00:00:05
[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
00:00:17
anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
00:00:23
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website this is a story about trust love and
00:00:36
independence the story features three characters a mother her daughter and the daughters suitor the daughters suitor
00:00:45
lives deep inside a very dark cave one day the daughter asked her mother if she could visit this man the mother had
00:00:53
concerns but didn't want to stand in the way of her daughter's happiness so she pulled a thread out from the edge of her
00:01:00
skirt and told her daughter to hold onto it as she made her way into the cave if
00:01:04
for whatever reason she felt in danger all she needed to do was tug on the thread her mother would then pull her
00:01:12
away from her [Music] [Music] Sonia Ryan was 20 years old when she gave birth to her daughter Carly being a
00:01:46
young single mother was not with our struggles but in a unique and special way Sonya felt Carly saved her life she drew
00:01:54
strength for knowing her baby girl needed her no matter how hard things got Carla gave Sonya reason and purpose to
00:02:01
go on this bond between mother and daughter evolved as Carly grew older but never broke only strengthened it was
00:02:10
Mirador quite literally in the striking resemblance the pair border one another it was often remarked that they looked
00:02:16
more like sisters with matching porcelain skin chestnut hair deep brown eyes and a shared sense of style and
00:02:24
interests as she entered adolescence Khali experienced her own struggles guiding her along was her mother's
00:02:32
unconditional love and wisdom Carly told her mum everything the two shared a very
00:02:38
open and honest friendship Sonya supported Carly whilst giving her daughter independence and opportunity to
00:02:45
grow mistakes were inevitable but they were just lessons alone whatever came their way the pair knew they would
00:02:53
always have each other 14 year old Carly Ryan lived with her mother and younger brother in Stirling a
00:03:01
quiet and picturesque hinterland town in South Australia nestled on the southern
00:03:07
edge of Mount Lofty Stirling is the gateway to the sprawling at'll ADL's wine region it's known for its scenic
00:03:14
Main Street organic cafes historic pub and stately old homes alongside striking contemporary architecture yet for all
00:03:24
its charm Carly's hometown didn't offer much excitement for a teenager the population peaked at around two and
00:03:32
a half thousand people and the visitors only really stopped by during autumn to check out the rich colors of the
00:03:38
tree-lined Main Street there were no cinemas shopping malls or music venues and by nightfall most of the shops cafes
00:03:46
and restaurants were closed with adelaide city centre a 16 kilometer bus ride away Sterling's youth were often
00:03:54
left to make their own fun it was mostly her interest in the music and fashion the drew colleague to the
00:04:01
emo subculture that was flourishing at the time the punk inspired subgroup was often associated with dark colors and
00:04:09
themes however Carly fully embraced the spectrum of color in her fashion a reflection of her bright creative and
00:04:17
playful nature she wore Pink's greens and blues in a variety of patterns laid with jewelry into Banta t-shirts
00:04:25
she dyed the front part of her fringe red taste up the back and framed her eyes with eyeliner personality was Carly
00:04:35
was far from the brooding and angsty type often associated with the emo scene she was a fun-loving young girl who
00:04:41
would go out of her way to make others around her smart compassionate and caring carly was always looking out for
00:04:48
her friends asking her mother for advice by saying I'm worried about my friend what can I do she'd often tell her mum
00:04:57
to take a break from housework just so the two could put on some music and dance around together Sonya was only in
00:05:03
her early 30s affording her a genuine sense of relatability to her teenage daughter
00:05:12
by 2006 the internet was branching out from its infancy into a sprawling seemingly Angelus place of entertainment
00:05:20
knowledge and experiences although the internet had a long way to go to become the fully accessible and influential
00:05:27
resource it is today it was fast becoming a staple on many home computers the seeds of online powerhouses and
00:05:35
social media hangouts Facebook YouTube Reddit and Twitter were planted by 2006 but had yet to evolve at the time
00:05:44
myspace was the biggest social media platform in the world surpassing even Google that year as the most visited
00:05:50
website the site often uses a platform to submit blogs photos music and video some personalised profiles shared to
00:05:59
their network of friends it quickly drew in a younger generation looking to make
00:06:04
connections far beyond to the borders of their hometowns there was still a lot yet to learn about the internet and what
00:06:10
lurked within it but users approached it with naive optimism as did the older generations who were coming to grasp
00:06:17
this unquantifiable thing that seemed to like the work of science fiction like her peers
00:06:23
Carly Ryan found herself drawn to spending time online where there was always something to do or someone to
00:06:30
talk to sitting at the family computer in the kitchen of her home Carly scrolled through forums dedicated to her
00:06:37
interests chatted with friends through MSN Messenger and posted selfies taken with her digital camera Sonya would
00:06:45
often look over her daughter's shoulder as Carly spent countless hours pursuing her favorite sites and exchanging
00:06:50
messages back and forth with friends for Sonya knowing Carly was just in the other room
00:06:56
tapping away on the keyboard came with a sense of relief stranger danger was associated with the
00:07:02
outside world where it was visible brash and sudden the online world seemed the safer option where threats could easily
00:07:10
disappear at the press of an off button Carly spent a lot of time on her MySpace
00:07:16
page a digital art space she covered in photos of herself lyrics from her favorite songs and art that resonated
00:07:23
with her it was online where Carly's friends introduced her to a user going by the name of corrupt koala corrupt
00:07:31
koala had been chatting with mutual friends of Carly and they had come to know him well he was 18 year old Brendan
00:07:38
Kane are born and raised the taxon who now lived in South Australia's neighboring state Victoria Kylie was
