Yuendumu: The Trial

A young mother missing in plain sight, her family’s quest for answers and a town that holds on to its secrets.

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Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe tells journalist Kristin Shorten about the moment he was charged with murder and why he believes he was “thrown under the bus” by police leadership to appease an angry crowd and arrested despite “evidence that cleared me”.

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Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe recounts to journalist Kristin Shorten what he saw, felt and perceived when he found and fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker at Yuendumu and the medical treatment police then performed in their desperate fight to save the 19-year-old’s life.

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Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe talks to journalist Kristin Shorten about that fateful Immediate Response Team deployment to Yuendumu on November 9, 2019: the decision-makers, IRT mission, their ops plan and available intelligence about Kumanjayi Walker.

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Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe speaks to journalist Kristin Shorten about growing up in affluent Canberra, his military experience, joining the Northern Territory Police Force and why he felt more comfortable in Kabul than in Alice Springs.

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Almost two-and-a-half years after Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker during an arrest at Yuendumu, the 30-year-old has been found not guilty of the Indigenous man’s murder.

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It’s been two years and four months since Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe fatally shot Indigenous man Kumanjayi Walker at Yuendumu. 

Today the jury in Constable Rolfe’s almost five-week murder trial returned its verdict, finding the 30-year-old not guilty on all three charges of murder, manslaughter and violent act causing death. 

We’ll release a new daily episode of Yuendumu: The Trial about the verdict soon. 

But in the meantime, now that proceedings are over, we can finally – legally – publish a documentary about this case titled Yuendumu which features Constable Rolfe’s first interview. 

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The jury in Constable Zach Rolfe’s murder trial has heard that the NT Police top brass have “thrown everything” at the young cop to justify charging him over Kumanjayi Walker’s death. In his closing address David Edwardson QC said it was a “disgrace” that his client had been charged just four days after the shooting “without any meaningful investigation”.

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Prosecution counsel Phillip Strickland SC has asked a jury to consider what was going through the mind of Constable Zachary Rolfe when he fired the second and third shots that killed Kumanjayi Walker. 

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During a combative day of cross examination Crown prosecutor Phillip Strickland has accused Constable Zach Rolfe of “making up” evidence to justify his actions in fatally shooting Kumanjayi Walker.

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