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our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at anytime you need support please contact
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your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show notes for this
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episode on your app or on our website today's episode deals with a crime committed against the child it won't be
00:01:42
suitable for all listeners on June 1st 1960 37 year old basil thorn was 450 kilometers from Sydney's Bondi Beach
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where he rented a flat with his family he was in the small town of Canada in the northeast of New South Wales basil
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worked on the road as a traveling salesman in a partnership with his father and was often away his wife Frida
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was at home with their three-year-old daughter Belinda in their eight-year-old son Graham who attended school at Scotts
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college in Bellevue Hill just north of Bondi the thorns also had an older daughter Cheryl who was born with a
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disability and permanently cared for in an institution it was an ordinary week for the thorns
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with basil on the road and Frieda at home looking after the family basil was riding orders in the store in Canada
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when a newspaper reporter called looking for him he picked up the receiver and listened as the reporter told him he had
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just won the lottery at first basil didn't believe it though when the men on the other end read out a number
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of the winning ticket and the name of the syndicate basil went cold all over he felt flutters in his stomach and he
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lost the ability to speak he struggled to finish writing up the orders he was making and had to accept the help of a
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few people around him basil thorn had just won 100,000 pounds the currency of the time in 1960 in 2018
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that would be equivalent to around 2.8 million Australian dollars basil had only bought a three pound lottery ticket
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a few times before he'd had small wins five or ten pounds here and there but this time as he looked down at his
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winning lottery ticket he tried to grasp just how significantly hand his family's
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life was about to change [Music] initial projections for both bill time and funding for the construction of the
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Sydney Opera House were grossly underestimated what had originally been thought to take four years to build at a
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total cost of around seven million pounds became a 14-year build at over 100 million pounds the New South Wales
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state government realized they needed much more money to complete the project and after running several unsuccessful
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funding campaigns they set up the Opera House lottery the first lottery ticket was sold in November 1957 and
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construction of the Opera House began in March 1959 the Opera House lottery was still running in 1960 when basil and
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Freda thorn unexpectedly won the price of tickets at the time was three pounds and the major prize was 100,000 pounds
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wins were worthy of front-page news in Sydney and stories were also splashed across newspapers around the country as
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Basil's flight came in to Charles Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney he was greeted by three reporters ready to
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photograph him for the paper basil was humble and the news had yet to sink in he told the reporters that he wasn't
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going to get too excited he spoke about putting the winnings into a fixed bank deposit until he got used to having so
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much money he vowed he wouldn't get reckless and said quote I believe in the same charity begins in the home and I
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intend to make this my policy basil had a lot to consider and was thinking about others he was in a
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business partnership with his father and wasn't prepared to leave him in the lurch and his eldest daughter Cheryl who
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was in permanent care also had to be considered basil and fraid I didn't own their house this win meant they could no
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afford one but they didn't want to make any rash decisions as reporters watched on 37 year old basil thorn got into a
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taxi at the airport and headed for home the following morning the headlines read
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100,000 pound win too young to retire and when the results were printed so too were the street addresses of the winners
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her family who had just one beak the thorns continued life as normal in the weeks that followed basil continued
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working on the road eight-year-old Graham went off to school and Frieda stayed home with three-year-old Belinda
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the thorns wind was no secret but for them things remained the same after applying to have a telephone line
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put into their flat back in March they finally received a number two months later in May but by mid-june that
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still wasn't connected so instead of reporters phoning the thorn household there wasn't unusual for there to be a
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lot of knocks on their door on June 14th 1960 just after dinner Frieda was standing in the kitchen when she heard a
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knock she had grown used to the amount of people who had been knocking on their door since the wind but it was unusual
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to get a visitor that late Frieda was often home alone during the week with basil on the road at this night she was
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glad basil was home she answered the door to a man who introduced himself as a private investigator he said he was
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looking for a man named Bogner dazzle made his way to the door and after a short discussion the thorns were
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confident he had the wrong address they recommended he go and see the lady in the upstairs flat who had lived in the
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building for about 20 years but the private investigator was adamant that it was the thorns flat he was looking for
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he pulled out a small black notebook and asked if the phone number he had recorded was theirs considering their
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phone was still a week away from being connected the thorns thought it was unusual that he had got their new number
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correct when they asked how he had gotten their number he said he had ways and means to do so basil and Frieda
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assumed the private investigator had just made a mistake and thought nothing more of it after he left
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just short of one month later on Thursday July 7th 1964 EDA woke up and got Graham ready for school basil was on
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the road again this time working in Kempsey in country New South Wales Frieda had an arrangement with a friend
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of hers Phyllis Smith to take Graham to school each morning Phyllis had two young sons of her own at Scott's college
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at 8:30 a.m. dressed in his grey Scots College uniform holding his 16 inch school case with his name on the corner
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in gold letters eight-year-old Graham kissed his mother goodbye and walked out of his ground floor flat on Edwards
