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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support
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please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show
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notes for this episode on your app or on our website aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples should be aware
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that this episode contains the names of people who have passed away the families of cindy and mona lisa
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smith have given caseval permission to wear this content [Music] cousins jacinta rose and mona lisa smith
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had been inseparable since childhood the two girls were just one year apart in age and grew up
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close to one another in the small town of burke located in central northern new south wales
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jacinta who was the younger of the two was better known by her nickname of cindy she was born on october 23
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1972 and was the youngest of seven children with four brothers and two sisters cindy lived with her mother iona dawn
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smith and her siblings in a house on the east side of town she was often looked after by her
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brother lloyd who was seven years her senior mona lisa's family resided on an aboriginal reserve
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named the alice edwards village which was located about two and a half kilometers west of burke
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known by locals as the reserve the alice edwards village consisted of 20 cottages which were run
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down and overcrowded it was entirely populated by indigenous australians from two families
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the edwards and the smiths siblings cousins and other extended family members lived
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side by side and the close community provided a sense of safety and belonging to its residents
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mona lisa was born on november 29 1971 to parents june smith and to dougie shillingsworth
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on the night she was born her father had walked to burke hospital to visit june enter their newborn
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singing nat king cole's song of mona lisa the entire way this led the couple to name their baby
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girl after the famous song they also had another daughter fiona and four sons dougie held big dreams for all of his
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children hoping that they would have good jobs and to lead successful lives the close-knit family spent their
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evenings together dancing and singing but when mona lisa was just six years old dougie suffered a heart attack and
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passed away cindy and mona attended primary school together before enrolling at the same
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high school they were both happy-go-lucky popular kind and well-liked cindy was the nurturing
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type taking on babysitting duties and caring for her younger cousins when needed mona also babysat for her
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cousins and was sporty playing regularly in a netball team when cindy was in her early teens she
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left high school and mona followed suit at the end of 1987 when she was 16 years old
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cindy who was now 15 often travelled the short distance to the reserve to spend time with mona and her family
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the two girls occasionally got up to mischief together but they were well behaved and widely
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regarded as good kids because there wasn't a lot to do in burke which was a remote outback town they
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would spend their time hanging out with friends visiting parks and swimming and fishing at the nearby
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darling river on saturday december 5 1987 cindy and mona spent the day together and accompanied
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one of their aunties to a nearby park by the time evening fell the two of them had decided to go into town
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[Music] [Music] burke was a small town with a population of just 3400 people it was originally home to the nember
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people but when white settlers arrived in the area during the mid-1800s these traditional land holders were
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dispossessed like all indigenous people across australia the nember people battled a
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loss of land and culture were hit hard by european disease and experienced conflict with colonists
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by the late 19th century their population had dwindled while some continued to live a
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traditional lifestyle in the regions surrounding burke others found employment on nearby cattle
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stations in the 1940s burke's indigenous population grew again when displaced people from other regions
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arrived the majority of these indigenous settlers were wonkamara people from the far northwest of new south
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wales and they included some of cindy smith's relatives by the late 1980s burke was home to a
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mix of indigenous and white australians as well as itinerant workers who worked on the cotton farms in the surrounding
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area aboriginal people in the community were often subjected to racism and discrimination
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and to the town had a higher crime rate with significant levels of alcohol and drug abuse despite this
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mona smith's sister fiona told caseville it generally felt like a safe place to live
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neither cindy nor mona had ever travelled far from their hometown the furthest away they had been was the
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town of angonia located 97 kilometers north of burke both girls were well known in their
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community and had a number of friends and acquaintances around town on the evening of saturday december
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5 they headed into burke at around 7 30 pm as it was early summer there was still
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daylight when they arrived cindy who was the smaller of the two was wearing a blue
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yellow and white striped t-shirt black tracksuit pants and blue and white runners
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mona was dressed in black track suit pants and navy blue hoodie with the words perisher valley on the hood
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white and blue football socks with red trim and a pair of runners the two girls went to the home of mona's
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cousin 18 year old daniel booth then hung out near his house for a little while at around 9 pm they were seen walking
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back to the reserve at 4 00 am on the morning of sunday december 6 three farm workers and their wives left
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a farm north of burke to drive to a small town over the state border in southern
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queensland it was still dark outside when the six of them piled into two separate
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four-wheel drives and made their way to the nearby mitchell highway which is a key road link connecting new
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south wales with queensland locals refer to the stretch of highway between burke
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and the nearest town to the north angonia as the angonia road the rural two-lane roadway measures
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about six metres wide and is bordered by red dirt and sparse patches of scrub with taller trees growing slightly
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further away after traveling for about 30 minutes along angonia road the driver of the first vehicle farm
