Shandee's Legacy Episode 5: Blowtorch

We're covering another huge trial every day on The Australian's daily news podcast The Front. Find out more about The Front podcast here. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app. This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet, and edited by Lia Tsamoglou. Original music is composed by Jasper Leak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There was no fanfare when Commissioner Annabelle Bennett SC handed down her findings from the Project 13 inquiry. Only disappointment that the inquiry failed to hold anyone responsible for the biggest disaster in the lab’s history.  In this episode of Shandee’s Legacy, Dr Kirsty Wright joins Hedley Thomas, Claire Harvey, and David Murray to dissect and comment on the findings from this rare second inquiry, the future of a lab at the heart of the criminal justice system, and the case which started all of this: the slaying of Shandee Blackburn in 2013. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Public hearings in a second inquiry into the lab and the disastrous Project 13 have concluded. Closing submissions have been delivered. And still questions are left unanswered. Why was the automated process unleashed on precious crime-scene samples? Who wrote the mysterious and damning Project 13 report? And why didn’t the lab’s new boss flag it in the first inquiry? In this episode, Hedley Thomas, David Murray, and Matthew Condon dissect a baffling week in Brisbane’s Magistrates Court – and what it all means for the investigation into the murder of Shandee Blackburn. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app.If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Public hearings for a rare second inquiry into catastrophic failings at Queensland’s besieged forensics lab are about to get underway in Brisbane.  In this episode of Shandee’s Legacy, Hedley Thomas, David Murray, Claire Harvey, and Matthew Condon drill down into the questions yet to be answered about Project 13: who knew what and when, and why didn’t the lab’s new boss raise it at the first inquiry?  We also get to know the new legal team brought in to lead the new inquiry. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Queensland government will reopen an inquiry into its troubled DNA lab after new evidence of flawed automated testing processes emerged. Find out more about The Front podcast here and subscribe in your podcast app. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A cloud has been cast over the new chief of the lab following revelations that a DNA extraction method may have failed across thousands of samples in criminal cases for nine years. Professor Linzi Wilson-Wilde reviewed the automated method for retired judge Walter Sofronoff’s inquiry into the lab in 2022, but in her subsequent report did not mention information that she came across showing it was having serious problems recovering DNA. In this episode, Professor Wilson-Wilde launches a staunch defence of her report for the inquiry, saying she was engaged to examine a separate issue of the method contaminating crime scene samples soon after its introduction in 2007. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Kirsty Wright is the remarkable scientist who exposed the worst forensics disaster in Australia’s history, and now she’s identified the ‘smoking gun’ in the Queensland DNA lab disaster. It’s a catastrophe called ‘Project 13’ which has been hiding in plain view -- but Dr Wright is certain that it was deceptive and fraudulent, and it explains why Shandee’s case in 2013 and thousands of others since 2007 have failed. For dedicated followers of this series, the Project 13 report can be found on the inquiry’s website under module four. It’s document number 129.95, and you can compare for yourself the opening paragraph against the figures 9 to 12. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

Will anyone face criminal charges for the disaster at the laboratory? We examine more of Walter Sofronoff’s findings about how this catastrophe unfolded, delve deeper into Cathie Allen’s conduct, and meet a lady who -- when the laboratory couldn’t make sense of DNA results -- was told her own son must have been switched at birth. The Queensland Government moves swiftly to respond to the report, and we cast forward to the laboratory’s future.  To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At last, Commissioner Walter Sofronoff hands down his 500-plus-page report -- and it is a sweeping denunciation of the laboratory’s failings, and of the conduct of one person in particular: Cathie Allen. He finds the managing scientist lied: to police, to her staff, to ministers and to the Commissioner himself, under oath during the inquiry. Sofronoff exposes a litany of deceit and trickery, compounded by ineptitude and weakness -- but he heralds the bravery of those who stood up, hailing the courage of Dr Kirsty Wright. We hear reactions from Dr Wright and Vicki Blackburn -- and we learn some news about John Peros.  To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the inquiry, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. For daily updates, subscribe to The Front in your podcast app. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.