The Night Driver

The Night Driver

Janine Vaughan’s disappearance 19 years ago is at the heart of a mysterious case that has split a close-knit community left wondering if a murderer walks among them.

Episodes

May 31, 2024 72 mins

The Night Driver creator Hedley Thomas returns with a new podcast investigation for The Australian. 

Subscribers to The Australian and registered users hear episodes of ‘Bronwyn’ first. Plus, you can read more about this case and see exclusive stories, maps, timelines, graphics, video and more at bronwynpodcast.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Where is Bronwyn Winfield? The devoted mum has been missing since 1993 – and the man behind The Teacher’s Pet is on the case.  

Go to theaustralian.com.au/bronwyn to listen. Plus, you can read more about this case and see exclusive stories, maps, timelines, graphics, video and more.

This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Josh Burton. The multimedia editor is Lia Tsamoglou an...

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Listen to Hedley Thomas reading Chapter 1 of his new book, The Teacher's Pet.

The book is published by Pan Macmillan and is available at all good bookstores, and wherever you get audiobooks. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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The Australian's global smash-hit podcast Teacher's Pet returns for Australian audiences on July 1. 

You can find it wherever you got this podcast. Just search for "The Teacher's Pet". 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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May 13, 2022 62 mins

From Hedley Thomas and the journalists at The Australian comes The Teacher's Trial. A new episode will be published every Friday for the duration of the trial of Chris Dawson, who is accused of the murder of his wife Lynette Dawson. Search for The Teacher's Trial wherever you listen to podcasts, or read The Australian's ongoing coverage of the trial here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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December 30, 2020 108 mins
Was Janine Vaughan murdered by a Bathurst man with a propensity for shocking acts of violence? Women who have been with him describe his depravity and cruelty. Or was she killed by a different man who has been dead for years? A man who worked at The Dirty Tav, drove around in a small red car, and was similarly renowned for violence. Hedley and his friend the retired judge Peter Murphy delve deep in the final episode of the series. ...

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December 20, 2020 66 mins
John Haynes is a former senior cop in Bathurst who still lives at Mount Panorama. He’s been retired for a decade and for the first time he’s speaking publicly about blood-curdling screams he and his family heard near the local university, two days after Janine’s disappearance in early December 2001. Haynes is confident he heard Janine fighting for her life. He has come forward as he says the significance of the screams was not prop...

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October 18, 2020 86 mins
In the search for Janine’s murderer, her sister Kylie who devotes much of her life to this case is taken to the brink of what she believes is a breakthrough, only to have her hopes dashed. Every time there’s a discovery of bones near Bathurst it hits Kylie and the rest of Janine’s family that these might be the remains of Janine. More evidence including details of a police strike force investigation of possible criminal links to ta...

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October 11, 2020 65 mins
Janine’s private life came under close scrutiny and details were aired publicly as the Coroner Mary Jerram heard evidence about a young woman overwhelmed by sadness at times in the final days of her life. Janine was in financial and emotional distress - her bills were mounting and she was spending beyond her means on nights out with youthful friends from the local university. She wanted to settle down with a man her own age and rai...

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October 4, 2020 82 mins
A local woman’s evidence was dramatic and deeply disturbing - she was adamant that she saw Janine with her hands bound with baling twine and a look of grave distress on her face while in a small red car being driven by the town’s top cop. The woman had remained silent for four and a half years but when she saw a photo of Janine in the newspaper she came forward. At the same time investigators were having another look at the police ...

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September 27, 2020 77 mins
Andrew Jones is a deeply spiritual man who came to Bathurst after studying pharmacy, travelling and working in a small hospital in Nepal, and studying religion in Sydney. When Janine disappeared, Jones lived alone at The Scots School in Bathurst in an arrangement where he had boarding house accommodation in return for giving up some spare time to coach the students. He worked in a pharmacy near Janine’s menswear store and he had bo...

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September 20, 2020 62 mins
When Janine disappeared there was no crime scene or body. One man in Bathurst stepped up to tell a chilling story of having raped her at White Rock and cut her throat. Denis Briggs called himself ‘Bad Denis’ when a reckless side of his bipolar personality came out. His friends and his longtime partner were horrified by his claims. They were also plausible - because Denis had a matching car and an inflation with Janine at her menswe...

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September 13, 2020 71 mins
Lynette Boreland ran terrified and hid in the pre-dawn darkness as the mystery driver of a small red car stalked her. In the minutes before Janine took her fateful last steps, Lynette feared for her life. She saw the driver and the interior of the car. She wrote down the number plate. On the other side of Bathurst’s Machattie Park, Janine left The Metro Tavern, dubbed The Dirty Tav. A young student bar attendant reveals being stalk...

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September 6, 2020 86 mins
Brad Hosemans was a top Bathurst cop and the town's deputy mayor. Some colleagues tipped him to rise to the top of the police force but when Janine Vaughan disappeared his life and standing began to crumble around him as rumours and gossip linked him to abduction and murder. Hosemans was popular with women but he repeatedly swore he had nothing to do with Janine and had never met or talked to her. Community suspicions were fuelled ...

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August 30, 2020 73 mins
The stalking of Janine Vaughan escalated when her boyfriend Phil Evans was away for work. A shadowy stalker would leave menacing handwritten notes on her car and send lacy panties to her. There were troubling telephone calls and a home break-in. These acts terrified Janine who sought help from police. She was increasingly anxious. Other women in the area had disappeared and been murdered around this time. Her friend Wonita tried to...

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August 23, 2020 64 mins
Janine Vaughan was a young woman with many friends, a loving family and a good job. She lived in a country town famous for one of the world's great annual car races. She stepped into a red car in front of friends 19 years ago - and disappeared without a trace. Her sister Kylie has been on a relentless quest for the truth about Janine's murder in a community that has been keeping a wicked secret.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...

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August 4, 2020 3 mins
A young woman disappears into a rain-soaked night. A country town divides on rumour and speculation. And the relentless quest of a family to uncover the truth. The Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist behind The Teacher’s Pet, Hedley Thomas, is back with a brand new podcast, The Night Driver. Listeners should note that all episodes of The Night Driver will be only be available to subscribers of The Australian two weeks af...

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