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foreman tex johnson spotted a horrific scene a white 1985 toyota hilux ute sat wrapped by the side of the highway
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with its driver's side roof smashed in and its windscreen lying on the ground nearby
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along the shoulder of the road was a body lying face down tax told his wife adele to stay in the
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car while he got out to inspect the crash he approached the body and saw that it
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belonged to an adolescent aboriginal girl she had seemingly been tossed from the
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car then rolled into a hollow dirt area by the side of the road that functioned as a drain the girl had
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sustained severe injuries and was deceased she was wearing black tracksuit pants
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and a navy blue hoodie the same outfit that burke teen mona lisa smith had been wearing the
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previous day adele then called out of the car window that she could see two more bodies near some scrub by the
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side of the road by this time the second four-wheel drive had arrived and pulled over it was being driven by
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texas brother shane batty who had also gotten out to survey the scene tax approached the bodies that his wife
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had noticed they were lying alongside one another on a sheet of tarpaulin that looked as
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though it had been neatly laid out on the ground one of the bodies was that of an
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aboriginal girl dressed in the clothes of mona lisa's cousin cindy a blue yellow and white striped t-shirt
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and black tracksuit pants while her t-shirt covered her torso and upper legs her pants and underwear were both down
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around her ankles a middle-aged white man lay next to her his left arm draped across her chest
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on one corner of the tarpaulin sat a half empty bottle of beer shane checked the girl for a pulse but
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found none as the two brothers assessed the scene the man lying alongside the girl stirred
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and came to appearing groggy but uninjured shane informed the man that the two teenage girls in his company were both
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deceased and referred to them using a racial slur the man looked up and insisted shane was
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wrong explaining that the two girls had too much to drink he then laid down again resuming his
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original position next to the deceased teenager shane got back into his vehicle and
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drove to angonia to report the crash while everyone else stayed behind at the scene
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tex again attempted to inform the man that the girls were both dead but he became abusive in response
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telling tex to [ __ ] off eventually tex the other farmhand and the women decided to follow shane to
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angonia which was 34 kilometers north of their location [Music] it was 5 a.m when shane arrived at
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angonia and alerted the police constables kevin harper and ken mckenzie set out immediately
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arriving at the scene of the crash at 5 45 they saw mona lisa smith's body lying by
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the shoulder of the roadway and a man standing by the damaged toyota hilux near the tarpaulin where cindy smith lay
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the officers noticed that cindy's t-shirt was up around her neck revealing her breasts and her left leg
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was bent at the knee lying at an angle to the rest of her body and exposing her genitals
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upon approaching the man the two officers saw he appeared to be heavily intoxicated
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and confused he was dirty and disheveled dressed in a khaki shirt matching pants
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and work boots his speech was slurred as he told the two policemen that he had been in the crash
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and was driving the ute at the time constable mckenzie went to cover cindy's naked body with an excess
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portion of the tarp and as he did so the man asked they're only asleep aren't they constable mckenzie replied
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angrily that both girls were dead but the man continued to insist they were merely sleeping
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the officers asked the man to explain what had happened and where he had been traveling to
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he responded that he didn't know what occurred but he had been driving from burke to
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northberg which was about a 10 kilometer distance he was surprised to learn he was
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actually 63 kilometers from burke suddenly he pointed at mona and told the officers
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quote she was driving the man was identified as forty-year-old alexander graham who explained that he'd been drinking
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the previous day at several pubs in burke he didn't know the names of the two girls
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but they had asked him for a lift to the north burke hotel to the offices it appeared that grant
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was still very intoxicated his eyes were bloodshot his speech was occasionally incoherent
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and his breath smelled strongly of alcohol at times he seemed to struggle to stand
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upright and supported himself by leaning against the police car constable mckenzie inspected the man's
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toyota hilux and denoted there was extensive damage to the roof the front passenger panels and the
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driver's side all of the tyres appeared to be in good condition but the rear passenger side rim was
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buckled the windscreen was lying on the ground as were a number of tools and pieces of
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equipment it was a manual vehicle and only had two doors both of which were jammed sharp
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constable mckenzie reached through the driver's window to check the steering wheel and to saw
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that the keys were missing from the ignition the road itself was about six metres
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wide and the sealed bitumen was in good condition with wide table drain on both sides of
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the road the speed limit on the highway was 100 kilometers per hour at 6 00 am two ambulances arrived from
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burke grant's vital signs were checked and found to be normal when grant overheard constable mckenzie
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telling an ambulance officer that he had been driving the vehicle he shouted out no she was the driver
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and again pointed at mona the paramedics confirmed that both girls were deceased
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before transferring grant to hospital for a more thorough examination as he was being driven to
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the hospital grant asked if they could stop in at the caravan park where he lived
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so he could tell his wife what had happened but the ambulance officer refused a second ambulance transported the girls
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bodies to burke to be autopsied while a tow truck took the toyota hilux to angonia police
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station by 7 30 a.m a detective from burke named peter resman had arrived at the
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crash site detective esmen examined the scene and noticed a second empty bottle of beer in
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addition to the one on the tarpaulin that was half consumed as well as an almost empty bottle of rum
