Podcasts · True Crime · Society & Culture

Unravel

ABC Australia

77 episodes · in order · Explicit

Lies in Lismore - the latest season of Unravel, the ABC’s award-winning investigative true crime podcast series.

More about the show

German backpacker Simone Strobel was on a dream trip to Australia in 2005 when she disappeared from a caravan park in Lismore. Six days later her body was found covered by palm fronds. Ever since that night, questions have followed her boyfriend, Tobias Suckfuell. He's always insisted he's innocent. Despite decades of sleuthing and undercover work, the police investigation has been tangled in lies, and no one has been convicted of Simone’s murder. Now there are new twists in the story. Has the truth been hiding in plain sight? Or did a killer escape without scrutiny? Acclaimed investigative journalist Richard Baker investigates who killed Simone Strobel.

Previous series of Unravel cover various investigations into crimes and crime-related topics including solved and unsolved murder cases, missing persons, forensic analysis, gangland crimes, love scammers, con-artists, drugs, terrorism, neo-nazis, and miscarriages of justice — all investigated by some of Australia's best reporters and people who know the story best.

In Season 8, ABC Journalist Rob Burgin investigates the disappearance of 27-year-old Queenslander Jack McLennan. Jack had been relaxing, drinking beers at a picnic spot, when his mate said he looked away, and when he looked back, Jack had vanished. Jack was fit and healthy, and even though he’d just been through a breakup, he seemed positive. But now, Jack was missing, and strange clues began to surface, hinting at his last movements. With online theories about the case spreading like wildfire, Rob sets out to investigate. Has there been a crime or not? He traces the fragments of that night through a web of small Queensland towns, where everyone knows everyone, everyone knows something, but no-one can agree on what became of Jack.

In Season 7, Blood on the Tracks, award-winning Muruwari and Gomeroi journalist Allan Clarke spends five years investigating the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of 17-year-old Gomeroi teenager, Mark Haines. In 1988, just outside of Tamworth in country New South Wales, a freight train hits Mark’s body laying across the tracks. When the rail worker stops the train and gets out, the scene doesn’t add up. The tracks divide Tamworth in two. An Aboriginal community on one side, a largely white population on the other. Some will say it was a suicide and others a murder. Despite the strange evidence found at the scene of his death, the family feel like they're being ignored by police. An inquiry finds no answers and the mystery is left to fester, causing division and suspicion in the town. Allan’s reporting helps to spark a resurgence of interest in the case that sees the file reopened, a review launched, a reward announced. As Allan gets closer to the truth, the story ends with a revelation no-one was expecting, and the thirty-year-old mystery finally begins to unravel. Blood on the…

Episodes page 1 of 2

  1. INTRODUCING — Blood On The Tracks

    · 3:13 · Trailer

    Blood On The Tracks investigates the suspicious death of 17-year-old Mark Haines, whose body was found on the railway line outside Tamworth in January 1988.

  2. Blood On The Tracks 01 | Blood On The Tracks

    · 28 min · S1 E1

    Thirty years of mystery surrounds the death of 17-year-old Mark Haines. It’s the summer of 1988. A train hits a person early in the morning on its way out of Tamworth. Straight away, something doesn’t add up about the…

  3. Blood On The Tracks 02 | Foul Play

    · 28 min · S1 E2

    Mark Haines' family challenge the police investigation. When Mark Haines dies, news of the teenager's death spreads quickly through Tamworth and beyond. His family are on summer holidays in different parts of the…

  4. Blood On The Tracks 03 | The Boxer

    · 28 min · S1 E3

    Violence erupts as Uncle Duck and the family confront their number one suspect. On the surface, Tamworth in 1988 is a typical Aussie town with rodeos, farmers and an active Country Women’s Association. But beneath the…

  5. Blood On The Tracks 04 | Whitewash

    · 30 min · S1 E4

    The family's hopes for an answer at the inquest fade fast. Nine months after Mark’s death, an inquest is held. The family are hopeful it will give them answers, but the police won’t budge from their theory that he put…

  6. Blood On The Tracks 05 | The Driver

    · 31 min · S1 E5

    More than two decades have passed since the coronial inquest into Mark Haines’ death. The family have been forgotten about — until news reporter Allan Clarke arrives in Tamworth on a routine story and becomes convinced…

  7. Blood On The Tracks 06 | Revelation

    · 22 min · S1 E6

    Allan and the team shift their focus to Tamworth and the truth starts to emerge from a fog of rumours. As Allan builds on the case, he discovers the police aren’t far behind. An eyewitness comes forward. Key witnesses…

  8. Blood On The Tracks 07 | Face To Face

    · 30 min · S1 E7

    Years of investigation have led to this moment ... a major breakthrough in the case, a potential answer to thirty years of mystery and pain for the Haines family. An alleged confession has revealed who might have…

  9. INTRODUCING — Barrenjoey Road

    · 3:50 · Trailer

    The story of Barrenjoey Road explores the disappearance of Trudie Adams in 1978 from Sydney’s northern beaches in 1978 leaving a family and community devastated. When 18-year-old Trudie Adams goes missing hitchhiking…

