Real Crime with Adam Shand

For two years, Queensland police officer Jason Somerville lived a dangerous double life. Under the assumed identity of Michael Bates, he posed as a heroin dealer, infiltrated Brisbane's drug trade, befriended hardened criminals and earned their trust to gather evidence against them. He even went undercover in a police cell to obtain a confession from an accused double murderer. But living a lie comes at a price. When the operations ended, Somerville discovered that leaving his undercover identity behind was far harder than adopting it. The constant danger, deception and paranoia had taken a psychological toll. His marriage eventually collapsed, and the effects of his undercover years followed him long after the operations were over.

Jason discusses his new book, Undercurrent: The Hidden Cost of Going Undercover, revealing the close calls, moral dilemmas and personal sacrifices involved in infiltrating Australia's criminal underworld.

https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2EMn00000k7A78

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The alleged attack on Helen Haines has shocked Australia and raised urgent questions about the safety of our elected representatives. How do we protect politicians while keeping them accessible to the communities they serve?

Adam Shand examines the threatening language poisoning public debate and reflects on his own approach to handling vile comments on social media. With the accused’s motive still to be established, this is a call to consider the conversations we create—and our responsibility when anger becomes an invitation to violence.

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Former police officer Amanda Schultz has spent years questioning the official finding that her father, Detective Inspector Geoffrey “Whit” Whitford, took his own life. The highly respected Whitford was found dead from a gunshot wound at a remote South Australian beach in October 1981. His death was officially ruled a suicide by police without a formal coronial inquest, backed by a sealed 30-year coronial report. Whitford led a covert organised crime and drug taskforce targeting the marijuana and heroin trade. Amanda discusses the evidence she believes doesn’t fit the accepted account, what her father may have known through his police work—and why she continues to fight for a fresh investigation into his death.

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Ivan Milat murdered seven young backpackers in the Belanglo State Forest. But were those his only victims?

Investigative journalist Camille Bianchi joins Adam Shand to discuss her gripping new podcast, Back to the Wall, which explores disturbing allegations linking Australia's most notorious serial killer to the dark underworld of Sydney's Kings Cross. In the 1980s and 1990s, vulnerable streetkids gathered at a place known simply as the Wall. Some disappeared. Others survived with stories of predators, powerful men and secrets that have remained buried for decades.

As a New South Wales inquiry examines allegations about Milat's activities before his arrest, Bianchi tracks down witnesses whose accounts challenge the accepted history. Were opportunities to investigate serious crimes missed?

Who knew what was happening? And how much of the truth can still be uncovered?

A confronting conversation about missing children, institutional failures and the survivors who are finally finding their voices.

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A photograph, a bare wedding finger and a possible message. Adam Shand examines Snezana Wood’s first reported public appearance since her husband Sam was charged with domestic violence offences. Is this a declaration of independence, or are we reading too much into the picture? Beyond the tabloid signals lie serious questions about prosecution, family support and access to justice. Wood denies the allegations, which remain unproven.

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In Part Two of Kyle Madden's story, he returns to jail to find a darker more brutal environment where the old rules are breaking down. He must form strong bonds with jail gangs and fighting for survival becomes the norm. Once free again, it's only a matter of time before he's back inside, especially as his offending becomes more serious and violent. He comes to place no value on life until the loss of his unborn son and he finally begins to take responsibility for his choices.

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A special double episode on the journey of former Sydney criminal Kyle Madden from an underworld heavy to a new life beyond crime. In Part One, Kyle is jailed for a home invasion that results in the shooting of an innocent bystander. After his first stint, jail becomes a revolving door for Kyle as family and personal relationships break down. In custody, Kyle aligns himself with heavy crooks and begins building his criminal network.

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Christa Pike survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her. Should the state be allowed to try again? From the Desk, Adam Shand examines the legal precedent, the English legend of mercy after a failed hanging, and the moral limits of capital punishment. Even if another execution attempt is lawful, does that make it right?

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When police officer David Raymond walked into the darkness hunting a killer, he often had just one partner besides him, a partner who couldn’t speak but whose instincts David trusted with his life. For 26 years, David worked with police dogs in Far North Queensland. But one dog would come to define his career: Vader, a jet-black German Shepherd who tracked killers, confronted armed offenders, searched for the missing and helped save lives. In this episode of Real Crime, David Raymond takes us inside the extraordinary world of police dog operations: the danger, the humour, the psychological toll and the remarkable bond that develops when a man and a dog repeatedly walk into danger together.

It’s a story about courage, loyalty and an almost instinctive trust between two partners and the heartbreaking reality that even the strongest partnerships eventually come to an end.

David Raymond and Vader: a police officer, a police dog, and the unbreakable bond that brought them both home.

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Long before Roberta Williams became one of the most recognisable names in Melbourne’s gangland story, she was Roberta Merciecaa, a rebellious 15-year-old growing up around Frankston.Lee McIntosh knew her then.

As a youth worker, Lee worked with young people dealing with broken homes, trauma and uncertain futures. She understood them because she had lived through her own family upheaval. But Lee came to Real Crime with a mystery of her own. She had never met her father and wanted to find the man who had been missing from her life for decades.

In this episode, Lee takes us back to the teenage years of the girl who would become Roberta Williams, revealing a fascinating prequel to the Underbelly story. And then we embark on a very different investigation: the search for Lee’s long-lost father. Two stories about family, identity and the strange turns a life can take and one question Lee has waited a lifetime to answer.

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