CLAREMONT: The Trial The West Australian

Is Bradley Robert Edwards guilty or not guilty?

Only one person knows what the answer to that question is, and he’s taken 12 weeks to make it.

But on Thursday September 24, the world will find out.

Justice Stephen Hall has the weight of two decades of fear, mystery and grief on his shoulders, and in a week, he’ll have eyes of West Australians on him.

Claremont In Conversation is back with the biggest moments of the trial of the century, a week out from the verdict.

In this bonus episode, Tim Clarke says he’s nervous, and it’s understandable why.

A lot of people close to, or invested in this trial are also nervous, because in a week’s time, West Australians will find out if the man standing trial for the last seven months is the Claremont Serial Killer.

But it represents much more than a seven-month trial. As we’ve found out over the course of the last few months, the Claremont Serial Killings case never went cold. Police, families and scientists have been working on the case for the last 24 years.

It was a trial that was so important, not even a global pandemic could stop it, a trial that will literally stop traffic, when road works going on outside the court will stop for day.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they take you through what to expect next week and what it will mean for judicial history after it’s all over.

If you have any questions for the Claremont in Conversation podcast team, send them in to claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au 

If you’re new to the Claremont podcast, or want a trial refresher, head to our JUMP IN NOW episodes to hear a detailed run through of the evidence.

The West Australian has also released a two-part video series, as Tim Clarke takes you through the areas which are key to the trial, from Claremont, where the women went missing, to Hollywood hospital and to the sites were Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies were found.

To watch those videos, head to:

Part 1:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-on-a-visual-tour-of-claremont-ng-b881516606z

Part 2:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-to-wellard-and-eglington-ng-b881517153z

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

95 trial days and 95 episodes (plus a few bonus ones) later,

WA's trial of the century has officially come to a close.

The trial has been harrowing at times, it's been informative and eye-opening, but ultimately heartbreaking for the families and the three women who's lives were tragically taken too soon.

So, what happens next? Justice Stephen Hall reserved his judgement until September 24, and will spend the next three months carefully analysing every piece of evidence, every witness statement and every conclusion both the prosecution and defence asked him to make - all to decide if Bradley Robert Edwards is the Claremont Serial Killer.

In this bonus episode, Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke, Alison Fan and producer Kate Ryan discuss the trial, how they are feeling following the Australia’s longest running and most expensive criminal investigation, and they’re expecting when the verdict day comes.

Thank you to the podcast contributors Damien Cripps, Brendan Chapman and Tom Percy QC, all who gave their time to help us understand the concepts of the trial and the complicated science.

And a massive thank you to The West Australian’s Emily Moulton, who worked tirelessly for 95 days live blogging every moment of the trial, without which a daily podcast would have been a lot harder to put together.

Catch up on the Claremont Serial Killings trial at thewest.com.au and stay tuned to the Claremont in Conversation podcast for more bonus episodes over the next few months.

For those wanting more on WA’s trial of the century, The West Australian has released a two-part video series, as Tim Clarke takes you through the areas which are key to the trial, from Claremont, where the women went missing, to Hollywood hospital and to the sites were Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies were found.

To watch those videos, head to:

Part 1:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-on-a-visual-tour-of-claremont-ng-b881516606z

Part 2:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-to-wellard-and-eglington-ng-b881517153z

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Everything’s been said, the evidence is out in the open and now Justice Hall has a massive task ahead of him.

After 95 days and more than 200 witnesses, WA’s trial of the century -  the Claremont Serial Killings trial has come to a close, with the defence finishing their closing statement with the words,

“A conviction founded on inadequate evidence would not constitute proper closure".

Using the final day of his closing statements to focus on the fibre case against his client, Paul Yovich put forward a scenario of contamination theory, that Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon could have picked up the same fibres nine months apart through ‘coincidence’.

He also conceded the person who killed Jane also killed Ciara, but  that person wasn’t Bradley Edwards.

