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Our episodes deal with serious and often
distressing incidents. If you feel at any
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00:02:01
This episode involves a crime against children.
It may not be suitable for all listeners.
00:02:16
In Australia, Father’s Day falls
on the first Sunday of September. Every year in the state of Victoria,
the Father's Day Council awards one
00:02:25
individual with the prestigious Father of
the Year Award, a tradition held since 1956.
00:02:33
A long list of celebrity “top dads”
have received this recognition, but in recent years, the Council has focused
on ordinary dads with extraordinary stories.
00:02:45
In 2005, Doctor Rob Moodie was
awarded Victoria’s Father of the Year. As the chief executive of the
Victorian Health Promotion Foundation,
00:02:55
Dr Moodie had an esteemed career in the public
health sector. But for his two children,
00:03:02
Nick and Penny, it was his role as their father
that truly defined him. Understanding that not
00:03:08
everyone is lucky enough to be raised by a
loving father, Penny expressed her gratitude
00:03:14
to her dad and explained why he deserved the win,
stating: “He’s always there when I need help.”
00:03:24
On Sunday September 4 2005, far more humble
celebrations were underway at a home in the
00:03:31
port city of Geelong. Shane and his partner were
introducing the newest member of their family
00:03:38
to their friends and relatives. The young
couple had just become first-time parents,
00:03:44
with mother and baby released
from hospital earlier that day. Shane had an extra special reason to celebrate the
occasion - it was his first Father’s Day as a dad.
00:03:57
Late in the day, Shane and his friend,
Tony, returned home to Winchelsea, a small township 113 kilometres from
Melbourne. It was only a short visit,
00:04:10
as the pair organised someone to look after
their dogs overnight. It was after 7PM when
00:04:17
they started the approximately-40 minute
drive back to Geelong via the Princes Highway.
00:04:24
Prior to construction that expanded the number of
lanes and added a grassy median strip, the roadway
00:04:31
on the outskirts of Winchelsea featured two
undivided lanes - one travelling each way. Little
00:04:38
in the surrounding landscape has changed over the
years, which in 2005 featured rural flatlands.
00:04:46
These were primarily large, fertile pastures
dotted with trees and the odd shed or dam.
00:04:55
Shane drove towards a section of the highway that
rose to a railway overpass, three kilometres out
00:05:01
of the Winchelsea town centre. Suddenly,
the car in front swerved around something.
00:05:09
When Shane reached the same spot, a man leapt
out from the darkness on the side of the road.
00:05:16
Shane’s brother had taken
his own life months earlier. Suspecting the man was trying to do the
same, Shane was compelled to pull over.
00:05:27
The man, who was soaking wet and waving
his arms, ran up to Shane. He was short,
00:05:34
standing at just over 150 centimetres tall
with a stocky build and a noticeable paunch.
00:05:41
He had brown hair and deep-set brown eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing standing on
00:05:47
the side of the road?” Shane asked him.
“Are you trying to kill yourself, mate?”
00:05:53
The man was frantic and appeared out of breath.
His words were lost in an incoherent babble of
00:06:00
rambling, sobbing, and swear words. “What have I
done? What’s happened?” He kept asking. Shane told
00:06:09
him to calm down, but the man remained frazzled.
He wanted to speak to a woman named Cindy. He told
00:06:17
Shane to give him a lift back to Winchelsea so
he could tell Cindy that he just killed the kids.
00:06:53
Immediately following his chilling confession,
the man asked Shane and Tony for a cigarette.
00:07:00
Baffled, they handed him a few. The man went
on to explain that he’d had a coughing fit
00:07:06
while driving, which caused him to black out. He
believed he had done a wheel bearing that caused
00:07:12
his car to end up in the dam. He had woken to
find himself submerged in water up to his chest.
00:07:22
There were two dams nearby. The man couldn’t
point out which one he had allegedly driven into.
00:07:29
Shane looked towards the nearest one. He
could barely make it out in the darkness.
00:07:35
The surface was smooth like glass, as if nothing
had happened there. Skeptical of the man’s claim,
00:07:43
Shane didn’t think any of the local dams were
deep enough to completely submerge a car.
00:07:49
Shane offered to call the police or
an ambulance, but the man refused. He and Tony also offered to jump into
the dam to look for the man's children,
00:07:59
but he replied: “No, don’t go down there,
it’s too late - they’ve already gone.”
00:08:08
The man continued to request a lift
to Winchelsea to speak to Cindy. It seemed as though he mentioned her name at
least a hundred times. But he was pointing in
00:08:19
the opposite direction, towards Geelong. Shane
and Tony were equal parts unnerved and confused.
00:08:28
They wondered whether the man was suffering from a
mental illness or had made up the disturbing story
00:08:34
to hide the fact that he was trying to take his
own life by leaping in front of oncoming traffic.
00:08:40
Shane ultimately agreed to give the man a lift
and guided him to the front passenger seat.
00:08:46
Concerned that the man was unstable, Tony sat directly behind him so he could
reach over and restrain him if required.
00:08:56
Shane steered the car around and
drove back towards Winchelsea. During the short ride the man continued
to ask himself: “What have I done?”
00:09:10
When Shane drove into town, he turned on his car's
interior light and realised he recognised the man.
00:09:17
It was a Winchelsea local who used to mow
lawns around town when Shane was younger.
00:09:24
The man’s name was Robert Farquharson. Robert Farquharson was a born and bred local,
having lived in Winchelsea almost all his life.
00:09:38
For a time, he’d had his own lawn mowing business
but by 2005 he was working two jobs as a cleaner.
00:09:47
His friends and neighbours knew him as a friendly
family man who loved Australian Rules Football.
00:09:54
In 1991, when Robert was in his early 20s, he
visited the Winchelsea Hotel for a few drinks.
00:10:02
There, he met 19-year-old Cindy Gambino.
The two shared mutual friends and soon
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struck up a close friendship of their own. At
the time, Cindy was embroiled in a long term,
00:10:16
tempestuous relationship. Everything changed when
her boyfriend died suddenly in a car accident.
00:10:25
Robert became a huge support to the grief stricken
Cindy. He visited her often at home to check in on
00:10:32
her, and even helped her financially after
she lost her job at the local supermarket.
00:10:39
At Christmas in 1992, Robert suddenly
confessed his love to Cindy. Although Cindy considered Robert a friend only, he’d
been nursing a secret crush on her almost
00:10:52
since they first met. He wanted nothing more
than for them to be together. The two soon began
00:10:59
dating and had a whirlwind romance. In less than
nine months, they’d moved in together and Robert
00:11:06
proposed. Three days after they got engaged, Cindy
discovered she was pregnant. The young couple
00:11:14
were worried about their finances, but Cindy was
pleased - she had always wanted to be a mother.
00:11:22
On October 4 1994, she gave birth to their
first child: a baby boy they named Jai.
00:11:31
Robert was excited to have a son and the
couple built a house for their young family.
00:11:37
As he got bigger, it became clear that Jai
was a real livewire and a generous kid with
00:11:43
a mischievous sense of humour. He grew up
to love the Essendon Bombers footy team,
00:11:49
just like his dad, and
enjoyed playing the sport too. Almost four years after Jai’s birth, Cindy and
Robert welcomed a second boy into their lives,
00:12:00
Tyler. Tyler was particularly affectionate,
always wanting to give his mum cuddles.
