Episode 4: The Criminal Trial

Families must go on after loss. For Mark and Faye Leveson, the journey to find Matt and give him a proper funeral was long and heartbreaking. Loren and the Levesons talk about how they have navigated those journeys.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Court watchers, fair‑weather friends, and dealing with the media — the Levesons experienced it all. When tragedies like Matt’s disappearance shake families, most are ill‑equipped for the aftermath. What did they learn about justice? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Atkins revealed Matt’s burial site, Mark & Faye Leveson joined the search for their son’s remains in the Royal National Park in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire. In a dramatic moment at the end of the third and final excavation, a bone was found. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Under the protection of a Section 61 Certificate — which meant any evidence he gave couldn’t be used against him — Atkins told the court his version of the events the night Matt died. The most important question for the Levesons was: where’s Matt? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary Jubelin took over the case, but the wheels of justice turn slowly; Matt had been gone for over eight years by the time the inquest began. It was then that the Levesons were offered a “deal with the devil”: find Matt but let Atkins go free. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Michael Atkins walked away from court a free man, the Levesons were left in limbo because Matt was still missing. They kept up the search themselves, even buying a mattock like Atkins did, and digging in areas he could have buried Matt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark and Faye Leveson became disillusioned with the police, but finally Atkins was charged with Matt’s disappearance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When police found Matt’s abandoned car and a Bunnings receipt for duct tape and a mattock purchased on the day Matt went missing, suspicion fell on Atkins. A search of his home was videotaped, ensuring important evidence was captured on film. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Saturday, 22 September 2007, Matt and his much older partner, Michael Atkins, went clubbing. After that night, Matt vanished, and his family began a frantic search. Atkins was strangely unhelpful until Mark and Faye forced him to go to the police. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For nearly a decade, Loren O’Keeffe, founder of the Missing Persons Advocacy Network (MPAN), watched Mark and Faye Leveson’s tireless search for their missing son Matthew, who had his whole life ahead of him until he began dating the wrong man... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.