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Private Notes
The Miracle Baby
A stolen car tears through the near-empty streets of a city asleep. It’s just after midnight. Across town, a young mum clips her sleepy toddler into a safety seat as her partner slides in the passenger side and braces for his overnight shift at a city bakery. Daniel Stirling, the love of his life Sarah Paino and his adored son Jordan set off on the short trip to work. An earlier ride failed to show. Sarah and Jordan should’ve been asleep in bed. The stolen car, with four young teenagers on board, roars on through the night as Sarah pulls up at Banjo’s bakery near Hobart’s city waterfront, kisses Daniel goodbye and heads off. Perhaps, if that kiss had lingered a second longer, Sarah might still be alive. Instead, minutes later as she heads home, the stolen car spears into her car with such velocity it throws it to the other side of a four-lane road. Incredibly, little Jordan is fine. Sarah, though, is horrifically injured. When paramedics arrive they see her broken body and then her belly. She is seven-months pregnant. This is a story of what ifs and maybes, minutes and seconds, the arbitrary hand of fate and the superhuman effort to save a little unborn child as life drained from his mother. More than 1000 Australians will likely die on our roads this year, each a dreadful tragedy for families and friends. But this crash struck a chord across the nation. This was somehow different. A family making simple, everyday decisions we all make cast into harm’s way. And amid the heartbreak, a miracle. Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle tells this extraordinary story.
Mad World
As one of our more passionate Mad Max fans declares, in full character, leather kit, mohawk and with the sort of fervour that would melt your most devout Trekkie or Star Wars devotee: “You can run but you can’t hide!” Come Monday morning, Australian time, Mad Max: Fury Road will be the worldwide buzz as Aussie director George Miller and his creative team line up fo
Port Arthur. The location is seared forever in the national consciousness.
35 dead. The scale of the killing shocked and horrified us all.
Martin Bryant. Australia’s worst mass murderer.
We know precisely where it happened. We know how many people died. We know that scores more were seriously injured, that so many families were shattered that day. And we know who was responsible.
What we don’t know is precisely what motivated Bryant to kill and kill again. Nor do we know how he accounted for his killing spree once he was arrested and charged. That is, until now.
Startling new video has emerged along with chilling first person accounts never before seen or heard that have enabled Sunday Night to build the most definitive picture of one of the nation’s darkest days.
Why so many victims? How did Bryant explain his actions? Was he chasing infamy? Was he contrite? Did he comprehend the magnitude of his crimes?
This Sunday Night major event features new, deeply personal and detailed accounts of Martin Bryant – the man and his motivations – from those who came to be closest to him in the days, weeks and months that followed the Port Arthur atrocity. They’re men who got inside the mind of a monster. And what they found there was shocking, unbearably so.
We’ll also hear from the girlfriend who was showered with money and proposals by a simple, illiterate loner harbouring a terrifying murderous intent. And in never-before-seen video, hidden from the public and obtained by Sunday Night, we’ll see and hear arguably the most authoritative account of all.
Sunday Night’s Mike Willesee leads this powerful and important investigation as Australians continue to crave answers to the big questions still surrounding this appalling crime 20 years on.
Kids in the Danger Zone
What sort of parent would take their three-year-old boy abseiling down a dizzyingly-high sheer rock face or allow their young children to climb down one of the deadliest mountains in the world? Well, it turns out a growing number of parents around the world are doing just that – leading their children headlong into the face of danger. It’s all in the name of extreme parenting – mums and dads who are ruling anything online out of bounds and declaring the only way to raise well-balanced children is outside in the real world on a white-knuckle adventure. It’s a high-risk world that many other parents will find way too perilous. But extreme parents are claiming success against a raft of behavioural issues. It’s all about the bruises, the bumps, the bleeding knees – but the critics of extreme parenting, including some paediatricians and child psychologists, say exposing your child to such danger is not worth the risk, and dispute the evidence that the activities foster a better kid. Sunday Night’s PJ Madam meets the parents taking their kids deep into the danger zone.
Healing Hana
Hana Tarrif is a desperately sick little girl running out of time and answers. In a cruel twist, a childhood operation to save her life solved one health emergency, but unleashed a medical drama that may kill her. So she’s been through more in her seven young years than most of us will go through in a lifetime. Twice she’s had to leave her home in Sydney to travel overseas for controversial medical procedures that her parents hope will help save her. Hana’s medical nightmare began in 2014. After undergoing surgery to remove a tumour on her brain, she was left with a rare side effect – she was unable to stop eating. Within 18 months Hana’s weight had tripled. Unable to find help in Australia, her parents took her to Egypt for an operation to try and get her weight down, and then Canada for experimental laser surgery. Now, her parents are o
When a Man Becomes a Woman
To thousands of clients he’s a high profile and highly successful businessman. His friends and family know him as a loyal mate, a great father and a loving husband. He heads a flourishing Australian financial advisory firm and his expertise and services are sought by thousands across the country and around the world. So a great deal is at stake as this highflyer reveals that he is becoming a she. It’s been a secret he’s carried for most of his life. He’s wrestled with his gender issues, fought them, tried to suppress them and eventually accepted and celebrated them. Revealing his secret to friends and family was daunting and painful but ultimately liberating. The reception ranged from shock and surprise to ‘so what!’, but everyone who mattered has come to support the transition. But will his long list of clients old and new be so accepting? Will it deal a damaging blow to his extensive business interests? We’ve seen others reveal their “secret” and change their gender very publicly; Cher’s daughter, Chaz Bono, became a man. American Olympic legend Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn. Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler has been granted remarkable access to this very sensitive journey all the way through to his brave and very public revelation, and brings us a powerful and controversial story for our times.