00:12:07
Though a hint of cheekiness was evident in his
smile. The family joked that Tyler’s motto was:
00:12:15
have food, will travel. Like his big
brother, Tyler loved playing football. As described in the book On Father’s Day by
Megan Norris, Robert encouraged this passion
00:12:29
by purchasing expensive footy boots for both of
his sons, telling people: “Only the best will do.”
00:12:38
By the year 2000, Cindy and Robert
decided they’d been engaged long enough and it was time to get married. The date was set
for August 26 and they were wed at a local church.
00:12:51
Their third son, Bailey, was
born on New Years’ Eve in 2002. Bailey adored his two big brothers, and followed
them everywhere. He also famously loved animals.
00:13:05
A neighbour had given the family a pet cockatiel
that developed a special bond with Bailey,
00:13:11
perching on his shoulder and
eating cereal from his hand. Although their family was now complete, Robert and
Cindy’s marriage didn’t last. In late 2004, Cindy
00:13:24
decided she wanted a separation and Robert agreed.
The couple remained amicable for their three boys.
00:13:33
Robert moved in with his father until
he could find a place of his own, while Cindy continued living in the
family home with Jai, Tyler, and Bailey.
00:13:47
On the evening of Sunday September 4 2005, Cindy
Gambino was at home waiting. She busied herself
00:13:56
by doing chores, but when 7:30 came and went
with no sign of the old Commodore - she began
00:14:03
to wonder what the hold up was. Robert was
notoriously punctual. Where could he be?
00:14:13
At 7:35, Cindy was closing some
curtains in the children’s playroom when she sighted an unfamiliar car zoom around
the corner and pull up outside. Moments later,
00:14:26
someone was knocking frantically on her front
door and shouting her name. Cindy ran over
00:14:33
and yanked the door open. Standing on her front
porch was Shane and Robert, who was saturated.
00:14:42
He babbled repeatedly: “I’ve killed the kids.” “They’re in the water,” he told her.
00:14:51
“I must have had a coughing fit and passed out.
I woke up in the water. I couldn’t get them out.”
00:14:59
Cindy began screaming. “Where are they? Why didn’t you stay with them?” She
launched herself at Robert and hit him.
00:15:10
Shane realised he had made a mistake by bringing
Robert to Cindy’s home. The entire drive over,
00:15:17
Shane had been wary of Robert’s claims but
now the severity of the situation sank in.
00:15:24
He and his friend Tony left to notify the police,
while an incredibly distressed Cindy leapt in her
00:15:31
own car. Robert sat in the backseat, directing
her to the dam near the railway overpass.
00:15:41
Stephen Moules was expecting Cindy
Gambino to arrive at his home any minute. The plan had been for her to
quickly duck home and collect her boys,
00:15:51
then head to his place for dinner while their
children played together. While he waited,
00:15:58
Stephen cooked a chicken stir-fry and chatted
with his 18-year-old cousin, Ahren, who was
00:16:03
also visiting. But the minutes ticked by with no
sign of Cindy. The stir-fry began to grow cold.
00:16:15
Suddenly, Stephen’s mobile phone rang. Ahren
answered it, then handed it over to Stephen,
00:16:23
saying: “It’s Cindy”. As Stephen pressed the
phone to his ear, he heard Cindy screaming:
00:16:32
“Rob has been in some kind of
accident – the kids are in the water.” Like Cindy, Stephen was a divorced parent
of three. The pair had become friends a
00:16:44
year earlier when Cindy hired Stephen
to lay the foundation for a new home she and Robert were building. Following Cindy
and Robert’s split, their friendship deepened.
00:16:56
Although they had developed romantic feelings
for one another, they were not yet officially
00:17:01
together – Stephen wanted to wait until
Cindy was divorced for that to happen. Stephen tried to understand what Cindy was
saying, but the call disconnected before
00:17:16
he could find out where she was. He and Ahren
jumped in Ahren’s car and raced off to find her.
00:17:24
While Ahren drove, Stephen called Cindy back. Through sobs, she managed to tell him
the location Robert had taken her to.
00:17:35
Stephen and Ahren pulled up at the overpass at
7:49PM. A section of a timber and wire fence that
00:17:44
spanned the length of the neighbouring paddock had
been mowed down and was strewn across the ground.
00:17:51
Through the darkness, they sighted Cindy
running back and forth through long, wet grass. She was screaming into her mobile
phone at an emergency services dispatcher:
00:18:03
“Please, God, not my babies, please
don’t take my babies, please, God.” That particular Father’s Day started out well
for Cindy. She visited Stephen Moules early
00:18:21
in the morning to give him some presents – an
electric wok and a framed collage she’d crafted
00:18:26
using photos of Stephen with his children.
Stephen loved his gifts and suggested she
00:18:33
and the boys come over later that night,
so he could cook her a meal in the new wok.
00:18:39
Cindy then took her sons –
10-year-old Jai, 7-year-old Tyler, and 2-year-old Bailey – to her parents’ home
for a Father’s Day visit with their grandad.
00:18:51
The boys presented their grandad with a gift and
he in turn treated them to biscuits and icy-poles.
00:18:58
Jai also had fun steering his grandparents’
ride-on lawnmower around the property.
00:19:04
He loved offering to mow their lawn, because
it felt more like a game than a chore.
00:19:10
As an added bonus, his grandad always
paid him 20 dollars at the end. Next, Cindy drove the boys to Robert’s
father’s house so they could spend
00:19:21
some time with their dad. Robert had
custody of them every other weekend. Although Father’s Day didn’t fall on one
of Robert’s allotted weekends, Cindy had
00:19:33
suggested he take their sons for the afternoon
so they could celebrate the occasion with him.
00:19:40
The boys were excited to give their dad
his presents – a set of saucepans Cindy
00:19:45
had bought to help Robert set up his new home and
a framed photograph of the three of them squeezed
00:19:51
side-by-side on a sofa. However, Jai grew
upset when he realised he’d forgotten to
00:19:58
bring a backscratcher he’d purchased at
his school’s Father’s Day market. Cindy
00:20:04
reassured him that they could give Robert this
additional present the next time they saw him.
00:20:11
They’d arrived at about 3PM and Jai and Tyler
ran in to see their dad. At 2-years-old,
00:20:18
Bailey was somewhat shy and wanted to stay with
his mum, but she encouraged him to go to Robert.
00:20:26
Before leaving, Cindy embraced and kissed each
of her boys in turn, telling them she loved them.
00:20:34
Bailey approached her with his arms out for a hug.
As she cuddled him close, he said: “Love you.”
00:20:45
Cindy handed Robert a backpack
that contained nappies for Bailey. She asked him to bring the boys home by
7:30. In reply, Robert simply nodded.
00:21:01
Robert Farquharson stood by the side of
the highway, looking vague and remaining
00:21:06
completely still. A car pulled to a stop
nearby and Stephen Moules jumped out. As he approached, Robert turned to him and asked:
“Where’s your smokes?” Stunned, Stephen couldn’t
00:21:22
fathom why Robert would be asking for a cigarette
while his children were allegedly in trouble.
00:21:29
Stephen snapped: “How could you worry about a
smoke at a time like this? Where are your kids?”
00:21:36
Robert raised an arm and pointed towards the
paddock, stating: “In the water down there.”