00:07:46
quick to learn she had a lot in common with Brandon the pair bonded over similar interests including their mutual
00:07:52
love for music Brandon was a musician himself and played the guitar he carried himself as a bit of a rebel but with a
00:07:59
soft emotional edge just like the musicians Carly admired she was fascinated by his American background
00:08:06
and how we talked of travelling between his two homes Australia and the USA Brandon was older more mature and a
00:08:15
well-traveled offering Carly advice and support when he remarked that she was cute carly was giddy over the following
00:08:26
months brendan became only person in Carly's entire life not just her on line one they exchanged email addresses
00:08:33
Instant Messenger accounts phone numbers and were chatting every single day in the days before smartphones video calls
00:08:42
weren't come in place but Brandon sent Carly webcam footage of him on the computer whilst the two message to each
00:08:48
other that was as close as possible to seeing him in the flesh for Sonya hearing about the young musician Carly
00:08:57
befriended online didn't immediately alarm her but she did find her daughter's sudden infatuation of him
00:09:03
strange Sonya glimpse to the images and footage Brandon was sharing of himself there he was tapping away at his
00:09:10
computer keyboard a young man exactly is Kali described Sonya's apprehension subsided but she used her own myspace
00:09:19
profile to keep an eye on the pair one of Callie's closest friends had recently started a relationship with a
00:09:29
boy she'd originally met online Carly witnessed the couple together admiring the joy and happiness the pair
00:09:35
emanated seeing an online relationship work out in the real world and wanting the same thing for herself
00:09:41
Carly embarked upon an online romantic relationship with Brandon Brendon was equally eager to be Carly's boyfriend
00:09:49
not wanting to stand in the way of Carly's happiness Sonia accepted the relationship she felt her teenage
00:09:56
daughter was looking for confidence and validation and found it in the sweeping thrill of her first romance the young
00:10:04
couple were in constant contact expressing their love for one another eventually they started to make plans
00:10:10
for the future together Carly's face lit up whenever she spoke of Brandon to friends and he became accepted as a part
00:10:17
of her life their online social media pages were covered in affectionate messages to each other all that remained
00:10:26
was for them to finally meet in person it was something Carly was incredibly eager to do but Brandon lived an 80 hour
00:10:33
drive away in a different state making plans to do so difficult by late January 2007 Carly and Brandon had been in
00:10:42
contact for 18 months with her 15th birthday coming up Carly saw the opportunity of meeting Brandon in person
00:10:49
as the best gift she could ask for she invited Brandon to her upcoming birthday party occurring at her family home in
00:10:57
Sterling however Brandon was quick to shut down her proposal revealing he was going to
00:11:03
be in the United States at the time and to thus unable to attend Colly was clearly upset coincidentally
00:11:13
Brandon explained his father Shane would be driving through Adelaide for work at
00:11:18
the time of Carly's party Brendan asked if his father could stop by her place and deliver birthday gifts on his behalf
00:11:25
[Music] previously Brendon had introduced his father Shane to Cali through MySpace
00:11:31
Shane was a former SAS commando who nel worked as a security guard for celebrities he'd once told Cali about
00:11:39
his experiences working for goth rock musician Marilyn Manson and being a fan she was impressed Kylie was happy to
00:11:47
interact with Shane and build a relationship with him being close to Brandon's family made karlie feel a part
00:11:53
of his life Shane was supportive or be young couple and seemed to have their best interests at heart when Callie
00:12:03
asked her mother if Shane could attend her birthday party Sonya was unsure motherly instincts kicked in
00:12:11
she didn't know Shane well and was hesitant for a man she considered a little more than a stranger to come to
00:12:17
her house Carly told Sonya everything she knew about Shane assuring her mother he was a good guy adding to his
00:12:25
genuineness was Shane's work as a security guard to celebrities a role that would only be given to someone
00:12:31
trustworthy nevertheless Sonia could hear the faint sound of alarm bells ring in the back of
00:12:37
her mind she considered our layout if Shane was a predator Carly quickly disregarded the suggestion telling her
00:12:45
mother she was being gross after impassioned begging from her daughter Sonia permitted Shane to come to the
00:12:54
party on one condition he would have to meet Sonia in a public place first it seemed like the safest option she wanted
00:13:03
to get a better feel for the guy before letting him near her family Shane happily agreed to the made-up in
00:13:12
the days leading up to the party Sonia met Shane on the Main Street of Stirling he was a fairly unremarkable man in his
00:13:19
late 40s with slightly balding hair a beer belly crooked teeth and hunched shoulders he explained he was in the
00:13:27
area for work a statement backed up by the polo shirt he wore that bore the logo of his security company
00:13:34
he was doing Brandon a favor of delivering birthday gifts to Carly but thought it was a good idea that he
00:13:40
finally meet the family of his sons affection Sonya asked to see some form of identification
00:13:47
Shane gladly handed over his security badge confirming his name address and occupation any doubt Sonya had about the
00:13:56
man was quickly overshadowed by authentic evidence proving he was everything he claimed to be she felt he
00:14:03
was friendly enough and Shane was happy to oblige to Sonya's request to qualm all her concerns about him as Shane
00:14:11
didn't have a hotel booking Sonya graciously invited him to stay at her place for the duration of his trip it
00:14:18
only seemed too right considering their children were dating when Shane met other members of the Ryan family he got
00:14:25
along fine with everyone Carly was most excited to meet him as she was his direct connection to Brandon he handed
00:14:33
over the birthday gifts his son had gotten for her she opened them later discovering Brandon had purchased her
00:14:39
lingerie and de nurse's outfit they weren't items Carly had asked for but she was happy to receive them as
00:14:46
