00:00:01
when the acclaimed silent waves podcast was released on our case file presents network
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in 2019 i knew that the show's co-creator and producer georgina savage must have another story she needed to
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tell that's when georgina told me about the invisible hand an ambitious and somewhat dangerous
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pitch for a podcast join georgina savage as she returns to her birth country of south africa
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where her cousin's family lived deep in the bush of the kruger national park fighting on the front lines of a
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conservation war against toronto poaching go behind the headlines with the georgina as she is given unique access
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and immerses herself in the lives of individuals connected to the illegal trade including the men who poach rhinos in an
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attempt to understand the personal circumstances of those entangled in a crisis be sure to search for the invisible hand
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wherever you get your podcasts and hit the follow button you can also listen on the website
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invisiblehandpodcast.com [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents
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if you feel at any time you need support please contact your local crisis center
00:01:34
for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show notes for this episode on your app
00:01:40
or on our website this episode involves a crime against children it may not be suitable for all listeners
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it was a scorching hot morning on monday february 22 1993 when married couple ron and dina
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not their real names drove along the brand highway towards the small western australia town
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of granif ferocious salty winds from the nearby coastline were once again lashing the dry countryside the same
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winds that had left some eucalyptus trees along the floodplains permanently bent at a 90
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degree angle these leaning trees were just one of a few attractions the township had to
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offer but it was far from a tourist destination located 400 kilometers north of the city
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of perth few at the time would have even heard of grenith or have any reason to visit the
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quiet and sparsely populated sheep and wheat farming community ron and dana knew the area well having
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spent time there with their friend karen mckenzie karen resided in grenoff with her three children
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daniel amara and katrina the 31 year old single mother had recently gotten together enough money to
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rent a small house on the rural outskirts of town where landmarks and homesteads were few
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and far between their modest cream-colored weatherboard house stood alone among the wind-swept
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wild grass partially framed by dense bushland despite the isolation of the area karen
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was working hard to build a good life for herself and her kids ron and dana had set out for the
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mackenzie property that morning to help karen with some home repairs they drove along grenade's main street
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before turning down georgina road a long unmarked stretch that cut inland between acres of paddocks
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soon ron and dina reached the turn off to the mackenzie property and pulled up to the house they could
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hear the family's pet dog barking wildly from inside the house but other than that everything was
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eerily quiet the wind battered several lines of washing strung up in the backyard
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but there was no movement from within the house and nobody came out to greet them
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the state of the house seemed inconsequential to what ron and dana spotted upon arriving
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someone was lying motionless on the driveway it looked like daniel karen's 16 year
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old son assuming the teen might be playing some kind of prank ron got out to see what was going on
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ron called out for karen but there was no reply he tentatively walked towards the person
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lying in the driveway as he got closer a wave of horror washed over him from inside the car dina became
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hysterical and screamed for her husband to get back in ron ran and leapt into the driver's seat
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slamming the door behind him he grasped the wheel and pressed his foot down on the accelerator
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the couple sped off back down the driveway leaving a cloud of dust in their wake
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the closest neighbour was a few hundred meters away ron parked on the road jumped the fence
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and raced towards the house frantically yelling and waving but nobody was home he did the same at the next property but
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no one was home there either ron rushed back to his car and sped up the main gravel road
