Bronwyn

Bronwyn’s state of mind and powerful maternal instincts for her two daughters face a determined challenge as Jon’s side depicts the missing mother in a negative light. Bronwyn’s care for Chrystal and Lauren comes into sharp focus when Jon’s lawyer asks if it would have been out of character for the Lennox Head mum to go to a Saturday night party, leaving the girls home alone. Witness after witness reject the suggestions. Andy’s wife Michelle is combative as Jon’s lawyer questions her closely. It’s decision time too – we decide whether to move on Illawong to attempt a dig, ahead of the current State Coroner and homicide detectives. The wait for an answer from authorities is excruciating for Andy. Read more about this case and see photographs, maps, timelines and more at bronwynpodcast.com. If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing bronwyn@theaustralian.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bronwyn’s friend and cousin Megan Read drops new bombshells while under oath on Day 2 of the inquest. Megan gives evidence at the coronial inquiry about having been told by Jon Winfield that he saw and spoke to Bronwyn in Brisbane, several years after her disappearance. Jon’s lawyer starts a fierce cross examination of Megan in the witness box. Jodie also comes under renewed scrutiny for pushing a claim that Bronwyn has been happily living in a hippie community. The claim appears baseless and police officer Matt Fordham challenges Jodie for having omitted key details when she put it around. Jodie says that she opened a personal letter meant for Chrystal with photos of her missing Mum.  Read more about this case and see photographs, maps, timelines and more at bronwynpodcast.com.  If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing bronwyn@theaustralian.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For more than 140 years, the Lismore courthouse has stood firm through a procession of natural disasters. Withstanding everything nature has thrown at the town, the courthouse has witnessed a tragic roll call of cases. Cases such as the alleged shooting murder of local mother Carolyn Stuckey by her enraged husband, pharmacist Allan Stuckey. And cases like Bronwyn’s. In 2002, Bronwyn’s family and friends gather at the court for an inquest that explores in detail her disappearance and suspected murder. Proceedings stretch over five days in front of deputy state coroner, Carl Milovanovich. Day one begins with evidence from the first detective to ever conduct a thorough investigation into what happened to Bronwyn, Glenn Taylor. It is Glenn’s last official duty as a police officer after two decades as a detective on constant callout to serious crime scenes. He summarises the evidence of witnesses and concludes by stating that there is very strong circumstantial evidence a known person, namely Jon, was responsible for her death. Read more about this case and see photographs, maps, timelines and more at bronwynpodcast.com.  If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing bronwyn@theaustralian.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

News of Jon Winfield’s windfall and changes to the Will of his near-neighbour, Bev, shock the Lennox Head community and galvanise Bev’s friends and relations. Bev’s cousin Cathy comes forward and says she was isolated from knowledge of what had happened to her lifelong friend, Bev. Cathy describes having been ‘warned off’ by a gruff man using Bev’s phone after her death. Cathy and her husband Les are aghast and they’re back in touch with their cousin’s brothers Geoff and Paul. A legal challenge could force Jon to justify his handling of the Will and his whopping inheritance. In New Zealand, a medical doctor comes forward publicly to vouch for Judy Singh, the retired nurse who is adamant she saw Bronwyn’s body wrapped in sheets in a car being driven by Jon, who emphatically denies wrongdoing. Read more about this case and see photographs, maps, timelines and more at bronwynpodcast.com. If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing bronwyn@theaustralian.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Investigations reveal Jon’s fast work to get federal government welfare payments diverted from Bronwyn’s bank account to his account when she went missing. The single parent pension and other payments to Bronwyn to help her raise the children were cut off quickly after Jon said it should be going to him. Andy Read says Jon’s actions were not those of someone expecting Bronwyn to come back. A ‘lightbulb moment’ during filming with the podcast team at Hedley’s house results in Andy making a formal approach to the State Coroner, asking her to order a proper search under the slab of the house at Illawong. The retired detective sergeant Glenn Taylor has become highly suspicious of the slab as a result of fresh information. He says police should be looking there as a priority. Read more about this case and see photographs, maps, timelines and more at bronwynpodcast.com. If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing bronwyn@theaustralian.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Go behind the scenes of the podcast in a very special new series of video episodes, live now at bronwynpodcast.com. Plus, you can read more about this case, see photographs, maps, timelines and more at the website. If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing bronwyn@theaustralian.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ‘smoking gun’ is data from the phone company about any local calls made from Sandstone Crescent on the night of May 16, 1993. Jon insists that Bronwyn made a couple of local calls, then a car came to pick her up and she disappeared. But if no local calls were made, his story falls over. Hedley and Karina hunt for local call data which fell between the cracks during previous police investigations. Terry and Heather Freeman track down a Ford Falcon XF sedan with a large LPG tank to test if there was space for Bronwyn’s body to fit in the boot. Andy, Hedley and Madi meet in the Shire to investigate the house Jon was helping build in May 1993. Jon drove the Ford Falcon overnight from Lennox Head to the Shire hours after Bronwyn vanished. One or two days later, a concrete pour made a garage slab and a large patio at the house. Read more about this case and see photographs, maps, timelines and more at bronwynpodcast.com. If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing bronwyn@theaustralian.com.au If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb and her top Homicide detectives come under fire. Bronwyn’s brother, Andy Read, calls out a lack of effort, urgency and competence in the police investigations of his sister’s case, which has been hopelessly bungled all the way back to 1993. Commissioner Webb and her top Homicide detective Danny Doherty look uncomfortable and unwilling to talk about a case which has embarrassed detectives for three decades. Jon insists that Bronwyn went back to the house in Sandstone Crescent about six weeks after her disappearance, yet nobody saw her. Jon says Bronwyn left behind a Medicare cheque – and he says she must have signed it. Jon adds that Bronwyn took two bags of her own clothing as well as a pair of Jon’s jeans. It’s proof of life, according to Jon. Andy, Megan and Kim ridicule his claims. The signature on the cheque appears to be a crude forgery. Read more about this case and see photographs, maps, timelines and more at bronwynpodcast.com. If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing bronwyn@theaustralian.com.au If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.