The 50 Year Secret

The New Zealand Herald
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The 50 Year Secret

School teacher Jennifer Beard disappeared on New Zealand's West Coast while hitchhiking on New Year's Eve 1969. Nearly three weeks later her body was found under a bridge outside the tiny township of Haast. Now a Herald investigation has uncovered new evidence that could identify her killer.

  1. Episode 1: Gentle Giant

    EPISODE 1

    Episode 1: Gentle Giant

    School teacher Jennifer Beard disappeared on New Zealand's West Coast while hitchhiking on New Year's Eve 1969. Nearly three weeks later her body was found under a bridge outside the tiny township of Haast. Now a Herald investigation has uncovered...

    18 min
  2. Episode 2: The Sleeping Woman

    EPISODE 2

    Episode 2: The Sleeping Woman

    Police spent precious days searching for Jennifer's body as it lay decaying under the Haast River Bridge. We speak to Michael Hines, who was just four years old when he unknowingly stumbled across the crime scene.

    20 min
  3. Episode 3: Confession

    EPISODE 3

    Episode 3: Confession

    A secret that had been bubbling under the surface in a small South Island town finally comes to light. Ian Molloy speaks about the day his friend Reg Wildbore showed up on his porch and confessed to the unthinkable.

    22 min
  4. Episode 4: The Wild West Coast

    EPISODE 4

    Episode 4: The Wild West Coast

    It's 50 years on, but former lead detective Emmett Mitten still clearly remembers the challenges of the Beard case - from going three weeks without a shower, to getting reliable descriptions of the possible murderer and the infamous Vauxhall.

    22 min
  5. Episode 5: D-Day Is Coming

    EPISODE 5

    Episode 5: D-Day Is Coming

    Reg Wildbore had more than one secret, and they were all starting to catch up with him. We take a look at the twists in his story and speak to his daughter, who reveals it's not the first she's heard of a confession to the murder.

    19 min
  6. Episode 6: Something In His Eyes

    EPISODE 6

    Episode 6: Something In His Eyes

    Reg Wildbore's former best mate Peter Johnston talks about Reg's strange behaviour and why it's not hard for him to believe he was capable of murder.

    22 min
  7. Episode 7: Leave It Alone

    EPISODE 7

    Episode 7: Leave It Alone

    A confession, sex claims, and a statement putting Reg Wildbore practically at the scene of the crime the day Jennifer disappeared. Had nobody tried to bring this to light before? As it turns out, they did.

    24 min
  8. Episode 8: A Bad Feeling

    EPISODE 8

    Episode 8: A Bad Feeling

    The last person to ever see Jennifer alive recalls the moment she saw the British tourist climbing into the car of the man who's believed to have killed her. We retrace the route Jennifer took in her last hour alive.

    20 min
See All Season 1 (13)

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School teacher Jennifer Beard disappeared on New Zealand's West Coast while hitchhiking on New Year's Eve 1969. Nearly three weeks later her body was found under a bridge outside the tiny township of Haast. Now a Herald investigation has uncovered new evidence that could identify her killer.

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