Brandon wanted her to have them it appeared Shane was eager to make a good impression on Carly on Brendan's
00:14:54
behalf in the days leading up to the party he took her shopping at rundle mall in
00:14:59
Adelaide City sharing her with over $400 worth of gifts including t-shirts bags underwear a corset and fancy dress
00:15:08
costumes anything Carly wanted Shane would get fur at one clothing store a shop assistant suggests that Carly go
00:15:17
try on some clothing she was eyeing Shane followed Carly to the change room and the shop assistant witnessed him
00:15:23
peering over the door watching Carly inside the assistant thought it was weird but Carly didn't seem outwardly
00:15:30
fazed by the action on the night of January 26 2007 Shane joined Carly's friends and family members in
00:15:42
celebrating her 15th birthday at her home everything started off smoothly and Carly and her guests were having a great
00:15:49
time but as the night wore on Shane started exhibiting noticeably strange behavior at one point Carly was talking
00:15:59
to an old friend who happened to be her ex-boyfriend when Shane found out he got
00:16:03
visibly agitated and behaved in a way others could only describe as a tantrum he later informed Carly he called and
00:16:11
spoke to Brandon on the phone about her behavior Brendon expressed that he wasn't happy
00:16:16
Carly was talking to her ex Shane warned her to stay away from him and Carly wanting to keep her boyfriend happy
00:16:23
agreed to the demand Shane's behavior towards other guests also became increasingly inappropriate
00:16:31
he made other teenage girls uncomfortable when encouraging them to kiss each other in front of him
00:16:37
even demanding Colleague kissed one of her friends causing the girls to label him as creepy another party goer
00:16:45
overheard Shane tell Carly I love you I would never let anything happen to you you're beautiful
00:16:53
motivated to maintain a good relationship with the man she saw as her future father-in-law
00:16:58
Carly appeared to brush away any concerns she or others felt about Shane armed with mother's intuition Sonya
00:17:06
still had her doubts Shane had been around for a few days now and despite accepting the man into her home she felt
00:17:13
herself constantly on guard she tolerated him but with great caution she was willing to give him the benefit of
00:17:20
the doubt to make Carly happy and keep the peace but never felt she could fully trust him the morning after the party
00:17:31
Sonya walked past her daughter's bedroom she peered inside to check on Carly and
00:17:36
was horrified to discover Shane was laying on her daughter's bed beside her they appeared asleep and although he was
00:17:43
fully clothed than lying on top of the sheets the scene was enough to deeply disturb Sonya there was absolutely no
00:17:51
excuse for it the man had crossed the boundary all of Shane's peculiarities flashed through
00:17:58
Sonja's mind now with sinister undertones like the way his gaze lingered on her teenage daughter
00:18:05
whenever they were together it was enough to make Sonya skin crawl she was convinced Shane was a predator enraged
00:18:16
Sonya demanded Shane leave her house telling him he was no longer welcome and he was no longer to have any contact
00:18:22
with Carly Shane puffed up and got aggressive defending himself against what Sonya was
00:18:28
employing he stormed through the house and grabbed his bag leaving quickly in anger Carly was incredibly upset by the
00:18:38
events unfolding crying and begging her mum to reconsider she cared so passionately about Brandon and worried
00:18:46
the fight between their parents would jeopardize their relationship Sonya told her daughter firmly Carly something
00:18:54
isn't right about this something doesn't feel right at that moment something seemed to click
00:19:01
in Carly's mind she sat down at the kitchen table a little bit her mother and said okay mom after things had
00:19:12
calmed down Carly broke down and confided in her mum revealing Shan had unbuckled her pants
00:19:18
lifted her top and touched her inappropriately he had also propositioned her for sex
00:19:24
explaining that Brendon wouldn't mind if they did it Carly accepted the man was a
00:19:30
crepe but one had Sonya to talk things through with him to quash any conflict for hers and Brandon's sake but the news
00:19:38
of Shane's perversions far outweighed her daughter's teen romance Sonya just wanted to keep carly safe and away from
00:19:45
shame she obtained two Shane's email address and sent him a heated message once again warning him to stay away from
00:19:52
her daughter or she would notify police about what he did to Carly she received a response from Shane's email he wrote
00:20:02
[ __ ] please that email was so full of lies in PSA and I am disgusted that someone of a reasonable intelligence
00:20:10
could believe such crap to be true the things you caught me were totally defaming and I have forwarded the email
00:20:16
on to my solicitor for further action I sincerely hope you have insurance against the lawsuits you will need it
00:20:23
all we're going to court as a decorated SAS officer well you will go in as a [ __ ] determined to keep Shane from
00:20:33
contacting Carly Sonya temporarily confiscated Carly's mobile phone computer and internet access it worked
00:20:41
to their relief they didn't hear from him as far as Sonya knew Shane had taken her warning seriously it was unknown
00:20:52
whether or not Brandon was told what his father did to cally during his stay at the Ryan house despite the actions of
00:21:00
his father Carly still had feelings for her boyfriend she still hoped they would
00:21:05
someday meet so she could clear things up between them less than one month later at midday on February 19 2007
00:21:17
Carly told her mum she was going to catch a bus into the city to meet up with friends Carly made the trip in to
00:21:25
Adelaide often to go shopping around to the Rundle more precinct and hang out with friends in the surrounding park
00:21:30
lands afterwards she told her mother she would spend the night at a friend's place
00:21:37
Carly put on a leopard print dress with a pair of black wedge heels she grabbed her navy blue duffle bag filling it with
00:21:44
necessities for her sleepover this included a change of clothes a can of hairspray her purse mobile
00:21:50
phone and a tube of lip balm throughout her preparations she stopped to give her
00:21:57
mum four separate hugs Sonya noticed her daughter had a funny expression on her face that morning a
00:22:03
look that she didn't recognize Carly wasn't her typical cheerful self before she left at about 4 p.m.