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to the first house he came across only to find that it too was empty the couple then headed to the closest
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business the granite museum ron rushed in and asked to use their phone to call the
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police he needed to report a murder although he suspected the body on the mackenzie's driveway was
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daniel he couldn't be sure the person was so badly maimed that their face was unrecognizable
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[Music] [Music] although granite is considered to be a bit of a ghost town the major city of geraldton is just 24
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kilometers north as the largest city north of perth geraldton has many features that put it
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on the map including a thriving fishing industry stunning spring wildflowers and sprawling surf beaches
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near 60 kilometers offshore are pelsart easter and wallaby islands key locations of the deadly batavia
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shipwreck covered in episode 138 of case file for many travelers geraldton is their
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main destination with isolated towns like a granite acting as stop places along the way
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however in the late summer of 1993 grenoff would surpass the city in making headlines
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the unassuming and little-known township was propelled into the national spotlight
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for what came to be called one of the worst crimes in western australia for that reason grenith was put on the
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map it had been a typical morning at geraldton's criminal investigation bureau on february 22 1993
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when detectives received news that a brutalized body had been found outside a residence in sleepy granite
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forensic inspector bryn jones and detective merv cousins along with a team of uniformed officers
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immediately made the 16-minute drive down the bruce highway arriving at the mackenzie property around 11am
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as reported a blood-soaked body laying the dust just outside the homestead having been
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so savagely attacked that their face was indistinguishable the victim was identified as
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sixteen-year-old daniel the oldest of karen mckenzie's three children her other two children daughters
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seven-year-old amara and five-year-old katrina were nowhere to be seen karen too was missing
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the detectives turned their attention to the house before them the family's pet dog
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continued to bark from within towards a rear door the detectives were rattled was daniel's
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killer still at the scene unwilling to take any chances they raised their handguns
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before entering the property nothing could prepare them for what they found inside
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the lounge room was in complete disarray among the clothing and other items that
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had been strewn about karen mckenzie lay face down on the floor her head covered with a blood-soaked
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blanket it was clear that she was deceased having sustained numerous blows to her head and body
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similar to those unleashed on her son outside she'd also been positioned in such a way
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that indicated she had been raped post-mortem the detectives continued deeper into the
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house upon reaching one of the bedrooms they found the bodies of seven-year-old amara
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and five-year-old katrina like their brother and mother before them both had been hacked to death amara
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had also been sexually assaulted across the country in the state of queensland evelyn pressed the phone receiver to her
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ear she had lost count of how many times she had dialed her sister karen's phone
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number but each time the line rang out or occasionally beeped to signal it was engaged earlier that day
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evelyn had received a word from her brother who had overheard some shocking news on the radio a woman and her three
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children had been killed in granite although the victims weren't named their ages
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correlated with that of karen and her three children interstate all evelyn could do was try
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to reach out to her sister via phone and hope for the best but as her calls continued to go unanswered
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her fears increased she went out with her husband setting the television up to record the news
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while they were gone when they returned they watched the footage the quadruple homicide making waves in
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western australia was reported but the details were scared at this point evelyn had no reason to
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believe the victims were her sister nephew and denise's but her instincts were telling her otherwise
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her husband contacted authorities to get answers evelyn studied his expression as he made