A Soldier and the Sea
Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and a long list of mental and behavioural issues are generally targeted by drug therapy which can be hit or miss and, in turn, trigger a range of side effects. But is there an enduring, profound and natural alternative surrounding us? Science suspects there is. The sea. And more specifically, its waves. The latest research is aimed at understanding why spending time in the surf is bringing profound relief to those with mental health issues and helping to sooth conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism. The US Army is using s
Deep Freeze
The Japanese swear by it, Hollywood is embracing it, and now it’s heading our way. It’s called Cryotherapy – the health therapy that takes just three minutes and involves exposing yourself to the coldest temperatures on earth, a mind boggling minus 140 centigrade. But its proponents argue that it’s well worth it. They say it slows down the ageing process, burns calories and can even help improve your mental health – claims that have won over a legion of famous film stars and top-shelf sporting names who are all lining up to spend time in a super-cold mist of liquid nitrogen. But there are some in the scientific community who say it is nothing more than a health fad and that nature is just as effective at delivering cold as a cure all. With the first cryotherapy facility about to open in Australia, Sunday Night’s PJ Madam takes a cold hard look at the business of freezing your way to good health and investigates the case of the young woman in America who died while using a cryo machine.
The Other Elvis
As an up-and-coming singer-songwriter in the English music scene back in the 1970s, Declan Patrick MacManus felt that his name didn’t quite match his amazing talent. So he became Elvis Costello, a name that is forever linked to some of the biggest hits of the time: Watching the Detectives, I Don’t Want to go to Chelsea and the hauntingly beautiful ballad Alison. Nearly four decades later, Elvis is a musician still at the top of his game – a member of rock royalty with mates like Bruce Springsteen, Sting and Sir Elton John. The prolific performer has just released a book about his life and is now planning another world tour with Australia included. Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen caught up with Elvis to hear about one of his early tours down under which ended in a riot and the master musician’s unlikely fascination with an iconic Aussie bushman.
Justice for Baby Chloe
What would you do if you left your child with a babysitter and two days later she was dead? What would you do if the babysitter was charged with child homicide and was later acquitted? And what would you do if an inquest later found that your 10-month-old daughter most likely died because of the babysitter? You’d want justice. But for Melbourne parents Anthony and Kat Murphy, that may never happen. It’s now been six years since their baby Chloe died. Six years since a precious night out together ended with them rushing their daughter to hospital with what turned out to be massive – and fatal – brain damage. Three weeks ago the final chapter in Chloe’s very short life was written. The coronial inquiry heard from nine expert witnesses, who all gave testimony leading the coroner to conclude that, on the balance of probabilities, the babysitter caused the fatal injuries. But under our legal system, the prime suspect will most likely never be brought before a court of law again. In this special Sunday Night investigation, Denham Hitchcock speaks exclusively to Anthony and Kat Murphy about their fight for justice and hears compelling evidence from one of the key experts who has no doubt who was responsible for baby Chloe’s death.
The Honey Badger’s Top Adventure
He’s as well known for his quirky one-liners as he is for his ability to sniff out a try. But the man who fires off his zingers quicker than a rat up a drainpipe has a side to him that will greatly surprise. For football superstar and Olympic Sevens hopeful Nick Cummins has a very personal goal in his life: to help two of his seven siblings battle a terminal illness and to be a loving son to his dying dad. To do that, the man they call the Honey Badger has taken dad Mark and two of his brothers to one of the wildest and most beautiful places in Australia – the Kimberley. It’s been high on his dad’s bucket list so for a week they sampled the wild delights of our
The Power of Love
She is one of Australia’s most enduring and loved personalities. She’s unstoppable, irrepressible, unbreakable. Until now. Kerri-Anne Kennerley has suffered a shocking blow and it’s going to take all her famous energy and stoicism to keep going. But she knows she must, for the sake of her husband – the love of her life – John. John sustained catastrophic injuries in an otherwise simple fall at a golf club in coastal New South Wales in March. He fractured vertebrae in his neck, suffered profound paralysis and is breathing with the aid of a ventilator. Kerri-Anne is by his side in an intensive care unit in Sydney every day, willing a recovery but she knows their life together will never be the same again. In an emotion-charged Sunday Night special, reported by long-time family friend Mike Willesee, we see Kerri-Anne like we’ve never seen her before, coming to terms with a life inexorably altered, mustering courage and fortitude by John’s side, bravely assessing the challenges of the days, weeks and months ahead, then dissolving into tears and despair as she mourns the terrible injuries to her husband and the impact it has had on their joyous time together. John has been her rock, now Kerri-Anne must summon every ounce of her own strength and resourcefulness to be the rock for John in his time of need.
Lights, Camera, Racing!
“It’s an amazing story. It’s National Velvet isn’t it, she’s our National Velvet”. That’s how celebrated Australian actor Rachel Griffiths interpreted Michelle Payne’s breakthrough win in last November’s Melbourne Cup. And with her considerable Hollywood clout, Rachel set about securing the film rights to Michelle’s story. Rachel says after she ‘stalked’ Michelle at a Sydney race meeting, a warm friendship developed between one of our most-loved and respected Hollywood actors and one of our biggest and newest sporting heroes. And doubtless Rachel will be using National Velvet – the
Never Again
Aching loss. Remarkable survival. Leadership. It’s been 20 years since the grotesque rampage at Port Arthur and Sunday Night has assembled a remarkable group of Australians who were each dramatically confronted and altered by the atrocity and who resolved to ensure it will never happen again. It is the time that John Winston Howard will never forget – the time that, for many, would come to define his years in office. Six weeks after becoming Prime Minister he was at his Sydney residence, Kirribilli House, when he got a phone call – “There’s been a shooting in Tasmania, turn on your TV”. By the end of that bloody Sunday, Martin Bryant had shot and killed 35 men, women and children. Walter Mikac lost his wife and two children. John and Gaye Fidler somehow survived the maelstrom inside the Broad Arrow Café, but they lost a trio of dear friends. Paramedic Peter James had to attend each and every scene of death. Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle tells the inside story of how a group of everyday Australians and a Prime Minister decided to act and try to make the nation a safer place. From the moment alone in his Kirribilli office to his bold and contentious plan to ban automatic and semi-automatic rifles, Mr Howard gives Melissa Doyle a unique and detailed insight into what it meant to be the Prime Minister during this bloody chapter in Australia’s history.