00:22:11
Carly rushed over to give her mum one final big hug her hold was noticeably tight when she did pull away tally
00:22:21
headed to the front door as she skipped off the veranda Carly called out love you mum
00:22:29
the following morning on February 20 the phone rang at the Ryan household Sonya answered the caller explained they had
00:22:38
found a purse left on the footpath of a southern suburb of Adelaide assuming it was a piece of lost property they looked
00:22:45
inside for a form of ID and found a phone number which rang through is Sonya Ryan a sense of nervous panic prickled
00:22:54
throughout Sonya's body the purse was Carly's the suburb Carly's purse was found in was not an area the teenager
00:23:04
frequented and there was nowhere near where she told her mum she was going to spend the night if Carly had planned to
00:23:11
go there she would have been upfront about it Carly wasn't one to lie to her mother
00:23:16
Sonya try calling Carly's mobile phone but there was no answer she knew Carly had her phone on her when
00:23:24
she left the house the day before in fact Sonya received a text message from Carly the night before that red
00:23:30
momma may okay everything's good Sonya contacted Carly's friends only to discover her daughter hadn't gone to the
00:23:41
city to meet with who she said nor did she spend the night at any of their houses they had no idea where Carly was
00:23:49
panic washed over Sonya and she called the police to report her daughter as a missing person
00:24:05
at 6:00 a.m. on the morning of February 20 Kim Gordon was enjoying a walk in her
00:24:11
seaside hometown of port Elliott on the Florio Peninsula of South Australia located 80 kilometres from Adelaide CBD
00:24:19
put Elliott is a popular beach town frequented by holidaymakers and surfers its most well known for its swimming
00:24:26
Beach Horseshoe Bay a secluded stretch of pristine coast framed by two granite outcrops and surrounded by picnic areas
00:24:35
it was a long horseshoe bay where Kim took a leisurely early-morning walk as she trudged the sandy stretch the Sun
00:24:43
rose over the distant horizon she noticed something in the water there was a young female facedown in the shallows
00:24:52
panicked Kim needed help to pull the girl from the water she called out for help but there was no one around she
00:25:01
sprinted to a nearby car park and found a local fisherman Ian Slade Ian rushed down to the shoreline and
00:25:07
jumped into the ocean to pull the girl from the waves the clothing on the young woman was in disarray and she had
00:25:14
numerous bruises and lacerations to her neck face and arms Ian and Kim attempted to resuscitate the
00:25:22
girl as an ambulance was called when paramedics arrived they quickly realized there was a little they could do the
00:25:31
young lady was pronounced dead her body which contained to no form of identification was labeled by police as
00:25:38
Jane Doe given the extent of the injuries foul play was immediately suspected and a taskforce was quickly
00:25:45
established police were quick to piece together Sonya Ryan's call about her missing
00:25:51
daughter and the unknown deceased female found in Horseshoe Bay Sonya Ryan opened
00:25:58
her front door to be greeted by the police one had tears rolling down his face and she immediately knew he came
00:26:06
bearing bad news they informed her that a body matching the description of her daughter had washed up on a secluded
00:26:12
beach in Porter Lea about one hour's drive from stirling sonya positively identified Jane Doe as her baby girl
00:26:22
Carly an autopsy revealed Carly suffered 19 different injuries including between six
00:26:32
and eight around her head likely caused by fists or a blunt object she was found wearing different clothing
00:26:39
to those which she had left her home in the day prior her tracksuit pants were inside-out and although her bra was on
00:26:46
correctly it appeared hastily clipped together the lower clasp of the strap was undone her
00:26:53
underwear had been removed and was found nearby tangled up in belt suspenders cause of death was determined as
00:27:02
drowning as a result of craniofacial trauma the presence of sand in Carly's lungs suggested her assailant suffocated
00:27:10
her facedown in the sand before dumping her unconscious body in the ocean where she eventually drowned experts concluded
00:27:18
that Carly may have still been alive just half an hour before she was discovered police searched the shoreline
00:27:27
rocky outcroppings and jetty and divers searched the water some items of jury belonging to Carly were found at a
00:27:34
nearby lookout area known as Freeman's not none of Carly's friends could provide any answers as to why Carly we
00:27:43
end up in Port Elliott nor did they have ideas who she may have met there some suggested Carly had been hanging out
00:27:50
with the new group of people ones they didn't know and perhaps you drove down to the coast
00:27:55
with that police information booths were set up in Port Elliott in the nearby town of Victor Harbor the public were
00:28:04
urged to come forward with any information that could help identify Carly's movements on the night of her
00:28:09
death detectives spent hours analyzing local CCTV footage taken the day of Carly's death in hopes to track her
00:28:18
final journey in footage collected from the nearby seaside tourist town of Victor Harbor they spotted Carly in the
00:28:24
presence of two men outside the Crown Hotel the trio were then spotted an efficient ship shop and later at a local
00:28:33
subway food outlet a worker at the fish-and-chip shop remembered the group stopping by the older men with Carly
00:28:41
asked for advice on a good place to have a drink the worker suggested horseshoe bay the same man also visited a
00:28:48
supermarket as he purchased a pack of cigarettes he asked the cashier a similar question about a place to have a
00:28:55
drink the cashier also recommended horseshoe bay - port Elliott locals Benjamin and Donna went swimming at
00:29:05
Horseshoe Bay at 8:30 p.m. that night the pair record a girl matching Carly's description sitting on a rock on the
00:29:12
sandy shoreline with over two men one looked older than the other the younger male wore all black clothing and a black
00:29:20
hat the older male wore baggy denim jeans and a red shirt they were both clean-shaven and had
00:29:27
short dark hair Benjamin and Donna sat just meters from where Carly and the two men were talking but they couldn't hear
00:29:37
the conversation around 9:45 p.m. Benjamin and Donna left the beach when they reached the steep steps leading up
00:29:46
and away from the shoreline the older man with Carly flushed her tortured them asking are you all right police pressed
00:29:55
forward on identifying the two men seen with Carly the South Australian electronic crime unit investigated
00:30:02
Carly's online presence looking for links between her murder and her digital profile
00:30:07
she may have had online contact with her killer or killers at the time of her death Carly had three different myspace
00:30:15
profiles but only one was visible to the public she last logged on to the site the day before her body was found her
00:30:24