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the call when tears started to fall down his face her worst fears were confirmed
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evelyn later stated i still remember that as clear as day nothing can ever prepare you for that
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moment inside the mackenzie house the juxtaposition was confronting on one hand the grizzly scene was a
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living nightmare on the other hand it was full of all the small details that make a house a home
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toys were scattered throughout drawings by the children were displayed on the fridge
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and to-do lists captured the family's daily life a christmas wish list from katrina
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assured santa that she had been a good girl who hoped to receive a troll doll rollerblades
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or a radio for her bedroom karen had proudly held onto a handmade card from amara that wished her
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a happy mother's day it was clear that they were a loving and warm family but things hadn't always been easy for
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karen mckenzie as a child growing up in queensland she had a great curiosity for the world
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and how things worked she loved nothing more than exploring outdoors and was eager to learn everything she
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could but when she hit adolescence this curiosity led her to experiment with the
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drugs and at the age of 15 she unexpectedly became pregnant karen gave birth to daniel and was
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determined to make it as a single mother she moved out of home and rented her own flat but the challenges
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of young parenthood were overwhelming karen feared she couldn't give daniel the life he deserved
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so when he was two years old she made the difficult decision to let her mother have custody of daniel full time
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she then made the move to western australia years later karen fell in love with a
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man named andrew allen and they had amara and katrina she adored her two girls but her
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relationship with andrew didn't last once again karen found herself as a single parent
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but this time she was older and wiser and committed to making things work she moved with her girls to grenith and
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reached out to her now teenage son daniel inviting him to come and live with them as a family
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he agreed and karen was beyond excited she was thrilled to have all her children living under the same roof for
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the first time it would also give her a bit more independence as daniel was also
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old and responsible enough to babysit his younger sisters [Music] daniel was equally looking forward to
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the change for his birthday he asked his grandmother for a bus ticket to western
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australia and made the move the following day while daniel had never really enjoyed
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school and often didn't attend he enrolled at high school in geraldton and gave it his best
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things had been looking bright for the mackenzie family and they had plenty to look forward to
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for the family of four to be viciously struck down in the midst of building a vibrant and positive life together
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made very little sense inspector brynn jones turned to his team and said i don't care what we do
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but we must find the person that did this the major crime squad arrived in grena
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from perth and had to work fast the sun was blazing down on the crime scene and the
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accompanying strong coastal winds risked disturbing evidence the team spent the remainder of the day
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and night painstakingly combing the property determined not to let anything go unnoticed
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it was an exhausting task both mentally and physically the crime scene was one of
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the most brutal that attending officers had ever seen causing several to become physically
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sick others would later change departments or leave that sort of police work entirely
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all would struggle with the memories of what they witnessed that day this extreme reaction offers an explanation
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as to why the specifics of what happened at the mackenzie house have been withheld
00:17:00
deemed too traumatic for public knowledge a rare court issued suppression order has banned the exact
00:17:06
details from ever being reported the information presented in this case file episode is collated from the widely
00:17:15
publicized facts three days before karen mckenzie was found murdered she had attended a house party in
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geraldton daniel had agreed to babysit his two younger sisters affording his mother a rare and welcome
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to night out the party was held at a friend's home and according to some guests it was relatively uneventful