Laughter and Tears
He’s the enduring funnyman who’s become the ultimate MC. Billy Crystal is at home on a comedy club stage, a late-night TV show or holding an audience of billions and a room full of Hollywood A-listers at the Oscars. He’s also a bona-fide film star who will forever be remembered for his part in that scene with Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally. He’s affable, there with a killer line, the consummate showman. But the happy-go-lucky life of Billy Crystal took a massive blow with the death of his best friend and fellow comedian and actor Robin Williams. In a heartf
The Last Survivor
Less than a day into a two-day voyage an Australian ship suddenly lists and takes on water at an alarming rate. One by one the 10 crew members were forced from their duties, others shaken awake to struggle through gushing saltwater onto the deck and into a flimsy rubber life raft before the MV Blythe Star lifts its bow to the sky and sinks without a trace.
They’re relieved they made it, the worst is surely over and they expect rescuers will fish them out of their predicament within hours. Only nobody knows their ship has gone down, and little do the men of the MV Blythe Star know they’ve only just begun one of the most extraordinary against-the-odds struggles for survival in Australian maritime history.
And yet, like the plight of the crew, very few Australians know about this incredible high seas drama. Until now. In a stunning, sweeping television first, Sunday Night brings this incredible story to life through the gripping recollection of the last man standing, Mick Doleman.
Mick – until recently a senior figure in the Maritime Union of Australia – has been reluctant to recount the detail of his ordeal until now. Even his family has been unaware of the challenges and life-and-death incidents that swamped their days at sea and lost in remote wilderness.
Now, he’s the last survivor and Mick has resolved that he didn’t want to take his account to his grave. In honour of the men lost in this nightmare at sea and in the time since, he wants the nation to know of their bravery, humanity and their inspirational determination to survive and be reunited with family and friends.
Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler tells the at times tragic but ultimately heroic and stirring story of the MV Blythe Star in The Last Survivor. And in a moving conclusion takes Mick and his family back to the remote and rugged landfall where he decided he and the remaining crew were not going to die.
The Saving Australia Diet
Australians have eaten themselves into a deadly health crisis. Is it possible to eat our way out of it and save thousands of lives? Across the nation, the killer disease Type 2 diabetes is now claiming a victim every five minutes. Until recently, Type 2 was thought to be irreversible with sufferers consigned to uncertain drug therapy and developing cardio vascular complications that lead to amputated limbs, heat attack, stroke, blindness and even dementia. But there’s growing evidence that sufferers can turn around their Type 2 with a radically different approach to eating. In this special and vitally important Sunday Night experiment, three ordinary Australians set out to defeat this insidious disease with three different dietary regimes. Like so many confronting Type 2, Cass, Tony and Jack had no idea they were sufferers until their diagnosis. Each typifies the Type 2 candidate and so many at-risk Aussies, with their love of junk food, sugar, bread and pasta – and loads of it. The architect of the 5:2 diet Michael Mosley and MKR judge and Paleo devotee Pete Evans lead the effort to save our trio as each is assigned a dramatically new way of eating – calorie crunching, high protein-low carb and a conventional approach applied by many mainstream dieticians. They’re determined to defeat their Type 2 and lead longer and healthier lives, but it’s not going to be easy changing a lifetime of eating habits. Sunday Night’s PJ Madam is your guide as we follow Cass, Tony and Jack over eight weeks to see if they can set an example that will help turn around a national epidemic.
The Last Witness
Sunday Night’s telling of the remarkable Blythe Star saga stunned and enthralled Australia. It was truly one of the greatest tales of survival in Australian maritime history. But now we can reveal another remarkable chapter and one that could have prevented the loss of life and seen the hapless crew of the doomed ship rescued far sooner.
Killer Confession
For 47 long and painful years it’s been one of Australia’s greatest murder mysteries – who took the life of the beautiful, young beauty queen, Lucille Butterworth? In a long-running Sunday Night investigation, reporter Mike Willesee has uncovered a series of extraordinary mistakes during the original police investigation. Confessions were ignored, crucial leads missed, vital information dismissed. Now, a major breakthrough. Findings from a new police inquiry have been examined by a Tasmanian coroner who has taken the extraordinary step of identifying the murderer, Geoffrey Charles Hunt. That, as a former prisoner has come forward to explain for the first time on television how Hunt confessed to him in horrifying detail about the crime. Hunt is a man already well known to police. He was convicted of the brutal murder of another young woman in 1976. This Sunday Night, Mike Willesee speaks to the key players in a case that has finally been solved and goes in search of the man who murdered Lucille Butterworth.
Unstoppable
The Marathon des Sables is the toughest and most physically challenging ultra-marathon on earth. Seven days through some of the hottest and harshest lands in the world – the Sahara. For an able-bodied athlete it’s a massive challenge, but the challenges for Kate Sanderson are beyond comprehension. With scorching temperatures and sand dunes that stretch for kilometres, Kate has two distinct disadvantages – she only has one foot and burns to 60 per cent of her body. Five years ago, Kate and Turia Pitt were engulfed by a bushfire during a footrace in Western Australia. Both were badly injured, and amazingly, both have beaten the odds to race again. But for Kate Sanderson, the Sahara marathon might just be the biggest challenge of her life. Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen was there to see if she could make it.