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inside the vehicle constable mckenzie drew a detailed sketch of the site including measurements of the road the
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proximity of the bodies to the vehicle and skid marks left by the tyres he later surmised how the crash had
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unfolded in a statement quote as the vehicle traveled along a straight portion of roadway
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about 260 meters off the berk 63 kilometer marker peg the driver has lost control of the vehicle and the vehicle
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has left the left side of the roadway and travelled with the nearside wheels in the gravel for a distance of
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approximately 32 meters the vehicle has then veered to the center of the roadway in a curve
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for a distance of about 36 meters before veering to the near side of the roadway
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again the vehicle has again left the roadway on the western side and travelled a distance of 35 meters in
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a left-hand broadside and then rolled over the vehicle rolled once and came to rest
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on its wheels again near the side of the bitumen and then rolled back down the slide embankment of
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the roadway shoulder and stopped on the edge of the light scrub the vehicle is expected to be a total
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ride off as a result of the accident alexander grant was examined at the hospital
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where it was confirmed that he had only sustained a knock to his head and grazed elbows
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testing revealed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.159 more than three times the legal limit in
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australia grant was 40 years old and had grown up in hamilton new zealand after finishing school he took up
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intermittent work on farms and construction sites by 1970 he'd been married and divorced
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and he moved to australia in 1977 at the age of 30. he had dark hair that he combed back over his head
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and a thin face and build and was 5 feet 10 inches tall for a time grant resided in the northern
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new south wales town of morie where he worked at various jobs in excavation by the early 1980s he'd had a number of
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encounters with the police due to his pattern of drinking and driving in late october 1980 he was picked up
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for drink driving and had his driver's license disqualified for three months the following month he was again
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arrested for driving while drunk and had a blood alcohol reading of more than twice the legal limit
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he had a further six months added to his licence disqualification was placed on a good behaviour bond for
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three years and fined fifteen hundred dollars two months later in february 1981 grand was booked for speeding
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even though he was still disqualified from driving the charge was dismissed after no
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concrete proof could be offered that he was exceeding the speed limit in may 1983 grant was arrested for
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driving while disqualified and was fined 800 and disqualified from driving until the end of november
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1984 in mid-1987 grant moved to burke where he resided in a caravan park and worked as an itinerant excavator
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driver at the time of the crash he was employed at a cotton gin in north burke where he excavated irrigation channels
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despite telling the ambulance officer that he had a wife grant was unmarried and owned next to
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nothing in terms of assets while he was in hospital on the morning of december 6
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1987 grant provided his first official police statement he claimed that as he was making a phone
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call from a pub in burke the previous night the two girls had approached and asked him for a lift
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to northberg he agreed and they all piled into his ute leaving burke at around 11pm
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grant was in the driver's seat cindy was next to him in the middle and mona whom he
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identified as quote the bigger girl was on the end as they were traveling north grant
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alleged that the bigger girl asked if she could have a turn driving he said he initially refused
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but then agreed upon seeing how little traffic there was mona mostly stayed under the speed limit
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by going between 70 and 80 kilometers per hour and was a smooth steady driver grant claimed
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that at one stage she sped up to the limit of 100 at which point he told her to slow down
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and grabbed the steering wheel after she had driven for approximately 30 to 40 kilometers
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they pulled over to have a drink and a cigarette they then turned around to head back to
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burke and grant said mona took the wheel again suddenly the vehicle had veered though
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grant had no idea why he estimated that the time of the crash was either between
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1 and 2 am or 2 and 3 am as this meant a minimum of two hours had passed between the three of them leaving burke
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and the crash taking place there was a significant chunk of time that grant was unable
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or unwilling to account for one questioned about the alcohol he had consumed grant said he'd had his first drink at
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around 5 30 or 6 p.m the previous day at the carrier's arms hotel in burke he hadn't kept count but he believed
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he'd drunk between 6 and 10 middies of beer each measuring 285 milliliters or the equivalent of 1.1 standard drinks
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his last drink had been at about 11 pm or midnight which was a bottle of beer he consumed while
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driving with the two girls grant denied a drinking between the time of the crash
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and when the police arrived he was released from the hospital by late morning and went to burke police station to
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provide another statement to detective peter resman grant denied making sexual advances to
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we the girl but claimed that after the crash cindy had come on to him grant said he had crawled out through
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the passenger door and saw her lying back on the tarp pulling her clothes off and asking do you want me now
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he allegedly ignored her and instead went to check on mona who had seemingly been thrown
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from the vehicle when he asked if she was alright she groaned in response prompting him to
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believe she was fine grant claimed he then joined cindy on the tarp and decided to have a beer
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the interview concluded at 12 20 pm detective asman told grant that he would make further enquiries about the matter
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and speak to him again at a later date adding quote if you leave town let me know where i
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can contact you grant replied yeah it might be a good idea to get away for a while
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i'll let you know where i'll be that afternoon dawn and june smith have viewed the victims bodies at
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burke hospital and confirmed that they were their daughters cindy and mona news of the tragedy spread throughout