00:21:45
Cindy stood nearby – still on the
phone, crying and pleading for help. Stephen embraced her, then raced to
the paddock. Pulling off his jacket
00:21:56
and boots as he ran, Stephen scanned
the dark area for any sign of water. Up by the highway, Ahren moved his car so it
faced down the embankment. He switched on its
00:22:10
high beams, illuminating the pitch black expanse
in front of him. Suddenly, a wide, rectangular
00:22:18
shaped dam with curved corners became visible.
A few skinny trees stood around its border.
00:22:27
Stephen waded in. The water was extremely cold.
As he made his way around the edge of the dam,
00:22:36
Stephen's feet slipped on the muddy soil below.
His hands were outstretched as he grasped,
00:22:43
hoping to find something. He dove into the
icy water, his body aching with each attempt.
00:22:51
Again and again Stephen pushed himself forward
into the dam’s murky depths. He found nothing.
00:23:04
The sound of sirens filled the air as
first responders rushed to the scene. At 8:07PM, the first ambulance arrived, then
two police officers from Geelong pulled up.
00:23:18
Additional paramedics,
police, and the fire brigade soon followed. The loud whirring of a
helicopter’s blades could be heard overhead
00:23:28
as a rescue helicopter hovered above the
dam, shining a spotlight down on the water.
00:23:34
There was still no sign of the Commodore
or the missing Farquharson boys. Stephen Moules, who was soaking wet and freezing,
00:23:43
was escorted away by emergency workers.
Cindy wept inside a family member’s car.
00:23:51
Robert stood outside, his face blank and
arms crossed as he surveyed the scene.
00:23:59
Paramedic David Watson approached Robert
and took him into an ambulance. He dried
00:24:05
Robert off and wrapped him in thermal blankets,
before checking his lungs with a stethoscope.
00:24:12
David didn’t hear anything untoward. He
asked Robert to cough. Robert did so, but didn’t produce any phlegm. David noted that he
was alert and lucid, and exhibited no confusion.
00:24:29
When David asked Robert to tell
him what had happened, he replied: “I was driving home when I had a coughing
fit which caused me to black out and lose
00:24:40
control of my Commodore, ending up in a dam,
floating. My older son opened the car door,
00:24:48
causing the car to fill up with water and sink. I
then got out and flagged down a vehicle, went to
00:24:55
Winch to tell the police and my ex-wife.” Robert
explained that he’d had a severe cold recently.
00:25:04
He’d had a persistent cough over the past
few days but had never blacked out before.
00:25:12
Senior Constable Ted Harmon stopped by
the ambulance and asked Robert to take a breath test. He agreed and passed. When
Constable Harmon asked what had happened,
00:25:24
Robert explained that he’d experienced
sudden chest pain, then blacked out. At 8:34, he was taken in the ambulance to Geelong
Hospital to undergo a more thorough examination.
00:25:39
Cindy was transported to Winchelsea hospital,
where she was sedated and treated for shock.
00:25:49
Senior Constable Rebecca Caskey was a professional
diver with the search and rescue squad.
00:25:56
She arrived at the dam at 9:45PM,
tasked with finding the Commodore. Some snapped twigs and broken housing
from a car’s side mirror on the ground
00:26:08
indicated the point where it
had likely entered the water. Constable Caskey dove in and performed multiple
sweeps of the area. Eventually, her fingers
00:26:20
brushed against some plastic debris and pieces of
metal. She was getting close. She had been in the
00:26:28
water for more than 20 minutes when her head
suddenly bumped into something - a car wheel.
00:26:38
Robert’s Commodore was perched vertically
with its nose pressed into the ground. It
00:26:44
was 28 metres from the dam’s edge and 7.4 metres
deep. Constable Caskey was facing its underside.
00:26:56
She swam to the surface. Knowing police would be
treating the vehicle as a possible crime scene,
00:27:03
Caskey returned to the dam’s cold depths
to seal it. All the windows were closed and
00:27:11
only the driver’s door was open. As Caskey
went to close it, she felt a child’s head
00:27:18
protruding from the vehicle. She gently pushed
it back inside and carefully closed the door.
00:27:31
Shortly after midnight, a police SUV
winched the Commodore out of the dam. Water gushed from the scraped and muddy vehicle as
it was hauled to dry land. The bodies of all three
00:27:47
Farquharson boys were visible inside. 10-year-old
Jai was lying face down across the front seats,
00:27:55
free from his seatbelt. In the back was
seven-year-old Tyler, who was also unrestrained.
00:28:04
He lay on his right side on the rear driver’s
side seat with his feet on the centre console.
00:28:11
Next to him was two-year-old Bailey, who was
tangled in the unsecured straps of his child seat.
00:28:20
At the scene, Cindy Gambino’s friend Stephen
Moules turned to a police officer and remarked:
00:28:28
“I smell a rat. There’s something not right.” Cindy didn’t share Stephen’s suspicions.
When she was well enough to speak with police
00:28:44
she told them that Robert was a devoted
father who would never hurt his children.
00:28:50
He’d never raised a hand to them
and had no history of violence. Blood tests showed no evidence that Robert had
been drinking alcohol or consuming drugs. He told
00:29:03
his examining doctor at Geelong Hospital that he’d
been sick with the flu for the past fortnight.
00:29:10
Two weeks before that, one of his colleagues
had seen him cough so hard that he was bent
00:29:15
double with his hands on his knees. On August
18, a local GP had diagnosed him with an upper
00:29:24
respiratory infection. Robert saw the doctor again
five days later, complaining of a chesty cough.
00:29:33
His chest was found to be clear, but
the GP had prescribed some antibiotics. Two days before the accident,
another colleague witnessed Robert
00:29:44
endure a 15-second coughing fit that was so
extreme she worried he was having a stroke.
00:29:53
The emergency ward doctor had x-rays taken
of Robert’s chest. They revealed no issues.
00:30:02
Based on what Robert had described, the doctor
made a provisional diagnosis of cough syncope – a
00:30:09
condition where coughing can trigger loss
of consciousness for up to 20 seconds.
00:30:15
It was a rare condition mostly found in
patients with asthma or chronic lung disease,
00:30:21
neither of which Robert Farquharson suffered from. Shortly before 10PM, Senior Sergeant Jeff
Smith and Senior Constable Rohan Courtis from
00:30:34
Victoria’s Major Collision Investigation
Unit arrived to take Robert’s statement.
00:30:41
That Father’s Day had been low key for
Robert. He’d worked a shift at one of his
00:30:46
cleaning jobs in the morning, then headed
home in preparation for his sons’ visit.
00:30:52
He was in his bedroom when Cindy
dropped the boys off in the afternoon. The two eldest boys had run up to
him, excitedly offering their gifts.
00:31:04
After Cindy left, Robert had taken his
three sons shopping at a local KMart. He’d bought Jai a new cricket ball and DVDs for
Tyler and Bailey. They ordered KFC for dinner,
00:31:19
which the boys were very excited about. At
7PM, they quickly paid a visit to Robert’s
00:31:26
sister at her home. Then they all piled back
in the car so he could drop them at Cindy’s.
00:31:35
Jai sat next to Robert in the front
passenger seat, while Tyler sat behind him.
00:31:42
Bailey was next to Tyler in his booster seat.
There was a bit of traffic on the highway,
00:31:48
so Robert made sure to drive under the
speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour. He didn’t want to take any risks
with his children in the car.
00:32:04
During the drive, Jai complained of being
cold, so Robert turned the car heater on. Soon,
00:32:12
he broke out in a coughing fit. He speculated
that the hot air from the heater had triggered it.