All About That Meghan
She’s the international superstar determined to do it her way – just as she is.
Build It and They Will Come
He’s the Queensland science teacher who heard a higher calling, left Australia to take his message to a bigger audience and who’s wound up building the biggest timber-framed structure on earth: a massive recreation of Noah’s Ark. Standing seven-storeys high, nearly 200-metres long, using 10 kilometres of timber and costing more than a hundred million dollars, Ken Ham’s vision has become a project of Biblical proportions. In doing so, the former Brisbane science teacher is now one of the most powerful and polarizing religious leaders in the United States of America. Ken Ham’s critics label him a fanatic selling a mind-bending view of world history; his supporters believe he is a modern day messiah. This Sunday Night, reporter Steve Pennells takes us deep inside America’s Bible belt and into Ken Ham’s dream build to meet the man convinced the world is only 6000 years old, evolution is a fraud and that Noah really did usher all those animals onto his Ark two by two. We’ll meet Ham’s fervent supporters like the controversial county clerk Kim Davis who – famously or infamously, depending on your view – refused to sign same-sex marriage licenses. And we’ll hear from Ham’s staunchest critic, Bill Nye the Science Guy, who is determined to challenge and debunk the religious leader’s teachings at every turn.
Headline in the House
It’s not for nothing that Derryn Hinch is known as the Human Headline. In his professional life – and his private life – he’s generated more than his fair share. Now at the sprightly age of 72, and after decades of challenging politicians and their flawed policies, he’s decided he wants to become one himself. Senator Hinch. In his own words, Derryn has “jumped the shark in moving from journalism to politics”. But while he has a prominent public profile as a man who’s prepared to stand on principle, like all potential politicians, his every word will be closely scrutinize
Heartbreak at the Top of the World
It was their ultimate dream: a husband and wife, together making it to the top of the world – Mount Everest. Tragically, one would succeed and one would die trying. This Sunday Night, the real story behind an Australian couple’s pursuit of mountaineering’s ultimate prize. Just over a week ago, Maria Strydom and her husband Robert had made it to the south summit when Maria was overcome by altitude sickness. In his own words, Robert takes us through the next heartbreaking 30 hours – the desperate attempts to get his wife to safety, his own battle with altitude sickness and the moment when their oxygen supplies ran out. In Kathmandu, reporter Steve Pennells meets a grieving husband shattered by an adventure that went horribly wrong. As Robert now says of Maria: “I still can’t look at any pictures of her because it just breaks my heart.”
Red Hot
For years, the Red Hot Chili Peppers had as many hits as bad headlines. Drug taking, a band member dying, they were the bad boys of hard core funk rock. Now the Chili Peppers are back on the road again and making news. Two weeks ago they cancelled a concert when lead singer Anthony Kiedis had to be rushed to hospital. With a long US and European tour ahead and a new album on the way, the Red Hot Chili Peppers sit down with Sunday Night for their only Australian television interview. Reporter Rahni Sadler hears how fatherhood has so dramatically changed life for Anthony and catches up with Aussie bass player Flea who’s still having a whole lot of fun more than 30-years later.
Play On
The footy hero. The tennis champ. The nurse. They’re three extraordinary people all determined to play their part to defeat an insidious, killer disease that claims two Australians every day. Motor Neurone Disease. Footy fans know Neale Daniher as AFL royalty. He was a champion player and has forged an enduring career as coach and a behind-the-scenes figure at a number of AFL clubs. But he’s also become one of the fiercest campaigners for research into a disease without a cure. Neale was diagnosed with MND in 2013 and wasted no time putting the energy he displayed on the footy field into fighting to find a cure. Alongside Neale is former tennis pro Ange Cunningham, who has been stricken by the disease as well. Despite it leaving her trapped in an immobile body, she still summons an amazing resolve to get on with what remains of her life with humour, love and a complete absence of self-pity. Joining Neale and Ange on the frontline in the battle to beat MND is Cath Baker, a former intensive care nurse who’s been caring for Ange. Together they share a resolve to help researchers uncover the cause of MND and find a cure. Neale’s defying the odds, living longer than he should and using that precious time to help unlock the secrets behind MND. For the past month, Sunday Night has been welcomed into the Daniher family’s day-to-day life and inside the world of Ange Cunningham and her family. We found two amazing people who have no time for sadness, whose families celebrate every new day and whose approach to MND is uplifting and inspirational. We were also there for the day Neale feared he’d never live to see – the marriage of his eldest daughter. As Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle discovered, Neale Daniher is making sure the final quarter of his life will be his finest. As he encounters sufferers across Australia he gives them a hug and encourages them and their loved ones to Play On. But as we’ll discover in this very special Sunday Night report,
In the Presence of The Greatest
It was one of Mike Willesee’s biggest risks and it yielded one of his biggest rewards. In 1975, as heavyweights Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier prepared for their ultimate showdown in the Thriller in Manila, Willesee flew to the Philippines on spec to try to secure an interview with the man who’d become arguably the most celebrated sports figure in history. Once he’d cajoled himself past the minders, Willesee was told he’d have a couple of minutes with The Greatest. Instead he got three hours one-on-one and an access-all-areas pass to Ali’s backroom antics and scalding training sessions. The result is one of the most extraordinary profiles of Ali ever assembled. Dressed in a bathrobe and lying down on his hotel sofa, Ali spars and swings and ducks and weaves with Willesee through a range of incendiary topics – race, money, religion, sex and death. And unsurprisingly he speaks his mind. Now, as the world mourns the death of Ali, Sunday Night presents this phenomenal encounter with him, the story behind the story and Willesee’s contemporary reflections on what made the champion such an inspirational and important figure. It is a profoundly revealing portrait of a monumental man.