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burke and the town became gripped by despair when it was discovered the police hadn't
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arrested the man involved in the crash this despair quickly turned to anger recent events in the region had already
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led to a somewhat fraught relationship between the indigenous community and a local law
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enforcement several months earlier on august 6 1987 a 27 year old aboriginal man named
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lloyd boney was arrested in the nearby town of brewarana after breaching his bail conditions
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he was taken into custody and found dead just 95 minutes later with police saying
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they had found his body suspended by the neck with a football sock lloyd's friends and family suspected
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that the death was not a suicide though this theory was dismissed in an official inquiry
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after lloyd's funeral on august 15 a violent riot broke out between members of brewaraner's indigenous community
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and the police although brewarana was about 100 kilometers east of burke it wasn't uncommon for police officers
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in the region to work cases across various towns one of the officers injured in the riot
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detective sergeant vaughn reed was assigned to investigate cindy and mona smith's deaths alongside
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detective asman in a book about the case titled angonia road author richard stanton
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argues that the subsequent bad blood between police and the indigenous community meant that
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burke police were unhappy about having to investigate the fatal crash several months later this
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view is shared by some of cindy and mona's family members [Music] on the night of december 6 less than 24
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hours after cindy and mona's deaths alexander grant traveled to ningen a town almost
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200 kilometers southeast of burke after grant ute was towed to the police station
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it was later transferred back to the farm in north burke where he was employed as it actually belonged to grant's
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employers who had been leasing it out to him at 3 pm on sunday december 6 a crime scene officer went to the
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property to photograph the vehicle it was examined again the following day by senior constable john ludwig
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of the crime scene unit physical evidence section he noted that the roof had been crushed
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down into the top of the driver's seat and to the middle of the steering wheel senior constable ludwig also visited the
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crash site to take further photographs detectives in burke pieced together the events
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leading up to the crash grant had said he spent the morning of saturday december 5
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working at the cotton gym in north burke until his excavator broke down at 2 30 pm he went to the oxford hotel
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in town in search of someone who could give him a replacement part to repair the
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excavator despite originally telling the police he didn't start drinking until around
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5 30 pm bar staff at the oxford hotel confirmed he'd drunk six beers in a two-hour period
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from there he went to two more pubs drinking a beer at each before returning to the oxford hotel
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where he had eight more over six hours he had consumed 16 beers or 17.6 standard drinks
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throughout the evening a number of witnesses had also seen cindy and mona in burke though
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only two were interviewed by police fifteen-year-olds betty ann edwards and karen johnson
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provided statements that they'd seen cindy and mona with grant on the night in question at around 8 15
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pm betty ann and karen had been walking in the direction of the reserve when a white man pulled over in a toyota
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hilux and offered them a lift they declined but cindy and mona who was sitting nearby outside the home of a friend ran
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over they asked the driver if he would take them across to a levee that marked the crossing point between
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burke and the reserve betty ann described the driver as somewhat slow and dopey as though he was drunk
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when he reached across to open the car door she saw half a carton of beer next to him
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and a stubby in his hand betty ann believed that the man drove off with the girls
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but they were seen in the same area about 15 minutes later by one of cindy's brothers
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who was walking home from visiting an auntie at 9pm they were also spotted by mona's
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cousin daniel booth heading to the reserve on foot neither of these men were interviewed by
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investigators after grant was seen speaking with the girls at 8 15 he went back to the oxford hotel to
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buy a six-pack of beer then went to the carrier's arms hotel where he drank six glasses of bourbon and coke and four
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more beers he left at around 9 30 p.m and was next seen half an hour later at the riverview
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hotel a barman said that grant had entered alone but he thought he saw an indigenous girl
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waiting for him by the doorway grant bought half a bottle of rum two bottles of coke
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and another six pack of beer in total he drunk the equivalent of 30 standard drinks throughout the day
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and had half a bottle of rum and 12 stubbies of beer in his possession experienced pathologist dr clive pringle
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traveled more than 370 kilometers from the city of dubbo to perform cindy and mona's autopsies
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he concluded that mona who was recovered face down by the shoulder of the road had suffered severe head injuries and
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internal bleeding causing her to pass away quickly following the crash cindy who was found on the tarpaulin had
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deep abrasions across her face chest abdomen and back dr pringle found a dried substance on
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her inner legs which he thought could be seminal fluid he took swabs of the substance which
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were given to a scientific officer and transferred to the department of forensic biology
00:35:02
for testing cindy had suffered a perforated liver and a large laceration to her bladder
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leading to severe hemorrhaging and a tear to a major muscle in the lower abdomen
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that is crucial to walking dr pringle noted that while she may not have died immediately
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she would have succumbed to her injuries quickly and it was highly unlikely she was
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conscious following the crash he concluded that neither of the girls had been wearing
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seat belts the findings from the autopsies were not passed along to either of the girls
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families the only official information they were given regarding cindy and mona's deaths was a coroner's report
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after receiving dr pringle's report detective zasman and reed were inclined to believe that
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monarch had been driving grant's ute as he had claimed the severity of her injuries combined