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karen returned home at around 5am on saturday receiving a lift home from a friend
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a neighbor happened to witness karen's friend driving away from the house on saturday
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but they didn't see anything suspicious over the following hours the family was targeted on sunday night
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karen was asleep on a mattress in the lounge room when she was struck her daughters were then confronted in
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the bedroom it was unclear how daniel's body came to be outside though some speculated he'd fled from
00:18:20
the house and was chased down by his attacker before being fatally struck in the
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driveway the murder weapon was nowhere to be found but based on the victim's injuries it
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appeared their killer had been wielding either an ax a tomahawk or meat cleaver many foreign fingerprints were found
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throughout the home but the challenge was ruling out who they belonged to semen was also detected but dna
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technology was still in its infancy and this couldn't be used to identify who was responsible
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grenoff's community were left shocked by the murders although geraldton city and its
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surrounding region had its share of drug and theft related offences crimes of this
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magnitude were unheard of without a clear motive or suspect for the slayings the township was gripped by fear that
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the unknown sadistic killer would strike again no one could understand why anyone would
00:19:30
want to hurt karen and her kids especially in such a violent and deranged way the police didn't say too much as they
00:19:40
didn't want to cause any unnecessary alarm they simply warned the community to take
00:19:46
proper safety measures [Music] while it was possible that the killings were a random attack
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this didn't appear to be the case to get to the mackenzie house you had to exit the highway and
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travel a fair distance down a remote side street there was nothing out there besides a
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few houses spread throughout the dry rural flatlands the only reason to be in the area
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was to visit one of these residences it wasn't the kind of place an opportunistic killer would have stumbled
00:20:21
across in their everyday travels they had to be familiar not only with granite but its outskirts
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it seemed they had set out on georgina road on that sunday night with every intention of attacking the
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mackenzie family [Music] phone records from the mackenzie property revealed that a call had been
00:20:48
placed to the house at 11 15 the night of the killings the caller was identified as a man who
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had previously lived at their property he admitted to speaking to karen at this time
00:21:02
but for innocent reasons he claimed he went to bed straight after making the call
00:21:09
after police established a tipline the pool of potential suspects grew quickly there was karen's former
00:21:17
partner andrew allen who was the father to amara and katrina he had contacted police after hearing
00:21:25
about the murders on the news and was tracked down to hall's creek a small outback town
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over two thousand kilometers north east of grenit andrew maintained that he'd been stuck
00:21:38
in halls creek during the time of the murders due to heavy rainfall that had flooded the roads leading in
00:21:44
and out of town then there was shane eastof a man karen had been seeing shortly before her murder he told police
00:21:55
that karen had recently broken things off between them out of the blue then a few days before the murders shane
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received an anonymous valentine's day card featuring karen's handwriting it read
00:22:12
what did i do care too much to be in your arms ain't so rough being yours could have been enough what happened to
00:22:22
babe scare you off like a diamond you're just too tough [Music] in the bottom left hand corner of the
00:22:32
card karen had signed off with the word buy in hindsight shane wondered whether this indicated
00:22:40
that karen knew something bad was about to happen then there was the sighting of two
00:22:48
vehicles leaving the mackenzie property on the night of the murders the witness hadn't seen either of the
00:22:55
cars before and didn't know who they belonged to this was just one of many unsubstantiated tips that served to
00:23:04
further muddy the already perplexing investigation there was also the suggestion that the
00:23:12
crime could be drug related as karen was known to use recreationally and associate with other drug users and
00:23:20
individuals linked to the cannabis trade the city of geraldton was a known sea passage that facilitated drug
00:23:28
trafficking from asia to australia furthermore the party karen attended on the friday night before her murder
00:23:36
involved drug use those affiliated with the illicit scene typically kept a safe distance from
00:23:44
police but the murders had rocked the community so much that most people were willing to talk
00:23:51
[Music] bikees and other gangs that were active in the area were looked into but the police couldn't
00:23:59
find anything worthwhile to their investigations they couldn't rule out that the crimes
00:24:06
could be drug-related in some way then a witness came forward having seen karen in geraldton on the sunday morning
00:24:16
before the attack she had been speaking to a fisherman who was working in the area at the time
00:24:25
police looked into the fishermen and discovered that he had left a geraldton for the city of darwin in the
