CLAREMONT: The Trial

Latest Episodes:

S2E18: The Trial Resumes Jan 06, 2020

Show notes

After a two-week break, the trial of the century resumed at Perth’s Supreme Court, only to be adjourned again after just half an hour.

The reason? Prosecutors needed to go to a stationary store to buy projector screens to block out gruesome images of the burial sites of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies that were set to be shown as evidence.

The families of Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon had voiced their concerns about the evidence being shown to the public, and the judge agreed the vision and images would simply be too distressing.

The court was packed out for the resumption of the trial, so closing the court while the gruesome evidence was shown wasn’t going to be an easy option.

So instead, when video of the day Jane Rimmer’s body was found was shown, only the judge, the lawyers, the witnesses and Bradley Edwards could see it.

Tim Clarke, Natalie Bonjolo and criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps discuss why this was an unusual move, and what it means for the rest of the trial.

Send in your own questions to claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2Bonus Episode: How to Convict a Killer Jan 05, 2020

Show notes

Emotional turmoil.

That’s the motive the prosecution say led Bradley Edwards to attack a woman at Hollywood hospital, rape a teenager and kill three women.

Family and friends told of the mild-mannered Bradley Edwards in the first four weeks of the trial. The man who didn’t react when he caught his wife kissing another man in their house, nor reacting to the news of his estranged wife having a baby with her lover.

The prosecution say he didn’t react publicly to these events, instead he took out his emotions on lone, vulnerable women.

Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.

The prosecution say they also have DNA and fibre evidence to back up their claim. DNA which they say Bradley Edwards left on his rape victim and Ciara Glennon, as well as on a kimono he left behind after a terrifying home invasion known as “The Huntingdale break in”

But the defence have a case of their own. They say the DNA got on all three samples not through Bradley Edwards committing all of the offences, but through cross contamination.

They also say there’s no evidence of him being in Claremont at the time of the killings because there’s no CCTV evidence of him in the area.

In this bonus episode, hear how the prosecution plan to say Bradley Edwards is the Claremont Serial Killer.

Join us again on Monday January 6 for daily podcasts of the Claremont Serial Killings trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2Bonus Episode: Everything You Need to Know about Claremont Jan 04, 2020

Show notes

Before WA’s trial of the century resumes for 2020, we take you through the evidence which has been presented so far.

A lot of you have told us the trial jumped around from date to date, so we’ve collated all the evidence and put it in chronological order for you, so you can refresh your memory before jumping into the maze which will be the DNA and fibre evidence.

Starting with the Huntingdale attack, through the disappearance of three women and the discovery of two bodies. Then 19 years after that, in 2016, the arrest of Bradley Robert Edwards, a man who wasn’t even on WA Police’s radar. A Telstra employee and social footy player with a wife and step-daughter.

In this bonus episode, Claremont in Conversation’s Natalie Bonjolo, Alison Fan and Tim Clarke take you through the series of tragic and horrific events which ended in the arrest of Bradley Robert Edwards, taking us to present day, as he stands trial for murder.

Go to thewest.com.au to see the exhibits released during the trial.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2Bonus Episode: How The Killings Changed Claremont Dec 29, 2019

Show notes

Before it was known as the hunting ground for one of WA’s worst serial killers, Claremont was the go-to destination for young people wanting to be seen.

Every weekend the pubs and clubs were packed.

Some of WA’s wealthiest called Claremont home.

And it was safe.

But a rape, followed by three murders changed that. All of the victims were out in this affluent suburb, on their own.

Within the space of nine months, Claremont would never be the same.

Women stayed in packs and men worried they’d be suspected of these horrible crimes.

While Northbridge, another entertainment district of Perth became popular instead.

Even some 20 years later, before an arrest, “The Claremont Serial Killer” was someone generations of West Australians grew up fearing. The killer could still be out there.

Veteran journalist Alison Fan raised her kids in Claremont, covered this case extensively and even helped search for Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer then Ciara Glennon. She grieved with both the Rimmers and Glennons when sadly, their daughters were found murdered.

Alison even interviewed the man police tailed for years as their prime suspect.

Claremont In Conversation host Natalie Bonjolo was in her 20s and going to the same pubs and clubs where the girls disappeared from.

Never letting her friends go home alone, wanting to stay in a pack, she tells of the fear bubble which surrounded Claremont that didn’t exist anywhere else.

In this bonus episode, join Natalie, Alison and Criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps as they tell their stories of being around Claremont at the time of these crimes, and how it changed a suburb and a State forever.