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with the significant damage to the vehicle's driver's side and grants a lack of wounds indicated to
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them that grant was telling the truth at 7 pm on tuesday december 8 the two detectives travelled to ningen
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to interview grant again he was wearing the same clothes that he'd had on during the crash and was staying at a
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cheap hotel grant claimed that his wife had kicked him out for having been with cindy and
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mona and the detectives noted that he appeared to be intoxicated they informed him that they wished to
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discuss the crash but he requested that the conversation be postponed until the following morning
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as he was exhausted the detectives agreed and collected him early on wednesday december 9
00:37:07
for an interview at the police station the officers grilled grant about his alcohol consumption the previous
00:37:16
saturday he acknowledged being pretty drunk by the time he encountered cindy and mona but denied drinking the
00:37:25
bottle of rum that was found nearly empty in his vehicle he said that following the crash he and
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cindy had both climbed out of the passenger side door then cindy had stood and asked for a
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beer he gave her the bottle that was later found on the tarpaulin and after drinking some she
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propositioned him grant insisted he had not placed the tarpaulin on the ground and that cindy had walked over to it and
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laid down of her own accord he didn't remember much else and suggested he had blacked out
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until he was awoken by the farm workers who came across the scene grant again claimed cindy undressed
00:38:14
herself and that he'd had no sexual contact with either of the girls he said that the one mistake he made
00:38:23
that night was not checking whether mona had her driver's license the interview concluded after two and a
00:38:32
half hours it was another week before grant was officially charged rather than taking him back to
00:38:43
burke police made the decision to charge him in ningen on wednesday december 16 he appeared in
00:38:51
the ningen courthouse charged with two counts of willful neglect or misconduct causing grievous bodily harm and
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allowing an unlicensed driver to drive his motor vehicle in 1987 there was a maximum penalty
00:39:09
of two years in prison for each of the willful neglect charges the punishment for permitting an
00:39:17
unlicensed individual to drive was a one thousand dollar fine and up to 500 hours
00:39:23
community service grant was ordered to appear in burke local court in two months time
00:39:31
to enter a plea he was not detained in custody and was permitted to leave the area
00:39:38
following these charges police were instructed not to reveal details of the charges
00:39:46
leaving cindy and mona's families uncertain as to what the exact accusations against
00:39:52
him were a joint funeral was held for cindy and moana at the church of the holy spirit
00:40:04
in burke two hearses carried the girl's coffins through the town and approximately 600 mourners gathered
00:40:12
to pay their respects with students from the town's high school forming a guard of honor
00:40:18
outside the church the majority of the people who attended the funeral were indigenous the cousins were laid to
00:40:28
rest side by side in the burke cemetery under matching black marble headstones adorned with figurines rosary beads and
00:40:38
flowers mona's sister fiona would later say that she could recall little about the service as her memory
00:40:47
was hazy when it came to events following her sister's death some people in burke feared that there
00:40:56
would be retribution from the indigenous community that night with rumors spreading that businesses
00:41:02
would be firebombed but this did not eventuate the girl's deaths and grant's involvement received almost
00:41:12
no attention from the media on monday december 21 the sydney morning herald published
00:41:20
an article titled two deaths and an outback silence journalist the deborah cameron
00:41:28
interviewed cindy and mona's mothers for the piece with both women stating they had been told
00:41:34
of very little about the crash how their daughters had died or the investigation
00:41:42
dawn smith cindy's mother shared her belief that police were withholding information
00:41:48
because they didn't want to stir up trouble in town but the silence had the adverse
00:41:54
effect by creating an atmosphere of rumor and suspicion the sydney morning herald made an
00:42:02
application for information about the case investigators agreed to release details
00:42:08
relating to grant's charges only after an aboriginal liaison officer from sydney
00:42:14
intervened telling them that quote their secrecy may cause more trouble than it would prevent
00:42:24
the head of burke police defended the decision to charge grant in another town stating he won't come back down here
00:42:33
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to get fifty dollars off your first purchase of one hundred dollars or more alexander grant had little money and
00:46:09
almost no assets but in january 1988 one of his former employers agreed to fund his defense the unidentified
00:46:19
employer was described as being from old sydney family money and had decided to pay for grant's legal fees
00:46:27
out of a sense of quote higher christian values leading sydney barrister anthony quinlivan was hired to represent
00:46:36
grant at an expensive rate said to be beyond the income of most average people later that month grant wrote a new
00:46:46
statement about the crash for his legal team which was republished in full in richard
00:46:51
stanton's book angonio road despite telling police he had a wife grant described himself as
00:47:00
single but otherwise stuck to many of his original claims he stated that his intoxication had
00:47:07
probably contributed to him making the uncharacteristic decision to give cindy and mona smith a lift and letting
00:47:14
mona drive his vehicle grant said that after driving for some distance they stopped to have a drink he claimed
00:47:24
that the girls poured some rum into the bottles of coke he had purchased before the decision was made
00:47:30
to head home mona had been steering the vehicle steadily up until that point but suddenly veered off the road
00:47:38
possibly to avoid a kangaroo the ute rolled over then landed on its wheels grant retracted previous claims he'd
00:47:49
made about cindy undressing herself and propositioning him stating now that he didn't recall this
00:47:55
happening yet he said that he did remember checking to see if mona was alright after that point he had a gap in his
00:48:05
memory until the farm workers stumbled across the scene of the crash at 4 30 a.m
00:48:12
barrister anthony quinlivan accompanied his client to burke local court on monday february 15
00:48:19
where grant entered a plea of not guilty to all three charges against him although farm employee shane batty had
00:48:27
been one of the first people to discover the crash site police didn't speak with him until three
00:48:33
months after the incident author richard stanton has theorised that this may have been because shane
00:48:40
was a seasonal worker and investigators were unable to track him down earlier on march 8 1988 shane provided a sworn
00:48:51
statement at dayton police station located about 680 kilometers southwest of burke
00:48:59
shane's description of the scene featured some striking differences to the one described by responding police
00:49:06
and ambulance officers the officers had noted that cindy's pants had been pulled down
00:49:12
and her t-shirt was lifted up exposing almost her entire body while her right leg was stretched out
00:49:19
straight in front of her her left leg was bent at the knee and had fallen outwards
00:49:26
when shane had encountered the scene more than an hour earlier cindy's pants and underwear were around
00:49:32
her ankles but her t-shirt was pulled down concealing her chest and torso shane also noted that both of cindy's
00:49:42
legs had been lying straight out side by side to investigators these discrepancies
00:49:50
indicated that grant must have interfered with cindy's clothing and body after the farm workers departed for
00:49:57
angonia to alert police of the crash they also meant that his statements regarding the events
00:50:04
had been at least partially false [Music] the case shifted direction again the following month
00:50:14
when a new officer began reviewing the charges against grant sergeant raymond godkin worked for the
00:50:22
northwest accident investigation squad in the new south wales city of parramatta his job was to review
00:50:29
indictable matters before the courts after reviewing the case of cindy and mona smith's deaths
00:50:37
