41 episodes

Chinese restaurants are being firebombed in the dead of night. The police arson squad is racing against the clock to stop the next attack. Along the way, there are buried weapons, secret informers, punks, ninjas, and political manoeuvres. As the rest of Australia celebrates the nation's bicentenary, a campaign of terror is getting underway in Perth. Now, in this deeply personal season of Unravel True Crime, Crispian Chan investigates what really happened after his family's restaurant went up in flames

Unravel True Crime is the ABC's award-winning true crime podcast. Previous seasons include 'Blood on the Tracks', 'Barrenjoey Road', 'Last Seen: Katoomba' and 'Snowball'..

Unravel ABC listen

    • True Crime
    • 4.7 • 243 Ratings

Chinese restaurants are being firebombed in the dead of night. The police arson squad is racing against the clock to stop the next attack. Along the way, there are buried weapons, secret informers, punks, ninjas, and political manoeuvres. As the rest of Australia celebrates the nation's bicentenary, a campaign of terror is getting underway in Perth. Now, in this deeply personal season of Unravel True Crime, Crispian Chan investigates what really happened after his family's restaurant went up in flames

Unravel True Crime is the ABC's award-winning true crime podcast. Previous seasons include 'Blood on the Tracks', 'Barrenjoey Road', 'Last Seen: Katoomba' and 'Snowball'..

    01 | The Man Lin

    01 | The Man Lin

    Chinese restaurants are being firebombed in the dead of night. As the attacks spread, police scramble to work out what is happening in the city.

    In this episode of Firebomb, host Crispian Chan sets out to investigate the events surrounding the fire that destroyed his family's restaurant.

    • 25 min
    02 | The Posters

    02 | The Posters

    The city has been blanketed in threatening posters. The list of suspects narrows as the fire bombers' potential motivations become clearer.

    In this episode of Unravel True Crime, Police become suspicious of a hardened and fanatical group of neo-Nazi activists, who are thumbing their nose at law enforcement and threatening Asian communities in Perth.

    • 37 min
    03 | Punks and Ninjas

    03 | Punks and Ninjas

    As police struggle to keep up with a wave of terrorism, unlikely defenders emerge to confront the city's gangs.

    In this episode of Unravel True Crime, activists are badly beaten, and the neo-Nazi gang is starting to push its luck, but the police still can't nail anyone over the restaurant firebombings.

    • 41 min
    04 | Operation Jackhammer

    04 | Operation Jackhammer

    A risky undercover operation strikes at the heart of the firebombing gang. But in this episode of Unravel True Crime, hatred reverberates around the city, and lives are lost. 

    (Audio of Russell Willey courtesy of Anthony Buckley AM, from the film ‘Nazi Supergrass’)

    • 44 min
    05 | The Gang Rises

    05 | The Gang Rises

    A decade later, the gang reemerges. In this episode of Unravel True Crime, Crispian and Alex come face to face with a former follower of the gang at a men's health and yoga retreat, sparking a bizarre and emotional reckoning.

    More Information
    Host and co-reporter: Crispian Chan
    Co-reporter: Alex Mann
    Producer and researcher: Dunja Karagic
    Research and fact checking: Johnny Lieu
    Rollout producer: Amelia Mertha
    Theme and music composition: Martin Peralta
    Sound design and additional music: Simon Branthwaite
    Commissioning editor: Alice Brennan
    Executive Producer: Tim Roxburgh

    06 | Track Jack

    06 | Track Jack

    Crispian and Alex hit the road to track down the gang's leader, Jack Van Tongeren. It turns out that Jack's past contains some big surprises. Meanwhile, in this episode of Unravel True Crime a former member of the gang reveals its secrets.

    • 49 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
243 Ratings

243 Ratings

Clv1963 ,

Amazing Podcast

Enjoyed the twists and turns of each episode. Felt so engaged with Ollie and his wonderful family and their sense of humour left me upbeat which is kind of strange since they were the victims.

cork Graham ,

Naive

I think Ollie, the hosts final conclusions on this are shockingly naive. He traced the wreckage and financial distraction of this person across several countries, only to fall victim himself on the final hurdle. Almost like he too stared into the eyes of this creature.

A person that does this, is compulsive, they don’t stop, they keep doing it, on this occasion this individual has not been ‘success’, yet she has probably spent how much of other peoples money? Also the pattern of these creatures is to get prey, a kill so to speak, and gorge on that until it is bled. Ollie arrives at a point where she has no prey, and feels sorry for her?

JenniiiiMac ,

Gripping

Really enjoyed the snowball podcast, only lost a star as the American voice overs were too much.

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