Secrets We Keep

It was by pure-chance Jane Rimmer's body was found. A woman driving with her husband and children driving in Wellard stopped on the side of the road after a rooster ran out. Kids being kids, they wanted to chase it. The mother, Tammy Evans decided to pick some death lilies and out of the corner of her eye, 'the biggest death lily' she had ever seen popped into view. Before grabbing onto it, something brushed her leg. She thought it was a stick, but it was a foot. That was the only feature that assured Tammy that what she had stumbled across was human. She had found Jane Rimmer's body. While her husband went for help, she said she just couldn't leave Jane and stayed with her until police arrived. That was August 3, 1996. The third victim, Ciara Glennon went missing on March 15, 1997. With two women missing and one dead, the state was on high alert. Then, the day police had been dreading, a second body found. April 3, 1997, a man looking for wild cannabis leaves came across Ciara Glennon's body off a bush track in Eglington, 40 kms north of Perth. The headline in the West Australian newspaper the next day said it all: "The State is in Mourning." He said he thought a kangaroo had died, and being 'nosey' he went to check if a joey was in its pouch, but instead found the body of the 27-year-old. On the final day of the trial for the year, the court also heard from the men the prosecution called 'The Burger Boys' - one of which yelled to her that she was 'stupid for hitch hiking' The prosecution reached the end of their 'civilian witnesses'. Next year will see what has been described as 'the battle of the scientists', the DNA and fibre evidence which is so crucial to this case. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

March 14, 1997 was the last time Ciara Glennon was seen alive. She’s been at a work function and by all accounts she didn’t want to go out that night, because she had her sister's hen's night the next night. But she was convinced to go out to Claremont. She’d only been back in Perth for two weeks, after travelling for six months. In this podcast, Tim Clarke and Damien Cripps ask whether she had known about the other missing girls as well as the rest of Perth, simply because she wasn’t in the country when Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer went missing. In May 1997, WA Police released a re-enactment of Ciara’s final hours in a desperate attempt to jog someone’s memory of the night of March 14, and the early hours of March 15 1997. Eleven people did see Ciara that night. On day 16 of the Claremont serial killings trial, they gave evidence of seeing a woman matching Ciara’s description walking alone on Stirling Highway. Some witnesses say they saw her talking to a man in a white car, even starting to get in. In a tragic premonition, a worker at a Thai restaurant over the road from where she was last seen even made a passing comment that “she might be the next girl to go.” Ciara’s body was found 19 days later near a scrub track in Eglington, 40 km north of Perth. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps as they dissect day 16 and answer listener questions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On August 3, 1996 - 55 days after 23-year-old child care worker Jane Rimmer went missing, a woman picking flowers with her family found her body. She immediately told her husband who rushed for help. Jane’s body was badly decomposed, covered in leaves and small shrubs. Meanwhile a couple riding horses nearby found a knife on the ground not too far away. When they reached the woman who found the body, she told them she had stayed with Jane because “she didn’t want to leave her alone.” We heard a witness break down on the stand today as she recalled that day Jane’s body was found. We also heard from the woman who could be one of the last people to see Ciara Glennon alive on March 14,1997. During her testimony, for the first time, we heard about the police investigation and the man who was the prime suspect, subjected to years of being watched by police, pretty obviously as well. As Alison Fan - the only journalist to interview Lance Williams while he was a suspect - explained, as soon as she finished talking to him, she called the Assistance WA Police Commissioner and told him they had the wrong guy. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they wrap up week three of the Claremont Serial Killings Trial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The night Jane Rimmer disappeared, on June 9, 1996, two couples - separately - heard blood-curdling, ’traumatic’ screams. One witness recalled hearing a scream that just suddenly stopped. Then silence. The two couples lived in the then-rural area on the outskirts of Perth called Wellard. Fifty-five days later Jane’s body would be found in bushland in between their houses. As The West’s Emily Moulton - who has been live blogging the court proceedings - explains, one couple remembered a smell coming from just off the road as they regularly drove past. They said they dismissed it as a dead animal. Day 14 of the Claremont Serial Killings trial also recounted Ciara Glennon’s final night. She was the last woman to go missing. She had only been home for two weeks from 6 months abroad when she disappeared. Her parents were on high alert at this stage in March 1997, with two girls missing and one their bodies having been found, as soon as they reported their daughter missing, police swooped. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Emily Moulton and Tim Clarke as they discuss day 14. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jane Rimmer disappeared in the early hours of June 9, 1996 from Claremont. Her body was found 55 days later on August 3 in bushland in Wellard. On June 9, 1996, a man was riding a horse in Wellard, when his horse spooked. He fell off and found a guess watch. That watch turned out to be Jane Rimmer's. Day 13 of the Claremont serial killings trial heard the man didn't report the watch to police until after Jane's Body was found. It turns out he fell just two metres from where her body was dumped. Before she disappeared, friends of Jane Rimmer relived the decision the 23-year-old made to stay out alone while her friends caught a taxi home the night she disappeared. One friend, Lynda Donovan remembered a conversation she had with an emotional Jane the night she disappeared - a typical conversation many friends have had after a few drinks, only now it's a heartbreaking reminder of her friend, and her feelings about herself that night. The court was shown more CCTV of the night Jane Rimmer was last seen alive, also, for the first time, vision of Ciara Glennon in Claremont was shown. But probably the most important part of this vision was what wasn't able to be seen - Bradley Edwards. The man the prosecution says killed Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon was nowhere to be seen. Police said out of all of the vision they've managed to obtain from the nights the two women disappeared, there's no evidence of the man the prosecution say killed the two women in any of the vision. Criminal defence lawyer Tom Percy QC joins Natalie Bonjolo and Tim Clarke to discuss why the day's proceedings go little way to proving Bradley Edwards is the Claremont serial killer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The last pictures of Jane Rimmer alive were shown to a stunned court room on day 12. The images of the smiling and laughing 23-year-old was shown to the people in the court, who watched on in silence for the entire time the videos were played. Jane was last seen outside Club Bayview in Claremont at 12.04am on June 8, 1996. At the time, the security cameras recorded on a loop, only capturing 13 seconds at a time. The CCTV shows Jane standing outside the club. The security vision flicks over to other cameras around the club, and 32 seconds later it comes back to that same spot, but Jane is gone. 32 seconds is all it took for Jane Rimmer to vanish. It wouldn’t be until almost 2 months later that she would be found. Her body found in bushland in Wellard, half an hour south of Claremont. She’d been murdered, her throat cut. As Natalie Bonjolo, Alison Fan and Tim Clarke discuss, how different this investigation would be if those security cameras flicked over at different times, would we see what happened to Jane in her final night? The ‘sliding doors’ moments that The West’s Tim Clarke has described before have become a theme in this case. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**WARNING: this episode contains distressing content*** The terrifying, graphic and distressing account of a regular night-turned living nightmare of a teenager, who was abducted and raped by Bradley Edwards was read to the court on day 11 of his murder trial. In February 1995, the 17-year-old was walking to a friends’ house from a night out in Claremont, when she was grabbed from behind, a cloth was shoved in her mouth, her hands were tied and a hood placed over her head. Completely helpless, she was carried to a car, driven to a cemetery and raped. Bradley Edwards was charged with her rape, along with the three murders in 2016, but up until this year had always maintained his innocence. That was until three weeks before his trial, he pleaded guilty to the rape. Today, the victim’s words - taken from a police statement days after the attack - echoed through the court room, and even though it was read out by the lead prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo, as Tim Clarke explains, he’s sure almost everyone in that room was affected by her harrowing, and graphic account. We know Bradley Edwards is a rapist, but the prosecution want to argue he's also a murderer, and her statement will help them try to prove that. In this episode, hear the defence argument that shocked the podcast team. To read some of the rape victim’s statement, go to thewest.com.