00:32:19
The next thing he knew, Jai was shaking him
awake and crying out: “Dad, we’re in water!”
00:32:28
Shocked, Robert had replied: “Just sit there,
mate – don’t panic.” He claimed that Jai
00:32:36
then opened his door, causing water to
gush in. The car took a sharp nosedive. Robert reached across Jai to slam the door
shut, then tried to unbuckle his children
00:32:50
from their seatbelts. He couldn’t.
The three boys were all screaming. Believing the water was only shallow, Robert
opened his door so he could get out and run
00:33:04
around to free his children. But the dam was
deeper than expected and the car sank rapidly.
00:33:15
Robert tried to dive after it but failed.
It was so dark in the water that he quickly
00:33:22
lost sight of the Commodore. He clambered to
shore and flagged down a passing car for help.
00:33:32
When recalling these events to police that night,
Robert described everything as having happened so
00:33:38
quickly - “just a big blur.” Both policemen noted
that Robert seemed calm when telling his story.
00:33:48
The only time he coughed was when he
described the fit he’d had while driving. Robert didn’t ask whether his children had
been found. Sergeant Smith said carefully:
00:34:04
“Mate, do you realise that the children
didn’t make it? Out of the car?” Robert gave a short exhale, before replying in
a flat voice: “I gathered that.” Then he asked:
00:34:24
“I’ve never been in trouble before,
so what’s the likely scenario for me?” Sergeant Smith and Constable Courtis were
troubled. They compared what Robert told
00:34:40
them about the accident with what he’d said
to others and found some slight variations.
00:34:46
At the scene of the crash, he told a police
officer that he’d only suffered from chest pain,
00:34:52
while remarking to others that
he had suffered a coughing fit. He’d also blamed a faulty wheel bearing
for causing the Commodore to steer into
00:35:00
the dam - indicating the car itself was
responsible, not his coughing fit. There were also
00:35:07
inconsistencies as to what exactly happened inside
the car once it hit the surface of the water.
00:35:15
Distinct actions had been performed in the vehicle
that Robert failed to mention in his statement.
00:35:21
The keys were in the ignition, but it was switched
off. The handbrake was also secured in position.
00:35:29
The heater, which Robert believed had caused
his coughing fit, was not on. Neither were the
00:35:35
car’s headlights. All of this was strange. The
headlights in particular would have been on when
00:35:43
Robert was driving and if they remained on, they
would have facilitated the search for the car.
00:35:49
As for the other actions - if the
accident was as unexpected and urgent as Robert claimed - why would anyone have
the time or cause to turn these things off?
00:36:03
Police were also having trouble matching his
statements with the physical evidence at the
00:36:08
scene. Investigators from Victoria’s Major
Collision Investigation unit had inspected
00:36:14
the area in the clear light of day.
The stretch of highway where Robert had veered off the road was smooth and
straight, with no sharp corners or bends.
00:36:24
There was nothing on the bitumen that would
cause a car to unexpectedly skid off the road.
00:36:30
In some roadside gravel, rolling tyre
prints could be seen leaving the road. There were also visible wheel tracks along
the grassy embankment leading into the water.
00:36:42
Collision squad investigators estimated
that in order to land in the dam, the car must have turned right at an
angle of approximately 30 degrees.
00:36:52
It then crossed over the opposite lane, crashed
through the wire fence, continued driving through
00:36:58
the grassy embankment, and scraped a tree
on its left before arriving in the water.
00:37:05
The distance from the edge of the road to the
dam was 44 metres. The path travelled by the
00:37:11
car had been clear and direct. Police couldn’t
find anything that indicated Robert had lost
00:37:17
control of his vehicle. There were no signs
that Robert had slammed the brakes at any time.
00:37:26
Experts checked whether there’d been a mechanical
failure that caused the fatal incident.
00:37:31
They found no major faults with the Commodore,
but discovered that it had a lot of wear and tear.
00:37:38
It had clocked up 387,000
kilometres on its odometer, had secondhand tyres, and the engine
was known to cut out on occasion.
00:37:48
A mechanic who’d recently serviced the car
had noticed that it tended to drift right
00:37:54
while being driven. He’d recommended
a wheel alignment to correct this, but didn’t have the equipment to do so himself.
He performed a wheel balancing instead.
00:38:06
A police examination found no problems
with the car’s wheel alignment. The right rear door, next to
where Tyler had been seated,
00:38:16
was faulty and could only be opened from
the inside. When the car was recovered,
00:38:23
both of the rear doors were locked, with a
childproof lock also engaged on the faulty one.
00:38:31
Disturbed by the turn that the case was taking,
Sergeant Smith began compiling two lists.
00:38:38
One he titled: He Did It. Under that, he
wrote down a number of incriminating facts,
00:38:45
such as Robert’s demeanour, his inconsistent
story, the way the scene didn’t match what
00:38:51
he’d described, and Robert’s insistence, above all
else, on being driven to his ex-wife so he could
00:38:58
be the one to tell her that their sons had died.
The other list was labelled: He didn’t do it.
00:39:07
The only thing Sergeant Smith could think to
write under that one was: Who could be this evil?
00:39:19
Victoria Police’s Homicide Squad officially took
control of the investigation, with Detective
00:39:25
Senior Sergeant Gerard Clanchy at the helm.
One of their first actions was to conduct a
00:39:32
formal interview with Robert Farquharson,
who had been discharged from hospital.
00:39:38
Detective Clanchy and Senior Constable
Andrew Stamper drove to Robert’s street and found journalists and TV
crews already gathered there.
00:39:48
Winchelsea was close knit, so news of the tragic
incident spread quickly. But it’s impact was far
00:39:55
greater than the small, touristy town. The entire
state was in mourning for the three young boys.
00:40:04
Clanchy and Stamper approached the house that
Robert shared with his father, Don. It was a
00:40:11
cramped, cold place that Cindy had nicknamed
‘the morgue’. Prior to Robert moving in almost
00:40:18
a year earlier, his father had lived there alone
since Robert’s mother died of lung cancer in 2002.
00:40:26
Her loss had been devastating to Robert.
He had been his mother’s favourite child.
00:40:34
The two officers knocked on the front
door. Don answered and ushered them inside to where Robert was sitting. They
informed Robert that they needed him to
00:40:44
accompany them to police headquarters
in Melbourne for a recorded interview. He agreed. The three men piled into the
police car for the two-hour journey.
00:40:57
Constable Stamper sat in the backseat with
Robert and chatted with him throughout the drive,
00:41:02
while Detective Clanchy drove. Unbeknownst
to Robert, Stamper was wearing a wire.
00:41:11
After some friendly back-and-forth, the constable
asked Robert what he thought might have happened
00:41:17
the night that his sons died. Robert said
he struggled to remember all of the details,
00:41:23
but was adamant it had been an accident.
He’d done all he could to save his boys.
00:41:30
He maintained his version of events when
the formal interview commenced at the police
00:41:35
headquarters. Once again, he detailed how he had a
coughing fit and awoke to find his car in the dam.
00:41:44
He had no idea how its headlights
and ignition came to be turned off. When asked why he’d insisted on being
driven to Cindy’s house after the accident
00:41:55
instead of seeking help, Robert replied:
“I don’t know… I can’t answer that.” Although Jai, Tyler, and Bailey were found
unrestrained, the officers had confirmed
00:42:10
this was not Robert’s doing. The boys had
somehow managed to free themselves. They
00:42:17
asked why he hadn’t managed to unbuckle any of
their seatbelts. Robert’s tone became indignant.