profile page had since become a virtual memorial covered with grief-stricken messages from France some read we will
00:30:32
all miss you Carly for all the times that we spent together and all the laughs we shared you cheered us up when
00:30:39
we were having bad days and you always showed us the bright side of everything you were such a wonderful person
00:30:45
and you will forever live on in our hearts and memories rest in peace Carly you are an amazing girl and always
00:30:54
managed to make me smile you will be missed by everyone who ever had the privilege to meet you
00:30:59
I love you today I woke up hoping it was all a dream but it did happen I saw the
00:31:07
newspaper today your pretty face was on the cover I just started crying as investigators scroll through Carly's
00:31:17
online content searching for clues the media were doing the same Carly's myspace profile was full of
00:31:28
artistic expression related to the emo subculture she was engaged in including dark imagery in text the media were
00:31:36
quick to take the content out of context and paint a picture of Carly that was far from the outgoing bubbly teen she
00:31:42
was they made unproven connections between the emo subculture and Carly's death and in the harshest of cases found
00:31:51
a way to blame her interest in the scene for her death hungry for salacious information reporters camped outside the
00:31:58
gates of Carly school morning students were confronted with prying questions as journalists digged into Carly's personal
00:32:06
life determined to find any sliver of information that would create a striking headline the scrutiny became so intense
00:32:13
the media were officially told to get off the property and stop harassing students
00:32:20
meanwhile police were informed of the presence of a light blue car with Victoria state registration plates seen
00:32:27
by witnesses in Port Elliott and Victor Harbor the day Kali was there it was also spotted parked on the cliffs
00:32:33
overlooking Horseshoe Bay the night before Carly's body was discovered a security guards ID was noticed on the
00:32:41
passenger-side dashboard it was 11 days after Carly's body was found when police
00:32:49
raided a home located in rosebud West on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula approximately 75 kilometers southeast of
00:32:56
Melbourne CBD parked out front was the light blue car they had been searching for inside they found a 48 year-old Gary
00:33:07
Newman Newman was well known to Carly Ryan and her family but they knew him by a different name
00:33:14
Shane Shane was the father of Carly's online boyfriend Brendan Kane in reality Shane was
00:33:24
actually the alter-ego of Gary Numan a divorced father of three when police arrived to arrest him in
00:33:33
relation to Carly Ryan's murder Newman was sitting at the computer he was logged into an online chatroom
00:33:39
and conversing with a 14-year old girl in Perth Western Australia as for Brandon Cain Carly's boyfriend whom she
00:33:48
had been speaking with for 18 months prior he didn't exist Brandon was nothing more than another
00:33:56
construct of Gary Numan who hid behind the persona online to groom young girls for 18 months
00:34:05
Newman methodically strung together an intricate web of lies to manipulate Carly Rowan people embodied her with
00:34:12
messages from the fictitious Brandon an identity he designed specifically to attract a collie mimicking her own
00:34:19
interests and playing on her personal insecurities and vulnerabilities Newman went to great lengths to keep up the
00:34:26
charade even the webcam footage believed to be Brandon typing at his computer - Carly who was faked by Newman it was
00:34:34
just looped footage she had edited together of someone else the security company he claimed to work
00:34:40
for was also a fabrication Newman had not only created a fake ID to play the part but even went so far as to say the
00:34:47
fake company's logo onto Apollo shirt he wore it when meeting Sonya for the first
00:34:52
time to uphold the lie his deception was so intricately layered Newman had literally thought of everything
00:34:59
even when Sonya had her doubts about him he was always one step ahead controlling
00:35:05
the situation with more convincing lies all executing the search of Newman's home
00:35:12
police found computer disks and hard drives with thousands of images of child pornography Newman had kept thorough
00:35:19
records of over 200 fake online profiles he created to groom young girls pages and pages of notebooks were filled with
00:35:27
details of all his fake identities and phony accounts including fake names mobile phone numbers social media pages
00:35:34
and the passwords associated with each one police were astounded they had never seen such a large-scale and elaborate
00:35:43
setup before the deep dive into Newman's online identity revealed Karly was not the first girl he had preyed upon he
00:35:53
previously visited a 14 year old girl in America whom he had also groomed online
00:35:57
using a false identity he had referred to her in messages as his princess and wife she turned to down his advances
00:36:05
upon discovering the truth [Music] then prior to meeting Karly Newman arranged to meet another victim in Hong
00:36:14
Kong this time using the alias of Nash yet that 14 year old girl never showed up to their pre planned meeting Newman
00:36:23
was infuriated according to witness statements he promised he would get revenge on the girl saying he would
00:36:31
leave her looking like package to me phone and internet records proved human was in contact with Carly four months
00:36:42
prior to her death on the day after her death Neumann logged into Shane's MySpace page and purged all interactions
00:36:49
posted there between himself and Carly Brendan's myspace account was fully deleted but it was able to be recovered
00:36:56
and messages between Carly and Newman pretending to be Brandon were exposed Shane's MySpace page had only four
00:37:06
friends listed only three were visible one was Carly a second was a girl named JD into the third was a close friend of
00:37:14
Carly of the same age police believed Neumann hadn't targeted Carly specifically evidence suggests that he
00:37:22
had attempted to Groo in various girls from Carly's Friendship Circle failing one attempt he moved on to another and
00:37:29
kept making his way through his pool of potential targets until he snared someone Carly
00:37:36
Brendan was Nieman's blank canvas whom he designed to appeal to whichever go he was attempting to groom at the time he
00:37:43
scrolled through Kylie's online profiles noting her interests and favorite bands
00:37:47
making them Brendan's also one of Charlie's friends pursued by Brandon was Ashley she stated quote we would talk
00:37:59
about normal stuff like what we did during the day and then he would bring up sex stuff I wouldn't talk like that
00:38:06
and I didn't go along with it that's when he said I was boring when Ashley posted a picture on her
00:38:14
profile page featuring Carly Newman narrowed in on his new target he told Ashley he thought Carly looked hot
00:38:22
and asked for her email address handwritten notes by Newman were found in his home they were titled Adelaide
