The Trial: Australia

Melbourne’s Tinder Swindler is back behind bars. 

Christopher Alan Collins used dating apps to gain women’s trust before stealing their money, once taking $96,000 while his date was dancing just metres away. 

Now, after admitting to defrauding another woman of almost $345,000, blackmailing her and even threatening to kill her, Collins is awaiting another sentence. 

This week, Wayne and friend of the podcast ...

Hamish Tait was a beloved childcare worker; now he’s being accused of being Australia’s worst daycare predator.

He now faces 329 charges relating to the alleged abuse of 136 children between 2009 and 2025. 

Investigators seized 25 electronic devices from his home and say they are examining approximately 2.4 million files, while police continue working to identify children allegedly depicted in the material. 

In t...

Erin Patterson is fighting to overturn her mushroom murder convictions, but prosecutors argue she should never be released from prison.

Across two days in Victoria’s Court of Appeal, Patterson’s lawyers raised seven grounds they say undermine the fairness of her trial, from the jury’s hotel arrangements to disputed evidence and the prosecution’s closing address.

But the judges pushed back on several of those a...

On July 27th, the bodies of 36-year-old Helena Wright and her 23-month-old daughter Hazel were discovered in the waters off Cape Northumberland, near Port Macdonnell in South Australia. Helena’s three-month-old son Lewis was also believed to have been with them, but despite an extensive search, his body has never been found.

Police are treating the deaths as a murder-suicide, but one crucial question remains: what happened in ...

For more than three years, one of Australia's most powerful entertainment managers fought to keep his identity hidden in an ongoing criminal case from the public.

Now, after a jury found Ralph Carr guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, the suppression order protecting him has finally been lifted.

In this episode, Wayne is joined by reporter Paul Shapiro to unpack the case that couldn't be reported, exa...

On what should have been the final days of a life-changing volunteer trip to Mozambique, 20-year-old Australian Elly Warren was found dead near a beachside toilet block, her lungs filled with sand. Nearly a decade later, the question of what really happened to her remains unanswered.

Frustrated by the authorities failing to provide answers, Elly's father, Paul Warren, embarked on an extraordinary quest for the truth. He has trav...

Almost a year after Erin Patterson’s trial, and on the run up to her appeal, one of it's most significant witnesses says his own life has been turned upside down.

Dr Chris Webster was the rural GP who treated Ian and Heather Wilkinson after the deadly mushroom lunch, questioned Erin Patterson when she came to hospital, and made the call to police that helped set the investigation in motion. His evidence became one of the d...

Ivan Milat is known worldwide as one of Australia's most notorious serial killers, convicted in 1996 of murdering seven backpackers in New South Wales. But a parliamentary inquiry is now examining whether Milat could be linked to many more of Australia's unsolved murders and long-term missing persons cases.

In this episode, Wayne speaks with retired British detective Hugh Hughes, who believes he has identified the first victim o...

Twenty-five years after the murder of British backpacker Peter Falconio shocked Australia and the world, one question still remains: where is Peter?

In this episode, Wayne Flower is joined by Daily Mail Australia News Editor Kevin Airs, who reported from the heart of the investigation as the case unfolded in 2001. Together they revisit the night of Peter’s murder on the remote Stuart Highway, the extraordinary survival of ...

The discovery of a teenager’s body contained inside an abandoned suitcase, in the tourist city of Pattaya, made headlines and shocked people around the world.

An Australian man has been charged over the death of 17-year-old Thunchanok "Cake" Donhomla, but he denies murder, claiming he acted in self-defence.

In this episode, Wayne is joined by Daily Mail reporters Candace Sutton and Jonica Bray to unpack the timeline, ex...

For the first time since four-year-old Gus Lamont vanished from a remote South Australian sheep station, his grandmother Josie Murray has spoken publicly.

In a bombshell television interview, Josie Murray revealed she is the family member police identified as a suspect in their major crime investigation, while strongly denying any involvement in Gus's disappearance. Instead, she claims Gus may have been abducted and raises fresh...

More than 25 years after a fatal stabbing inside a Western Sydney nightclub, one of Australia's most elusive fugitives has been found living under an assumed identity in rural Greece.

In this episode, Wayne is joined by veteran crime journalist Candace Sutton to unravel the extraordinary story of James Dalamangus, a man who vanished in 1999 after becoming a suspect in the murder of George Giannopoulos.

From the controversial ...

The deaths of TV presenter Jesse Baird and his partner Luke Davies captured attention across Australia. The couple had been shot, and their bodies were discovered inside surfboard bags on a rural property in February 2024.

The man accused of their murders is Baird's former partner, former police officer and celebrity chaser Beau Lamarre-Condon, who remains in custody awaiting trial on charges he denies.

Today, Wayne is joined...

In April 2024, 28-year-old childcare worker and mother Molly Ticehurst was brutally murdered by her former partner, Daniel Billings, in her home in Forbes, New South Wales. 

Just weeks earlier, Billings had been granted bail despite facing multiple allegations of violence, stalking and sexual assault against Molly, and despite repeated warnings about the danger he posed.

In this episode, Wayne is joined by Daily Mail rep...

This week Wayne examines the opening of the coronial inquest into the Porepunkah shootings and death of Dezi Freeman, who was shot by police after Australia’s largest manhunt.

Joining Wayne is former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina, to break down the new revelations, discuss police tactics, and the major questions now facing the coroner.

The Trial Australia is part of The Crime Desk. Subscribe today for ad-free liste...

This week Wayne examines the case of Isla Bell, the 19-year-old Melbourne woman whose disappearance and death shocked the country.

Last Saturday, hundreds of supporters gathered outside the State Library Victoria to honour Isla, and protest the prosecutors who dropped charges against the man accused of killing her, citing insufficient evidence.

In this episode, journalist Paul Shapiro revisits the timeline of the investigation, t...

Ivan Milat is one of the most notorious serial killers in all of Australia. He was convicted in 1996 of the brutal murders of seven backpackers whose bodies were discovered in the Belanglo State Forest.

His violent and disturbing crimes shocked the world, but that only be the tip of the iceberg.

Now, with a new inquiry underway, investigators are revisiting more than 50 unsolved disappearances and murders that may be linked t...

In this episode, we examine the heartbreaking case of Kumanjayi Little Baby, the five-year-old girl whose disappearance and death shocked communities across the country.

Wayne is joined by journalist Karleigh Smith to unpack the investigation, and the allegations against Jefferson Lewis, who has since been charged with murder. They also break down the extraordinary scenes of grief and anger which have broken out across Australia...

On Easter Sunday, 65 year old farmer Richard Wills said goodbye to his wife and left their home- but he never returned.

Investigators later discovered his body, believing that he was shot, dragged by a vehicle on his own farm, and then buried in a shallow grave.

But the mystery has sparked speculation; ranging from Fake AI images, talk of Merino Sheep Mafia, and speculation of someone known to Richard ambushing him.

In thi...