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Street Bondi he walked past the few houses on Edward Street before he turned under Wellington Street the road was
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busy at that time of day with workers hurrying in and out of Bondi each morning Phyllis Smith picked Graham up
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in her Holden station wagon on the corner of Wellington and O'Brien streets at the front of a corner store the
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distance Graham had the walk from home to the corner store was only about 270 meters he liked to get there a little
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early so he could pop in and buy some potato chips and have a chat the shopkeeper enjoyed Graham's visits each
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morning and said the following the lad comes in every morning and gets a packet of chips saying I'll have the same today
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mister he normally comes in about quarter past eight or perhaps later he'd been doing it every morning for the past
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couple of months as regular as clockwork sometimes he has a yarn with me and if he wants to know anything he asked me
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straight up he's pretty old in the head for his age after speaking to the shop paper Graham would go outside sit on top
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of his school case and wait for Phyllis Smith to collect him but on that day July 7th Graham never made it to the
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corner store when Phyllis Smith arrived there was no sign of him she waited a few minutes
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then pulled over a little up the road and sent her son to the corner store to look for him when her son came back
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without him Phyllis turned her car around and drove to the thorns house assuming he was running late when she
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knocked on the door she expected Graham to come rushing out but instead a confused freighter answered and said
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Graham had already left Phyllis went back to the corner store again in this town she walked inside and
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spoke to the shopkeeper when the shopkeeper told her Graham had never arrived for his usual visit that morning
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she assumed he had gone off to school without her she couldn't understand why he'd never done that before but she
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thought it could be the only explanation Phyllis got back into her car and drove
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to Scotts College the headmaster helped her look for Graham but he wasn't a school leader Phyllis drove straight
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back to the thorns house when Frida thorn heard that Graham was not at the school she picked up the phone which had
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just been connected and called the police at 9:30 a.m. sergeant Larry O'Shea of Bondi police
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arrived at the flat free to describe Graham to the sergeant at 8 and a half he was tall for his age he had fair hair
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which would darker and more Brown as it was well oiled it was parted on the left
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and swept a neatly back he had gaps between his teeth and was always smiling he was friendly chatty and was afraid I
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didn't believe he would wander off on his own accord he would talk to anybody but he wouldn't walk off with a stranger
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he was wearing his grace got to college uniform shorts a light blue shirt with the gray pullover long socks black shoes
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and a navy blue cap fraida then explained to the sergeant what had happened that morning and as
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she did so the phone rang is that you mrs. thorn the male caller then asked to speak to her husband basil Frieda said
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basil wasn't home and asked the call of what he wanted him for he replied I have
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your son sergeant O'Shea was standing next to Frieda so she passed him the phone hello the sergeant said the male
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voice with a clear foreign accent said I have your boy I want 25,000 parents before five o'clock this afternoon I'm
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not fooling if I don't get the money before five o'clock I'll feed the boy to the Sharks 25,000 parents in 1960 is
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close to 750,000 Australian dollars today the kidnapper said he would phone back at 5:00 p.m. with further
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instructions there was only when O'Shea hung up the phone that Frieda told him about their
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recent lottery win she said they'd been inundated with letters from people asking for money there were requests
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from individuals and some from charities but at no stage had they ever felt threatened until now knowledge of the
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Thorne's lottery win caused serious alarm and the initial police operation kicked in from that moment without any
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hesitation it would become the biggest search in New South Wales police history and marked a new territory for Australia
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the first known child kidnapping for ransom in the country as basil thorn arrived home to Sydney Airport he heard
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his name called over the loudspeaker he was called to the inquiry desk when he approached he was told there was a
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police matter and they wanted to see him immediately it was then that basil was taught about Graham's disappearance but
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it wasn't until he walked through the front door of his home that he heard about the rent
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officers stayed at the thorns flight all day in case the kidnapper caught back and as they waited the search operation
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grew to unprecedented levels police conducted a door knock of all houses and flats in the area they were baffled that
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no one had seen or heard anything unusual for someone to entice a child into a car within such a short space of
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time on a busy road the kidnapping must have been well planned and perfectly executed police believed that may have
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been committed by more than one person possibly a group of people they also felt a woman may have been involved the
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theory being that a woman intercepted Graham telling him that she was going to take him to school instead of Phyllis
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Smith with the accent of the men who called that morning in the knowledge that kidnappings were not commonplace in
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Australia police believed early on that the offender may have been someone who had only recently arrived in the country
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as they waited anxiously for 5:00 p.m. to roll around dazzle and Freda confirmed without hesitation
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that they would pay the ransom demand and even more if they had to they just wanted Graham home but 5:00 p.m. came
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and went with no phone call well I had the kidnapper not called back rocky said he would police were able to ascertain
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that the initial call made to the thorns that morning by the kidnapper was made from an unlisted number
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while checks continued on that unlisted number senior members of the police were
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preparing to expand the search and go public with an appeal at 8:00 p.m. the family's doctor arrived at the flat to
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treat Freda who by then was in need of sedation as she was in severe shock at 9:47 p.m.