Secret Weapon
It is one of the most disturbing and perplexing health crises the world has seen. The mosquito-borne Zika virus has swept across Brazil and brought hundreds upon hundreds of malformed babies and distressed parents. It’s prompted the World Health Organization to declare an international emergency and shaken the planning of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games as sports people and spectators worry about the implications of Zika. Now as the countdown to Rio 2016 begins in earnest, some secret Australian know-how is being trained against the virus and the results are extremely promising. Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock joins the Australia-led effort in Brazil to eliminate Zika with Aussie mozzies and ingenious science. He meets expectant
Dami’s Promise
Her performances at Eurovision were so electrifying, so powerful the unimaginable almost happened. Australia came within a heartbeat of stealing Europe’s most precious pop prize – the Eurovision Song Contest. Dami Im, a local favourite since she floored everyone with her spectacular voice and won The X Factor Australia, became an international sensation as she belted out Sound of Silence in front of hundreds of millions of Eurovision fans. Naturally, the next step would be to ride that success into Europe itself with a sold-out tour of venues and a brand new record to sell. Certainly Dami was under pressure to exploit her new found fame but remarkably she said no. She’s made a promise to a little girl she’d never met and she was going to honour it. So Dami Im, freshly minted global superstar headed home to suburban Brisbane and husband Noah and prepared for what she considers the most important trip of her life – to Uganda and a six-year-old named Jovia. Sunday Night travels with Dami as she turns down the immediate opportunities of Eurovision success to fly to Uganda in Africa to meet and help Jovia. Sure she’ll perform to a packed house – but it’s a school hall filled with 200 children swaying, clapping and smiling as Dami plays a heartfelt set of songs. But most of all, it’s a meeting of a lifetime that will change a little girl’s destiny.
The Never-Ending Story
Imagine there was a way to live forever but it came with a chilling caveat – you have to die first. That’s the confronting contract that one young woman has bravely entered into in her plan to rejoin her boyfriend and her father sometime in the future. Kim Suozzi, a young, super bright neuroscience student, has joined a growing number of people who put new found faith in Cryogenics, the procedure in which patients are frozen after they die and stored in stainless steel containers awaiting a scientific breakthrough that will enable them to come back to life
It is one of the most destructive and bizarre rampages in Australian criminal history.
Two men – a father, a son – posing as farm handymen, preying on unsuspecting Australian families. Stealing, looting, destroying, menacing and ultimately killing.
For eight years they cut a deep scar through the lives of honest, hardworking families throughout Queensland, NSW and Victoria, causing millions of dollars damage and untold heartache while the authorities seemingly did nothing.
And disturbingly, over the course of their wanton crime spree, they stole guns and built an imposing arsenal. They were preparing for an inevitable showdown – and inevitable bloodshed.
Australia first heard the names Gino and Mark Stocco on a Friday afternoon last October when the pair opened fire on a police highway patrol, raising the stakes in one of the biggest manhunts ever undertaken by Australian law enforcement.
The Stoccos were desperate, dangerous and on the run. Twelve days and thousands of kilometers later, it came to a bloody end when the pair was arrested for murder and a catalogue of other offences.
For the first time, Sunday Night takes you deep inside this intriguing true crime drama as reporter Steve Pennells pieces together the forensic detail of a crime spree eight years in the making.
From outback Queensland, through the backblocks of NSW and all the way down south to Victoria’s Ned Kelly country, we piece together the extraordinary puzzle that brought havoc and devastation to countless families.
They were master manipulators, targeting isolated communities, charming their way into the homes of the unsuspecting, always one step ahead of the law.
Sunday Night exclusively profiles the crusading farmer forced to turn amateur detective to gather evidence against the Stoccos to force authorities to act. And other families struck by the pair, but who bravely campaigned for action.
This major Sunday Night investigation charts the audacious, inexp
Bourne Again
It could be the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster. The world’s biggest, most bankable movie star famous for playing a ruthlessly efficient secret agent makes it his mission to stop a belligerent and divisive billionaire from becoming the next President of the United States. Only it’s no big screen fiction, it’s Matt Damon’s current and very real mission. Matt has returned to his most successful role as Jason Bourne and is sure to set the box office ablaze with the latest instalment of the action franchise. But for Matt no scenario, real or imagined, is more terrifying and dangerous than a Trump presidency and he pulls no punches when it comes to The Donald’s political aspirations. If he fails in his efforts to thwart the ambitions of the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, he’s asked Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler if it might be possible for him and his family to take up residency in Australia. In this revealing exclusive, Matt takes us inside his happy home life, talks emotionally and candidly about his career’s great and defining moments and speaks passionately about his concerns for the political future of his country.
Me Margot
One moment she was a bright young star of Australian television, the next she was arguably the brightest new star in a much bigger firmament. Margot Robbie – from Neighbours to Hollywood’s Next Big Thing. Turns out slapping Leonardo DiCaprio in a screen test for The Wolf of Wall Street was not the disastrous career move Margot feared it might be. She won the part, all but stole the show and strolled into a string of big time roles. The latest is Jane in The Legend of Tarzan. Soon she’s bringing her best baddie to a headline role in Suicide Squad. There’s no stopping her. In this Sunday Night exclusive, Margot sits down with Denham Hitchcock to talk Neighbours, State of Origin, that fateful slap and her newfound passion for backyard tattooing. Seems none of Margot’s co-stars are safe from he
How is it possible that a simple but tragic accident could become a full blown case of murder?
That a loving, grieving husband-to-be could be thrown into some of the nation’s grimmest prisons for life on the basis of a catalogue of deeply flawed evidence and assumptions?