00:38:30
[ __ ] with Carly's contact details crawled beneath alongside them he had written
00:38:36
the words rest in peace Carly investigators believed after Neumann had been kicked
00:38:43
out of the Ryan house here a established contact with Carly through his Brandon persona to bypass Sonya's attempts to
00:38:51
stop him from contacting Carly Newman would call the home phone while song it was at work using Brandon Newman tricked
00:38:59
Carly into meeting him the night of her death he convinced her to lie to Sonya about where she was really going that
00:39:05
night Carly shed an open and honest relationship with her mum that was forced to break that trust under the
00:39:12
impression it was worth it to meet the love of her life in reality Newman was luring her to a
00:39:19
secluded location that she was unfamiliar with where he knew he could be alone with her the nice base profile
00:39:28
Newman used to pose as Brandon's father Shane contained a short bio providing a glimpse into the men behind the mask it
00:39:36
read I may not be a kid anymore but I tend to act much younger than I am and to never ever call this a midlife
00:39:44
crisis to me there is no such thing all throughout our lives we're going through
00:39:49
changes even people in their late teens and early 20s do it's called evolution I
00:39:56
am or thriving self-opinionated and this annoys some people but they can either live with it or hate it either
00:40:03
way they are not going to change me I may not be a kid anymore but I tend to act much younger than I am
00:40:11
I do go for women somewhat younger than me usually someone sexually adventurous he described himself as having tattoos
00:40:23
multiple piercings and that he was a former military commander trying to get his security license back off to some
00:40:30
financial disasters and years of traveling the world he mentioned having custody of a beautiful and loving son
00:40:36
that no one could ever take away from him that son was a 17 year old who was also arrested in Newman's home in
00:40:44
relation to Carly Ryan's murder he had recently been returned to Newman's custody after years in the foster care
00:40:51
system he was identified as being the younger male last seen with Carly on the night she was murdered
00:40:57
due to the fact he was underage at the time of Carly's death his full identity was protected and his name wasn't
00:41:04
publicly released evidence was discovered that put both men at the crime scene sand was found on shoes
00:41:13
belonging to both Newman and D son tests of the sand grains and shell fragments resulted in a match for the sand at
00:41:20
Horseshoe Bay furthermore the sand on Victoria's coastline when human and his son lived was completely different
00:41:28
proving the sand on their shoes came from the crime scene witnesses around Victor Harbor were also able to
00:41:37
positively identify Newman's son in a lineup as one of the men with Carly the afternoon of her murder after the
00:41:45
arrests were made a memorial was held for Carly in the tranquil grounds of Centennial Park around 150 friends and
00:41:53
family attended Sonya Ryan described her daughter as special loving caring humorous strong gifted and unique
00:42:06
whilst the waiting trial Gary Numan asked fellow inmates where the salt water destroyed DNA and queried whether
00:42:14
they ever tried putting clothes on a dead weight he wrote to relatives requesting nay provide him with a false
00:42:20
alibi at the time of Carly's murder the trial began nine hundred and sixty five days after Carly Ryan's body was found
00:42:28
on October 19 2009 Gary Numan and is now 19 year old son stood trial in the Adelaide Supreme Court both pled not
00:42:38
guilty before proceedings began supreme court judge justice Trish Kelly declared
00:42:46
all evidence of Newman's predatory pursuit of other underaged victims to be inadmissible and prejudicial this was an
00:42:53
act to keep the jury focused purely on evidence related to Carly from the very beginning Newman made it clear he wasn't
00:43:02
going to make it an easy trial he took the stand in January 2010 his testimony full of lies and conflicting stories
00:43:11
initially he blamed his obsession with the internet on bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders that
00:43:17
caused him to go off for no reason and stupid things he said he had since been medicated and become a better person he
00:43:26
justified his hundreds of fake identities as smart stating he had taken expert advice and used bogus names when
00:43:33
interacting online to avoid identity theft he also claimed the 200 false identities he created were research for
00:43:40
a book he was writing about the Internet Newman insisted he only had a parental relationship with Carly he considered
00:43:49
himself a stepfather figure to her providing her with advice and chatting about movies and music
00:43:54
he claimed he always related well to young people but it did not manifest into a sexual attraction despite
00:44:02
admitting he found a Carly attractive Newman quickly added that he was asexual and therefore felt no sexual interest to
00:44:10
anyone the prosecution referred to the lingerie and fancy dress costumes Newman had
00:44:17
gifted Carly for her birthday demonstrating that he did in fact Harbor a sexual interest in her furthermore
00:44:24
Newman displayed sexual jealousy during Carly's birthday party becoming angry when seeing her interacting with her
00:44:30
ex-boyfriend when Sonia Ryan took the stand she revealed to the court how Carly had disclosed to Newman's
00:44:39
inappropriate behavior whilst he visited the Ryan household faced with the indisputable CCTV footage showing Newman
00:44:48
his son and a colleague together on the afternoon of her murder Newman was forced to admit he was with Carly the
00:44:54
night of her death Newman explained that he drove Carly and his son to a party in Port Elliott later
00:45:01
in the night Carly refused his offer of a lift back home so he and his son left without her
00:45:07
according to Newman's story Carly was alive and well when they left her on the beach and returned to Victoria they
00:45:13
didn't learn about her death until three days later Newman also claimed that the
00:45:19
co-accused his son was the sole creator and operator of the bread and fake identity
00:45:27
according to Newman news of Carly's death had broken his heart he told the court he had called Crime Stoppers with
00:45:34
information a claim that was proven to be false it was clear to prosecutors that Newman
00:45:41
lied with ease and without guilt even when his deception was obvious to others he dodged and waved around the evidence
00:45:48
presented shaping a narrative that he was a sacrificial lamb to his son only taking responsibility for the murder so
00:45:55
that his son wouldn't have to spend his life behind bars yet k evidence at the trial by another of Newman's sons gave
00:46:03
jurors a stock look into the man's true behavior Newman's older son testified that Newman was furious after returning
00:46:11
home from Carly's birthday party when Sonia had kicked him out Newman told his son's that he wanted to go on holiday
00:46:17