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during a moment of silence in the flat the phone started to ring an officer answered the phone and pretended to be
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basil his job was to stall the caller for long enough so the call could be traced the kidnapper started to give his
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instructions the money was to be placed into two separate paper bags but before he went on to state where the money
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should be dropped he hung up after Frieda was sedated by the doctor a friend came to take their younger
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daughter basil refused to sleep and set up all night waiting maybe the kidnapper
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would call back police continued questioning neighbors late into the night they showed photos of Graham to all
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those living in the neighborhood television stations showed Graham's pitcher and asked the public to look out
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for him at 3:00 a.m. the thorns light was still glowing detectives who had been on duty for 17 hours didn't want to
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rest until Graham was found but they were forced to take a short break by that time over 400 courts had been
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phoned in with possible leads and tips by the next morning Friday July 8th they'd received a no further word from
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the kidnapper and despite the enormous amount of calls from the public none got them any closer to finding
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Graham Bondi police station was set up as the search headquarters detectives from the scientific Bureau and all of
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the major squads from the Criminal Investigation Branch joined to the manhunt all the police stations in New
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South Wales were alerted the search for both Graham and his kidnapper or kidnappers was unlike anything ever
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carried out in the country before some would refer to it as the greatest manhunt ever in Australia police stood
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by at the thorns flat 24 hours a day hoping for further contact from the kidnapper part of the puzzle they had to
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work out was how the kidnapper had gotten the thorns phone number their phone line was only recently connected
00:18:40
so the number wasn't even listed yet police arranged for basil thorn to speak at a press conference at Bondi police
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station with a barrage of microphones television lights and cameras in his face he took a deep breath and relayed a
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message for the kidnapper to whoever is holding my son I am ready to pay you the
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money you were demanding for his safe return I will pay you in cash at any place and at any time you specify you
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may contact me at my home you will not be betrayed if the person who has him is a father and has children of his own all
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I can say is for God's sake send him back to me in one piece basil then broke down some of the
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reporters became visibly upset themselves and had to leave the room the police commissioner : Delaney and
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the New South Wales premier Bob Heffron then made an appeal for Graham's safe return Delaney requested that Basil's
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plate be printed in the Sydney papers in three foreign languages German Italian and Greek languages that were widely
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spoken in Australia at the time the Lanie's idea was to distribute the appeal as far as possible and didn't
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have anything to do with the accent of the kidnapper the premier Bob Heffron called the kidnapping and appalling
00:20:06
happening and that it was every citizens duty to help the police quote somehow we
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have never thought that kidnapping a child and holding him to ransom could occur in this country but it has
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emergency planes were installed at airports shipping docks and major roads three separate phone lines were set up
00:20:28
to handle the influx of calls being made regarding the case one at Bondi police station one at the radio
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telecommunications center in Redfern and one at the emergency switchboard the case was televised on every news
00:20:42
bulletin around the country the shocked Australian public wanted to help in any way they could police received hundreds
00:20:49
of offers of assistance and thousands of suggestions on where to look by the end
00:20:55
of the second day the search for Graham thorne had officially become the biggest
00:20:59
manhunt in Australia's history but the suggestions that were being phoned in from the public on where to look for
00:21:05
Graham were leaving nowhere so police decided they just had to search everywhere they had to scour every road
00:21:12
every Park in every waterway they asked members of the public to search their yards and talk to their children through
00:21:20
men power they hoped they would find him one tip came in regarding the night of Graham's disappearance on the night of
00:21:34
Thursday July 7th a dark-colored car with no front number plate reported the bait Dodge was seen by the
00:21:40
owners of a petrol station in pennant hills 32 kilometers northwest of where Graham live at around 10:00 p.m. the car
00:21:49
approached with two men a woman and a young boy on board the men were around 30 years old and 20 years old and the
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woman was around 50 each were described as being of Italian or Maltese descent but the young boy he fit Graeme's
00:22:04
description the group asked for their tank to be filled as well as a 13 gallon drum when the car drove off in a
00:22:13
northerly direction the owners of the petrol station called the police the next morning the morning after Graham's
00:22:21
kidnapping Friday July 8 an off-duty police officer spotted a car matching the description two men and a woman were
00:22:29
