Trial by Water

Since releasing the Trial by Water podcast, we’ve been contacted by a lot of people. Some have wanted to ask questions, some to give feedback – positive and negative – and others to tell their stories. 

The evidence in this case is so broad-ranging that we couldn’t touch on everything in the series itself. But there are themes to the questions and comments, so in this bonus episode, Trial by Water host Michael Bachelard sits down with the show's executive producer, Ruby Schwartz, to talk through some of those questions. 

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As lawyer Luke McMahon prepares a new fight for Robert Farquharson’s release, we discover something new: that Farquharson and his ex-wife believed that police investigators were trying to pin the crime on him just days after the crash.

So would it be a problem if the system had a strong impression, right from the start, that Farquharson was guilty?

For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater. Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

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In the story of Robert Farquharson, there's one thing that’s hardest to understand: his behaviour in the minutes and hours after the crash.

Because on that night, his actions seemed so far outside normal behaviour for a father that the police, the media and the general public all came to the conclusion that he must have murdered his three sons.

But is that true? Or is there some other explanation for his unsettling behaviour that night?

For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater. Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

 

The original version of this episode included a re-enactment of parts of Robert Farquharson's formal police interview. We decided to do the re-enactment because of a legal threat from Victoria Police that we would be in breach of a 2009 law, and potentially liable for imprisonment, if we included the audio of the original interview. But since then we’ve clarified that parliament never intended the law to apply to old recordings, so we’ve replaced that re-enactment with the actual interview of Robert Farquharson.

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There were two key witnesses in the Robert Farquharson case.

The first was Greg King, an old friend of Farquharson, and the story he told provided police with something they desperately wanted for their case - a motive for murder.

The other witness, Dawn Waite, came forward four years after the crash. She said she had actually seen Robert Farquharson on the night of the crash, as he was sizing up his exit from the road.

But how reliable are they? And how much can we trust our memories?

For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater.  Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

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A day after Robert Farquharson drove his car into the dam with his three sons, the homicide squad took over the investigation. Sceptical of his story and suspecting Farquharson's motive was revenge, they began delving into every aspect of his account.

Had he really coughed and passed out? Or would the evidence show he deliberately steered off the road and into the dam to murder his children?

For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater. Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

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On Father’s Day, 2005, Robert Farquharson crashed his car into a dam. He survived, but his three children who were in the car with him didn’t. At first it seemed like a tragic accident. But quickly, it turned into a murder investigation.

 

For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater. Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

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From The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Trial by Water is a new investigative podcast series about Robert Farquharson, who has been locked up for decades for an unthinkable crime: murdering his three sons in a dam on Father’s Day, 2005.

Now scientists and lawyers are asking the question: did we get it wrong? And is this man in prison for a crime he didn’t commit?

Episode 1 will arrive on Saturday, June 1.

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