And even when that evidence is comprehensively dismissed as hopelessly wrong, he is left to languish for another decade behind bars?
This happened to Henry Keogh.
He did the time. An awfully long time. More than 20 years as a result of a catastrophic failure of the Australian justice system.
Now a major Sunday Night investigation reveals he did not do the crime. Indeed, expert evidence assembled by the program holds that the crime itself – cold-blooded murder – never happened.
Sunday Night also reveals that powerful and compelling evidence which could have freed this man only recently came to light after sitting on a Government shelf for almost 10 years.
In March 1994, South Australian couple Henry Keogh and his fiancé Anna-Jane Cheney were six weeks away from their wedding. Returning from a night out, Anna-Jane decided to take a bath while Henry visited his mother nearby. He returned home to find her submerged in the bath. She had drowned.
At first authorities appeared to share Henry’s conclusion that this was a terrible accident – Anna-Jane had slipped in the bath, knocked her head and fallen unconscious underwater.
But days later their view changed.
Soon, Henry would be thrown into the Watch House to await trial for murder. A State forensic pathologist had concluded that Henry held Anna-Jane by the ankles and pushed her down into the bathwater to drown. Two trials later a jury agreed and Henry was sent to prison for life.
What he and his defence team didn’t know was that the forensic pathologist’s reputation was unravelling even before his trial had begun. Eventually he would be exposed as unqualified in key areas of expertise and his conclusions woul
The Ghost People
African witchdoctors have been spreading the belief that albino limbs will make you rich, leading to the poaching of innocent children and adults with the skin condition in Tanzania.
Bruna & Reece
Self-confessed 'book nerds' Reese Witherspoon and Aussie Bruna Papandrea have formed one of the strongest duos in Hollywood by choosing to showcase movies with strong female lead roles.
Super Starr
The first time Poppy Starr Olsen picked up a skateboard she was eight and as many years later she has become the best female in the world at what she loves.
Carl Williams was a baby-faced, cold-blooded killer – one of the most violent criminals Australia has ever known.
His lust for power triggered Melbourne’s gangland war that left more than 30 dead.
But Carl Williams’ reign of terror ended when he was jailed for murder in 2005.
And his life ended ignominiously five years later when he was bashed to death by a fellow prisoner.
The Carl Williams story was over … or so we thought.
Now, in a major investigation, Sunday Night has gained access to his jailhouse computer.
Inside are documents and personal letters containing explosive revelations and confessions. Among them, Williams reveals why he became a callous killer.
But the diaries also reveal another side to this notorious gangland figure; Carl the family man.
And for the first time, his 15-year-old daughter, Dhakota, and step-daughter, Breanane, share a very different side of their infamous dad.
In a remarkably candid interview with reporter Steve Pennells, Dhakota, Breanane and their mother Roberta open the door on a secretive world. They tell of a doting, loving dad … but are also remarkably frank about his horrible crimes.
Sally’s Miracle
This is a story that’s close to our hearts here at Sunday Night. Sally Obermeder is host of Seven’s The Daily Edition, a colleague and a friend. Five years ago, Sally experienced the greatest high and the most devastating low of her life – all in the space of a few weeks. First, the sheer joy of welcoming her first child into the world but then the shocking discovery she had breast cancer. Throughout her battle to beat the cancer, Sally nurtured a seemingly impossible dream; she wanted to have more kids. So she had four embryos frozen in the hope that one day that dream could be realised. It hasn’t been an easy road, but, as Rahni Sadler reports, the love and kindness of a stranger on the other side of the world is helping to make that wish come true.
It’s War
An ocean separates Australia and America but when our swimmers meet in Rio next week the distance between us will be measured in hundredths of a second. For as long as the Olympic Games have been running, there’s been no greater rivalry than our two swimming teams. From the very beginning, it’s been a war in the water – bitter rivalries, secret tactics and wild one-eyed patriotism. On the eve of the next clash, Sunday Night investigates which nation has bragging rights when it comes to being the fittest, the fastest and who will finish first.
Oh Ricky
British comic genius Ricky Gervais loves nothing more than taking the mickey out of those who deserve it the most. He of the quick wit and razor-sharp tongue has Hollywood ducking for cover at the annual Golden Globes. But for his latest comedic adventure, Ricky has gone back to where his fame began – the hit TV series The Office. As Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen discovered, Ricky’s character David Brent is just as mad even when he leaves the office.
Like hundreds of thousands of other young Australians, Adelaide Stratton had been planning and saving for it for years – that first trip away from home to see the world.
But for many following this annual rite of passage, there’s a new menace: random acts of senseless terror.
And so it was for Adelaide and three of her young Aussie mates, when the adventure of a lifetime came to a brutal and bloody end.
The recent Nice terrorist attack left Adelaide critically injured and fighting for her life.
But in those first crucial moments, as all those around her were dying, a stranger would become her saviour.
Chris Bath is a close friend of the Strattons and has followed Adelaide on her slow and painful road to recovery.
This week, Chris returns to Sunday Night with this very personal story. We hear from Adelaide for the first time and the brave man who saved her life.
Fatal Beauty
Every year, thousands of Australians head overseas for cosmetic surgery. The attraction is the low prices, but more often than not the results are far from perfect. Twenty-nine-year-old Gold Coast beauty Evita Sarmonikas took the gamble. Despite her stunning good looks, Evita felt insecure about her body. So she packed her bag and left Australia for a relatively minor procedure. Little did she know the doctor she found had a record of botched operations and suspicious deaths. Tragically, Evita would be his next victim. In a major investigation, Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock tracks down the surgeon and finds he’s still practising.
