Real Crime with Adam Shand

In this powerful and deeply confronting episode, Adam Shand speaks with survivor and advocate Marita Murphy, who has spent more than 50 years trying to be heard. At just seven years old, Marita was brutally assaulted by two teenage boys—a crime her family discouraged her from reporting and one that would shape every part of her life.

Marita opens up about ...

In this episode of Real Crime, Adam Shand speaks with former Victoria Police officer and intelligence specialist David Bartlett, the founder of the Safer Places Network—an ambitious new system aiming to transform how CCTV is used in Australia.

From the Jill Meagher investigation to missing persons, aggravated burgla...

In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, we revisit one of the most violent eras in Victoria’s history through the eyes of former detective and firearms instructor Alex Christich. From the Mad Max manhunt to the Russell Street bombing and the Wall Street police murders, Christich recounts the days when Victoria Police faced armed robbers, escapees an...

In this episode, investigative journalist Adam Shand revisits the extraordinary criminal career of Bertram Douglas “Bertie” Kidd — safe-breaker, armed robber, race fixer and serial corruptor of police who may also have been a killer.

After attending Kidd’s funeral, Adam sits down with former New South Wales detective Phil Short, one of the officers who finally brought the notorious underworld figure down. To...

In this episode, Adam Shand speaks with retired Detective Senior Sergeant Peter Kos, one of the original investigators behind Operation Afghan — a daring undercover sting targeting Italian organised crime in Griffith during the 1990s. Peter lifts the lid on the truth behind the famous infiltration of the Griffith Mafia.

F...

In this episode, Adam Shand speaks with retired detective Ray Lambie, who joined the NSW Armed Robbery Squad at the height of the so-called “golden era.” Lambie shares stories from the front line — high-stakes takedowns, corrupt cops, close calls and the adrenaline rush of chasing Australia’s most dangerous men. Together, they explore how policing changed, why the banks res...

In 1969, 20-year-old Lucille Butterworth vanished from a bus stop near Hobart, Tasmania. For decades, her disappearance remained one of Australia’s most haunting cold cases. In this episode, Adam Shand speaks with former detective constable Cary Mark Millhouse, who helped reopen the investigation and uncover the truth buried in old police files and forgotten confessions.

In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, we explore the case of Gary Lewer — a former Mr. Australia, world bodybuilding champion and long-time Melbourne identity who now finds himself detained in an immigration facility and facing deportation to a country he hasn’t lived in since childhood.

Lewer insists he&rs...

For decades, families across New South Wales have waited for answers — hundreds of unsolved murders and disappearances, too many to dismiss as coincidence. In this episode, Adam speaks with Jeremy Buckingham, NSW Member of Parliament, who has pushed through a parliamentary inquiry into the state’s cold cases — and the possible serial ...

In this confronting episode of Real Crime, Adam Shand sits down with one of Australia’s most reviled offenders — Peter Vaitos, the man once known as The Silver Gun Rap*st. For the first time in more than 40 years, Vaitos speaks publicly, joined by his daughter Stacey, who has chosen to stand by him in the hope of r...

In this episode, Adam Shand speaks with Adelaide lawyer Andrew Carpenter, a man described as “the most hated by Australian child sex offenders.” Carpenter has dedicated his career to pursuing justice for survivors of child sexual abuse—specifically, by closing a shocking legal loophole that allows convicted pedophiles to hide their wealth in superannuation, beyond the reach of their victims.

Together, Adam an...

More than fifty years after three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer vanished from Fairy Meadow Beach, her brother Ricki is still fighting for justice. In this episode, Adam Shand speaks with Ricki Nash about the heartbreaking failures that have kept Cheryl’s case unsolved — from a detailed 1971 confession ruled inadmissible, to decades of police inaction and bureaucratic stonewalling. Together, ...

In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, we sit down with Steve Van Aperen — Australia’s leading polygraph examiner, widely known as the “Human Lie Detector.” After 15 years in the police force, Steve built a career uncovering deception in homicide investigations, cold cases and even everyday disputes. Adam and Steve explore the...

In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, we sit down with former Victoria Police inspector Pat Boyle, one of Australia’s foremost experts on street gangs. Nearly two decades ago, Boyle warned of the rising tide of youth gang culture in Melbourne — a problem many dismissed at the time. Drawing on his frontline experience, international research a...

In this gripping episode, Adam is joined by forensic archaeologist Dr. Louise Steding to revisit the unsolved 1953 murder of 14-year-old Shirley Collins. Shirley disappeared on her way to a birthday party in Melbourne, only to be found brutally murdered days later at Mount Martha. Despite intensive police work, the case went cold—until Louise’s meticulous research uncovered overlooked evidence and a compelling new suspe...

When a simple arrest spiralled into years of harassment, retired detective Peter Kos found himself battling more than just the lawbreakers — he was battling the legal system itself. In this episode of Real Crime, Peter shares how he became the target of a relentless group of so-called “sovereign citizens” who flooded him with threats, false accusations and legal stunts designed to intimidate and exhaust. From stal...

Ten years ago, Dan Saunders walked into an ATM and stumbled onto one of the strangest financial loopholes in Australian history. What started as a late-night discovery turned into millions of dollars, wild nights, global headlines and ultimately—prison time.

In this conversation, journalist Adam Shand reconnects with Saunders a decade on to uncover the

In this episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, Adam speaks with Fleur, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse who has spent decades fighting to be heard. Abused by her stepfather and dismissed by police in the 1980s, Fleur is still seeking justice as her elderly abuser lives freely.

In this gripping episode of Real Crime with Adam Shand, award-winning journalist John Ferguson of The Australian takes us inside one of the most shocking murder cases in recent Australian history — the Erin Patterson “mushroom lunch” killings. From the first police raid to the courtroom revelations, Ferguson shares how he broke the story that ...