seen on board looking suspicious the off-duty officer chased the car at high speed and roads were closed off to try
00:22:36
and stop it but eventually the vehicle was lost in heavy traffic after running the number
00:22:42
plate they discovered the car was using plates issued to a different vehicle all
00:22:47
police units were placed on high alert to keep a lookout for him later that day just over 24 hours after Graham
00:22:56
disappeared 75 year-old Joseph Henry Bell was walking around in Park Lane north of Sydney Harbor he was just off a
00:23:05
major Road in Bantry Bay 22 kilometers north of where Graham disappeared and directly east of the petrol station
00:23:11
where the two men and the woman were spotted with a young boy Joseph was collecting bottles in dense bush right
00:23:18
near a creek in the area just south of French's Forest around noon just 10 meters from the road
00:23:25
he came across a small school case it was wide open and empty printed in gold letters on the corner of the lid was the
00:23:34
name G thorne Joseph hid the school case in a hollow under a rock he knew the young boy was missing there
00:23:44
was barely a person who didn't know by then but he didn't call the police instead he went back to his house and
00:23:51
waited until around 6 p.m. when his son-in-law visited Joseph's son-in-law called the police immediately when he
00:23:58
heard the story police sped to the location and retrieved the case confirming it was Graeme's even though
00:24:08
they were concerned over the delay from when the case was found to when they were called it was the first solid clue
00:24:14
they had in the 34 hours since Graham's kidnapping police sealed off a five kilometre strip of bush where the case
00:24:22
was found and hundreds of official and unofficial volunteer searchers began combing the area in a
00:24:28
shoulder-to-shoulder search for more clues when darkness fell they set up lights and concentrated on small areas
00:24:35
of grassland determined to not let the darkness store their search as time went on and nothing further was found police
00:24:44
began to consider that the school case was dumped as a false lead possibly thrown from a car as it drove by the
00:24:52
school case had been emptied and had no fingerprints on it but food wrappings were found under a rock which police
00:24:58
felt could have been from Graham's lunch detectives believed that there were less
00:25:03
than 24 hours behind the kidnapper or kidnappers and today focused on catching up their time in desperate hope of
00:25:10
saving Graham as the weekend began the manhunt strengthened and an enormous perimeter
00:25:21
was set for the continued search the zone extended over 80 kilometers north to Gosford 95 kilometers south to
00:25:29
Wollongong and the west into the Blue Mountains police believed the kidnapper or kidnappers were hiding out somewhere
00:25:36
within that zone all police life was cancelled and every officer in New South Wales who was on leave was asked to come
00:25:44
back to work no one looked kindly upon the kidnapping of a child so even hardened criminals who had a long
00:25:51
history of run-ins with the law were coming forward with offers to help police in the search the state borders
00:25:58
were patrolled as a precaution and any car leaving New South Wales and entering Victoria or Queensland was checked after
00:26:07
Graeme's school case was found the acting chief of the Criminal Investigation Branch Inspector Windsor
00:26:12
made a public plea on radio and television Inspector Windsor quote every moment you hold him makes your own
00:26:21
position worse taking me out into the street leave him there and telling to approach the first person he sees then
00:26:29
go your own way what you have done is dreadfully serious but you can make it much worse than it is by keeping the boy
00:26:38
so far you have made yourself liable to a turn with imprisonment but not a long one if the boy is not harmed if you
00:26:46
heard him your position becomes a terrible one indeed publishers from The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper Hoff at
00:26:56
a ten thousand pound reward in the state government added to that with five thousand parents basil thorn was
00:27:03
thankful for the reward and said he wouldn't hesitate for a moment to add to it if his son was returned the five
00:27:11
thousand pound reward offered by the government was five times more than any reward offered previously for the
00:27:16
apprehension of a criminal it was also the quickest reward ever offered following a crime the government added a
00:27:23
free pardon to any accomplice that came forward with information leading to an arrest
00:27:27
and grain being found in 1960 kidnapping for ransom was sent by Australians as something that only happened overseas it
00:27:38
was just about unheard of here Graham the Lord was the first-ever child kidnapped for ransom and there had only
00:27:44
been one kidnapping for ransom of an adult in Sydney and that had occurred almost 30 years prior in 1932 in that
00:27:53
particular case the plan was foiled when one of the kidnappers was arrested and the victim was freed unharmed
00:27:59
coincidentally had happened only a few hundred metres from where Graham thorne disappeared from as it was so rare there
00:28:08
was no special law in New South Wales which covered kidnapping for ransom unlike the United States which already
00:28:14
labeled kidnapping a federal offense where perpetrators faced the death penalty the fact that Raley didn't have
00:28:20
a problem with the crime meant there was no reason for a law to cover the most relevant law was abduction the unlawful
00:28:29
possession of a person this had a maximum sentence of 10 years when the victim was a child under the age of 12
00:28:36
New South Wales premier Bob Heron wasn't happy with this and stated that kidnapping should rank alongside murder
00:28:43
and that he would be suggesting changes to the law but even if new laws and punishments came into effect as the
00:28:49
premier was proposing Graham's case wouldn't be covered by them unless they were applied retrospectively which had
00:28:56
never been done before 5,000 posters with Graham's picture were printed and distributed across all
00:29:05
metropolitan police stations they were also displayed outside town halls supermarkets and businesses the number
00:29:12
of people searching for Graham and grew even further the general secretary of the New South Wales Scouts Association
00:29:18
urged every single member of the State Scouts and Cubs to join the search all 38,000 of them he believed they could
00:29:27
use their scouting skills to help police search isolated and far reaching spots 200 army soldiers from the number 2
00:29:35
battalion of the Royal Australian regiment also joined the search by now police had managed to trace the origin