Rick Springfield
“Jessie’s Girl” is one of the catchiest rock ‘n’ roll tunes of all time and turned the man who made it into an international star. To this day, Rick Springfield still takes pride in being an Aussie even though he left our shores nearly 50 years ago to chase fame and fortune. In this very personal profile, Kerri-Anne Kennerley discovers the remarkably candid 67-year-old is still living his music dream.
Saving Australia Diet – The Final Check Up
Earlier this year we put three simple but very different diets to the test to see if they could turn the tables on one of Australia’s biggest killers – Type 2 diabetes. Each of our three volunteers was facing the prospect of an early death from the devastating disease. Our guinea pigs were supervised by a team of specialists including celebrity chef Pete Evans. This Sunday Night, reporter PJ Madam has the stunning results.
The truth about the Beirut child-snatch bungle and why Adam Whittington was left to rot in jail. How a grieving couple changed vaccination laws across Australia. Linda Ronstadt's last song.
Fatal Distraction
Admit it. We’ve all done it – snuck in a mobile call or tapped out a text while we’re driving. Not only are we risking hefty fines, we’re also placing our lives – and the lives of others – in very serious danger. Accidents caused by distracted drivers are now one of the biggest killers on our roads, especially among young people. But it’s not just mobile phones that are the culprit. Cars are now bristling with all manner of electronic gadgetry to make the driving experience easier. Sadly, they’re also making it easier to be fatally distracted. But, as Alex Cullen reports, there’s help on the way… thanks to an ingenious Aussie invention.
The Boss
‘The Boss’ – two simple words that say everything about Bruce Springsteen: the rock and roll giant. Bruce Springsteen’s impact on music is colossal – his live stage performances with the E Street band were the stuff of legend. And, at 67, he’s never been more at ease in a stadium packed to the rafters with adoring fans. But, in an extraordinarily frank interview with Rahni Sadler, we learn about his early years and the dark days that were the driving force behind Bruce Springsteen’s road to greatness.
Yummy Mummies
In the upside down world of becoming a new mum, Ashy Bines has become the go-to girl for those wanting to get their old bodies back. She’s built a booming fitness empire helping mums and mums-to-be achieve health and happiness, and get back in shape and into a bikini. They’re called ‘yummy mummies’ but their pursuit of a perfect body has created a storm of outrage, with critics claiming it’s promoting unhealthy and unrealistic goals which end up doing more harm than good. Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle weighs in to the post-baby body debate.
House of Horrors
Natascha Kampusch was just 10 years old when her life turned into a nightmare. She was on her way to school when a deranged loner snatched her off a street in Vienna. Natascha was taken to a suburban house and locked up in a cellar, purpose-built by her kidnapper. Trapped in the darkness, she was subjected to unimaginable abuse for eight long years before one day making a daring escape. But as Rahni Sadler discovers, there’s now a bizarre final twist to this story — Natascha has become the proud owner of the house of horrors where she was imprisoned.
A Tall Tale
With the AFL season drawing to a close, clubs throughout Australia will once again be on the hunt for that winning edge, a secret game-breaking weapon. The formula is simple – players have to be fast, fit and most of all, tall. Increasingly, Aussie Rules clubs are turning their attention overseas and in particular America. They’re targeting the best and the biggest talent the U.S. has to offer and it’s a bold recruitment drive that’s already paying dividends.
Hunted
It was a Tuesday morning a little over two years ago when Glen Turner left home for work. He would never return, the victim of a brutal act of revenge and murder. On an isolated road in the Australian bush, the father-of-two was killed simply for doing his job. On that day, Glen was investigating a wealthy and powerful farmer who had been caught continually breaking the law. In doing so, he made a very dangerous enemy. For the first time on Sunday Night, Glen’s colleague and the sole witness to the senseless murder recounts the last terrifying moments of his mate’s life – a bloody showdown that’s left an entire community shattered.
True Blue Doc
He’s become the world’s most popular television doctor, a role based on his dislike for children, animals and even his patients. He is of course Doc Martin. But the man who has turned the grouchy medico into an international star is nothing like his TV persona. In real life, Martin Clunes is a generous and caring family man who overcame bullying in school to eventually find his true purpose – making people laugh. And as Kerri-Anne Kennerley discovers, Martin found plenty of new material on a recent trip down under.
The Fatal Shore
Summer is not yet here and already there’s been a shark attack on our beaches. Thankfully, teenage surfer Cooper Allen survived his encounter last week with a four-metre great white. But of greater concern is where it happened – a beautiful and dangerous stretch of coastline that’s fast becoming our Fatal Shore. As the debate again surfaces over how to best protect surf-loving Aussies, young Cooper tells Sunday Night he had one greater fear than being bitten by a shark – what his Mum would say. Reporter Rahni Sadler catches up with mother and son as he recovers from the terrifying attack.
The Hunting Grounds
A shameful epidemic is sweeping our universities. Female students are being sexually assaulted in frightening numbers, with only a fraction of the assaults resulting in any punishment for the offenders. While the accused are often allowed to continue their studies, their victims are left broken and afraid. In a Sunday Night major investigation, three brave young women speak out for the first time. And as PJ Madam uncovers, they all paint the same picture – that some of our most reputable universities have become hunting grounds for young predators.
King of the Waltz
In a time of pop, rock and roll and heavy metal, he chose the most unlikely musical path to fame and fortune. But by becoming the King of the Waltz, André Rieu has taken his violin to the top of the charts to become one of the world’s most popular and successful artists. As Kerri-Anne Kennerley discovers, the musical maestro’s life is like one of his extravagant concerts, full of passion and surprises.
He’s Back
From Mad Max to Hollywood outcast, Mel Gibson’s life on and off the big screen has been a wild ride. Along the way he’s picked up two Oscars, earned a pile of cash and attracted a bucket load of bad publicity. But there’s no doubting that Mel is a survivor, overcoming scandals that would have destroyed the careers of just about anyone else in Tinsel Town. On Sunday Night, in an exclusive interview with Mike Willesee, the award winning actor- director speaks from the heart about his breakdowns, his break ups and his struggle with sobriety.