He also said there’s no evidence that person also abducted and killed Sarah Spiers.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they discuss the final day of this mammoth trial, and how the victim’s families must be feeling, after the trial of the man accused of the murders more than two decades ago.

If you have any questions for the Claremont in Conversation podcast team, send them in to claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au

The West Australian has also released a two-part video series, as Tim Clarke takes you through the areas which are key to the trial, from Claremont, where the women went missing, to Hollywood hospital and to the sites were Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies were found.

To watch those videos, head to:

Part 1:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-on-a-visual-tour-of-claremont-ng-b881516606z

Part 2:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-to-wellard-and-eglington-ng-b881517153z

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

On Day 94 of the trial, and the fourth day of Paul Yovich’s closing statements, the defence focussed on Ciara Glennon’s disappearance.

The court had previously been told the night the she disappeared, the accused Claremont Serial Killer Bradley Edwards was supposed to be in Dawesville seeing friends, but didn’t show up until the next morning.

Those friends told the court the reason he gave for his lateness was because he was ‘trying to reconcile with his wife’.

The prosecution say that night he killed Ciara Glennon and dumped her body in Eglington.

But the defence put up a different reason - those witness’s memories were inaccurate and Bradley Edwards was actually breaking up with his girlfriend.

But that girlfriend, who gave evidence on day 4 of the trial (titled Ex Wife and Sex Lives for a catch up) said he broke up with her in April, telling her he’d met someone else. The court heard he met his second wife on April 1.

Justice Hall was quick with questions and queries for Paul Yovich, telling the defence lawyer that didn’t make sense.

As Tim Clarke and Alison Fan discuss in this episode, when Bradley Edwards broke up with that girlfriend, he told her the name of the woman he was leaving her for. If that happened in March, it would have been a premonition.

Paul Yovich also questioned why, if he did it, he would drive more than 100 kilometres out of his way to dump a body - to which Justice Hall quickly replied that if he did it, he probably wanted to distance himself from the crime scene as much as possible.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they discuss the questions Paul Yovich brought up surrounding Ciara Glennon’s disappearance.

If you have any questions for the Claremont in Conversation podcast team, send them in to claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au

The West Australian has also released a two-part video series, as Tim Clarke takes you through the areas which are key to the trial, from Claremont, where the women went missing, to Hollywood hospital and to the sites were Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies were found.

To watch those videos, head to:

Part 1:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-on-a-visual-tour-of-claremont-ng-b881516606z

Part 2:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-to-wellard-and-eglington-ng-b881517153z

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Paul Yovich told the court Sarah Spiers was the victim of a grave crime, but Bradley Edwards didn’t commit that crime.

Making sure to tell the court he didn’t “intend to trivialise Ms Spiers’ death, or disrespect her. Quite the contrary.”

He told the court Sarah Spiers was the victim of a grave crime, ‘a blameless victim’.

The 18-year-old called for a taxi at 2.06am in the early hours of January 27, 1996. A taxi arrived three minutes later, but she was gone, and was never seen again.

Previous witnesses have told Mr Edwards was at work early the next morning. Paul Yovich said logic dictates that it couldn’t be possible for Bradley Edwards could have killed Sarah Spiers, because it would have left just a six-hour window for him to kill and dispose of his victim, then arrive at work at 7.30 the next morning.

But another witness, who kept journals, told the court Mr Edwards may have got to work later that morning.

As far as what he did the night before, Alison Fan describes in this episode that Paul Yovich was quite blunt in some of his statements around Bradley Edwards’ the night Sarah disappeared, saying “We don’t know and you can’t speculate” and “You can’t fix the evidence to fit the case.”

He asked, why would he choose that night above all others? And as we know, the prosecution have abandoned the emotional turmoil evidence, which the state had previously relied on, saying that Bradley Edwards was abandoned by his first wife, who had left him for another man, that night she rejected him.

