06 Lies in Lismore | Strange decisions

Parts of the police investigation seem confusing, even bizarre. Looking into how the detective work unfolded leads journalist Richard Baker to raise questions about the decisions made during the Simone Strobel case. He examines a crime scene analysis, and a strange 'quid-pro-quo' arrangement between detectives and a writer.

Editorial note: An earlier version of this episode said that the West Australian Supreme Court agreed with Tobias Moran that the Virginia Peters book implied he was guilty.   What the judge actually said was that an imputation of guilt is arguably capable of being made. But he said the book must be read as a whole, and it wouldn’t be straightforward to assess if the whole book conveys an imputation that Tobias was guilty. The judge said that Tobias had an arguable – but as he assessed it, not strong – defamation case. 

Credits

• Host and reporter: Richard Baker
• Producer and fact checker: Romy Sher
• Supervising producer: Alicia Bridges
• Special thanks: Chiara Holzhaeuser; Joanne Shoebridge and everyone at ABC North Coast
• Additional reporting: Cath Adams
• Theme composition and additional music: Martin Peralta and Ashley Cadell
• Sound design: Tim Symonds
• Executive Producers: Tim Roxburgh, Eric George
• Head of Audio on Demand: Jessica Radburn