Class War
It’s highly controversial and it’s dividing schools around the country. The ‘Safe Schools’ program is promoted as the answer to schoolyard bullying and discrimination. But it’s critics, and there are many, warn it’s only pushing an extreme left-wing ideology. As PJ Madam discovers, children as young as five are being exposed to sexual material designed to increase their acceptance of homosexual and transgender kids. But how young is too young?
Towering Ambition
They’re two-years in the making but the results are nothing short of spectacular. Human towers that reach dizzying heights when teams of more than 100 men, women and children climb on top of each other to create a living skyscraper. It’s a celebration of strength, courage and most of all, balance. And the highlight – when the smallest child in the team clambers to the summit. This year, Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock put his body on the line to take part in this death-defying feat.
About Face
Imagine going through life where everybody is a stranger – your loved ones, your friends, your work mates. This bizarre medical condition known as face blindness is more common than you think. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Australians have it. For them, faces are a blur of unrecognisable features and even the world’s biggest celebrities draw a blank. As Sunday Night’s Steve Pennells discovers, in the most extreme cases, some sufferers can’t even recognise themselves.
Katelyn’s Cup
It’s the race that stops a nation and last year for the first time ever a woman won the Melbourne Cup. So can history repeat itself? Well, Katelyn Mallyon has no doubt that it can. She is the only female jockey lining up for the big race on Tuesday. But to get there, Katelyn has had to overcome a career-threatening injury. In 2012, she broke her back in a horrific fall at Flemington. Now, four years on, her good friend Michelle Payne believes Katelyn has what it takes to win.
The Voice
Michael Bublé has one of the greatest voices of a generation. It’s made him wildly wealthy and he’s certainly enjoyed his success. However, years of excessive partying and hard drinking finally took a toll on the Canadian crooner’s health. Earlier this year, his award-winning voice gave way. Without urgent surgery, Michael’s career was in jeopardy. Now, the charming singer reveals to guest reporter Chris Bath how close he really came to losing it all.
Leap of Faith
For nearly three minutes, Luke Aikins had no idea whether he would live or die. One of the world’s best skydivers, Luke was attempting to create history by jumping out of a plane without a parachute, without a wing suit, with nothing at all. His target was a net far, far below. Crazy? Impossible? Well not for this thrill-seeking dad who lived to tell Sunday Night’s PJ Madam how he did it and why.
Torn Apart
It happened in a split second. Two kids swept out to sea in a terrifying rip. For their loving dad, Stephen, there was only one thing on his mind – saving them. But he underestimated the unstoppable force of the rip and soon he was in trouble himself. Stephen’s children made it to shore but he didn’t survive. On Sunday Night, Stephen’s family has bravely decided to share his story in the hope it will help save lives this summer.
It’s My Life
Big hair, big music, big hits. Jon Bon Jovi was up there in the music stratosphere – a rock God. It didn’t hurt that he was blessed with drop-dead good looks. But in many ways it’s been a burden too and he’s often found himself fighting for respect. Now at 54, he’s more mature, more comfortable in his own skin and he’s pursuing new passions far away from the glare of the stadium lights.
Coming Home
It’s a moment Kerri-Anne Kennerley always dreamed would happen, but feared would never come – her husband John returning to the family home. Earlier this year, John came very close to dying in a freak fall that broke his neck. He could no longer move or speak and merely breathing was a challenge. But eight months on, this hugely determined couple has achieved the near impossible. Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle is there for John’s very emotional homecoming.
Rise of the Superbugs
It’s the stuff of a best-selling science fiction thriller – a killer superbug that threatens to wipe out mankind. But this is no Hollywood blockbuster, it’s real. Scientists have now discovered a terrifying new organism that antibiotics can’t kill. It’s not only indestructible; it’s also very smart and can turn a benign infection into a deadly contagion. Reporter PJ Madam visits the high-security military base where scientists are desperately trying to stop a global pandemic before it’s too late.
The Beat Goes On
If there was any doubt about the enduring appeal of Phil Collins, it vanished a few days ago when five shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London sold out in 15 seconds flat. During the 90s, he was one of the most prolific and popular stars of the time, but at the peak of his fame he stepped away from public view. A marriage break-up drove him to alcoholism that almost killed him. But as Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock discovers, against all odds, Phil Collins is back.
Night Nurse
She struck in the dead of night. Her victims – our most vulnerable citizens. Megan Haines was a night nurse at an aged care home on the north coast of NSW. But she had an almost pathological hatred of the elderly. And when some of her patients complained about her rude treatment and rough-handedness, Haines took her revenge, committing what she thought was the perfect crime. In a major Sunday Night investigation, reporter PJ Madam finds that Haines’ arrogance would be her downfall.
Girls’ Night Out
It’s a weekend ritual that our health authorities are warning is fast becoming a national crisis – young women who hit the town drinking, partying and then more drinking. New research shows women are now matching it with the blokes drink for drink. And it’s particularly prevalent among younger women, where a girls’ night out has become an orgy of boozy over-indulgence and outrageous behaviour. As Alex Cullen reports, it’s more than just a hangover they should be worried about.
Take It to the Limit
They were the Kings of Classic Rock, beginning way back in the ‘70s. The Eagles was the creation of two good mates, Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Between them they turned out hit after hit: Hotel California, Take It to the Limit, One of These Nights. For 45 years, through bust-ups and reunions, their friendship survived. But earlier this year, that remarkable partnership tragically ended. Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler catches up with Don Henley to reminisce about his great mate Glenn and the magic that was the Eagles.