00:42:25
He responded: “I’ve got two arms,
two legs. I can’t save three.” His lower lip trembled, but to detectives
00:42:37
it appeared that he was only
pretending to look distressed. Despite his recent marriage breakdown, Robert
said he bore his ex-wife no ill will. Their
00:42:53
relationship had begun to falter a few years
earlier. Cindy had realised she’d never truly
00:42:59
been in love with Robert and felt he was more of
a friend. Robert also struggled with depression
00:43:05
following his mother’s cancer diagnosis
and resisted Cindy’s requests to seek help.
00:43:12
By the time he finally did so in October
2004, Cindy told him she wanted a divorce.
00:43:21
Cindy told Robert not to worry about
paying child support and to focus on saving money for his own home
instead. But Robert insisted,
00:43:30
pointing out that it would be illegal for
him not to provide financially for his kids.
00:43:36
He also continued paying off the mortgage
on the family home without resistance.
00:43:43
The only bone of contention was the
division of the couple’s two cars. They owned two Holden Commodores: one was
a 1989, white model with a lot of wear and
00:43:55
tear while the other was a 2002 silver VX.
Cindy insisted on having the newer car,
00:44:03
as she would be the parent responsible for driving
the children around the most. Robert agreed,
00:44:09
but was annoyed about being stuck with, quote:
“the shit car” while Cindy got “the good” one.
00:44:17
He told the two officers that he wasn’t jealous
that Cindy had already seemingly moved on
00:44:22
with Stephen Moules. She’d gone out of her way to
make sure he stayed involved in the boys’ lives.
00:44:31
Robert was adamant that Cindy and her
family didn’t blame him for the accident,
00:44:35
and had already visited him
to reassure him of that. When Clanchy asked Robert point blank if
he’d deliberately driven into the dam,
00:44:46
Robert replied: “No, I did not”. His
eyes slid away from the detective’s. Robert demanded that police have him take
a polygraph test to prove he wasn’t lying.
00:45:02
Detectives agreed and he
subsequently sat for a test at Geelong police station. It
failed to provide a clear result.
00:45:13
When Cindy found out that her ex-husband
had been questioned by homicide detectives,
00:45:18
she was devastated. She was certain that
her sons’ deaths had been a tragic accident.
00:45:25
The thought that Robert was under suspicion
exacerbated her grief and anguish. Autopsies confirmed that
all three boys had drowned.
00:45:37
There was nothing in their systems that indicated
they had been drugged before their deaths.
00:45:43
Jai had several abrasions on the left side
of his forehead and face, which had likely
00:45:48
come from his head hitting the windscreen.
The boys had no other notable injuries.
00:45:57
In the days after the accident, three small
white crosses were erected along the highway
00:46:03
near the dam. Locals visited to leave flowers,
cards, and toys. Cindy and Robert began making
00:46:12
funeral plans. Cindy purchased a burial vault for
Jai, Tyler, and Bailey at Winchelsea Cemetery.
00:46:20
She also bought a plot alongside it for
herself so she could be laid to rest with
00:46:25
her boys when she passed. Ten days later, Robert
followed suit by purchasing an adjoining grave.
00:46:35
On September 14, hundreds of Winchelsea residents
gathered at St John the Baptist Catholic Church,
00:46:42
including children from the local
primary school and Jai’s scout troop. Plastic chairs and a giant screen had been set up
outside to accommodate the mourners who wouldn’t
00:46:54
fit inside the small bluestone chapel. At the
front of the church were three small caskets,
00:47:02
each of which had been
personalised with a memento. Jai’s had a football pennant he’d recently been
awarded, Tyler’s had an Essendon Football Club
00:47:12
bear, and Bailey’s had a toy chainsaw and a Bob
the Builder hat. Inside, each of the boys wore a
00:47:21
locket that Robert had purchased specially
and filled with a photo of their parents.
00:47:29
At the end of the service, the boys’ favourite
song – Holy Grail by Hunters and Collectors – was
00:47:35
played for the congregation as pallbearers
carried their caskets from the church.
00:47:41
Cindy wailed as her boys were
taken to the waiting hearses. Press photographers captured pictures
of her clutching Robert supportively,
00:47:51
whose face was also contorted with grief, as
they walked outside into the spring sunshine.
00:48:02
Meanwhile, the homicide squad
continued their investigation. They spoke to the owner of the property
where the dam was located. He said that
00:48:13
over the past eight years, seven vehicles had
crashed through his fence from the highway.
00:48:19
Robert Farquharson’s was the only
one that had ended up in the dam. Acting Sergeant Glen Urquhart of the Major
Collision Investigation Unit carried out a
00:48:32
series of tests. He used a 1990 Holden Commodore
with a video camera set up inside to film the
00:48:40
entire experiment. Prints left by Robert’s car
indicated he’d been travelling at a speed of
00:48:48
around 60 kilometres per hour. Urquhart
set off down the same stretch of highway,
00:48:54
cruising along at 64 kilometres. When he took
his hands off the wheel, it didn’t veer right
00:49:02
as Robert Farquharson’s car had, but
instead began to drift to the left. Urquhart tried again multiple times, testing
out the faster speeds of 82 and 101 kilometres,
00:49:16
as well as the much slower one of 10
kilometres. In those three instances, the car continued travelling directly
ahead in a neat, straight line.
00:49:29
Although Robert’s mechanic said his car was
inclined to veer right, Urquhart knew there
00:49:35
was a big difference between a slow drift across
lanes and the sharp turn the Commodore had taken.
00:49:44
Using a specialised computer software program,
Urquhart reconstructed the car’s path. He found
00:49:52
that Robert must have turned his steering wheel
at a 220-degree angle in order for the car to take
00:49:58
the dramatic trajectory it had travelled. After
turning right off the highway, Robert would have
00:50:05
had to drive straight towards the dam, then veer
right again to avoid hitting a nearby tree. It
00:50:12
stood to reason that none of these actions could
have been taken if he was unconscious at the time.
00:50:20
Police also carried out experiments at a
similar dam in the regional city of Ballarat,
00:50:26
to see how long it would take a vehicle to sink. They kept the location a secret to prevent members
of the press turning up. After plunging into the
00:50:37
water, the car bobbed on the surface, floating
harmlessly. Only when a police diver opened
00:50:45
the driver’s side door did it start to sink.
Within 15 seconds, it had reached the bottom.
00:50:54
Robert’s various medical tests had revealed
nothing that could account for a coughing fit
00:50:59
so extreme that it resulted in him losing
consciousness. Detectives consulted doctors
00:51:07
who concluded that Farquharson's version
of events were "highly unlikely at best".
00:51:19
Several days after police began looking into the
case, officers in Geelong received a phone call
00:51:25
from a man named Colin who had a tip for them.
Colin was a former policeman who now worked at
00:51:32
a local bus company. He was worried. One of his
drivers was a close friend of Robert Farquharson’s
00:51:41
and had appeared increasingly distressed in
the days following the accident in Winchelsea.
00:51:47
He suggested detectives speak to
the driver, whose name was Greg. Officers brought Greg into the station. He seemed
relieved when he was asked to share what he knew.