Tell us your stories from Claremont at claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au, and stay tuned for more bonus episodes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2Bonus Episode: Your Questions Answered Dec 21, 2019

Show notes

If Bradley Edwards is convicted, will he be asked where Sarah Spiers is? Why wasn’t Lance Williams eliminated as a suspect earlier? Will Bradley Edwards be cross-examined?

In this bonus episode, criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps and The West Australian's legal affairs editor Tim Clarke answer some of the burning questions you’ve had from the trial of the century.

We’ve received hundreds of questions from listeners all over the world and hope to answer as many as we can.

From true crime fans, to those who remember growing up in Perth at the peak of the crimes, this trial has captivated so many.

Keep the questions coming in at claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au

Stay tuned to Claremont The Trial podcast over the Christmas break for more bonus episodes.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E17: Death Lilies Dec 17, 2019

Show notes

It was by pure-chance Jane Rimmer's body was found.

A woman driving with her husband and children driving in Wellard stopped on the side of the road after a rooster ran out. Kids being kids, they wanted to chase it.

The mother, Tammy Evans decided to pick some death lilies and out of the corner of her eye, 'the biggest death lily' she had ever seen popped into view.

Before grabbing onto it, something brushed her leg. She thought it was a stick, but it was a foot. That was the only feature that assured Tammy that what she had stumbled across was human.

She had found Jane Rimmer's body. While her husband went for help, she said she just couldn't leave Jane and stayed with her until police arrived.

That was August 3, 1996.

The third victim, Ciara Glennon went missing on March 15, 1997. With two women missing and one dead, the state was on high alert.

Then, the day police had been dreading, a second body found.

April 3, 1997, a man looking for wild cannabis leaves came across Ciara Glennon's body off a bush track in Eglington, 40 kms north of Perth.

The headline in the West Australian newspaper the next day said it all: "The State is in Mourning."

He said he thought a kangaroo had died, and being 'nosey' he went to check if a joey was in its pouch, but instead found the body of the 27-year-old.

On the final day of the trial for the year, the court also heard from the men the prosecution called 'The Burger Boys' - one of which yelled to her that she was 'stupid for hitch hiking'

The prosecution reached the end of their 'civilian witnesses', next year will see what has been described as 'the battle of the scientists', the DNA and fibre evidence which is so crucial to this case.

We will be checking emails during the Christmas break, so please send your questions to claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E16: Ciara’s Last Night Dec 16, 2019

Show notes

March 14, 1997 was the last time Ciara Glennon was seen alive. She’s been at a work function, by all accounts she didn’t want to go out that night, because she had her sister's hen's night the next night. But she was convinced to go out to Claremont.

She’d only been back in Perth for two weeks, after travelling for six months. In this podcast, Tim Clarke and Damien Cripps ask whether she had known about the other missing girls as well as the rest of Perth, simply because she wasn’t in the country when Sarah Spiers and Jane Rimmer went missing.

In May 1997, WA Police released a re-enactment of Ciara’s final hours in a desperate attempt to jog someone’s memory of the night of March 14, and the early hours of March 15 1997.

11 people did see Ciara that night. On day 16 of the Claremont Serial Killings trial, They gave evidence of seeing a woman matching Ciara’s description walking alone on Stirling Highway. Some witnesses say they saw her talking to a man in a white car, even starting to get in.

In a tragic premonition, a worker at a Thai restaurant over the road from where she was last seen even made a passing comment that “she might be the next girl to go.”

Ciara’s body was found 19 days later near a scrub track in Eglington, 40 km north of Perth.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and criminal defence lawyer Damien Cripps as they dissect day 16 and answer listener questions.

Send in your own questions to claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E15: The Grim Discovery Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

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.

S2E14: The Scream That Suddenly Stopped Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

The night Jane Rimmer disappeared, on June 9, 1996, two couples - separately - heard blood-curdling, ’traumatic’ screams.

One witness recalled hearing a scream that just suddenly stopped. Then silence.

The two couples lived in the then-rural area on the outskirts of Perth called Wellard.

55 days later Jane’s body would be found in bushland in between their houses.

As The West’s Emily Moulton - who has been live blogging the court proceedings - explains, one couple remembered a smell coming from just off the road as they regularly drove past. They said they dismissed it as a dead animal.

Day 14 of the Claremont Serial Killings trial also recounted Ciara Glennon’s final night.

She was the last woman to go missing. She had only been home for two weeks from 6 months abroad when she disappeared.

Her parents were on high alert at this stage in March 1997, with two girls missing and one their bodies having been found, as soon as they reported their daughter missing, police swooped.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Emily Moulton and Tim Clarke as they discuss day 14.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

S2E13: The Guess Watch Dec 11, 2019

Show notes

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.

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