00:29:43
of the two phone calls made to the thorns from the kidnapper the first one on the morning of the kidnapping was
00:29:50
made from a phone box on the northern side of the spit bridge around 30 minutes north of Graham's home
00:29:56
the second call almost 12 hours later was made from a phone box at Seaforth an area just a few minutes away from where
00:30:04
the first phone call was made detectives combed through all the people connected
00:30:09
to the thorns they heard of all the people they had come into contact with in the recent months since their big win
00:30:16
while questioning Freda she told detectives about the visitor she and basil had to their door a few weeks
00:30:22
before the kidnapping the private investigator who was searching for a man named Bogner when she described the
00:30:31
encounter police became alarmed when they heard this apparent private investigator had known the thorns phone
00:30:37
number as had the kidnapper despite the fact that was newly connected and wasn't
00:30:43
yet listed Freda described to the private investigator as 35 to 40 years old with dark brown or black slightly
00:30:53
wavy hair thick dark eyebrows well spoken with a foreign appearance in addition a neighbor came forward stating
00:31:02
that she had seen him in matching that description sitting on a park bench outside the thorns small block of flats
00:31:07
for three mornings before Graham was kidnapped a council worker then came forward and described the same men
00:31:15
sitting on the same bench but for three mornings the week before the kidnapping each time the man was seen between 7:15
00:31:23
a.m. into 9 a.m. with a newspaper stretched out in front of his face police were sure this man claiming to be
00:31:31
a private investigator was involved in Graham's kidnapping they just had to find him
00:31:43
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00:33:05
found was continuously searched and patrolled over the weekend Saturday July 9th and Sunday July 10th on that Sunday
00:33:13
afternoon one mile north of where the case was found and on the opposite side of the road another discovery was made
00:33:22
despite the fact that the area had been crawling with police and searchers continuously since the school case
00:33:28
discovery on Friday it appeared that the kidnapper or an accomplice had come into
00:33:33
the cordoned off search zone implanted some of Graham's clothing the reason the police knew what was planted after is
00:33:41
because when the discovery was made on Sunday afternoon the items were bone dry and rain had fallen on Saturday night in
00:33:48
Sunday morning the items they found were a Scotts college school waste cap a torn page of
00:33:57
an exercise book with Graham's handwritten schoolwork a maths textbook an empty plastic lunch bag a pure apple
00:34:05
wrapped in plastic wrap with the peel still cord around it just like Frieda would do for Graham and there was also a
00:34:13
plastic raincoat draped over a small kerosene drum the thorns felt immense relief at the news of the items being
00:34:20
found they were sure this meant that Graham would soon be returned home alive an electrician named Cecil and his wife
00:34:30
were the next witnesses to come forward they lived on Francis Street one street from Graham's
00:34:37
and do they had information about a car they had seen the morning grain was kidnapped on the morning of Thursday
00:34:44
July 7th they were both driving down their street towards Wellington Street when they saw a blue Ford Customline
00:34:50
parked at the intersection of Francis and the Wellington streets this corner was along the exact stretch of
00:34:56
Wellington Street where Graham disappeared Cecil and his wife noticed the car because it was parked
00:35:03
unnecessarily close to the street corner and its front was up on the curb blocking the footpath anyone walking
00:35:09
along the footpath would have to go around it it's rear end was hanging out on the
00:35:14
road so much so that Cecil had to swerve to the right to miss it as they passed they saw him en exit the driver's side
00:35:22
of the Ford in an overcoat and debris on felt hat they described the man as 35 to 40 years
00:35:28
of age five foot ten with a stocky or thick set build he had all his skin and dark hair Cecil's wife said she was sure
00:35:37
she'd seen the same men hanging around a few days earlier the description matched
00:35:42
the men who had been sitting outside the thorns flat in the days leading up to the kidnapping and had matched the men
00:35:48
who knocked on the thorns door claiming to be a private investigator on July 19th 12 days after Graeme was kidnapped
00:35:57
police were still trying to identify the private investigator but they were no closer to any answers the search didn't
00:36:05
slow down though and authorities remained dedicated to bringing Graham home safely on August 16th 1960 almost
00:36:16
six weeks after Graham thorn walked out of his home and around the corner never to be seen again three children were
00:36:22
playing in a coffeehouse built on a vacant block of land near their home in Seaforth Seaforth was the location where
00:36:28
the kidnappers second phone call was made to the thorns the vacant land was a place they played all the time
00:36:35
as did all the local kids a few metres from the cubby they noticed the rolled-up rug they assumed it was just
00:36:43
rubbish that had been dumped which wasn't unusual at all one of the boys mentioned to the rug to
00:36:50
his father when he got home and the father thought he had better go and inspector he took a neighbor with him
00:36:56
and with the neighbors torch they searched the low scrub as the flashlight bounced across the grass they lit up the
00:37:05
unmistakable pattern of a Czech woollen rug as the neighbor kept the flashlight on the bundle the boy's father untied
00:37:14
two knots of rope keeping the rug together as he pulled back a fold he saw what he thought was hair and then as he
00:37:23
pulled it open he saw a small body inside the rug was the partially decomposed the body of a young boy the
00:37:33
scarf wrapped around his neck and rope around his feet and wrists he was lying in thick undergrowth amongst rocks about
00:37:41
thirty meters from Grandview Grove in Seaforth the location where the second phone call was made to the thorns the
00:37:47
night Graeme disappeared what had started as the largest manhunt in New South Wales history was now said to
00:37:56
become one of the most intensive murder investigations the state had ever seen a
00:38:01
[Music] post-mortem examination was carried out during which it was found the grams coat
00:38:10
was fully buttoned up and his school necktie was exactly as Frieda had tied it that morning the two handkerchiefs he
00:38:17
carried in his trouser pockets were unused and still folded his body was in an advanced state of decomposition there
