failed innocent people through police misconduct, prosecutorial oversights and unvetted expert testimony.
Their conversation highlights heartbreaking real-world cases, including a former teacher jailed on biologically impossible abuse claims and a man who served 20 years for murder based on the testimony of an unqualified pathologist. They also examine the tragic case of Gene Gibson - a cognitively impaired Indigenous man coerced into a confession without an interpreter - underscoring the immense barriers vulnerable suspects face.
Neil Mercer gives a sobering insight into the devastating personal toll of wrongful convictions and the extraordinary effort required to overturn them. 

For more information on ‘Falsely Convicted’ visit allenandunwin.com

Watch the full video episode on Youtube at Crime Central Australia HERE.

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