  10. Barrenjoey Road 01 | Saturday night on Barrenjoey Road

    · 26 min · S2 E1

    A heart breaking search for the hitch-hike girl. For a free-spirited teenager, growing up on Sydney’s northern beaches in the '70s was as good as it gets. Endless perfect surf breaks, days spent lounging on the beach…

  11. Barrenjoey Road 02 | Suspicious Minds

    · 32 min · S2 E2

    Trudie Adams was last seen hitching a ride home from a dance in Newport on Sydney’s northern beaches. The last known person to see her alive was her boyfriend, Steve Norris. Or more accurately, her soon to be…

  12. Barrenjoey Road 03 | The Hunting Ground

    · 37 min · S2 E3

    A chilling visit to bushland where abducted hitch-hikers are taken. In the days and weeks after Trudie’s disappearance, a series of women come forward to the police telling similar, terrible stories about being…

  13. Barrenjoey Road 04 | The Green Kombi Van

    · 36 min · S2 E4

    Despite the similarities between the disappearance of Trudie Adams and the assaults on fourteen women on Sydney’s northern beaches, the case goes cold for almost two decades. That is until 1992, when fresh eyes…

  14. Barrenjoey Road 05 | The Big Bad Wolf

    · 34 min · S2 E5

    Neville Tween appeared at the inquest into Trudie’s disappearance in 2011. Unravel has been given access to Tween’s evidence — and for the first time ever, his voice is being aired. This is the man that multiple…

  15. Barrenjoey Road 06 | The Unholy Relationship

    · 39 min · S2 E6

    Investigating the link between a career criminal, Trudie ... and a corrupt cop. For decades, Neville Tween evaded scrutiny by law enforcement, despite being a well-known career criminal. But what if he was protected?…

  16. Barrenjoey Road 07 | Christmas Tree Hill

    · 33 min · S2 E7

    It’s the lead Ruby and Neil have hoped for — a tip-off from an old law enforcement source about a potential burial site for Trudie Adams. Deep in Kur-ing-gai National Park is a place called Christmas Tree Hill and,…

  17. INTRODUCING — Last Seen Katoomba

    · 3:00 · Trailer

    19-year-old Belinda Peisley vanished after she left a Blue Mountains hospital, west of Sydney, on the night of September 26, 1998. The single mum-of-two disappeared within a year of inheriting a significant sum of…

  18. Last Seen Katoomba 01 | Belinda

    · 32 min · S3 E1

    Belinda Peisley's life descended into chaos after her 18th birthday when she received a big inheritance and bought her own place in Katoomba. Her family hoped the house would set her up for life but, instead, her new…

  19. Last Seen Katoomba 02 | The Boyfriend

    · 38 min · S3 E2

    We go inside the courtroom at Belinda Peisley's inquest to hear firsthand the arguments, phone taps and witness testimony. Jason*, Belinda's boyfriend at the time, says he met up with her on the night she disappeared.…

  20. Last Seen Katoomba 03 | The Best Friend

    · 39 min · S3 E3

    Heidi Wailes was close to Belinda and says she looked out for Belinda like an older sister would. But a break-in at Belinda’s house just days before she disappeared suggests Heidi might not have always been the friend…

  21. Last Seen Katoomba 04 | The Best Friend's Boyfriend

    · 28 min · S3 E4

    Jeremy Ward Douglas was going out with Belinda Peisley’s best friend, Heidi Wailes, at the time Belinda disappeared. The inquest into her death heard Jeremy had a reputation around town as a violent and controlling guy…

  22. Last Seen Katoomba 05 | The Visitor

    · 39 min · S3 E5

    Some of the most explosive moments in Belinda Peisley’s inquest happen between lawyer Phil Strickland and the man we’re calling Luke. Luke admits to using heroin and to staying on Belinda’s floor from time to time,…

  23. Last Seen Katoomba BONUS | Seeing Is Believing

    · 9:00 · S3 E6

    Host Gina McKeon interviews film-maker Helen Barrow about her coverage of Belinda Peisley’s inquest and the behind-the-scenes moments that we can’t hear in the audio. Helen’s one-hour tv documentary WHO KILLED BELINDA…

  24. INTRODUCING — Snowball

    · 4:26 · Trailer

    Ollie Wards' family lost everything after their brush with a charming Californian con woman. As he embarks on a quest to find out how she did it, why she did it, and where she is now, he opens the door on a mystery…

  25. Snowball 01 | The Girl With The Dragonfly Tattoo

    · 48 min · S4 E1

    When Ollie Wards' brother Greg marries his American dream girl in New Zealand and they go into business together, it seems like a perfect start to a new life. But only a few months later, Greg is heartbroken, the…

  26. Snowball 02 | The Great Houdini

    · 44 min · S4 E2

    Ollie and Greg's dad, David Wards, picks through the clues left behind by Greg's American wife, Lezlie. He realises that the entire family may have been victims of an elaborate con job. David is obsessed with finding…

  27. Snowball 03 | The Coconut Wireless

    · 41 min · S4 E3

    Lezlie Manukian's stories about her time in Hawaii usually ended with murderous local mobsters running her off the island. So, to track down his brother Greg's ex-wife, Ollie Wards needs to understand her past. What…

