NB. This is a replay episode - first released in July 2023.

What does it take to be a cold case detective? How do you solve a case from the past when all the files have vanished?

All Julie and Gary had was one sheet of paper: a laboratory submission form.

Nothing else.

They didn’t know the details of the attack, who the victim was, what or where it happened.

But by methodically reviewing the case Julie and Gary were able to rebuild the investigation.

There was a DNA hit linking the attack to another unsolved crime scene.

And the attack had been so terrifying, all the original officers and witnesses had never forgotten that freezing night in January 1986 when they came across a young woman called Samantha who had been subjected to this traumatising assault.

But just when Julie thought justice was within her grasp she faced another challenge: lawyers who were refusing to charge their prime suspect.

The case culminated in a dramatic and emotionally-charged court hearing.

Warning: while this episode does not give graphic or intimate descriptions of this sexual assault, some of the details and imagery may be distressing. Listener discretion is advised.

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