00:52:02
Two months prior to the accident, Greg had driven
his children to Winchelsea’s fish and chip shop at
00:52:08
6 o’clock on a Friday evening. While his kids went
inside to collect the family’s order, Greg waited
00:52:16
out the front in his car. Robert Farquharson was
also in the shop with his own children, but he
00:52:23
came outside for a chat when he spotted Greg’s
car. Greg noticed that Robert seemed “down in
00:52:30
the dumps”. As the two were talking, Cindy Gambino
also pulled up in her silver Commodore. She smiled
00:52:39
and said hello to the two men before entering the
shop where her sons were, but Robert ignored her.
00:52:48
Greg reprimanded Robert for being rude,
but Robert became angry, snapping: “I’ve got nothing. Nobody does that to me
and gets away with it. It’s all her fault.”
00:53:03
He was furious about Cindy driving the
family’s new car that he’d paid $30,000 for,
00:53:10
while he was stuck with the “f***ing s**t one”.
Even worse, he sometimes saw Cindy’s new boyfriend
00:53:18
Stephen driving the car. He was enraged at the
thought that Stephen might move into the home
00:53:24
he and Cindy had built together, while Robert was
still paying off its mortgage. Finally, he said:
00:53:33
“She’s going to pay big time for this! I’m going
to take away the most important thing… to her.”
00:53:44
As he said this, Robert nodded his head
towards the fish and chip shop where his
00:53:49
ex-wife and children were still inside. When
Greg asked what he meant by the statement,
00:53:56
Robert mumbled something about having
had a dream where he drove into a dam. He survived the accident,
but all of his sons died.
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That's noom.com/casefile. Greg had been horrified by Robert’s comments
but before he could enquire further, their
00:57:22
conversation was interrupted by Greg’s kids
returning. He and his children headed home,
00:57:29
where Greg immediately told his wife
about Robert’s disturbing remarks. His wife later said she had no memory of this
conversation. Although Greg was troubled,
00:57:43
he didn’t really think anything would come of
Robert’s threats. Robert was known to whinge and
00:57:50
complain, and Greg suspected he was angry,
but would never actually act out his rage.
00:57:57
Two months later, when he heard that
Robert had driven his three sons into a dam
00:58:02
and was the only one to survive, Greg
became distraught. He couldn’t stop thinking about their conversation. He felt sick
with guilt that he hadn’t done anything about it.
00:58:16
Greg had nightmares about the
accident and cried unexpectedly. His distress was obvious to everyone around
him, and led to Colin Pavey calling the police.
00:58:30
After providing detectives with two statements, Greg agreed to help them by reaching out
to Robert. He would ask his friend about
00:58:38
the accident, all the while recording
the conversation by wearing a wire. Greg had been too upset to attend the Farquharson
boys’ funeral, so he paid a visit to Robert at
00:58:52
home the day after they were laid to rest.
He apologised for his absence the day prior.
00:58:59
Robert shrugged it off, saying: “A lot of people
didn’t come. I understand that. It’s a million
00:59:07
times harder for me, so you don’t have to say
nothing, I know.” Greg reminded Robert of their
00:59:15
conversation outside the fish and chip shop and
added: “I hope it’s got nothing to do with that.”
00:59:23
Robert immediately denied having meant
anything nefarious by his previous remarks,
00:59:28
saying “No. No way. No, no, no,
no, no. You know I would never–.” Greg confided that police had asked to speak with
him and he was “freaking out” at the prospect.
00:59:43
Robert encouraged him to tell them what an
excellent father he’d been. He urged Greg to avoid
00:59:50
mentioning the fish and chip shop conversation
altogether, lest investigators get the wrong idea.
00:59:58
Despite Greg’s repeated attempts to draw
out a confession, Robert insisted the crash
01:00:04
had been nothing more than a tragic accident,
saying: “No way would I do anything like that…
01:00:11
That has never, ever entered my mind.” But
when police later listened to the recording,
01:00:20
they were encouraged to hear that Robert had
acknowledged the fish and chip shop conversation.
01:00:27
Maybe if pressed again, he
might make a full admission. They had Greg repeat the exercise
one month later on October 13.
01:00:38
This time, Greg asked Robert what he’d meant
about having a dream where he drove into a dam.
01:00:46
Robert denied making such a
comment, stating: “I never, never said that. You’re getting it all wrong,
all twisted. I meant one day [Cindy’s] going
01:00:57
to wake up that I’m not as weak as piss as what
she thought – I’m going to accomplish something.”
01:01:05
He was upset that his friend
would suggest such a thing. He admitted he’d initially been angry at Cindy
following their split, but they’d been on good
01:01:14
terms by the time he ran into Greg at the
fish and chip shop. He also claimed that
01:01:20
he’d blacked out from coughing about a week
before the accident. On September 1, Robert had
01:01:27
told a friend that he’d had a coughing fit while
driving and briefly passed out behind the wheel.
01:01:34
When he woke, he realised his car had continued
travelling an additional 20 metres down the road.
01:01:44
Detectives were surprised by this
sudden mention of another blackout. They asked Greg to keep reflecting on
the fish and chip shop conversation,
01:01:54
and to write down anything else that he
remembered. Meanwhile, they kept investigating.
01:02:01
They tapped Robert’s phone, but
captured nothing incriminating. Throughout November, Greg couldn’t
stop thinking about the conversation.
01:02:12
More details were coming back to him. As these
memories returned, he typed notes on his computer,
01:02:19
keeping a written record of each new recollection.
The more he wrote, the more he recalled.
01:02:27
Greg remembered that when he asked Robert
what he meant by saying he’d take “the
01:02:32
most important thing” away from Cindy,
Robert looked directly at him and said: “Kill them”. Greg called his bluff, saying:
“Bullshit, that’s your own flesh and blood,
01:02:46
Robbie.” Robert retorted: “So? I hate them.” Then
he detailed how he would have an accident in a dam
01:02:57
and it would take place on Father’s Day. That way, everyone would remember it and he would be the
one with the boys during their final moments.
01:03:08
On every Father’s Day that followed, Cindy would
be tormented by the memory of how her sons died.
01:03:17
Greg forwarded his typed document
to Detective Gerard Clanchy and a warrant was issued for Robert’s arrest.
01:03:26
On December 14 2005, Robert voluntarily
surrendered himself to the Geelong police station,
01:03:34
accompanied by his lawyer. He was charged with
three counts of murder and remanded to custody.
01:03:42
He was granted bail two weeks later after his
lawyer successfully argued that Robert was a low
01:03:48
flight risk and had tremendous
support throughout his community. Cindy Gambino was devastated to learn her
ex-husband was charged with murdering their three
01:04:01
sons. Robert had been a proud and dedicated father
who encouraged his children’s hobbies and took
01:04:08
them out for fun activities, like swimming and
bike riding. She couldn’t believe he’d be capable
01:04:15
of deliberately harming them, nor would he ever
want to. She was also aware that Robert was prone
01:04:22
to suffer from bad coughs each winter. To her,
his version of events seemed entirely plausible.
01:04:32
Much of the Winchelsea community shared Cindy’s
support of Robert, with one of her relatives
01:04:38
telling the Herald Sun newspaper: “Nobody
believes it.” But other members of the public
01:04:45
had their doubts. They thought Robert’s story
about a coughing fit sounded utterly absurd.
01:04:58
Since the deaths of her sons,
Cindy Gambino had become fixated with the colour purple. It
was a colour she’d always loved,
01:05:06
and the fact that new age types believed
it was associated with ‘healing’ made it
01:05:11
even more appealing. When Robert’s trial began
in Victoria’s Supreme Court on August 21 2007,
01:05:20
Cindy made sure she was wearing purple as
she attended in support of her ex-husband.