00:38:26
was a patch of abrasions on the right side of his neck those are wound to the back left side of his head with an
00:38:32
underlying fracture of the back of his skull in some bruising of the scalp the nature of this injury indicated the use
00:38:40
of considerable force there were scattered surface hemorrhages in the upper part of his air passages at the
00:38:47
top of the lungs and just below the larynx this was indicative of asphyxia the cause of death was determined to be
00:38:54
either asphyxia blunt force trauma or a combination of both they were able to determine the créme
00:39:04
had been killed within a 24-hour period of being kidnapped and his body dumped at the vacant block of land shortly
00:39:09
after this was established by scientific analysis considered pioneering firts torn grams shoes were examined by the
00:39:18
School of Agriculture at the University of Sydney for clients of fungi were found growing abundantly on both of his
00:39:25
shoes the fungi had reached the stage of growth where per a Theseus Bors had developed scientists discovered one
00:39:33
specific type of fungi that would have taken a minimum period of three weeks for the development of the paratha under
00:39:39
the conditions they were in it was further discovered that the paratha had begun to break away and this indicated a
00:39:46
further period of another three weeks after their development these fungi would not grow if the shoes were being
00:39:52
used and would not develop unless covered in a humid atmosphere Locke rolled up in a rug the presence of fly
00:40:01
larvae also helped determine the period of time Graham's body was likely to have
00:40:05
being at the location around six weeks the exact amount of time Graham had been missing for
00:40:14
his pioneering scientific analysis opened doors between criminal investigators and scientific experts to
00:40:20
work together in future investigations detectives turned their attention to the rug Graham was found in they were able
00:40:30
to establish that the rug was produced by textile mill in South Australia and the blue and gray Czech design was a
00:40:36
stall manufactured sometime between June 6th 1955 into January 19th 1956 3000 units of the rug were produced and it
00:40:47
was believed that half of those were sold in New South Wales retail stores the task of finding the owner seemed
00:40:54
impossible unless a member of the public recognized it and could suggest who the
00:40:58
owner might be the chief of the Criminal Investigation Branch said quote even at
00:41:05
the risk of getting many false Clues we will welcome any information about similar rugs
00:41:10
if anyone recalls having seen a similar rug in somebody's possession the information could be very important to
00:41:16
police following this announcement magazines agreed to print coloured images of the pattern on the road a
00:41:24
scientific examination revealed foreign hairs on both sides of the rug the hairs
00:41:30
were a mix of both animal and human animal hairs were also found attached to the back of Graham's coat they were
00:41:37
thought to be from a small dog more human hairs were found on the scarf around Graham's neck also present inside
00:41:46
the rug were various types of foliage no species could be found in the vacant block where Graham's body was dumped but
00:41:54
there were two specific species present which didn't exist at that location these fragments of two different shrubs
00:42:01
were found on Graham's scarf coat and appearance some of the soil which had gathered in Graham's clothing was also
00:42:08
tested it showed minut fragments of a pink colored lime stock mortar it was determined that the distribution of the
00:42:16
mortar on the clothing and scarf meant the Graham must have been lying on his back near and likely under a brick
00:42:22
building when the scarf was tied around his neck because of the pink color of the mortar
00:42:28
and the presence of fragments of garden tropes police felt the location where the scarf was tied around Graham's neck
00:42:34
was likely a residential dwelling 500 people attended Graham's funeral at st. Mark's Church in darling point there had
00:42:49
been no public notice made but still the street surrounding st. Mark's were packed with people by the time the
00:42:55
service began the him abide with me was played at the service Reverend Clive Goodwin a close friend of the thorns
00:43:05
began with the following words we are gathered here this morning because a horrible crime previously unknown in
00:43:12
Australian history has cut short the life of an innocent boy it has caused untold suffering in his family circle as
00:43:19
well the community for nearly seven weeks they have watched waited and prayed that Graham would be returned to
00:43:27
his family circle unharmed the desire of the nation is that the person responsible for the crown should receive
00:43:33
the justice that the case demands men women and children wept openly 150 Scots college pupils attended dressed smartly
00:43:44
in their uniforms and as the muffled peal of the church bells rang out the Scots Coley's children formed a guard of
00:43:51
honour around Graham's coffin as it was carried from the church a small silver plaque on it was engraved with Graham
00:43:59
Frederic Thorne aged 8 [Music] Graeme's funeral coincided with an announcement from the premier that the
00:44:08
highest priority would be given to new legislation providing drastic penalties for kidnapping he confirmed that would
00:44:15
most certainly come before the next session of Parliament detectives combed through the owners of all 1955 blue Ford
00:44:25
Customline vehicles the car that was seen up on the curb blocking the footpath in the area of graem's
00:44:31
kidnapping as they were going through the records one owner came up who'd lived in the suburb of Clontarf this was
00:44:39
of interest as it was in close proximity to Seaforth where the second call from the kidnapper was made to the thorns and
00:44:45
where Graham's body was found when detectives saw the owner's name Stephen Bradley
00:44:54
they thought it unlikely he would be a foreign origin but they were interviewing all loners so they had to
00:44:59
tick the box they arranged to meet up with him and have a quick chat on August 24th 1962 they came face-to-face with
00:45:09
was a heavyset man 42 years of age with an olive complexion dark wavy hair and an accent he matched the description of
00:45:18
the men that were looking for Stephen Bradley came across as friendly and seemed helpful he told the officers
00:45:28
that on July 7th the day of graem's kidnapping he had been home in Clontarf all morning it actually moved house that
00:45:35
day and was that home until the removalists arrived he had put his wife and children into a taxi at 10:00 a.m.
