Policing Australia: The Official Podcast of the Australian Police Journal

Author and APJ Deputy Editor, retired Detective Senior Sergeant Barry Fay, discusses his 2016 crime case article titled An Unexpected 'Mayday' in November – the callous murder of three men in NSW. The first two were shot inside a Sydney gun shop in 1977. The third victim was a police sergeant, gunned down in 1980 when he unknowingly asked too many questions of the offender in remote bushland to the west of Newcastle. The offender subsequently shot another police officer in an attempt to avoid capture.

This episode includes some of the actual police radio transmissions made in the aftermath of the murder of the sergeant and when the second police officer was shot.

Host: Jason Byrnes
Guest: Barry Fay

The story and more details about the APJ itself can be found at www.apjl.com.au

Music

Theme: Like We Do It by Grace Mesa, available at Premium Beat
Break: Rainbow Serpent by Tristan Barton, available at Premium Beat
End: Motivational Digital Piano & Cello by AudioChemicals, available at Audio Jungle

Learn how police were able to identify and apprehend a serial sex offender and burglar in northern Adelaide. When the offender was eventually sentenced in court, the judge declared the man had 'no control over his sexual instincts'.

Retired Detective Senior Sergeant Carl Whitaker returns to the podcast to talk about the investigation, which he previously wrote about in an APJ article titled ‘Uncontrollable Urges’ (September 2011). It can be viewed at www.apjl.com.au.

Host: Jason Byrnes

Guest: Carl Whitaker

In the latest podcast from the APJ, hear from two detectives involved in a missing person case which soon became a homicide investigation, and an investigation into criminal drug dealing.

Allecha Boyd was reported missing to police in mid-2017. Inquiries suggested the involvement of a local drug dealer and his associates.

Detective Sergeants Brent Fletcher and Tim Briggs talk about how police were able to build briefs of evidence sufficient to obtain convictions for murder and associated offences, despite being unable to locate Allecha’s body.

Police continued to investigate avenues of inquiry after the court cases concluded, to locate Allecha’s remains. Their persistence eventually succeeded, which enabled Allecha’s family to attain a sense of closure.

The article titled Cold Blooded Murder is in the June 2023 edition of the APJ, which can be read at www.apjl.com.au
Host: Jason Byrnes APM
Guests: Detective Sergeants Brent Fletcher and Tim Briggs

APJ Deputy Editor Barry Fay discusses one of the more difficult police investigations he was involved in as a fingerprint expert: the so-called Jane Doe Murder Mystery.

Detectives and support staff spent months trying to identify the body of a young woman, murdered and left abandoned on a suburban street in late 1991. One of the more gruesome elements was a fingerprint found on newspaper that had been forced into the throat/mouth of the victim. The unique circumstances of the murder meant the prints could not be easily identified. Justice was eventually attained, but only after many twists and turns.

Note – explicit content is contained in the podcast, and in the article which is now at www.apjl.com.au

Retired Detective Inspector Dennis Bray talks to Jason Byrnes about his high-profile investigation regarding the disappearance and murders of Kerry Whelan and Dottie Davis. Bray’s article, Crueller than Murder, is the feature article of the September 2022 issue of the Australian Police Journal.

Rather than canvassing each step of the investigation, Dennis talks about aspects of the complicated and complex operation – topics discussed include management of the investigation, the work undertaken to find key evidence, the challenges of dealing with the offender (a sociopath) and lessons regarding establishing and maintaining successful relationships between investigators and the families of the victims.

Visit www.apjl.com.au to subscribe to the journal, and to access the article Crueller than Murder.

Host: Jason Byrnes
Guest: Dennis Bray