But that evidence can’t be used anymore.

Bradley Edwards’ defence lawyer questioned the timeline the prosecution mapped out for how they say Sarah disappeared.

In the early hours of January 27, 1996, Sarah Spiers made a phone call from a phone box in Claremont, to go to Mosman Park at 2.06am. 3 minutes later, the taxi arrived but she was gone.

Mosman Park resident, Wayne Stewart gave evidence that he heard a woman’s blood-curdling scream at around 3am that same morning, and he saw a car under a street light.

Mr Yovich pointed out that Mosman Park is around a 10-minute drive from Claremont, but the screams were heard at around 3am - around an hour after Sarah was last seen.

He also said Justice Hall could not find that this evidence could prove that the screams came from Sarah, or that the car belonged to Bradley Edwards.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Alison Fan as they dissect the fourth day of the defence’s closing statements.

If you have any questions for the Claremont in Conversation podcast team, send them in to claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au

The West Australian has also released a two-part video series, as Tim Clarke takes you through the areas which are key to the trial, from Claremont, where the women went missing, to Hollywood hospital and to the sites were Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies were found.

To watch those videos, head to:

Part 1:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-on-a-visual-tour-of-claremont-ng-b881516606z

Part 2:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-to-wellard-and-eglington-ng-b881517153z

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

The defence told court today that Bradley Edwards did not intend to kill his rape victim.

That he planned his attack carefully and carried it out efficiently, but murder was not in that plan.

During their closing statements, the prosecution said the Telstra worker intended to kill his rape victim, but was spooked by a passing security officer, dumped his victim in the bushes and left with the intention of coming back to finish his crime.

But the rape victim, who had pretended to be unconscious, ran for help when she realised her attacker was gone.

She said in one of her statements to police in the days after the attack, she thought she was going to die. As Tim Clarke explains in this episode, for the victim, who was in court, today would have been difficult to hear her account of the terrifying attack being scrutinised.

Paul Yovich stressed that they weren’t questioning her account of what happened, and as Tim Clarke says he seemed sympathetic to the fact it was a very serious crime. But his argument was Bradley Edwards is a sexually motivated attacker, but not a murderer.

The third day of the defence’s closing argument focussed on trying to prove just that, why the Karrakatta rape and the murders are different - through attempting to pick apart the fibre evidence, witness statements and the prosecution’s propensity evidence.

Namely, that the Karrakatta rape victim was not killed after her horrific ordeal. Defence lawyer Paul Yovich also pointed to differences in the circumstances surrounding the rape and the murders.

He told the court the Karrakatta rape victim was abducted in a ‘blitz-style attack’, whereas the prosecution say at least Jane Rimmer and Ciara Rimmer were lured into the car, and there was no evidence that Jane or Ciara were sexually assaulted, however, the court was previously told because of the level of decomposition of their bodies, while there was no evidence of sexual assault, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

The two cases, now poles apart tell two very different stories. As Damien Cripps explains, this would be an extremely difficult task for Justice Hall to undertake, especially when evidence used by the prosecution, the Telstra Living Witness project was seen by the defence as a weakness to the prosecution, rather than strengthening their case.

Join Natalie Bonjolo, Tim Clarke and Damien Cripps as they discuss day 92 of the Claremont Serial Killings Trial.

If you have any questions for the Claremont in Conversation podcast team, send them in to claremontpodcast@wanews.com.au

The West Australian has also released a two-part video series, as Tim Clarke takes you through the areas which are key to the trial, from Claremont, where the women went missing, to Hollywood hospital and to the sites were Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon’s bodies were found.

To watch those videos, head to:

Part 1:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-on-a-visual-tour-of-claremont-ng-b881516606z

Part 2:

https://thewest.com.au/news/claremont-serial-killings/claremont-serial-killings-trial-tim-clarke-takes-you-to-wellard-and-eglington-ng-b881517153z

See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.