00:24:31
neighbouring state of the northern territory the day the bodies were found they tracked him down only to find that
00:24:40
he had no alibi for the night of the murders by now 70 persons of interest had emerged throughout the granitef and
00:24:51
geraldton regions and interstate police continued to speculate possible motives but they were plagued
00:25:00
by uncertainty the sheer brutality of the attack using a handheld bludgeon indicated that the perpetrator was
00:25:09
compelled by something personal such as revenge yet the necrophilia and child sexual assault indicated
00:25:19
something else entirely while a motive and suspect eluded them police did uncover one major clue
00:25:28
while carrying out the crimes the mackenzie family killer pressed his right hand against
00:25:34
an interior wall his palm was smeared with an oily substance which left a partial palm print in the
00:25:43
same room there were three oily fingertip prints on the edge of a door these markings appeared to have been
00:25:51
made as the killer closed the door behind them the section of wall containing the palm
00:25:58
print was cut out and taken away for examination the fingerprints were less viable as the
00:26:06
door had originally been painted with a coarse paintbrush using rough strokes still
00:26:12
investigators removed the entire door so it too could undergo forensic testing at the western australia chem center in
00:26:23
perth a chief research chemist and his team got to work testing the oily prince given that they
00:26:31
weren't full fingerprints their best bet was to identify what the oily substance was the team
00:26:38
concluded the print had been made using a subaline-like substance which is a common type of hand lotion
00:26:46
but they couldn't be sure exactly what the product was the chem center kept a catalogue of
00:26:53
approximately 80 different hand and body lotions on site the substance was tested against
00:27:00
each one but no match was found the team then gathered all the various lotions present in the mackenzie
00:27:09
household and tested the substance against those but they couldn't find a match there either
00:27:24
the last time geraldton resident jamie schlangford not his real name saw karen mckenzie
00:27:30
was at the house party he'd hosted three days before she was killed as the murder investigation gained pace
00:27:39
hamish returned home to find a ghastly scene his house had been broken into and that
00:27:47
there was a significant amount of blood on the floor panicked hamish phoned the police who
00:27:54
quickly arrived at the scene the amount of blood indicated someone had been seriously injured and police feared the
00:28:03
mackenzie family murderer had struck again [Music] as they considered this the back door of
00:28:11
hamish's home flung open standing in the doorway was a naked man with a blood-soaked towel wrapped around
00:28:19
his waist he was frantic telling police that he'd arrived at the address earlier
00:28:26
to visit hamish when he knocked on the door three men appeared out of nowhere and
00:28:33
dragged him inside the trio were convinced that hamish was responsible for the mackenzie murders
00:28:40
and demanded to know where he was so they could confront him the man insisted that he didn't know but
00:28:49
his assailants didn't believe him suddenly one took out a filing knife and attempted to sever the man's penis
00:28:59
the man fought for his life and broke free he raced into a bathroom before locking
00:29:05
the door behind him the offending trio finally left but fearing they'd come back
00:29:13
the injured man darted outside and hid in some bushes he waited there until he saw the police
00:29:20
arrive [Music] the man was rushed to geraldton regional hospital and treated for his injuries while
00:29:30
police wanted to give him time to recover they were also eager to get as much information about his three attackers
00:29:37
while his memory was fresh they pressed him for any details asking for a description of the trio
00:29:47
the man was hesitant but the pressure soon got to him he admitted he had made the whole story
00:29:56
up struggling with the drug addiction and personal issues he'd inflicted the knife wounds in a
00:30:04
suicide attempt gone awry this was not the first time police had spoken to this individual
00:30:13
his name was bill mitchell and he was one of the 70 persons of interest that had emerged in the
00:30:20
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betterhelp.com slash case file [Music] hamish langford's house party was in full swing
00:35:54
on the night of friday february 19th his guests were mingling alcohol was flowing and some were
00:36:02
partaking in recreational drug use for the most part it was an enjoyable evening
00:36:09
that was until a drunken argument broke out between karen mckenzie and her friend bill mitchell
00:36:17
the other guests weren't sure what the fight was about exactly but it brought down the
00:36:22
atmosphere and some left as a result although no one knew what bill had done to upset karen
00:36:30
their issues seemed to have dissipated by the early hours as karen had accepted bill's offer of a
00:36:37
ride home they arrived at her house around 5am on saturday morning bill hung out there until 11am before
00:36:47
driving back to geraldton this was verified by a neighbour who saw bill's car leaving the mackenzie
00:36:55
property at this time when initially questioned by police bill maintained he had
00:37:02
nothing to do with the murders that occurred the following night he showed great concern for karen and
00:37:08
her children therefore when bill mitchell staged an attack on himself at the house where he and karen had
00:37:17
fought in the days before her murder police were baffled he was charged with making a false statement
00:37:25
in relation to the knife attack and left to recover from his injuries greenhead caravan park is around a
00:37:35
two-hour drive south of granite the most direct route is along the brand highway
00:37:42
which connects to the scenic indian ocean drive here the road offers endless views of
00:37:49
western australia's coast on one side and its jagged tan coloured countryside on the other
00:37:57
a turn leads down to the coastal town of green head a tourist hotspot for those seeking sun
00:38:04
