Capital Crime Files

31/07/2022

Laura Haworth, then aged 23, was last seen on 5 January 2008 at a friend’s house in Queanbeyan, NSW.
After telling her friend she was going to work, Laura left the house in her red Mazda 121. Laura did not attend work and has not made any contact with family or friends since. Lack of contact with family is very out of character.
On 19 January 2008 Laura’s vehicle was located parked at the Kanangra Court car park, ACT. Police enquiries in the area were unable to locate her. Police have conducted extensive enquiries into the whereabouts of Laura and hold serious concerns for her safety and welfare.
If you have information that may assist police to locate Laura please call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

13/12/2021

IT was apparently an awful, tragic accident, one blamed in part on the much-debated negative impact of violence on television - and it unfolded in Queanbeyan 56 years ago.

https://citynews.com.au/2021/sister-shot-in-brothers-tv-hero-delusion-episode/

12/11/2021

On this day 30 years ago, Mrs Dianne Pennacchio, a 29-year-old mother of one young son, was found murdered inside the Tallaganda State Forest, located between Queanbeyan, Bungendore and Captains Flat.

As with other similar cases in this region, Dianne’s remains unsolved and I'm writing about it for Canberra CityNews, to appear shortly, and I'm preparing a bonus podcast episode.

I’m able to confirm this is being done in conjunction with Dianne’s husband and son, both of whom I warmly thank for their support and faith in me in presenting the details of this tragedy.

Please keep them in your thoughts at this time, and if you have any knowledge at all about any aspect of this senseless unsolved crime, please contact Crime Stoppers.

(*This photo of Dianne has been provided by, and used with permission of, her immediate family).

02/11/2021

Little Cleo has been found! ❤️🙏

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-03/cleo-smith-found-alive-by-wa-police/100589612?

WA Police say missing four-year-old girl Cleo Smith has been found safe and well in a locked house in Carnarvon, with a man taken into custody and being questioned by detectives.

11/10/2021

11/10/2021

Had a little audio glitch that’s been fixed, so latest Episode available now (again!).

Rumours, urban myths, even talk of witchcraft - all of it has swirled about the eerie Fairbairn Forest over the years.

The truth of any of it - and if there was any connection with the unexplained death of Keren Rowland in 1971 - is yet another of the mysteries to be solved.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-qgfsg-10ff8fd

Rumours, urban myths, even talk of witchcraft - all of it has swirled about the eerie Fairbairn Forest over the years. The truth of any of it - and if there was any connection with the unexplained death of Keren Rowland in 1971 - is yet another of the mysteries to be solved. Join creator & host jour...

30/09/2021

Sept 30 was apparently International Podcast Day - to mark it, I’m pleased to say almost finished preparing my next ep of Season 1: Keren Rowland - the 50 year mystery.
In it I’m exploring the rumours and urban myths that have arisen to cloud the facts - even dark whispers of witchcraft - and I’ve spoken with a local with direct knowledge of it all.

Available on Spotify, Podbean, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio & capitalcrimefiles.com.au.

30/09/2021

And Sarah’s abduction occurred in only a matter of moments. Both heartbreaking and unbelievably frightening.

CCTV captured the moment Wayne Couzens lured Sarah Everard into his car after arresting her for a fake Covid breach.Multiple angles captures the 33-year-old standing o...

28/09/2021

55 years ago, the body of 6yr old Allen Redston was discovered in the Yarralumla Creek in the Canberra suburb of Curtin.
The brutal crime remains unsolved.
Do you know anything that might help police resolve this cruel mystery?

https://citynews.com.au/2021/innocence-lost-to-little-allens-murder-in-curtin/

27/09/2021

For a variety of reasons, Canberra hasn’t had a dedicated Coroner - this now looks set to change.

More than $3 million will be allocated in the upcoming 2021/22 ACT Budget to appoint a dedicated coroner to the ACT.

24/09/2021

A “beautiful painting of a clown” in a 1960s classroom was the poignant reminder of a tragedy that has, 55 years on, attained the dubious distinction of the ACT’s oldest unsolved murder.
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https://citynews.com.au/2021/innocence-lost-to-little-allens-murder-in-curtin/

The ACT's oldest, unsolved murder was that of a six-year-old Curtin boy whose body was discovered 55 years ago this month. "Yesterdays" columnist NICHOLE OVERALL remembers...

20/09/2021

It’s a bit hard while in lockdown to be focusing on matters that are not pleasant, but the support and encouragement I continue to receive from family and friends of those who, in one way or another, have been taken from our community, keeps me on track.