01:05:27
When it was time for her to take the stand, she
sobbed as she described how Robert had appeared
01:05:32
at her home, soaking wet and babbling that their
children had drowned. Following the tragedy,
01:05:40
Cindy had a number of conversations with Robert
in which she offered support and comfort.
01:05:47
Even though she didn’t hold him responsible,
she knew how guilty he must have felt.
01:05:53
She was adamant that there was no way he
could have killed their children on purpose.
01:06:00
After Cindy finished testifying, she left the
courtroom. She could be heard wailing outside.
01:06:09
Early on in the trial, the
jury was driven from Melbourne out to the dam in Winchelsea, so they
could survey the site for themselves.
01:06:18
The three white crosses symbolising the young
lives lost there still stood by the highway.
01:06:26
Acting Sergeant Glen Urquhart of the Major
Collision Investigation Unit told the jury about
01:06:32
his work on the case, and how Robert Farquharson
had to drive deliberately and turn his steering
01:06:38
wheel 220 degrees to end up in the dam. A defence
expert dismissed Constable Urquhart’s evidence,
01:06:46
arguing that there should have been sideways
skid marks on the road if Robert had driven
01:06:51
as Constable Urquhart described. He believed the
car’s reported tendency to drift right and the
01:06:58
slight, right-leaning slope of the road would have
been enough to accidentally drive into the dam.
01:07:06
The prosecution’s star witness was Robert’s
friend Greg. As the covert recordings he’d
01:07:13
made of his chats with Robert were played to
the court, Robert repeatedly shook his head.
01:07:20
The defence found it suspicious
that the more Greg spoke to police, the more incriminating and detailed
his recollections had become.
01:07:30
They suggested Greg was so disturbed by
the tragedy that he couldn’t distinguish
01:07:35
between his nightmares and reality.
But Greg firmly defended his evidence. Coming forward had been incredibly painful, but
he’d done it because he felt obligated to do so.
01:07:54
Robert’s legal team opted against calling him
to the stand to testify in his own defence.
01:08:02
Instead, their case hinged on expert testimony
regarding Robert’s claim that he’d blacked out
01:08:08
following a coughing fit. Dr Christopher
Steinfort, a thoracic specialist, informed
01:08:15
the court that he thought Robert exhibited
some “classic” symptoms of a cough syncope.
01:08:21
Although this was a highly rare condition
usually seen in people with chronic lung disease,
01:08:27
Dr Steinfort said it could be
triggered by a bout of the flu. It was a condition he was familiar with.
Roughly 15 patients who’d attended his
01:08:37
private practice over the past decade
had reported instances of cough syncope. More recently, a GP had informed him of
another case where a man who was driving
01:08:49
his children to a football game suffered a
coughing fit and ran his car off the road.
01:08:56
Dr Steinfort examined Robert
Farquharson on a number of occasions following the dam accident. Although
Robert didn’t suffer from lung disease,
01:09:06
he was an overweight smoker with sleep apnoea,
which could make him more prone to coughing bouts.
01:09:13
He’d also been witnessed
coughing severely in the past. But Matthew Naughton, a specialist in sleep
and respiratory medicine who testified for
01:09:24
the prosecution, believed it was “highly
unlikely” Robert had suffered from a cough
01:09:29
syncope. Nothing he’d ever seen or read about
the disorder in medical literature pointed to
01:09:36
individuals with healthy heart, lung, and
neurological functions experiencing it.
01:09:43
He thought it was even less likely that Robert
would have passed out, as the car was warm due
01:09:48
to its heater being on. Although Robert had
claimed he’d blacked out on at least one
01:09:54
other occasion due to coughing, this couldn’t be
confirmed by any eyewitnesses or medical evidence.
01:10:03
To demonstrate that Robert never had any desire
to harm his family, the defence also called his
01:10:09
counsellor to the stand. Following his split with
Cindy, Robert finally started receiving treatment
01:10:17
for depression that he’d experienced since his
mother’s illness and death several years earlier.
01:10:23
He’d had about six appointments with a counsellor
named Peter Popko, telling him how upset he was
01:10:30
over the breakdown of his family. Robert
never expressed any suicidal ideation.
01:10:37
Nor did he mention wanting to
hurt Cindy or their children. The only person he seemed to want revenge
against was Stephen Moules. Robert had detailed
01:10:49
a fantasy in which he would provoke Stephen into
punching him, then take him to court for assault.
01:10:57
This revelation came as no surprise to Stephen. He’d met Cindy and Robert shortly before
the couple broke up. Although he and Cindy
01:11:07
quickly developed a connection, Stephen had
recently gone through his own messy divorce.
01:11:13
He was adamant that he wouldn’t become involved
with a woman who was still married. Instead,
01:11:20
he’d inadvertently become a confidant to Robert.
After Robert moved out of his and Cindy’s home, he
01:11:27
began turning up at Stephen’s house almost every
night of the week, crying and seeking advice.
01:11:35
Stephen made suggestions as to how
Robert could improve his situation. But Robert never listened or changed his
behaviours – he just complained incessantly.
01:11:47
After a couple of months, Stephen grew
fed up with Robert’s constant whinging and told him: “You know what? You’re an
idiot. You don’t want your wife back.”
01:11:58
He said Robert should grow up and act like a
father instead of a “spoilt little boy”. Robert
01:12:05
stopped asking for Stephen’s advice after that,
and Stephen subsequently grew closer to Cindy.
01:12:18
On October 2, the jury retired to consider
their verdict. Two days later it was Jai’s
01:12:26
13th birthday. Robert arranged for someone to
deliver three red tulips to his son’s grave,
01:12:33
along with a handwritten note that read: Dear Jai,
thinking of you on your birthday. Love you, Dad.
01:12:44
On October 5, the jury finally returned. Robert stood, dressed in a grey shirt
and a charcoal-coloured tie and trousers,
01:12:54
as the jury foreman announced the first verdict:
Guilty of the murder of Jai Farquharson.
01:13:03
Shocked, Robert dropped to his seat. Cindy
cried out in despair. Continuing on, the
01:13:12
foreman confirmed that Robert had also been found
guilty of murdering Tyler and Bailey Farquharson.
01:13:20
Cindy screamed, “Why, why, why?” Her mother Bev fainted. Both women were
escorted to an ambulance and treated for shock.
01:13:34
One month later, Robert returned to
the Supreme Court for sentencing. He kept his head down as the judge addressed him:
“You wiped out your entire family in one act.
01:13:48
Only two parents remained: you, because
you had always intended to save yourself,
01:13:55
and their mother, because you intended her to live
a life of suffering.” He sentenced Robert to three
01:14:04
life sentences. He refused to set a minimum
term, excluding the possibility for parole.
01:14:13
Outside the court, a statement was
read to reporters on Robert’s behalf: “I received a life sentence on the night my boys
died, so I don’t care much about what other people
01:14:26
think of me. I will appeal the verdict because
I will not have the public believe that Jai,
01:14:32
Tyler, and Bailey were anything less
than the most important part of my life.” Robert Farquharson’s legal team intended to
fight his conviction on 24 separate grounds,
01:14:46
but their main argument was that the prosecution
had withheld vital information. Namely,
01:14:53
that their star witness, Greg, was a violent
man who testified against his best friend
01:15:00
in exchange for having his
own criminal charges reduced. Eight months before Robert’s trial,
Greg had been drinking at a pub
01:15:09
with his brother-in-law. The pair entered into
a physical altercation with some other patrons,
01:15:16
one of whom Greg hit three times in the abdomen.