00:45:41
and he had only gone out when he made a solo trip to the shops he said his Ford Customline never left
00:45:47
the garage when the removalists were interviewed they said they didn't arrive to the house until 11 a.m. that morning
00:45:55
and too they were there until 3:00 they didn't go into the garage at all because
00:46:00
Stephen Bradley had already moved everything out of there thirty-four-year-old Stephen Leslie
00:46:11
Bradley was born Istvan Baron J in Budapest Hungary in 1926 when Bradley arrived in Melbourne in 1950 he had been
00:46:20
divorced from his first wife for two years he worked several jobs and in 1952 he married again to Eva Laszlo together
00:46:29
they had a child in 1955 in a car accident that many claimed was suspicious Eva died
00:46:38
Bradley received a substantial inheritance after her death in 1957 Bradley had fraud charges placed against
00:46:48
him but they were later dropped in 1958 he married for the third time his new wife Magda was divorced herself and had
00:46:57
two children they blended their family and began raising their three children together
00:47:02
Magda owned a guesthouse in Kitumba but in 1959 the guest house burnt down luckily for them that was substantially
00:47:11
insured in 1960 they were living in Sydney on the profits of insurance claims according to New South Wales senior
00:47:23
crown prosecutor mark Tedeschi who authored the book kidnapped the crime has shocked the nation with three
00:47:29
children at home the Bradley's fun soon dwindled Tedeschi said in an interview about his book
00:47:36
quote he was an unlikely kidnapper he had three kids and was a happy family man and it's hard to summarize his
00:47:44
personality he had a deep inner need to impress and be recognised as a man of consequence he had a sense of
00:47:52
entitlement and he was a wheeler and dealer who was not afraid to cross the line of the law he was also in dire
00:47:59
financial straits the day after police spoke to Bradley August 25th 1960 he's wife Magda Bradley booked a ticket for
00:48:11
herself and one son on a ship to London four days later Steven Bradley booked the same passage
00:48:18
to London with their other two children one month later September 26th Stephen and Magda Bradley together with their
00:48:28
three children boarded the ship the Himalaya from Sydney every piece of furniture they owned had been sold and
00:48:34
they severed all ties with Australia they didn't inform anyone where they were going
00:48:41
nor did they inform their real estate agent that they were not continuing with her lease the gas and electricity
00:48:47
companies weren't aware they had left either their children attended to different schools and the Headmaster's
00:48:54
were told differing stories to one Bradley said the family was moving to Victoria into the other he said they
00:49:01
were relocating to Queensland despite booking passage to London Steven Bradley never made it when the ship docked in
00:49:10
Colombo Sri Lanka he disembarked and didn't get back on board but his wife and children continued on to London it
00:49:19
was starting to look like Bradley was hiding but all of this was unbeknownst to police at the time
00:49:28
during the time Bradley was fleeing the country detectives were still building their case in October 1960 the thorns
00:49:36
were asked to go to Bondi police station and take a look at some photographs detectives wanted to know if they
00:49:42
recognized anyone in a photo lineup they had prepared in one of the batches of photos buzzers eyes flicks torments face
00:49:50
he recognized although he wasn't aware of his name dazzle knew him as the private investigator who had knocked on
00:49:57
his door a few weeks before Graham's kidnapping when basil left the room Freda was taken in separately
00:50:04
she picked the exact same photograph it was Stephen Bradley the following Monday
00:50:13
October 17th Sydney's central court sat for a hearing as police sought to establish a prima
00:50:18
facie case against Steven Bradley for Graham Thorne's murder by now they were aware he and his family had skipped the
00:50:25
country and they wanted an extradition order to bring Bradley back from Sri Lanka in order to stand trial
00:50:32
police scientific expert Detective Constable William Buchanan told the court that he had found a woolen
00:50:38
material similar to a rug Castle after searching through rubbish at the house formerly occupied by Stephen Bradley
00:50:45
there was a match to the rug that Graham's body was found in on the first day 21 witnesses gave evidence and
00:50:53
police expected to call a further 40 witnesses over the following days the courtroom was full and hundreds stood
00:51:01
outside waiting for an update at the close of the hearing the judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence for
00:51:09
Steven Bradley to face a charge of murder but he made it clear that the evidence would have to be taken to the
00:51:14
court in Colombo Sri Lanka if Sri Lankan authorities agreed there was sufficient evidence against Bradley
00:51:20
they could approve extradition to Australian detectives boarded a plane for Colombo weighed down with cases of
00:51:29
evidence against Bradley Bradley was easily located placed under arrest and given legal counsel as the
00:51:37
Australian detectives prepared to attend the Sri Lankan Court to present their case Bradley was visibly upset at his
00:51:44
arrest and to proclaim his innocence but it was of no use the extradition was granted within days Bradley was on a
00:51:52
plane back to Sydney upon his arrival to Sydney Bradley provided an oral statement as well as a written
00:52:00
explanation of what happened on the morning of July 7th 1960 he was no longer claiming here is innocent his
00:52:08
statement read I read in the newspaper that mr. thorn won the first prize in the Opera House lottery I decided that I
00:52:18
would kidnap his son I knew the address from the newspaper and I've got their number from the telephone exchange I
00:52:25
went to the house to see them and I asked for someone but I cannot remember what name mrs. thorn said she didn't
00:52:32
know anyone by that name and she told me to inquire in the flat upstairs I went upstairs and I saw the
00:52:38
woman there I have done this because I thought that the thorns would check up I went out and watched the thorn boy
00:52:45
leaving the house and I saw him for about three mornings I've seen where he went and one morning I followed him to
00:52:52
the school at Bellevue Hill one or two mornings I've seen a woman pick him up and take him to school on the day we
00:53:00
moved from Clontarf I went out to Edward Street I parked the car in the street I
00:53:06
don't know the name of the street but it's off Wellington Street I've got out from the car and waited on the corner
00:53:13
until the boy walked down to the car I've told the boy that I am to taking to the school he said why where is the lady
00:53:20
I said she's sick and cannot come today then the boy got in the car and I drove him around for a while and over the
00:53:32
Harbour Bridge I went to a public phone box near the speed bridge and I rang the
00:53:36
thorns I talked to mrs. thorn and to a man who said he was the boy's father I've asked for 25,000 pounds from the