  28. Snowball 04 | Charmed

    · 41 min · S4 E4

    Following the trail to Lezlie Manukian, Ollie and his other brother Simon end up in California. With a muscle car and loud Hawaiian shirts, the brothers look every bit like '80s TV detectives as they head off on their…

  29. Snowball 05 | Black Widow

    · 44 min · S4 E5

    Ollie and his brother Simon follow the trail of broken dreams and failed restaurants to Paso Robles, California. It's apparent Lezlie's exploits didn't stop when she left New Zealand. Ollie discovers his former…

  30. Snowball 06 | Stakeout

    · 42 min · S4 E6

    Ollie and Simon have criss-crossed California to find themselves parked in a supermarket car park staking out where Lezlie supposedly works. They may only have one shot to talk to her and finally get some answers. It…

  31. Snowball 07 | The Morning After

    · 24 min · S4 E7

    After the confrontation in the supermarket carpark, Ollie is left feeling confused — has he been charmed just like everyone else in this story? Will Lezlie fail to keep her promises to Ollie or leave him and his family…

  32. INTRODUCING — Firebomb

    · 3:40 · Trailer

    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…

  33. Firebomb 01 | The Man Lin

    · 26 min · S5 E1

    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…

  34. Firebomb 02 | The Posters

    · 37 min · S5 E2

    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…

  35. Firebomb 03 | Punks and Ninjas

    · 41 min · S5 E3

    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…

  36. Firebomb 04 | Operation Jackhammer

    · 45 min · S5 E4

    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…

  37. Firebomb 05 | The Gang Rises

    · S5 E5

    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…

  38. Firebomb 06 | Track Jack

    · 49 min · S5 E6

    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…

  39. Firebomb 07 | Close to Home

    · 48 min · S5 E7

    Crispian and Alex find troubling signs among current-day extremist groups. Meanwhile, in this episode of Unravel True Crime the restaurant kids discuss how they processed what happened to their families.

  40. Firebomb BONUS | Behind the scenes

    · 32 min · S5 E8

    Go behind the scenes of the podcast with co-reporters Crispian and Alex as they describe how they made this season of Unravel True Crime. More Information • Host and co-reporter: Crispian Chan • Co-reporter: Alex…

  41. INTRODUCING — Mr Big, a new true crime series from Unravel

    · 3:30 · Trailer

    On a secretly recorded tape, a confident-sounding man boasts of his influence with corrupt police. He sounds like a crime boss, or some kind of underworld Mr Big. He says he can help make problems with the law go away.…

  42. 01 Mr Big | The secret recording

    · 26 min · S6 E1

    A killer is caught on tape talking about a murder with a mysterious crime boss. Earlier, on a summer's night in suburban Melbourne, a mother of three is stabbed, and her house is set on fire. Firefighters race to the…

  43. 02 Mr Big | Two suspects, one killer

    · 41 min · S6 E2

    Everyone says one man in the neighbourhood, Terry Britton, is dangerous. But could there be someone else who wished Mary harm? Terry has a temper and a history of violence. He threatened Mary Cook and her kids. Then…

  44. 03 Mr Big | A bee in the ear

    · 32 min · S6 E3

    If you're under investigation, the last thing you should do is commit more crimes. But this suspect is on a slippery slope. Small jobs become bigger jobs. Fake diamonds, huge sums of cash, and guns pass hands. A…

  45. 04 Mr Big | You're it

    · 25 min · S6 E4

    Mr Big, the mysterious head of a criminal gang, calls a meeting at Crown Towers Casino and demands to know everything about the murder of Mary Cook. For hours, two men talk. Lies are told, and a confession emerges. But…

  46. 05 Mr Big | A story about murder

    · 40 min · S6 E5

    A life filled with diamond deals, drug money, bribes and corruption is strange enough. But the truth is even stranger. Deeper forces are at work, with a bigger purpose. Mr Big's web of secrets is revealed. As Alicia…

  47. 06 Mr Big | The knife

    · 32 min · S6 E6

    A knife is found near a drain, but is it the one police looking for? A man is put on trial, and the court hears the evidence against him. But as each side mounts their case, which piece of evidence will really matter…

  48. 07 Mr Big | Through the looking glass

    · 45 min · S6 E7

    As Alicia Bridges investigates the beginnings of an epic deception, she finds it spans across continents. At the heart of the deception is an upside-down world of gang crime, and a series of dilemmas. What secrets…

  49. BONUS | Behind the scenes on Mr Big

    · 21 min · S6 E8

    Go behind the scenes of the podcast with reporter Alicia Bridges, who answers questions about how she investigated Mr Big. Asking the hard questions is Rachael Brown, the host of the ABC's first true crime podcast,…

  50. REINTRODUCING: Blood On The Tracks (reprise)

    · 4:00 · Trailer

    Back in 2018, our first season Blood on the Tracks investigated the suspicious death of 17-year-old Mark Haines, whose body was found on the railway line outside Tamworth in January 1988. Since Allan Clarke first…

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