Secrets We Keep

On August 3, 1996 - 55 days after 23-year-old child care worker Jane Rimmer went missing, a woman picking flowers with her family found her body. She immediately told her husband who rushed for help. Jane’s body was badly decomposed, covered in leaves and small shrubs. Meanwhile a couple riding horses nearby found a knife on the ground not too far away. When they reached the woman who found the body, she told them she had stayed with Jane because “she didn’t want to leave her alone.” We heard a witness break down on the stand today as she recalled that day Jane’s body was found. We also heard from the woman who could be one of the last people to see Ciara Glennon alive on March 14,1997. During her testimony, for the first time, we heard about the police investigation and the man who was the prime suspect, subjected to years of being watched by police, pretty obviously as well. As Alison Fan - the only journalist to interview Lance Williams while he was a suspect - explained, as soon as she finished talking to him, she called the Assistance WA Police Commissioner and told him they had the wrong guy. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they wrap up week three of the Claremont Serial Killings Trial.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jane Rimmer disappeared in the early hours of June 9, 1996 from Claremont. Her body was found 55 days later on August 3 in bushland in Wellard. On June 9, 1996, a man was riding a horse in Wellard, when his horse spooked. He fell off and found a guess watch. That watch turned out to be Jane Rimmer's. Day 13 of the Claremont serial killings trial heard the man didn't report the watch to police until after Jane's Body was found. It turns out he fell just two metres from where her body was dumped. Before she disappeared, friends of Jane Rimmer relived the decision the 23-year-old made to stay out alone while her friends caught a taxi home the night she disappeared. One friend, Lynda Donovan remembered a conversation she had with an emotional Jane the night she disappeared - a typical conversation many friends have had after a few drinks, only now it's a heartbreaking reminder of her friend, and her feelings about herself that night. The court was shown more CCTV of the night Jane Rimmer was last seen alive, also, for the first time, vision of Ciara Glennon in Claremont was shown. But probably the most important part of this vision was what wasn't able to be seen - Bradley Edwards. The man the prosecution says killed Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon was nowhere to be seen. Police said out of all of the vision they've managed to obtain from the nights the two women disappeared, there's no evidence of the man the prosecution say killed the two women in any of the vision. Criminal defence lawyer Tom Percy QC joins Natalie Bonjolo and Tim Clarke to discuss why the day's proceedings go little way to proving Bradley Edwards is the Claremont serial killer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

**WARNING: this episode contains distressing content*** The terrifying, graphic and distressing account of a regular night-turned living nightmare of a teenager, who was abducted and raped by Bradley Edwards was read to the court on day 11 of his murder trial. In February 1995, the 17-year-old was walking to a friends’ house from a night out in Claremont, when she was grabbed from behind, a cloth was shoved in her mouth, her hands were tied and a hood placed over her head. Completely helpless, she was carried to a car, driven to a cemetery and raped. Bradley Edwards was charged with her rape, along with the three murders in 2016, but up until this year had always maintained his innocence. That was until three weeks before his trial, he pleaded guilty to the rape. Today, the victim’s words - taken from a police statement days after the attack - echoed through the court room, and even though it was read out by the lead prosecutor Carmel Barbagallo, as Tim Clarke explains, he’s sure almost everyone in that room was affected by her harrowing, and graphic account. We know Bradley Edwards is a rapist, but the prosecution want to argue he's also a murderer, and her statement will help them try to prove that. In this episode, hear the defence argument that shocked the podcast team. To read some of the rape victim’s statement, go to thewest.com.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The voice of Sarah Spiers haunted the court as her final phone call, a call to a taxi service was played during evidence on day nine. Sarah Spiers was last seen in the early hours of January 27, 1996. She was out with friends at Club Bayview, and just after 2am decided to go leave. Alone. She called a taxi to take her to Mosman Park, but she never got there. Today, we heard from one of those friends she was out with that night, recalling the final words she ever said to her friend. The prosecution say, instead of getting home in a taxi, Bradley Edwards picked her up and murdered her. The court heard from three people who heard screams in Mosman Park at around 3am that night, describing the 'blood curdling screams' that have stayed with them for more than two decades. It was a highly emotional day, with a statement read out from Sarah's sister Amanda, a court room in tears and a witness consoled as she left the stand after giving her evidence.  Justice Hall said he has decided not to release Sarah's last phone call to the public, because he believed it would cause undue stress to her family. The West's Legal Affairs Editor Tim Clarke was in court and describes the the moment her voice was played for the second time in this trial. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Emily Moulton as they dissect day nine of the Claremont Serial Killings trial.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was massive day in court, with eight witnesses taking the stand, including the woman who was attacked from behind by the accused Claremont serial killer, Bradley Robert Edwards in 1990. She spoke about her ordeal publicly for the first time. He pleaded guilty and was convicted on common assault. As Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan discuss, her testimony was animated and detailed, and she recounted the terrifying ordeal, now known as "The Hollywood Hospital incident" like it was yesterday, the day she said she thought she was going to die. For the first time, it was revealed that Western Australian Police were looking into Telstra vehicles as early as July 1996, just a month after Jane Rimmer went missing and before Ciara Glennon was murdered. The court also heard from three other women, known as 'The Telstra Living Witnesses' who the prosecution say had close encounters with a man in a white van, driving around Cottesloe and Claremont picking up vulnerable women.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In what’s already been a week of bombshells, day five, despite being a shorter day, was no exception. Former friends of Bradley Edwards, a couple named Murray and Brigita Maria Cook took the stand. Mr Cook told of his annoyance when Edwards never showed up to a pre-planned holiday in Dawesville, an hour south of Perth, on March 14 1997 - the night Ciara Glennon disappeared. He said Edwards told him he was trying to reconcile with his wife, who told the court on an earlier day that he never tried to reconcile with her. In an eerie admission, Mrs Cook said they had no TV and no radio, so they didn’t know Ciara Glennon was missing. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Alison Fan and Tim Clarke (in the studio) as they discuss the days’ events, as Tim described them, a reverse-alibi.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first witness is Bradley Edwards’ first wife. She took the stand on day three of the Claremont serial killings trial. Her name and identity have been suppressed. She revealed their bizarre living arrangements, as well as intimate details of their life as husband and wife, including an obsession with a computer, an affair and pregnancy that saw the end of their relationship. All while prosecutors tried to paint a picture of how emotional turmoil experienced by Mr Edwards coincided with the disappearance of Sarah Spiers, and the deaths of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon. Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and The West's court reporter Emily Moulton as they discuss day three of the trial.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.