sand and surf many opt to stay at the greenhead caravan park as it's just a short walk from the beach
00:38:14
in the early 90s the park was run by a man named bernie mcarthur although what was
00:38:22
some distance from where the mackenzie family was murdered bernie was immediately reminded of the
00:38:28
case when one of his employees came to him in a shaken state they had entered one of the on-site
00:38:36
caravans to do a routine clean when they were greeted by a disturbing scene large amounts of blood and semen were
00:38:46
splattered throughout along with a ripped up pornographic magazine although there was nothing to indicate
00:38:55
this incident had anything to do with the mackenzie murders bernie couldn't shake his suspicion of a
00:39:02
possible connection like other locals along the coastline he'd been rattled by the crimes and was anxious
00:39:10
for the perpetrator to be caught he called the local police who came to assess the caravan
00:39:17
and bagged the evidence when the task force fronting the mackenzie family investigation was
00:39:25
notified of the disturbing discovery they decided to withhold all details of it from the media
00:39:34
by now they had narrowed their list down to 25 persons of interest each individual was tracked down and
00:39:42
asked to provide hair blood and saliva samples forensic inspector bryn jones had been
00:39:50
one of the first officers at the mackenzie family crime scene and was working hard to keep his word
00:39:56
about finding the person responsible his tireless endeavors led him to the small agricultural town of morowa
00:40:06
149 kilometers east of grenoff there he met a familiar face bill mitchell bill had since recovered from his
00:40:18
suicide attempt and had resumed his job as a farmhand when asked to volunteer to have his
00:40:26
fingerprints taken bill agreed inspector jones set up his inking equipment as he began taking the prince bill
00:40:37
remarked i'm surprised you're still going on with the investigation i thought you caught the bloke i heard
00:40:45
in the press that he was behaving really strangely in some caravan park and you caught up with him
00:40:54
jones froze the caravan incident at green head caravan park had been withheld from the public
00:41:02
no one outside of the task force knew about it jones kept his cool he calmly finished
00:41:11
taking bill's prince and left the farm before rushing them to perth for testing at the chem center in perth chief
00:41:25
research chemist dr john chalinor and his team were still working to identify the mysterious
00:41:32
lotion left behind at the mackenzie crime scene having worked on many sexual assault
00:41:38
cases during his career dr chalinor was aware that perpetrators sometimes used hand lotion as a
00:41:46
lubricant wondering if that could explain the oily palm and fingerprints he requested that the mysterious lotion
00:41:56
be compared against swabs taken from karen mckenzie's body if there was a match it would prove that
00:42:04
the oily fingerprints belonged to the perpetrator the same substance was present on
00:42:12
karen's body confirming that the oily hand and fingerprints at the crime scene absolutely belonged to her killer
00:42:24
bill mitchell's prints were compared to those found at the murder scene when inspector jones received the
00:42:32
results he raced into the office of his colleague detective murph cousins who had also been working the case since
00:42:40
its inception cousins triumphantly slapped his hand down on the desk and said we got him
00:42:52
for the next two days bill mitchell was kept under close surveillance he continued to go about his daily life
00:43:01
as though he had nothing to hide at one point he was chatting with his boss while the two worked in the farm's
00:43:08
shearing shed and he even raised the subject of the murders then on saturday march 27 senior
00:43:18
detectives travelled up from perth and took bill mitchell in for questioning they told him that his fingerprints had
00:43:26
been linked to the hand lotion used in the rape of karen mckenzie's corpse and that they knew he was responsible
00:43:34
for the murders when faced with this evidence mitchell didn't deny it instead he spoke coldly and candidly
00:43:47
his statement took detectives back to just over a month earlier in late february when he attended
00:43:55
hamish langford's house party in geraldton following the spat he had there with karen
00:44:03
mitchell convinced karen to let him drive her home upon arriving at her place mitchell
00:44:10
tried to have sex with karen but she turned him down mitchell was infuriated by the rejection
00:44:20
he left the house and spent the following day of sunday february 21 in an anger-fueled bender consuming
00:44:29
alcohol prescription painkillers cannabis and amphetamines 2 30 a.m he was in an intoxicated haze
00:44:41
it was then that he made the decision karen and her family had to die he got in his car and made the 25
00:44:51
kilometer drive to grenith sixteen-year-old daniel was awake inside his home when he caught sight of a pair of
00:45:01
headlights traveling up the driveway the unexpected arrival prompted him to head out into the early morning darkness
00:45:10
to investigate as daniel approached mitchell emerged from his car with an axe and unleashed his fury on the
00:45:19
unsuspecting team this explained how daniel's body came to be outside once he had killed daniel
00:45:29
mitchell headed into the house where karen mckenzie was asleep in the lounge room
00:45:36
he turned the axe on her striking her multiple times like he had done to her son
00:45:44
he then went into her bedroom and rifled through her drawers until he found a bottle of hand lotion
00:45:51
which he used as lubricant to sexually assault her body afterwards he headed into the children's
00:46:00
bedroom where he viciously assaulted and murdered seven-year-old amara he then killed five-year-old katrina
00:46:08
while she slept mitchell then went into the bathroom and cleaned himself up determined to not to leave any evidence
00:46:19
behind he took the axe into the handle ocean with him when he drove away from the
00:46:24
property as he made his way back to geraldton he pulled over and threw the axe in the grenade river
00:46:33
he disposed of the hand lotion in a rubbish bin this explained why the forensic team
00:46:40
couldn't link the greasy substance to any of the products found inside the mackenzie home