back to Adelaide before commenting that he was going to fix Carly up Newman wanted them to help him kill her his
00:46:27
sons didn't really believe he was capable of murder so they shook it off as an empty threat
00:46:31
nevertheless his oldest son was shocked and disturbed at the mere suggestion he moved out of the house shortly after
00:46:38
leaving behind a heated letter to his father deterring him from hurting others Newman's oldest son was shocked to learn
00:46:48
a few days later that Newman had convinced his seventeen-year-old younger brother to go to Adelaide Carly was
00:46:54
reluctant to have anything to do with her she knew was Shane Newman knew she wouldn't go somewhere with Shane alone
00:47:00
he needed Brendan to be real to coax Carly to go with him the part of Brendan was played by his teenaged son
00:47:11
upon his return to Melbourne Newman bragged to his oldest son about the crime Newman showed off his discolored
00:47:18
knuckles and asked today's look Bruce to you he boasted that he'd done the job and confessed he punched Carly in the
00:47:25
face pushed her into the sand killed her and threw her into the water in an outrageous display in court Neumann
00:47:36
constantly argued with his lawyer his lawyer actually tried to resign from the case on two separate occasions as he
00:47:42
thought Newman was intentionally hindering his efforts at a fair trial as the end of the trial journey and
00:47:49
inhumans sensed things weren't going his way he suffered an apparent seizure after he was labeled a lawyer his
00:47:57
behavior and demeanor started to change and he was put under suicide watch the co-accused Newman's son was more
00:48:08
cooperative he confessed to a social worker while in juvenile detention admitting he and his father met up with
00:48:15
Carly and had taken her to the beach using the mask of Brendan his father tricked Carly into meeting them telling
00:48:23
her not to tell her mother as Shane would be there and Sonya would never agree to it Carly was convinced to meet
00:48:29
when Brennen stated that Shane was just giving him a lift to Adelaide and if he didn't take it then they couldn't be
00:48:35
together Newman's son had only been in his father's custody for less than a month
00:48:40
when he was invited to go to Adelaide to play the part of Brandon the son revealed that as the group sat and
00:48:48
talked on the sandy shore of Horseshoe Bay his father made an advance of Carly once again when she got up and started
00:48:55
to walk away Newman stood and jumped on her from behind pushing her into the sand and punching her in the head with
00:49:02
Kylie incapacitated Newman continued his attack Numan son admitted he hoped his father
00:49:13
cover up the crime they even sent the text message to Sonia Rowan from Kylie's mobile firing after her death pretending
00:49:22
to be Kaali they wrote that everything was fine finally accepting there was no way out of his web of lies Neumann
00:49:31
admitted he did attack Carly but insisted that he had no intention of killing her however his fate was sealed
00:49:38
when I was revealed a fingertip of a latex Club containing his DNA he was found at the crime scene this proved the
00:49:45
murder was premeditated as he arrived to the meetup prepared with equipment necessary to cover up his crime for 12
00:49:55
weeks the jury were told of the elaborate laws Neumann maintained in order to win the heart of Carly Ryan
00:50:00
they heard about the extraordinary lengths he went to to uphold the fictitious character of Brandon Kane
00:50:07
Gary Numan showed no reaction when the court found him guilty of Carly Ryan's murder he was sentenced to life in
00:50:14
prison with a non-parole period of 29 years upon sentencing justice Trish Kelley said to Newman quote it was a
00:50:25
terribly cruel thing you did to this beautiful impressionable 14 year old child I say child because that is what
00:50:32
she was in love with the idea of the handsome musically inclined and her other exotic Brandon Kane we spent
00:50:40
Christmas in the United States and was coming home via Paris to be with her the real man was an overweight balding
00:50:48
middle-aged pedophile with sex and murder on his mind when your deception came unraveled and unstuck you killed
00:50:55
her leaving in your wake a devastated and inconsolably grief-stricken mother family and friends
00:51:04
after the sentencing Sonya Ryan said quote I hope that he suffers that he rots from the inside out and he sees
00:51:13
Carly's face every morning and he's haunted for the rest of his miserable life this has been a big media circus
00:51:20
but people need to remember Carly was a real person a baby a toddler a child a teenager who did nothing wrong but to
00:51:30
trust the trader it couldn't be proven just how much of a participant Newman's son was in the lead-up to Carly's murder
00:51:39
the prosecution argued the fake myspace page associated with fictitious Brandon was operated by both Newman and his son
00:51:47
either in conjunction or at different times it was also pulled forward that the two
00:51:53
other private myspace accounts linked to Carly were actually set up and run by Newman himself as a means to speak with
00:51:59
her directly and without the knowledge or notice of others unable to determine the extent of Newman's son's plot or
00:52:08
participation in the murder of Carly the jury acquitted him of both murder and manslaughter they couldn't find him
00:52:15
guilty of a lesser offense such as assisting an offender because he was never charged with that
00:52:20
crime Newman nodded and smiled when his son was acquitted as his son male thank you to the jurors the outside court his
00:52:30
lawyer said his client was relieved and too wanted to go back to his hometown and get on with his life at the time of
00:52:39
the trial there had been a suppression order in place concealing the identities of both Newman and his son from the
00:52:44
public news publication the advertiser later revealed they fought to have the identities of Carly's killers publicized
00:52:51
as the public had a right to know they were able to strike a bargain with the Supreme Court who lifted the order
00:52:58
hiding Newman's identity his name and face were quickly circulated throughout media outlets however as his son was
00:53:06
acquitted his identity suppression order was maintained journalist Sean Fewster wrote an article
00:53:14
on Carly's death for the advertiser titled the masked murderer into the girl whose death changed the Internet in it
00:53:22
he stated quote the boy's identity was forever consigned to the vault of South Australian state secrets that meant the
00:53:32
advertiser could not link him years later to a series of grotesque sexual offending committed elsewhere nor could
00:53:39
it report on the circumstances of those crimes each of which horrifyingly mirrored the events preceding Carly's
00:53:46
death once his identity was publicly revealed Newman's ex-wife came forward further exposing him as a violent sexual
00:53:56
deviant for the ten years of their marriage she lived in fear of Newman who would lash out at her with rage fueled
00:54:03
bashings at any slight perceived indiscretion she recalled the time he left her bloody when she wanted to go