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On Valentine’s Day in 1988 in Huntingdale, a teenager went to bed alone after spending the day with her boyfriend. She was woken up by someone lying on top of her. Thinking it was her boyfriend, she said she didn’t feel scared. That was until she touched that person’s face. The person lying on top of her wasn’t her boyfriend, but was an intruder. That intruder was Bradley Robert Edwards, who pleaded guilty to the attack 30 years later. Day 10 of the Claremont serial killings trial heard from this victim, as she told of her ordeal, and of the kimono that was left behind after the attack. That kimono would become crucial in the police investigation, and the prosecution’s case against Bradley Edwards. The day also heard from the family of the second woman to disappear, Jane Rimmer, and the ordinary day that would turn out to be her last. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they dissect the day’s events. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The voice of Sarah Spiers haunted the court as her final phone call, a call to a taxi service was played during evidence on day nine. Sarah Spiers was last seen in the early hours of January 27, 1996. She was out with friends at Club Bayview, and just after 2am decided to go leave. Alone. She called a taxi to take her to Mosman Park, but she never got there. Today, we heard from one of those friends she was out with that night, recalling the final words she ever said to her friend. The prosecution say, instead of getting home in a taxi, Bradley Edwards picked her up and murdered her. The court heard from three people who heard screams in Mosman Park at around 3am that night, describing the 'blood curdling screams' that have stayed with them for more than two decades. It was a highly emotional day, with a statement read out from Sarah's sister Amanda, a court room in tears and a witness consoled as she left the stand after giving her evidence. Justice Hall said he has decided not to release Sarah's last phone call to the public, because he believed it would cause undue stress to her family. The West's Legal Affairs Editor Tim Clarke was in court and describes the the moment her voice was played for the second time in this trial. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Emily Moulton as they dissect day nine of the Claremont Serial Killings trial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A taxi driver who accepted a job at 2am, a man who saw a lone woman on the side of the road, and the missing minutes of the last time Sarah Spiers was ever seen. Three minutes was all it took for the 18-year-old to disappear. She called for a taxi at 2.03am on January 27, by the time the taxi arrived at 2.06am, she was gone. Day eight of WA's trial of the century tried to shed some light on that time, with the taxi driver who was supposed to pick her up taking the stand, as well as a man who could have been the last person to have ever seen Sarah Spiers in a 15-second glance. The day also heard from more women who say they had encounters with a man in a white Telstra van in the mid-1990s in the Cottesloe and Claremont areas, known as "The Telstra Living Witnesses", and as podcast guest, criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps explains, why it could be a misunderstanding. Join Damien, along with Natalie Bonjolo and Tim Clarke as they dissect the day's events. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was massive day in court, with eight witnesses taking the stand, including the woman who was attacked from behind by the accused Claremont serial killer, Bradley Robert Edwards in 1990. She spoke about her ordeal publicly for the first time. He pleaded guilty and was convicted on common assault. As Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan discuss, her testimony was animated and detailed, and she recounted the terrifying ordeal, now known as "The Hollywood Hospital incident" like it was yesterday, the day she said she thought she was going to die. For the first time, it was revealed that Western Australian Police were looking into Telstra vehicles as early as July 1996, just a month after Jane Rimmer went missing and before Ciara Glennon was murdered. The court also heard from three other women, known as 'The Telstra Living Witnesses' who the prosecution say had close encounters with a man in a white van, driving around Cottesloe and Claremont picking up vulnerable women. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a new week of evidence starts in the Claremont serial killings trial, the court takes on a different format for the day. While the court waited to hear from the man who impregnated Bradley Edwards' first wife, two former Telstra employees gave evidence, and they were asked - very specifically - about uniforms. The West's legal affairs editor Tim Clarke explains why the specific colour of the Telstra uniforms, when they were issued and the process of ordering them is so important to this trial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In what’s already been a week of bombshells, day five, despite being a shorter day, was no exception. Former friends of Bradley Edwards, a couple named Murray and Brigita Maria Cook took the stand. Mr Cook told of his annoyance when Edwards never showed up to a pre-planned holiday in Dawesville, an hour south of Perth, on March 14 1997 - the night Ciara Glennon disappeared. He said Edwards told him he was trying to reconcile with his wife, who told the court on an earlier day that he never tried to reconcile with her. In an eerie admission, Mrs Cook said they had no TV and no radio, so they didn’t know Ciara Glennon was missing. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Alison Fan and Tim Clarke (in the studio) as they discuss the days’ events, as Tim described them, a reverse-alibi. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day four of the Claremont serial killings trial saw a parade of Bradley Edwards’ former lovers take the stand, with intimate details told to the court. Two of Edwards’ former lovers told of their brief relationships with him, one saying she was ‘fond’ of Edwards. Day four was also the first day Bradley Edwards appeared to show emotion, seeming to smile as home videos during his time with his second wife were played to the court. But when his second wife took the stand, she revealed the meticulously detailed journals she kept of his bank statements. Journals she kept because she said she ‘feared for her life’. Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Emily Moulton discuss day four. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first witness is Bradley Edwards’ first wife. She took the stand on day three of the Claremont serial killings trial. Her name and identity have been suppressed. She revealed their bizarre living arrangements, as well as intimate details of their life as husband and wife, including an obsession with a computer, an affair and pregnancy that saw the end of their relationship. All while prosecutors tried to paint a picture of how emotional turmoil experienced by Mr Edwards coincided with the disappearance of Sarah Spiers, and the deaths of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and The West's court reporter Emily Moulton as they discuss day three of the trial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The defence’s opening statement may have only taken 25 minutes, but in that time, Bradley Robert Edwards' defence lawyer, Paul Yovich dropped a bombshell. He claimed crucial DNA samples - which the prosecution will use as evidence to prove Bradley Edwards is the Claremont serial killer - had been contaminated by lab scientists. Day two also heard the movie-like investigation of how Bradley Edwards came to be charged with murder. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and veteran journalist Alison Fan as they discuss the Claremont serial killings trial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A never-before-heard phone call Sarah Spiers made in the hours before she disappeared. Descriptions of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s final movements. And gruesome evidence shown to a packed-out court on the first day of the accused Claremont Serial Killer, Bradley Robert Edwards’ trial. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and legal experts, criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps and Barrister Nicholas van Hattem as they discuss Day 1 of the trial WA waited 23 years for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the trial of the century gets underway in Perth, Western Australia, Seven West Media journalists take you inside the courtroom. Two girls dead, one missing, presumed murdered. The Claremont serial killings, as they have come to be known, struck fear into West Australians for 23 years. Now, the man accused, Bradley Robert Edwards faces trial. Join us daily for an in-depth conversation with reporters who covered the case of the Claremont serial killings from the start and legal experts who will discuss the case in a language you can understand. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Years pass and with the public losing hope that the horrific mystery will ever be solved, a new suspect emerges. Telecommunications technician Bradley Robert Edwards is arrested in a dawn raid. The 50-year-old pleads not guilty and will stand trial for three murders, rape and abduction. So what is the police case against him? And is it possible that police missed a link that could have led them to the accused man than a decade ago? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the hunt for a serial killer who has struck three times in Claremont continues, police train a laser focus on one very peculiar man who admits to driving the streets and picking up at least one woman. But the man’s mother says enough is enough. A TV reporter spends an hour with the suspect in his beachside apartment, quizzing him over the case. She concludes that detectives are pursuing the wrong man and contacts the father of one victim to share her view. Now, more than 20 years later, a former police commissioner says that suspect and his family are owed an apology. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.