My latest bonus podcast episode features some of my interview with the younger brother of Liz Herfort.

Also a big thanks to you, the listening public, for your continued investment in this project - I’m just sorry I can’t produce it any faster!

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18/09/2021

It's Canberra's oldest unsolved murder and Sept 28, 2021, marks 55 years since the tragic death of 6-year-old Allen Redston in the barely established, utterly suburban, Curtin in 1966.
On Sun from 10.30-11am, I'll be on 2CC talking with Canberra CityNews editor Ian Meikle about my upcoming article on the community pain that still lingers over this unimaginable crime and the many questions that remain.
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[Photos: Wanted by Timothy Hall
& Curtin Turns 50, 1964-2014]

14/09/2021

From its grand opening in 1968, with free beer on offer to patrons for its first half hour of operation - two on tap even! - the Statesman Hotel at Curtin became quite the social hub.

In those earlier times though, options were somewhat limited when it came to a Canberra pub crawl … or much nightlife at all … Alcohol stopped being served at 10pm and hotels only became “wet” on Sundays, that is, able to trade, from December, 1971.

Along with three bars and a restaurant, initially the Statesman boasted 26 rooms, each with TV’s able to tune into BOTH Canberra channels.

Pre-arrival, it generated some opposition from residents who weren’t keen on such an establishment in their backyards - 300 signed a petition, to no avail.

Today the Statesman proudly declares itself an "urban icon of a bygone era when politicians met for drinks and the Ladies Lounge was well populated, when chefs with big hats served seafood buffets and the couples danced to the Los Hermanos Quartet … a little reminder of Canberra’s political 1960s iconic heydays and one of the few remaining traditional pubs".

Do you have memories of the Statesman - or Canberra’s 1970s entertainment scene?

* In March 1971, two young female reporters “in search of something to do for those around the 20-age group", pointed out that unless you were going to crash a random wedding reception, "Have you ever tried to groove to 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square played by a trio on a tambourine, electric organ and triangle?” - ouch 😅

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[Images: Curtin Turns 50, 1964-2014]

11/09/2021

AT the end of August, an alleged car-stealing, home-breaking duo were brought to heel by two ACT police dogs.

It’s not the first time such canines have earned local attention.
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https://citynews.com.au/2021/police-go-to-the-dogs-when-a-nose-for-crime-is-needed/

"Yesterdays" columnist NICHOLE OVERALL looks at the role dogs have made in helping with police work.

08/09/2021

“The Government must see that every possible step is taken to see that girls can walk about our streets in freedom”.

While not a Capital Region crime, a significant one nonetheless - and not much heard of since its initial occurrence.

Christmas Day, 1937, and the little girl had been missing from her home in Windsor, NSW, for 30 hours.

A German Shepherd called Tess - one of the first two recruits for the NSW K9 Squad established in 1932 - while unable to prevent a tragic outcome, would make history in the case of six-year-old Marcia Hayes.

For the full story:
https://anoverallview.wixsite.com/blog/post/execution-most-fair

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07/09/2021

Ron Dillon, formerly a radio newsroom journalist in Goulburn, joined the ACT Police in 1960. He’d rise to the rank of Superintendent and officer-in-charge of Special Branch.

Superintendent Dillon became well known for presenting the Canberra TV segment “Police 7” and writing the policing column in The Canberra Times (he also created Constable Kenny Koala).

In 1998, Ron published his reminiscences: “Fleet footed flat foot”.

[Old Police 7 footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1uSELiQ8kM ]

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06/09/2021

Very much appreciate every generous review 💕
Latest bonus episode available now:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Xys1aSwpkO3tclGfx6USr?si=KsPXHeImScaR44ux_EieBg&dl_branch=1

03/09/2021

This morning at 9.50am I’ll be on 2CC remembering Liz Herfort who vanished without trace from Canberra in 1980.

Also talking on the incredible capabilities of technology like drones and ground penetrating radar being used in modern-day searches of crime scenes.
Second image is aerial of Canberra’s Fairbairn Forest, where Keren Rowland was found in 1971.
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02/09/2021

September 3rd, 2021, would have marked Liz Herfort’s 60th birthday.

Instead, forever young, she’s another Canberra woman gone, her loved ones without answers for decades.

In remembering Liz at this time and also keeping her family in our thoughts, I’ve produced this bonus podcast episode.

Lest we forget.

https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-q53n5-10cd526

Another young woman, gone. Friday the 13th June, 1980, Liz Herfort, 18, vanished without trace from a busy thoroughfare in the heart of the Australian capital. September 3rd, 2021, would be Liz's 60th birthday. This bonus episode, featuring excerpts from my initial interview with her brother Alistai...