00:53:44
boy's mother and father I told them that if I don't get the money I feed him to the Sharks and I had told them I ring
00:53:52
later I took the boy in the car home to Clontarf and I put the car in my garage I told the boy to get out of the car to
00:54:01
come and see another boy when he got out of the car I've put a scarf over his mouth and put him in the boot of the car
00:54:07
and slammed the boot I went in my house and the furniture removals came a few minutes later when it was nearly dark I
00:54:15
went to the car and found the boy was dead that night I tied the boy up with string and put him in my rug
00:54:29
the trial began on March 20th 1961 on the first day all eyes were on basil and Freda thorn as Stephen Bradley was
00:54:38
brought into the dot dressed neatly in a blue suit white shirt and a green tie he
00:54:43
sat quietly with his hands folded in front of him as he faced the judge justice Clancy the prosecution argued
00:54:52
that Bradley was not revealing the full story and the death of Graham was intentional they presented Graham's
00:54:58
shoes which had scuffs and marks along the top indicating he had been dragged during a 4-hour address to the jury
00:55:07
Bradley's defense stated that his confession had been fullest and for that reason the confession was false and was
00:55:13
being withdrawn he was now pleading not guilty he claimed he had nothing to do with the kidnapping or murder of Graham
00:55:21
thorne the prosecution presented the evidence of the rug pestle retrieved from the rubbish of the property where
00:55:29
Steven Bradley lived an analysis showed that it matched the color and yarn of a tassel missing from the rug the Graham
00:55:36
thorn was found wrapped in a roll of film was also found at the previous home of the Bradley's and when this film was
00:55:43
developed it showed a photograph of Magda Bradley with the same style and design of the
00:55:48
rug in question when all of the evidence was presented the judge gave his final instructions to the jury during which he
00:55:56
said a man is guilty of murder not only when he intended to take a life and took
00:56:01
a life but also if he killed someone while acting with reckless indifference to life
00:56:11
after deliberating for three hours and 22 minutes the jury returned with their verdict Bradley stood resting both his
00:56:20
hands on the rail in front of him solemnly as the judge announced that the jury had found him guilty the crowd
00:56:27
yelled clucked cheering and whistling in celebration as they were camped by the guards and
00:56:33
silence was restored Freda thorn could be heard weeping as Basile comforted her Magda Bradley although in court earlier
00:56:44
that day was not present to hear the verdict against her husband the judge then asked Bradley if he had anything to
00:56:51
say to which he replied yes I have a few things to say I never had an opportunity
00:56:58
before this trial to say anything one thing I would like to say is I knew before I came to this court I would be
00:57:05
convicted of a crime which I did not commit why I was almost convinced because of a certain human emotion you
00:57:13
call prejudice prejudice is the same although dissimilar as jealousy it is a human emotion a very dangerous one
00:57:22
extremely so because it affects your mind to such an extent that you're not able to judge things as the full facts I
00:57:29
think one of the main factors was the publicity in the newspapers everyone read it actually Your Honor instructed
00:57:38
the jury they had to forget about it it's impossible it's impossible anyway I'm not saying the jury are not
00:57:47
good citizens they tried to do their best they have been influenced by these very powerful emotions as a matter of
00:57:55
fact the jury has decided on a verdict and naturally it's your duty to pass sentence according to the law that's all
00:58:03
I have to say when Bradley finished speaking the crowd began yelling and screaming at him when silence was once
00:58:14
again restored the judge spoke Steven Lesley Bradley the sentence of the court is that you were sentenced to penal
00:58:22
servitude for life with his head down Bradley returned to the dock before officers took him down to the cells
00:58:30
below the court as he walked a group of women screaming surged forward in attack
00:58:36
but they were restrained by police outside the court there was a crowd of around 400 men women and children
00:58:45
families had come in droves to show their support for the thorns and to hurl abuse in the hope that Stephen Bradley
00:58:51
would hear it when the verdict was made public the crowd cheered and hugged one another Steven Bradley launched an
00:59:01
appeal against his conviction but it was denied never again did newspapers print
00:59:10
the addresses of lottery winners without their consent following the kidnapping for ransom of
00:59:16
Graham thorne the law was amended to reflect harsher punishments the law now states that those responsible for
00:59:23
detaining any person with intent to entice payment by way of ransom are liable to a maximum sentence of 25 years
00:59:31
magda bradley divorced Stephen Bradley in 1965 and moved back to Europe Stephen Bradley was incarcerated at Long
00:59:40
Bay Jail in Goulburn New South Wales where he gained prison employment as a hospital orderly in October 1968 while
00:59:48
playing in the jail tennis competition Bradley suffered a coronary occlusion and died the thorns moved away from
00:59:58
Bondi Basile Thorne died in December 1978 Freda Thorne died in 2012 at the age of 86 she was laid to rest alongside
01:00:09
Graham the him that was played at Graham's funeral abide with me was originally written as a poem in 1847 by
01:00:18
Henry Francis like abide with me fast Falls the Eventide the darkness deepens Lord with me abide when other helpers
01:00:31
fail and comforts flee help of the helpless o abide with me Swift towards clothes herbs out life's little day
01:00:42
Earth's joys grow dim its glories pass away change and decay in all around I see both thou who changes to not abide
01:00:54
with me not a brief glance are back a passing word but as they are dwelling with thy disciples Lord familiar
01:01:05
condescending patient free come not to Sajha but abide with me come not in terrors as the King of Kings but kind
01:01:18
and good with healing in thy wings teas for all woes a heart for every play come friend of sinners and did the
01:01:29
sabaidee with me now in my head in early youth did smile and though rebellious and perverse meanwhile dal has to not
01:01:40
left me oft as I left thee on to the clothes o Lord abide with me I need thy presence
01:01:51
every passing hour what but thy grace can foil the tempers power who like thyself my God and stay
01:01:58
can be through cloud and sunshine o abide with me I fear no foe with they at hand to bless
01:02:08
ills have no way and tears no bitterness where is death sting where grave thy victory by triumphs tool if they'll
01:02:19
abide with me hold out like Ross before my closing eyes shine through the gloom and point
01:02:27
me to the skies heavens morning breaks and Earth's vain shadows flee in life in death Oh Lord
01:02:39
abide with me [Music] you