he became concerned that the charges against grant were not truly representative of what had occurred that
00:50:43
night sergeant godkin noticed that when police officers had first arrived at the scene grant had
00:50:51
said that he'd been driving shortly afterwards he had changed his story and told them
00:50:58
mona was the driver a claim he had stuck to ever since sergeant godkin spoke with mona's family
00:51:06
to determine whether she could actually drive a car mona's brother doug stated that she had
00:51:13
only tried to drive a car once several months before the crash a friend had brought their blue ford
00:51:21
sedan to the reserve and mona had sat behind the wheel for less than five minutes she slowly maneuvered the
00:51:29
car down a dirt road before getting out the vehicle was an automatic unlike alexander grant's four-wheel drive which
00:51:39
was a manual doug stated i am sure that she has never driven any other car if someone told me
00:51:49
mona drove a manual car i wouldn't believe them because she just doesn't know how to
00:51:54
drive doug's statement was supported by mona's cousin daniel booth and her mother june who both witnessed
00:52:04
her brief drive in the sedan june added that mona had accidentally reversed into a steel
00:52:11
pole at which point june immediately told her to get out of the car cindy's mother dawn had later heard
00:52:20
about the incident and stated we are a very close community and if mona was driving at any time then
00:52:28
i would hear about it anybody who said that mona was driving the four-wheel drive that was involved
00:52:35
in the accident would be lying because she just couldn't drive it several days after interviewing mona's
00:52:44
relatives sergeant godkin arranged to speak with alexander grant on may 11 1988 grant initially declined to speak
00:52:54
without his lawyer present but when sergeant godkin asked whether there was anything he wanted to say in
00:53:00
their absence he remarked well i've thought about it and a lot of the stuff i told the
00:53:07
detectives is not right and some of the things i said is really [ __ ] he discussed the night of december 5
00:53:16
1987 openly admitting that he had been far more drunk than he had told the detectives
00:53:25
grant maintained that cindy and mona had approached him asking for a lift and mona had driven
00:53:31
the vehicle for a good portion of the journey adding quote she drove pretty good
00:53:38
and handled it real well really good on the gears he claimed that when the vehicle crashed
00:53:46
mona had gone through the windscreen while he and cindy remained stuck inside he was sitting next to the passenger
00:53:54
door and cindy was in the middle so he opened the door cleared it out and pulled cindy out after him
00:54:03
when sergeant godkin asked if grant recalled telling the detectives that cindy had been walking around
00:54:10
after the crash he replied from what i have heard since about her injuries that can't be right
00:54:18
like i said a lot of the things i have said isn't right he claimed that her clothing
00:54:26
must have been pulled down accidentally when he dragged her from the vehicle sergeant godkin reiterated grant's
00:54:35
extremely high blood alcohol level of 0.159 when tested hours after the crash then stated it is my view that you were
00:54:46
the driver of the vehicle it is my intention to charge you with two counts of culpable driving
00:54:53
and also with driving with the prescribed concentration of alcohol is there anything else you would like to
00:55:00
tell me about this matter grant replied i can't think of anything other than to say that no way was i
00:55:10
driving i know i did the wrong thing letting her drive without a license on saturday may 14 sergeant godkin
00:55:22
arranged for a physical evidence collector from the crime investigation unit to re-examine grant's toyota hilux
00:55:30
although the vehicle was significantly damaged grant's employers had sold it to a man
00:55:36
named peter hill whom grant knew and was friendly with and peter had spent some time attempting
00:55:42
to repair it he denoted that when he received the vehicle the passenger side door was open
00:55:49
and its lock had been damaged in a way that was consistent with having been forced open with a crowbar
00:55:57
the physical evidence collector photographed the toyota hilux and tested the inside cabin for traces
00:56:03
of blood he immediately noticed that the steering wheel was missing and asked where it was
00:56:12
peter said that he had removed it and shipped it to grant the previous day at grant's request
00:56:20
investigators suspected peter hill had told grant that police were planning to inspect the
00:56:26
vehicle which had caused grant to panic and ask for the steering wheel without it officers were unable to dust
00:56:35
it for fingerprints to confirm who had been driving nothing relating to the steering wheel
00:56:42
was ever heard of again in re-examining the case sergeant godkin also took the step of speaking with the
00:56:52
detectives involved and the first responders to the crash site after doing so he was certain that
00:57:00
cindy's body had been undressed and rearranged after being discovered by the farm workers
00:57:08
although multiple swabs had been taken from cindy's body during her autopsy including a sample of what was believed
00:57:15
to be seminal fluid these were never tested for unknown reasons consequently there was no forensic
00:57:25
evidence confirming whether she had been sexually assaulted however the eyewitness accounts provided
00:57:32
enough evidence to charge alexander grant with indecently interfering with a dead body
00:57:38
which carried the maximum penalty of two years in prison on may 24 1988 grant was officially
00:57:48
charged with this offence as well as two counts of culpable driving causing death after sergeant godkin concluded
00:57:56
that mona would have been incapable of driving a manual four-wheel drive he was also charged with high range
00:58:04
prescribed concentration of alcohol a charge given to individuals who drive a motor vehicle on a public road
00:58:11
with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or above as the counts of culpable driving
00:58:20
conflicted with grant's original charge of allowing an unlicensed driver to take control of his vehicle
00:58:27
the decision was made to hold a committal hearing in order to determine which of the
00:58:32
charges grant would ultimately face the committal hearing was held almost six months later
00:58:42
on november 8 1988 it was a hot day making the burke courthouse feel particularly stuffy and
00:58:50
unpleasant magistrate rosemary kader smith presided over the hearing while police prosecutor sergeant roland
00:58:59
today presented for the prosecution alexander grant was represented by his high-priced
00:59:06
barrister anthony quinlovan and solicitor bill house [Music] the prosecution's primary aim was to
00:59:14
disprove grant's assertion that mona smith had been driving his vehicle the defense pointed to the significant
00:59:23
damage sustained to the driver's side of the eu and argued that grant was too large to
00:59:29
have escaped essentially unscathed if he had been driving as mona had suffered extreme injuries
00:59:37
they posited that it was far more likely she had been behind the wheel the first witness called to the stand
00:59:46
was sergeant raymond godkin whose work on the case had resulted in culpable driving charges being laid
00:59:53
against graham cindy and mona's mothers dawn and june smith also testified speaking about their relationships with
01:00:02
their daughters and both girls the lack of a driving experience the defense attempted to undermine the
01:00:10
evidence of both women under cross-examination suggesting that mona might have had more experience
01:00:17
driving than her family was aware of while dawn and june smith both spoke of how close-knit their community was
01:00:26
barrister anthony quinlivan tried to discredit this by telling the court that the girls were
01:00:32
known to drink on occasion and spend time unsupervised constable ken mckenzie the first officer
01:00:41
to arrive on the scene also testified though he appeared nervous the prosecution portrayed constable
01:00:49
mackenzie as a reliable officer with considerable crime scene experience but the defense implied his failure to
01:00:57
bring his official police notebook to the scene reflected poorly constable mckenzie confirmed that grant
01:01:05
had been slurring his words when questioned by the responding officers prompting quinlivan to query
01:01:12
whether mckenzie had possibly misunderstood his initial claim that he had been driving the eu
01:01:20
constable mckenzie stood firm noting that grant had definitely stated i was in response to
01:01:27
the question of who had been driving dr clive pringle the forensic pathologist who conducted cindy and
01:01:36
mona's autopsies told the court that both girls would have died within an hour of the crash
01:01:44
he further stated that cindy would have been in extreme pain and unable to sit up and had likely
01:01:51
fallen unconscious immediately following the crash due to shock and injuries however under cross-examination from
01:02:00
quinlivan dr pringle acknowledged that it wouldn't be quote totally extraordinary if cindy had
01:02:08
managed to survive for up to two hours witnesses shane buddy and tex johnson spoke of how they stumbled across the
01:02:17