00:54:09
shopping with a friend the beating was interrupted by the woman's mother who called a doctor when the doctor asked
00:54:16
the woman if Newman had harmed a human crushed her hand to keep her silent the doctor didn't report it furthermore his
00:54:25
ex-wife revealed Newman liked extreme pornography featuring young women dressed as schoolgirls and it once plied
00:54:31
a girl with alcohol in an attempt to rape her she claimed to the Newman's true identity was ignored by his family
00:54:38
friends police doctors hospital staff in the courts Newman subsequently appealed
00:54:47
his conviction on several grounds one of those claimed Sonja Rowan should not have been allowed to give evidence at
00:54:53
trial as he believed conversation she had with Carly where he say including the one where Carly revealed she had
00:54:59
been inappropriately touched in April 2011 his appeal was rejected judges believed it was important that
00:55:08
jury be provided with context about events leading up to the murder and evidence that Newman intended to kill
00:55:14
Carly was still overwhelming without Sonya Ryan's testimony Carly Ryan was the first Australian to be murdered by
00:55:26
an online predator a day doesn't pass with the arts anya thinking of her daughter quiet
00:55:34
you can imagine from a mother's perspective I asked myself constantly how could not say that she was in so
00:55:42
much danger the man of depravity in controlling the lengths she went through to get hold of her I was no match for
00:55:50
that he used her best qualities to lure her to her death the murder of her daughter left Sonia shattered since her
00:56:00
birth Carly had given Sonia a reason to live now that she was gone Sonia struggled to go on Sonia Ryan
00:56:10
quote when everything happened to Carly there was a lot being cooled into some kind of black abyss that Gary Numan had
00:56:18
created I can't sit in that space because it's sitting in her suffering and it would just dissolve my soul I
00:56:25
think what people don't realize is the trauma and I wouldn't want them to realize
00:56:31
unfortunately these crimes continue to happen Carly suffered terribly at the hands of
00:56:37
a monster with no remorse where does that leave me as her mother that leaves me in a position to either
00:56:43
die or find the strength somewhere from within to fight fight not only for Carly
00:56:49
but fight for every single young person that is online trying to make connections I believe this is what Carly
00:56:56
would want me to do determined for her daughter's death not to be in vain Sonia established the Carli Ryan
00:57:06
Foundation a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting Internet safety Sonia has worked tirelessly for over a
00:57:15
decade educating schoolchildren families in the community about the dangers of online
00:57:20
interaction and providing support counseling and political advocacy her efforts earned her the title of 2013
00:57:29
South Australian of the Year Sonia Ryan quote the Internet is an amazing tool for education in the
00:57:38
communication but we have to be aware of the dangers that compose as well Carli story reminds us that not everyone
00:57:45
online is who they say they are and that we need to question what we're told not
00:57:50
just accepted and trusted in June 2017 after a vigorous crusade at both state and federal level
00:57:59
Carly's law was passed into the commonwealth Criminal Code by the Australian Government the new law makes
00:58:06
it a crime for an adult to use a carriage service to plan prepare cause harm to or engage in sexual activity
00:58:13
with a minor it carries a 10-year maximum prison term for offenders the first arrest under
00:58:21
Karly's law was made just a few weeks later in May 2000 18 Carly's law was further strengthened in South Australia
00:58:29
a tougher version of the law was passed making it illegal for a person to lie about their age in an attempt to meet a
00:58:36
child even if they don't intend to commit a crime against the child after Carly's law was enacted a
00:58:45
patchwork quilt made from the teenagers favorite clothes was hung up on a wall in Parliament House each piece of fabric
00:58:53
is in the shape of a heart a colorful display of reds greens blues pinks and whites in polka dots stripes
00:59:01
and checkered patterns at its center is the largest heart made from a green fabric with white dots cutting out from
00:59:09
what was once Carly's favorite dress she wore it during a mock wedding she once had with a friend just a fun and silly
00:59:17
day she looked back on with joy after the Memorial Quilt was unveiled Sonya Ryan wrote a piece for the
00:59:25
advertiser quote my daughter's favorite pajamas are hanging in federal parliament they're hanging there in the
00:59:34
hallways of power when really the only hallway they should be hanging in is mine but that'll never happen now
00:59:42
aged just 15 my beautiful daughter karlie was murdered by a pedophile who lied about his age online what for with
00:59:51
every breath in my body for Carly's legacy I met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as his government announced a
00:59:57
colles war it all in the loophole leaving kids are vulnerable to predators police will better identify SiC
01:00:04
predatory activity online to prevent horrific sex crimes against our kids as I write this sitting in Parliament under
01:00:13
my daughter's pajamas I feel closer to her than ever and also more determined but hate any other mother to live
01:00:21
through what I've enjoyed Carly's death will no longer be in vain together we're stopping any other family
01:00:28
going through the horrendous pain that mine has if you have a daughter go home and squeeze her tighter than you've ever
01:00:35
squeezed her tell her you love her over and again and know that she'll be safer from today thanks to a perfect
01:00:43
compassionate forever young 15 year old girl called Carly further adding to Sonya's grief was
01:00:53
knowing karlie had her mobile phone on her prior to her murder but was unable to find an opportune moment to call or
01:01:00
text her for help this inspired Sonya to create thread thread is a safety app free to download
01:01:07
on mobile phones if the user feels at all in danger or threatened that can send a discreet alert that reveals their
01:01:14
location to trusted contacts and emergency services it was important to Sonya to provide safer options for
01:01:22
children to request help if needed but not discourage parents from letting their children go out into the world and
01:01:28
seek independence the app is currently only available in Australia but the Carli Ryan foundation hope to get
01:01:35
funding to make an available worldwide the name of the app was inspired by a fable that resonated with Sonia the
01:01:44
story of a daughter wanting to meet her suitor in a dark cave and a mother who had her worries but didn't want to stop
01:01:51
a daughter from independence and discovery it is the thread pulled from the mother's skirt that keeps them
01:01:58
connected regardless of where the daughter travels the thread would also bring the daughter safely back to the
01:02:04
mother if she found danger [Music] [Music] you [Music]