01/09/2021

Department 13 - Drone Technology has volunteered cutting-edge assistance to search for potential evidence in some of the ACT’s long-standing unsolved murders and disappearances.

From the moment I raised the prospect with CEO Lee Croft, he was immediately receptive and I’d like to thank the expert team for their willingness to be involved in such a capacity.

https://citynews.com.au/2021/high-hopes-for-drones-seeking-clues-of-past-crimes/

capitalcrimefiles.com.au
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31/08/2021

“Forty years on, police are still baffled by the ‘unimaginable' murder of teenager Denise McGregor”.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-01/reward-offered-to-solve-1978-murder-of-denise-mcgregor/

Police are still hopeful of finding the person responsible for the sexual assault and murder of the 13-year-old, whose body was found beside a road 30 kilometres from where she was last seen.

31/08/2021

“The 1936 NSW Police Carnival, featuring a parade with the 'boys in blue' and stunts involving dogs, horses and a motorcycle chariot race, Ben-Hur style, which needs to be seen to be believed!”
From Movietone News, 7 March 1936
NFSA - National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.

https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/fifty-thousand-see-great-nsw-police-carnival
NSW Police Force

30/08/2021

“The ‘story truth’ could be the voices of the community, cracked open by the ripple effect of crime, the stories of impacted families and friends, the voice of the victim”.

An essay by author Ruth McIver, about to release “I Shot the Devil”.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/dialogue-with-the-dead/news-story/

I first encountered the Ricky Kasso case by chance in the true-crime corridors of YouTube. The title of the documentary Satan in the Suburbs read like clickbait: it was juxtaposed against a thumbnail of a picturesque portside hamlet. In 1984, 17-year-old Gary Lauwers was murdered by Ricky Kasso in f...

30/08/2021

New “bonus” episode ready to drop later this week - an overview of another Canberra case with unsettling parallels to that of Keren Rowland.

In order to present the facts rather than conjecture, I’ve had the opportunity to speak about it directly with a family member.

"It feels like giving up is saying girls can just disappear and we just go, 'Oh well, they're gone. Dunno'.”

capitalcrimefiles.com.au
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28/08/2021

“The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death offers an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of a master criminal investigator.
Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain in the New Hampshire Police. In the 1940s and 1950s, she built dollhouse crime scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual evidence. She called these teaching tools Nutshell Studies after a well-known police saying: ‘Convict the guilty, clear the innocent, and find the truth in a nutshell’.
Still used in forensic training today, the 18 Nutshell dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of realism and precision: pencils write, window shades move, and every detail - a newspaper headline, a bloodstain on the rug, an outdated wall calendar, a cartridge casing - becomes a potential clue to the crime.”
In 2004, Corinne May Botz produced a coffe-table book that “lures viewers into every crevice of Lee’s models, breathing life into the deadly miniatures”.

capitalcrimefiles.com.au
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21/08/2021

Although the ACT Police had access to trained police dogs from other states, it was 1983 before there was the first recruit to head up a local canine force: Senior Constable Kaiser, trained in bomb detection.

“Senior Constable Blue Dog” though, was the first official mascot in this regard.

More on aspects of this history in the latest Case File Fragment of Capital Crime Files:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3AJG6OIn7LfF4pmrImfNMo?

[Sources: policenews.act.gov.au & On Duty: Celebrating a Centenary of Policing in Canberra].

19/08/2021

As a creator, I’m very aware of copyright, sourcing, etc. & even when material is in the public domain doesn’t automatically mean it can be used without permissions - & sometimes, considerable costs. Eg: just 30secs of this ’83 classic in a podcast would be at least $1100!

https://youtu.be/lVrELhxOFnM

Follow Naked Eyes:Subscribe: https://NakedEyes.lnk.to/SubscribeMusic Online: https://NakedEyes.lnk.to/ListenFacebook: https://NakedEyes.lnk.to/FBTwitter: htt...

18/08/2021

“A police operation is underway on the NSW Central Coast as investigators search for possible human remains linked to the disappearance of two teenage girls more than 40 years ago.”

https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-police-search-for-possible-human-remains-in-disappearance-of-teenage-girls-robyn-hickie-amanda-robinson

Police search for possible human remains days after offering million dollar reward into missing teenage girlsBy 9News Staff10:42am Aug 18, 2021 Tweet Facebook Mail A police operation is underway on the New South Wales Central Coast as investigators search for possible human remains linked to the dis...