Three young women, all missing from the same place, all victims of a killer stalking the quiet streets. The West Australian’s veteran crime and investigative reporter Gary Adshead takes you inside the biggest criminal investigation in Australian history.

This is the true story of the Claremont Serial Killings.

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LATEST EPISODE

Episode 4: The Case Against Bradley Robert Edwards

Claremont: A well-to-do suburb of big homes, imported cars, highly-educated professionals and prestigious private schools. Where residents live in luxury between the majestic Swan River and the glaring blue Indian Ocean that wrap around the city of Perth on the Western edge of Australia.

High salaries, no crime to speak of, barely a care in the world. Claremont is a lovely place to live. In Perth, it’s one of the places to live.

There is really only one pub to speak of in Claremont. And one nightclub, about 150m away down a street lined with boutique shops.

The nightspots are a magnet for university students and young professionals looking to have fun. Everyone knows everyone, or at least someone who knows them. In Claremont, there are barely two degrees of separation.

On January 26, 1996, Sarah Spiers headed to Claremont for a night out with friends. Aged 18, she left the nightclub in the early hours and called a taxi from a payphone. The taxi arrived minutes later. But Sarah wasn’t there.

Her disappearance left her family and friends distraught and an entire city wondering. What happened to that smiling, blonde country girl? People don’t just vanish from Claremont.

Less than six months later, Jane Rimmer was out, also in Claremont, also with friends, also blonde and smiling. That smile was evident on CCTV captured inside the hotel that night. Those grainy frames showed the 23-year-old walking through the crowded bar area. The tape recording cuts away to another camera. When it cut back, Jane was gone.

Two young women missing in similar circumstances from the same location. Police began to worry they were dealing with a serial killer. When Jane’s body was found in bushland two months later, their worst fears were realised.

Nine months on and Ciara Glennon, a 27-year-old lawyer, was out with work colleagues for a drink. Smart, professional and universally liked, she too vanished. Three weeks later, her body was found, also dumped in bushland.

CLAREMONT: The Claremont Serial Killings Podcast

Episode 1

A Killer Strikes Twice

It's 1996 and a young, blonde girl stands on the side of the road in Claremont and calls a taxi. By the time it arrives, Sarah Spiers is gone. A few months later and Jane Rimmer is out with friends in Claremont when she, too, disappears. Her body was found weeks later. As police desperately hunted a serial killer a third young woman, Ciara Glennon, was snatched and killed. Gary Adshead takes you inside the Claremont Serial Killings, the biggest criminal investigation in Australian history and a case which haunts an entire city. Published 28 February 2019

Episode 2

Tears, Taskforce and a Suspect

One woman missing, one woman murdered. A city gripped by fear. Then Ciara Glennon vanishes off the streets of Claremont. As her grieving father takes up the hunt, police launch the biggest murder taskforce in Australian history. But when their focus narrows on a suspect, the question is asked: have police got the wrong man? Published 8 March 2019

Episode 3

The Wrong Man

As the hunt for a serial killer who has struck three times in Claremont continues, police train a laser focus on one very peculiar man who admits to driving the streets and picking up at least one woman. But the man’s mother says enough is enough.

A TV reporter spends an hour with the suspect in his beachside apartment, quizzing him over the case. She concludes that detectives are pursuing the wrong man and contacts the father of one victim to share her view.

Now, more than 20 years later, a former police commissioner says that suspect and his family are owed an apology. Published 15 March 2019

Episode 4

The Case Against Bradley Robert Edwards

Years pass and with the public losing hope that the horrific mystery will ever be solved, a new suspect emerges. Telecommunications technician Bradley Robert Edwards is arrested in a dawn raid.

The 50-year-old pleads not guilty and will stand trial for three murders, rape and abduction.

So what is the police case against him? And is it possible that police missed a link that could have led them to the accused man than a decade ago? Published 25 March 2019