00:46:49
mitchell took investigators through each step of his actions in clinical callous detail although he admitted
00:46:58
going to the property with the intention of killing the entire mackenzie family he claimed he couldn't remember what
00:47:05
motivated him to do so the detectives couldn't believe what they were hearing nothing could prepare them for
00:47:15
mitchell's detailed play-by-play of how he single-handedly cut down an entire family
00:47:21
including two young children even as he described the worst elements of the attack
00:47:29
mitchell remained stoic and unaffected to forensic inspector brynn jones bill mitchell was so void of emotion
00:47:39
that he might as well have been describing how he washed his car following mitchell's confession a team
00:47:48
of police divers entered the murky shallows of the grenade river while the expensive waterway ran 340
00:47:57
kilometers into the indian ocean they knew exactly where to look if nothing else bill mitchell was
00:48:05
accurate a diver recovered the murder weapon to the applause of those watching on
00:48:14
but the jubilation was momentary once they saw the axe the full weight of what they'd uncovered hit home
00:48:24
despite being submerged in the river for five weeks the axe was still stained with
00:48:30
blood and covered with bits of hair on march 30 1993 william bill mitchell appeared at the
00:48:43
geraldton court and was formally charged with four counts of willful murder three counts of indecently interfering
00:48:51
with the corpse and one count of sexual penetration of a child he also faced charges for three
00:49:00
unrelated thefts that occurred in november of 1991 including armed robbery with threats of
00:49:07
violence an angry mob gathered outside the courthouse and as mitchell was driven away they
00:49:15
booed and pierced at the police van at the perth supreme court on september 8 1993 mitchell pleaded guilty to all
00:49:26
charges but blamed his actions on his drug and alcohol abuse his lawyer argued that mitchell was in a
00:49:35
drug-induced frenzy when he decided to kill karen daniel amara and katrina and that the crimes were completely
00:49:44
without motive or premeditation but the judge wasn't buying it he pointed out that
00:49:52
mitchell had admitted going to the mackenzie house with the intent to kill the family
00:49:58
and therefore the murders were entirely premeditated while the judge was prepared to accept
00:50:06
that mitchell might not have committed the crimes had he not been under the influence of drugs
00:50:12
that didn't warrant leniency the fact that he'd managed to make the 25 kilometer drive
00:50:20
from geraldton to grenith and back again while disposing of the evidence was proof that he was still able to
00:50:26
function with precision the acute recall he had of his crime spree confirmed that he knew exactly what he
00:50:35
was doing although mitchell stood by his claim that he didn't know why he decided to
00:50:42
carry out the murders the judge believed he was motivated by rejection the fact that karen had turned down his
00:50:52
sexual advances angered him so much that he stewed over it all weekend before deciding karen and her children
00:51:00
must die bill mitchell was sentenced to life imprisonment in his sentencing remarks the judge
00:51:10
described the murders as so serious that they almost defied description and were accompanied by sexual activity
00:51:19
of the most depraved kind the crimes against the children were so horrific that the full details of what they had
00:51:29
endured were permanently sealed never to be released to the public in the australian legal system a person
00:51:42
who's sentenced to life in prison is still given the right to apply for parole unless they are considered to be so
00:51:50
irredeemable that there's no prospect of rehabilitation due to bill mitchell's drug addiction
00:51:57
his sentencing judge said i am not able to say that you will always be a danger to the
00:52:05
public that depends on whether you will stay away from drugs who knows what the future holds i cannot
00:52:13
prognosticate 20 years or more into the future therefore he ruled that mitchell would
00:52:22
be eligible for parole in 20 years time however he explained so far as i am concerned
00:52:32
you will never be released if the parole board looks at it in the same way as i do it
00:52:39
could be many many years greater than 20 before you would merit consideration mitchell remained emotionless and
00:52:49
unremorseful throughout his sentencing at the time he was only 24 years old if his parole was successful he would
00:53:00
only be 44 when released not only did that leave years of freedom ahead of him but it also meant that he'd ultimately
00:53:10
only serve five years for each of the murders and nothing for the sexual assaults
00:53:17
karen's family were outraged as were the rest of the public they thought mitchell should lose the
00:53:25
right to parole and the government agreed the ruling was appealed to the western australian
00:53:32
supreme court and in a 2-1 vote the bench agreed that bill mitchell should spend the rest
00:53:39
of his natural life in prison mitchell's legal team appealed the decision to the high
00:53:47
court they acknowledged the magnitude of his crimes but argued that he wasn't a serial
00:53:54
killer or repeat offender instead they once again blamed his actions on his drug addiction
00:54:02
and argued that once he'd overcome the addiction he would no longer pose a threat
00:54:08
the high court agreed once again bill mitchell was granted the right to apply for parole
00:54:17
after serving just 20 years the australian community were appalled and cried for the return of the death
00:54:26
penalty which had been abolished across the country by 1985. karen's sister evelyn responded to the
00:54:36
uproar quite frankly the death penalty would be too quick for him if you hang someone they don't suffer
00:54:47
if they get a needle they don't suffer i want him to suffer for the rest of his life
00:54:55
i want him to think about what he did ever since the murder of her sister nephew and
00:55:04
nieces evelyn lived in a constant state of flight or fight knowing that bill mitchell could one day
00:55:12
be free even when going about simple daily tasks she was always on high alert she wasn't the only one suffering
00:55:25