crash scene insisted that both girls were deceased when they arrived but the defense argued he was not in a
01:02:26
position to confirm this as he had no medical experience by trying to extend the period of time
01:02:34
cindy could have survived for grant's legal team were trying to convince the magistrate
01:02:40
that cindy could have still been alive after her body was undressed and adjusted
01:02:45
thus absolving grant of having indecently interfered with a dead body [Music] in summing up the case magistrate
01:02:57
rosemary kader smith noted that although there was evidence suggesting that mona smith had driven a
01:03:03
vehicle at least once before the crash she did not have very extensive experience in driving
01:03:11
she also stated that grant had clearly been dishonest when speaking with police and that it seemed highly out of
01:03:18
character for him to lend his vehicle to a teenager whom he'd just met ultimately judge kader smith determined
01:03:28
that the original charges relating to mona driving the vehicle would be dropped and grant would face
01:03:35
two counts of culpable driving with regards to the charge of indecently interfering with a dead body
01:03:44
judge kader smith noted that cindy would have died quickly and dismissed the notion that
01:03:50
she had removed her own clothing noting that grant was discovered with his arm draped across
01:03:58
cindy's chest indicating interference of a sexual nature had been committed judge kader smith said that this third
01:04:06
charge would also stand grant was committed for trial but was not held on remand
01:04:15
he was escorted from the courthouse to a car waiting outside some of cindy and mona's family and
01:04:22
friends ran after the car as it drove away shouting and shaking their fists with
01:04:27
several making eye contact with grant as they did so [Music] grant had relocated to sydney following
01:04:36
the crash and returned there to await his trial more than six months later in june 1989
01:04:44
the charge of high range prescribed concentration of alcohol was adjourned for unknown reasons it was the only
01:04:53
charge against grant that judge cater smith didn't address during the conclusion of
01:04:58
the committal hearing the trial was scheduled for january 29 1990 in the meantime
01:05:08
grant's defense team requested that the new south wales attorney general issue a no bill to the charge of
01:05:15
indecent interference with a body if a charge was given a no bill it would essentially go away
01:05:23
and not be brought up during a trial grant's defense argued that there was no evidence beyond the reasonable doubt
01:05:31
that cindy was deceased at 5am the approximate time that her shirt was removed they also stated that grant's advanced
01:05:41
level of intoxication meant there was a question as to whether he was in a state to voluntarily
01:05:47
undertake such an action the attorney general agreed with these arguments and on
01:05:55
january 24 1990 the defense team received a letter from the director of public prosecutions
01:06:02
advising that the charge would be withdrawn no other charge was introduced relating
01:06:09
to the possible sexual assault of cindy and the only charges grant would be tried for
01:06:15
were the two counts of culpable driving [Music] cindy and mona's families were not
01:06:24
informed that the charge of interference with a corpse had been dropped until the trial commenced on thursday
01:06:30
february 1 in the burke district court upon hearing the news they became furious and distraught
01:06:40
as the jury were required to exit the court whenever evidence relating to interference with cindy's corpse was
01:06:47
raised they were entirely unaware of the matter or the withdrawn charge the original jury had included two
01:06:56
aboriginal women but grant's defense had challenged their inclusion by arguing that they would be under
01:07:03
pressure from their communities to convict and quote in those circumstances grant probably wouldn't get a fair trial
01:07:14
consequently the two indigenous jury members were replaced resulting in an all-white jury
01:07:24
the onus was on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that alexander grant
01:07:30
had been driving the vehicle when it crashed their argument was hindered by what
01:07:36
grants barrister later called the fabulous physical evidence of the ute's roof being smashed
01:07:42
in down to the steering wheel on the driver's side quote anybody sitting in that seat was a
01:07:49
goner and my guy didn't have a scratch on thursday february 8 one week after the trial began
01:07:59
the jury returned a verdict of not guilty prompting the court to erupt in anger when the verdict was read aloud dawn
01:08:10
smith removed one of her shoes and threw it at the jury she later spoke of her anger at the finding to journalist
01:08:18
rosemary neal who wrote an article about the case titled the long shadow of a twin tragedy
01:08:24
for the weekend australian newspaper dawn remarked of course i was shocked june added that if a police officer had
01:08:36
been standing near her she would have grabbed their gun and shot gran in retaliation
01:08:43
she recalled that two police officers also seemed bitterly disappointed by grant's
01:08:48
acquittal in the same article june smith told rosemary neal that day was the worst of her life
01:08:58
quote to hear what happened to these girls and he walked free if it had been two little white girls it
01:09:07
would have been a different matter and if it was a black man with two white girls
01:09:12
he would have been locked up there and then thrown away the keys still in jail today
01:09:21
due to the angry reaction from those in the public gallery grant's barrister and solicitor were
01:09:27
given a police escort out of the courthouse they were instructed by police to leave
01:09:33
for sydney immediately and not stop until they reach to bathurst at town six hours away by car
01:09:43
four days later on february 12 grant was arrested in sydney after severely assaulting another
01:09:50
individual and was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm many people in burke were outraged and
01:10:01
disgusted by the trial's outcome feeling that justice had not been served in the years that followed the
01:10:10
inconclusive nature of the case prompted alternate theories as to what really happened on angonia
01:10:16
road on the night of december 5 1987. they have been fueled in part by a police statement
01:10:24
made in may 1987 by a 13 year old cousin of cindy and mona named sharon smith sharon told police that on the evening
01:10:34
of friday december 4 the night before the crash she had been walking through burke towards the reserve with another
01:10:42
cousin named julie when a white four-wheel drive she believed was a toyota pulled over the driver was a white man
01:10:52
who she later identified as alexander grant he smelled of beer and asked if the girls knew where the nearby rodeo was
01:11:02
the girls agreed to show him the way and got into his vehicle upon arriving at the showgrounds where
01:11:09
the rodeo was hosted the girls started drinking with grant soon sharon noticed that cindy was also
01:11:18
there at some stage sharon julie cindy and grant headed towards angonia to visit julie's brother
01:11:29
during the drive grant requested that sharon steer the vehicle as he was extremely drunk as she did so
01:11:38
grant began rubbing the legs of all three girls the group spent some time in angonia
01:11:46
before heading back towards burke when they arrived to back at the showgrounds they encountered
01:11:53
five more of sharon's cousins who all wanted a lift they piled into the rear cargo area of
01:12:01
the ute and before they were dropped off they stole a number of work tools that had
01:12:06
been stored there sharon said she then dropped cindy off at the reserve leaving her and julie alone with grant
01:12:16
he was extremely drunk at this point and propositioned to the young girls offering them money in exchange for sex
01:12:25
they refused and got out of the vehicle at which point grant drove away some people in burke believed that cindy
01:12:35
and mona's deaths the following night were deliberately orchestrated by grant as revenge
01:12:42
for being robbed and that he missed still kamona for julie there are rumors that julie
01:12:49
had stolen drugs and a substantial amount of cash which grant had stashed under one of the
01:12:54
vehicle's seats when grant came into town the following day supposedly looking for someone to help
01:13:02
him repair his excavator he was actually looking for sharon julie and cindy after discovering he'd been robbed
01:13:12
those that subscribed to this theory believe that several aboriginal men who had been in
01:13:18
four different cars assisted grant in brutally attacking the girls in exchange for money the girls were
01:13:26
attacked on angonio road where they were found and the scene was subsequently staged to
01:13:32
resemble a car crash one witness has reported to mona's family that they were present for the
01:13:40
attack and saw grant wielding an axe over mona's head as he said where's my money
01:13:48
julie smith mona replied i'm not julie i'm mona lisa another witness has claimed to have
01:13:59
driven past the crash site the following morning while detectives were at the scene
01:14:06
the witness noticed a man sitting by the side of the road wearing a shirt covered in blood
01:14:13
