The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has launched a new suite of podcasts and documentaries resurrecting past crime stories, unsolved cases and missing person mysteries.
Linked to a two-part Australian Story television special that began this week, the multi-platform True Crime program will investigate historical, iconic, brutal and baffling cases from across the country.
Head of the Content Ideas Lab at the ABC, Angela Stengel said audiences were enthralled by a well-told mystery.
“True crime stories hold up a mirror to injustice in our society and can have real-world outcomes, encouraging audiences to get involved in helping crack unsolved cases,” Ms Stengel said.
“In 2017, the ABC’s award-winning podcast Trace prompted an influx of new information and significant leads in the 1980 cold-case murder of Melbourne mother Maria James.”
She said the podcast’s first series, titled Blood on the Tracks, follows journalist Allan Clarke’s five-year investigation into the death of Mark Haines (pictured), a 17-year-old Gomeroi teenager whose body was found on train tracks in Tamworth in 1988.
“The mystery is left to fester, causing division and suspicion in the town,” Ms Stengel said.
“Twenty-five years later, journalist Allan picks up the case, telling the story of a town divided, an investigation bungled, evidence lost, and critical leads never followed up.”
The first part of Australian Story: Blood on the Tracks aired earlier this week with the second to be shown next Monday, 4 June on ABC TV and iView.