many friends and family of the mackenzie family faced some level of profound and
00:55:30
permanent grief over the killings some endured post-traumatic stress disorder and required ongoing therapy and
00:55:39
psychiatric care they couldn't understand why some perpetrators who killed just one person received large sentences
00:55:49
when bill mitchell had killed an entire family and only received 20 in 2007 karen's mother barbara
00:56:00
said 14 years on and i'm still angry my life is spent always wondering if he'll be released for all we know he
00:56:11
could walk out and could kill someone else and i would hate for somebody to have to go through
00:56:16
what we went through where's the sense in our laws the things mitchell did were beyond
00:56:24
belief i feel so much hatred why kill two helpless little girls and do what he did to her and to do the same
00:56:35
thing to my daughter she was dead for christ's sakes why would you want to rape a dead body
00:56:44
the man has to be sick he has to stay in jail god forbid if he comes out when he's 44
00:56:53
he's got plenty of time to do it to somebody else hasn't he it frightens me one year later an unexpected letter
00:57:05
arrived at barbara's house in queensland it read found you [ __ ] had someone look for you got a photo of
00:57:16
your little girl short hair white shirt and a little skirt nice see you when i get out
00:57:26
it was signed from william barbara was terrified the description fit that of her 11 year old
00:57:35
granddaughter fearing that bill mitchell was plotting another attack against her family
00:57:43
barbara reported the letter to the police they checked mitchell's prison records
00:57:50
and confirmed that he was banned from sending any correspondence to barbara furthermore he hadn't sent anything to
00:57:59
anyone in queensland the letter had been sent shortly after the foxtel television series
00:58:06
crime investigation australia heard an episode about the mackenzie case police believed the letter was nothing
00:58:15
more than a cruel hoax orchestrated by someone who had watched the show in 2010 another blow came to the family
00:58:29
when mitchell was moved from a maximum security to a medium security prison karen's sister evelyn then made the
00:58:39
brave decision to face the man who single-handedly wiped out four members of her family
00:58:47
she didn't care to ask why he committed the crimes she simply wanted him to know how much
00:58:53
pain he'd caused evelyn was accompanied by two mediators armed with panic buttons
00:59:00
in case anything went wrong while two guards kept watch close by bill mitchell nervously entered the
00:59:10
small room with his eyes lowered he sat just a few feet away from evelyn close enough that she could hear him
00:59:18
breathing heavily she was taken aback by how normal he looked evelyn sat across from mitchell and
00:59:29
thanked him for meeting her mitchell then apologized saying he was a changed man
00:59:37
and a model prisoner this meant nothing to evelyn she told him it was easy to behave when
00:59:46
he was surrounded by people who could kill him if he stepped out of line she then asked if he ever wanted to get
00:59:54
out of jail mitchell said yes that the possibility was giving him some kind of light at the end
01:00:02
of the tunnel evelyn then told him she would use every breath in her body to make sure that never
01:00:10
happened saying i want you to know i will do everything i can to keep you in jail
01:00:20
the moment of truth came in 2013 when mitchell was able to apply for parole for the first time
01:00:29
the mackenzie's loved ones were on edge but were relieved when his request was denied
01:00:36
based on the severity of his crimes and the possible threat he posed to community safety
01:00:44
however now that he'd served 20 years western australia law dictated that mitchell's case would automatically be
01:00:53
up for review every three years this was unsettling news for those closest to the victims
01:01:02
evelyn said this is just really hard to deal with knowing that it's never going to
01:01:10
end as long as he's alive it will never end it's just something that we have to do
01:01:17
every couple of years in 2016 as bill mitchell's second parole hearing approached
01:01:28
evelyn started a petition to have the laws changed so that he could never be released from
01:01:34
prison over two and a half thousand people signed the petition but attorney general michael mission
01:01:42
said there would be no changes to the current parole review process he explained it was necessary to ensure
01:01:50
that no prisoner got lost in the system evelyn said mitchell deserves nothing for what he did
01:02:00
and i will say that to him a thousand times he deserves nothing because he took so
01:02:05
much away from so many precious people each year on the anniversary of the murders evelyn takes a day off to
01:02:17
remember karen daniel amara and katrina while she can never forgive bill mitchell for what he did
01:02:26
she refuses to let it make her a better person instead the experience has taught her
01:02:32
what's most important in life and she focuses on the love she has for her own family
01:02:39
she told perth now i've always taught my kids that everything in life happens for a reason they even say it
01:02:49
now when bad things happen they tell me that everything in life happens for a reason
01:02:56
it's up to us to learn what that is the fact that bill mitchell has the chance to be freed
01:03:06
every three years keeps evelyn up at night the killings themselves are never far
01:03:12
from her mind evelyn has made it clear she will never stop fighting against mitchell's release
01:03:20
and wishes that there was something in place that would stop other families from having to endure
01:03:25
what she now faces yet she remains steadfast for evelyn the only way this will end is if
01:03:34
mitchell is granted parole or if she dies whichever comes first appearing on the nine network's a
01:03:44
current affair program evelyn spoke of her sister's killer quote you can't call the person an
01:03:53
animal because animals have better decency than what this person has how can you go in
01:04:01
and attack and kill beautiful little baby girls they're totally innocent how can you do
01:04:08
that he's a sick perverted piece of garbage why doesn't a woman have a right to say
01:04:24
no [Music] you