it has been said that this man later confessed to being present during the attack and
01:14:19
claimed he had tried to help mona however police reports contain no mention of any such man being present at the
01:14:28
scene many years after the girl's deaths mona's mother june and sister fiona visited a male
01:14:38
cousin after another family member accused him of being involved in the incident
01:14:45
the two women asked where the cousin had been on the night in question and he replied that he and their auntie
01:14:52
had been traveling to brewarana amongst four carloads of people the cousin's admission to being in a
01:15:00
convoy of four vehicles led some to believe he was one of the men who helped grant attack the two girls
01:15:09
they suspect he merely said he was in brewarana to cover his tracks and was actually present at the crash
01:15:16
site it has been alleged that the cousin participated in the murders in exchange for money from grant
01:15:26
for those who believe this alternative theory it explains why there was so little blood inside the vehicle
01:15:33
how the ute's tires were inflated and undamaged why a tarpaulin appeared to have been
01:15:39
neatly laid out on the ground and how grant walked away unharmed some of cindy and mona's family members
01:15:48
are also certain that the girls would never get into a vehicle driven by a white stranger unless they knew
01:15:56
someone else who was with the driver author richard stanton who wrote the book angonio road
01:16:04
has proposed another explanation for why grant might have escaped with so few injuries
01:16:10
if he was driving the theory is that grant break suddenly which led to mona being thrown through the windscreen
01:16:20
as the vehicle slowed down cindy was also thrown from the vehicle grant was then
01:16:26
tossed sideways into cindy's now empty seat before the roof was crushed in and he was able to climb out of the now
01:16:34
empty windscreen when the vehicle came to a stop stanton believes this would also explain
01:16:42
how grant exited the vehicle as responding officers found that both doors were jammed shut
01:16:50
according to stanton after the trial several experts conceded that this was a plausible scenario
01:17:00
cindy and mona's family members are torn as to what exactly happened to the girls
01:17:05
on the night of december 5 1987 with much of their confusion stemming from the fact that they
01:17:12
received so little communication from the police kerry cindy smith's sister has criticized investigators for not
01:17:22
properly interviewing the aboriginal community in the immediate aftermath of the girl's
01:17:27
deaths as many had been out in burke that night and could have provided evidence
01:17:34
in 2018 june smith told journalist rosemary neal quote we didn't know nothing the police never came and spoke with us
01:17:47
they all sort of kept away that's the worst part sitting and waiting and not knowing
01:18:01
alexander grant's defense barrister anthony quinlovan also spoke with the journalist rosemary
01:18:07
neal although he maintained that justice was done he admitted to having some misgivings
01:18:15
about the trial's outcome and described it as one of the most exceptional events that happened to me
01:18:22
in 40 years of being a lawyer as cindy was 15 years old quinlivan queried why the prosecution didn't
01:18:32
attempt to prosecute grant with indecency against a minor instead of indecently interfering with
01:18:39
the corpse quote rearranging her clothing obviously he did that blind freddy could
01:18:48
see he must have done that he was probably doing something despicable at that point
01:18:56
it was difficult to see why it was that the police or the crown authorities did not work out that they might have
01:19:03
had a stronger case if they had charged him with some act of indecency against a minor
01:19:09
under the age of 16. the inferences seem very powerful in that regard quinlivan acknowledged that his former
01:19:20
client had clearly told a bare-faced lies throughout his interviews and court proceedings
01:19:26
adding my fellow was very fortunate to walk away a free man rosemary neal also contacted the new
01:19:37
south wales police for her article and they supplied the following statement the case has gone through court
01:19:45
proceedings over 30 years ago and police have no further comment on matters that are already on public
01:19:52
record the current relationship between new south wales police and all members of the burke and
01:19:59
brewarana communities is cohesive and respectful and continues to develop in 2017 alexander grant
01:20:10
died at the age of 70 in sydney prior to his death he had lived in a nursing home
01:20:17
where he required constant care after a stroke had left him with difficulty speaking
01:20:24
fiona mona smith's sister told case file that she experienced mixed emotions when grant died
01:20:32
because she was deeply saddened that he did never be brought to justice for cindy and mona's deaths
01:20:43
today fiona still lives in burke and works with local indigenous youths by teaching them about their ancestors
01:20:50
and providing a means for young people to get involved in their community she believes that cindy and mona's
01:20:58
spirits are unable to rest due to the traumatic nature of their deaths cindy's mother dawn works for the burke
01:21:07
aboriginal legal service providing professional and culturally appropriate legal services for
01:21:14
aboriginal and torres strait islander people she says that she doesn't want to die
01:21:20
before justice is done cindy's sister kerry now lives in melbourne and believes cindy's spirit
01:21:28
has followed her there as she is unable to rest without justice although grant died in 2017
01:21:39
the girls families have been petitioning for an inquest into their deaths in the hopes they might finally receive
01:21:46
the answers they've sought for more than 30 years in 2018 legal advocacy group the national justice project issued a
01:21:56
formal complaint about the mishandling of the case to the new south wales law enforcement
01:22:02
conduct commission the project's principal solicitor argued that there was evidence alexander
01:22:10
grant was a sexual predator known for attempting to prey on aboriginal girls the statement provided by the girl's
01:22:19
cousin sharon smith who said she'd had an encounter with grant the night before the crash was cited in the submission
01:22:28
the submission also pointed out that the police failure to retrieve the steering
01:22:33
wheel from grant's vehicle was quote to the prosecution charges as they could not prove who was
01:22:42
driving in june 2019 cindy and mona's families met with new south wales police for a
01:22:51
formal mediation session about the case fiona smith told the weekend australian newspaper that the experience was
01:23:00
draining yet positive and she was hopeful they were one step closer to achieving their goals
01:23:08
in an exclusive interview with the weekend australian the magistrate who committed grant to
01:23:13
stand trial rosemary kader smith also spoke out in favour of an inquest she described the original investigation
01:23:23
as incompetent and labeled grant's aversion of events as totally unbelievable lies
01:23:31
quote i do certainly think some questions should be asked and the matter better exposed i think this should
01:23:40
happen in fairness to the families and the relationship with the aboriginal community
01:23:46
who feel that all interests have not been looked after with some reason in june 2020 cindy and mona's families
01:24:02
received notice from the deputy director of new south wales public prosecutions that an inquest was unlikely to go ahead
01:24:11
the decision to drop the charge of indecent interference with cindy's corpse was defended
01:24:17
though the office of the director of public prosecutions apologised for not notifying cindy's family of this
01:24:24
development prior to the trial the new south wales police commissioner had also revealed that
01:24:31
two independent inquiries had found the police handling of the case to be adequate
01:24:40
the girls families were extremely disappointed by these developments with fiona smith telling the weekend
01:24:47
australian quote it's like they're ducking and weaving and no one wants to take responsibility
01:24:56
my mum loses her spark when things like this happen i saw her sink a bit more cindy and mona's mothers are still
01:25:06
fighting for an inquest to be granted during the making of this episode they issued an open letter to casewile
01:25:16
that reads we the mothers of cindy and mona lisa smith want an inquest into our daughter's
01:25:25
deaths which happened on december 6 1987 on the angonio road it has been 33 years now since we lost
01:25:34
them and nothing has been done to help us find out the truth about what happened
01:25:40
to our girls if they were two white girls their killers would have been jailed by
01:25:46
now but they were black girls and everything is swept under the rug so we ask you is there one law for white
01:25:55
people and a separate law for black people we have been through a lot these past 33
01:26:04
years thinking about what happened and whether we will ever get justice for our girls or not
01:26:12
all the stress and pain we are going through now wondering if we will ever get justice for our daughters
01:26:21
yours in struggle i own a dawn smith and a june smith [Music] [Music] you