Unravel

Key inquest lawyer says other suspects weren't adequately investigated by police. Philip Strickland SC acted as counsel assisting the coroner for the recent inquest into the death of Simone Strobel. He tells Richard Baker that there's "some validity" to Tobias Moran's claim that police got tunnel vision. He says the "extremely unwise" lies told by Tobias Moran distorted the investigation.

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn

A fresh inquest holds surprises and examines the alleged confessions. A new investigation begins, with the police work in different hands — but will it find justice for Simone? The coroner points to a piece of clothing she was wearing on the night as a potential source of DNA evidence to help solve the crime.

STATEMENT FROM GABI AND GUSTAV STROBEL

Mr Baker's letter sets out Tobias Moran and Katrin Suckfuell's versions of certain important matters. We deny these accounts are truthful.

Tobias Moran has admitted that he and his sister lied about matters relating to Simone's disappearance and murder because the police were not taking her disappearance seriously enough. We have never found that explanation logical or convincing as he told these lies on his first encounter with police, before anyone could have known a crime had occurred. The Coroner and Counsel Assisting described Tobias' lies as "persistent", "numerous" and "reprehensible".

If Tobias Moran lied because police were not taking him seriously, what possible explanation do Tobias and Katrin have for their false statements being put to us now by Mr Baker, more than twenty years after Simone's murder?

The accounts given by Tobias and Katrin to us about what happened the night Simone was murdered, or about the days preceding, were untrue. They claimed there had been no arguments and all was good within the travelling group. When we asked on several occasions if there had been any fights, Tobias said there were none. We learned almost two and a half years later they were lying to us about this. Later, when I asked why, Tobias said he had been forced to lie because the police were not taking him seriously. He did not explain why he lied to us. After Simone's murder he and his family nurtured a close relationship between our families which had not previously existed while all the time maintaining their lies. On reflection, we feel we were being manipulated.

Our relationship with Tobias and the entire Suckfuell family ended at the Suckfuell home in 2009 when my husband and my brother asked Katrin to tell us what happened the night Simone died.

She said: 'You can torture me but I will never talk about that night'. She then ran from the room and drove off in her car.

Her attempt to re-write the words she used that day is untruthful.

Katrin Suckfuell has not only refused to answer our questions, but to our knowledge she has never corrected the false and misleading statements she gave to police concerning events surrounding Simone's murder.

To this day we do not know from Tobias, his sister and Jens Martin what happened the night our daughter was murdered. We can only rely on accounts they gave to the police which are so full of lies and inconsistencies we can place no trust in them.

We are, and have always been, entirely at the mercy of what they choose to tell us, but there has been a consistent pattern of avoidance spanning more than twenty years, evident even before the three were made suspects. For example, the three attended Simone's funeral, but refused to attend her wake — as a courtesy the siblings were walked back to their car by a member of our family as they did not want to be part of the reception, and Martin also disappeared without ever introducing himself to us.

This is why we would like them to come to our door and apologise and offer us a full account.

Nothing would give us greater peace than receiving a truthful and consistent account of our daughter's final days and the night of her death.

NOTE ON RESPONSES TO THIS STATEMENT FROM TOBIAS MORAN, KATRIN SUCKFUELL, AND JENS MARTIN

Tobias and Katrin deny that they are still telling lies, and dispute various other aspects of this statement from Gabi and Gustav Strobel. The podcast episode contains further responses to this statement from Tobias Moran and Katrin Suckfuell. Jens Martin didn't respond to questions about this statement.

Parts of the police investigation seem confusing, even bizarre. Looking into how the detective work unfolded leads journalist Richard Baker to raise questions about the decisions made during the Simone Strobel case. He examines a crime scene analysis, and a strange 'quid-pro-quo' arrangement between detectives and a writer.

Editorial note: An earlier version of this episode said that the West Australian Supreme Court agreed with Tobias Moran that the Virginia Peters book implied he was guilty.   What the judge actually said was that an imputation of guilt is arguably capable of being made. But he said the book must be read as a whole, and it wouldn’t be straightforward to assess if the whole book conveys an imputation that Tobias was guilty. The judge said that Tobias had an arguable – but as he assessed it, not strong – defamation case. 

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn 

Multiple people are alleged to have confessed to murdering Simone, so why were they ruled out as suspects? Journalist Richard Baker hits the road to try to find them, and the people who heard their alleged confessions, to understand more. 

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn 

Decades on, police make an arrest and lay charges for the murder of Simone Strobel. But what is the new evidence they've found? Richard Baker tries to figure out what led police to this dramatic arrest years into the investigation.

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn

He's never spoken publicly about the night Simone disappeared, until now. Breaking his silence in an interview with journalist Richard Baker, he answers questions about what happened that night, and why he didn't tell police the full story.

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn 

Simone's diary reveals arguments amongst travellers, police say they're being lied to, and the investigation into who caused Simone's death begins to narrow its focus.

An inquest into Simone Strobel's death is eventually held, but some key people don't attend. Years pass and fellow travellers refuse to speak to the media, but investigative journalist Richard Baker learns one of them might finally break this silence and talk to him.

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn 

On a dream trip to Australia, Simone disappears. Her boyfriend Tobias reports her missing, and the search begins. Six days later Simone Strobel's body is found under palm fronds just a short distance away. It's clear her death is no accident and her boyfriend, Tobias Suckfuell, is questioned by police.

It's been more than 20 years, and still no one has been found responsible for Simone's murder. Investigative journalist Richard Baker wants to know why. Richard attempts to unravel the truth about what happened to Simone in Lismore that night in 2005, amongst a tangle of decades-old lies.

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn 

Simone Strobel was 25 and travelling in Australia when she disappeared from a Lismore caravan park. Six days later, her body was found hidden under palm fronds. Ever since, questions have followed her boyfriend, Tobias Suckfuell, who's always insisted that he's innocent. But the truth is difficult to find when lies are layered upon lies. Now there are new twists in the story, and more potential suspects coming into focus. Has the truth been hiding in plain sight? Or did a killer escape without scrutiny? Acclaimed investigative journalist Richard Baker investigates.

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks to: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams

After almost forty years, two inquests and because of one family that never gave up, the Coroner has finally delivered her findings into the death of Gomeroi teenager Mark Anthony Haines. Journalist Allan Clarke has spent close to a decade investigating Mark's death. His Walkley Award-winning coverage for the ABC reignited public attention on the case and helped drive it to this final inquest. Allan reflects on the findings and what it means to reach the end of a story he's carried for so long.