After Greg was charged for the assault, Detective
01:15:24
Gerard Clanchy wrote him a character
reference, explaining that he’d been under immense strain due to acting as a
police witness in a high profile case.
01:15:35
Several weeks after Robert’s sentencing, Greg pled
guilty to a single charge of recklessly causing
01:15:41
injury, was placed on a 12-month good behaviour
bond, and ordered to pay a 750 dollar fine.
01:15:50
Robert’s defence hadn’t been aware
of Greg’s brush with the law, so were denied the chance to question
his character while he was on the stand.
01:16:00
On December 17 2009, it was confirmed that three
judges had overturned Robert’s conviction and
01:16:07
ordered that a new trial be held. Robert was
released on 200,000 dollar bail. His family
01:16:16
and supporters were overjoyed. His two sisters
attended his bail hearing wearing badges that
01:16:23
read ‘In Rob We Trust’ and ‘Fact Before Theory’.
But not everybody was celebrating the decision.
01:16:37
One individual who was extremely troubled to hear
about Robert’s release was a woman named Dawn.
01:16:46
It was getting late on Sunday September 4 2005,
when Dawn drove along the Princes Highway.
01:16:54
By 7PM, she was approaching Winchelsea. The early
spring weather had been damp and overcast all day.
01:17:03
Clouds still hung in the air, masking the
stars and making the evening particularly dark.
01:17:10
Dawn switched on her headlights’ high
beams to illuminate the poorly lit roadway.
01:17:17
That’s when she noticed a vehicle up ahead – a
light-coloured, older model Holden Commodore.
01:17:24
It had seen better days. The speed limit on the highway was 100 kilometres
per hour. Dawn found herself quickly gaining on
01:17:35
the car ahead. It was travelling very
slowly, at around half the speed limit. Its brake lights flashed on and off
several times and it kept drifting
01:17:47
towards the white line separating the two
lanes. Dawn decided to overtake the car,
01:17:54
as the way the driver was veering dangerously
close to the opposite lane made her nervous.
01:18:01
She flashed her headlights as a warning of her
intentions. She then crossed to the opposite
01:18:07
lane and accelerated. As she drew level with
the car, Dawn glanced over at its driver.
01:18:15
He was a clean shaven man in his late 30s with
dark hair. She tried to make eye contact with him
01:18:23
and raised her hands in a questioning gesture,
as though to ask what exactly he was doing.
01:18:30
But even though the man
kept glancing to his right, he refused to look at her. His expression was
blank as he repeatedly checked his side mirror.
01:18:41
It appeared as though he was looking for something
– possibly a particular turn off. As she passed,
01:18:49
Dawn also noticed three young children
sitting in a row in the backseat, including a fair-haired boy who looked
to be about seven or eight years old.
01:19:00
He was sitting directly behind the driver,
with his face pressed against the window.
01:19:07
Once Dawn had passed the Commodore, she returned
to the left lane. At this point, the highway was
01:19:15
gradually rising over a railway track. Dawn sped
up the overpass, then glanced back at her rearview
01:19:23
mirror. The Commodore was in the distance.
Its headlights veered right and disappeared.
01:19:32
Dawn assumed the driver had
turned down an adjoining road. -- The following evening, Dawn was in her kitchen
preparing dinner while watching the news.
01:19:46
Footage was shown of Robert Farquharson’s
car being winched from the dam and Dawn
01:19:51
instantly recognised it. She cried out to her
daughter: “That’s the car! That’s the car!”
01:20:01
Although Dawn was incredibly disturbed by the
turn of events, she didn’t report what she’d seen.
01:20:08
Her family had been under a great deal of strain
at the time. Early in 2005, they’d relocated from
01:20:16
New Zealand to Australia. They ran a dairy farm in
Warrnambool, a near 2-hour drive from Winchelsea.
01:20:24
When Dawn began experiencing chronic illness
later that year, she struggled to keep on top
01:20:29
of managing the farm. Then her father and
both of her parents-in-law passed away,
01:20:36
and her 16-year-old daughter lost a
close friend in a tragic road accident. All of this stress meant she wanted
to avoid another difficult matter.
01:20:48
Consequently, Dawn hadn’t followed Robert’s trial, but was relieved when she heard that he’d been
charged and ultimately convicted. When she saw
01:20:59
that he had won his appeal, she decided that
this time she had to speak with the police.
01:21:08
After hearing from Dawn, investigators contacted
Cindy Gambino to inform her of this new
01:21:15
development. Unbeknownst to them, Cindy had been
grappling with her own concerns for some time.
01:21:24
Once Robert was incarcerated, he hadn’t called
Cindy or responded to any of her letters.
01:21:30
She’d asked to be put on his visitors list so
she could see him in person, but he wouldn’t add
01:21:36
her despite accepting visits from their mutual
friends. Cindy was baffled and angry. Why was
01:21:44
Robert refusing to see the one person in the world
who could understand his pain? She wondered if
01:21:51
perhaps her ex-husband didn’t want to look at her,
because she would be able to tell if he was lying.
01:21:58
Stephen Moules listened to her concerns patiently. He believed Robert was guilty from the beginning
but deliberately withheld his opinion from Cindy,
01:22:10
sensing her faith in Robert’s innocence was
a coping mechanism. The thought that her sons
01:22:16
might have lost their lives because of Robert’s
anger at her was too painful to contemplate.
01:22:24
Cindy kept turning over the events in her mind.
Her marriage had never been a happy one. In fact,
01:22:32
she’d even doubted whether she should
be with Robert on their wedding day. By then, they already had two sons and Robert
had proved he wasn’t the supportive partner
01:22:43
Cindy initially thought he would be. He could
be childish, throwing tantrums when household
01:22:49
appliances didn’t work, and leaving much of the
parenting to her. When the boys were babies,
01:22:56
he’d refused to change their nappies or take
turns in feeding them. Cindy had to manage
01:23:02
all the day-to-day running of the household –
paying bills, preparing meals, and performing
01:23:08
basic repairs. She complained to one friend that
the relationship was "a mortgage, not a marriage."
01:23:18
As well as having depression, Robert was
diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder,
01:23:24
which made him insecure, socially awkward,
and hypersensitive to perceived slights.
01:23:31
But he had been reliable in one sense: he’d
always managed to hold down a steady job.
01:23:38
The one exception was when he decided
to purchase a lawn mowing franchise and the business failed miserably,
leaving him 40,000 dollars in debt.
01:23:50
Robert’s behaviour with their children had often
unsettled Cindy. He never smacked them as a form
01:23:56
of discipline, but he’d once told her that was
because he was scared he’d “go overboard” if he
01:24:03
did. He relentlessly teased the two eldest boys,
pushing their buttons until they would start
01:24:10
crying or stomp out of the room. It always seemed
more like bullying than good-natured roughhousing.
01:24:19
He’d also been cruel towards her, calling her
“fat mama”, grabbing at her body while she
01:24:24
was cooking or cleaning, and sulking when she
wasn’t in the mood for sex. By October 2004,
01:24:33
Cindy had had enough. She’d never been in love
with Robert and she told him she wanted a divorce.
01:24:43
After they separated, Robert stalked Cindy,
driving past her house at all hours of the day.
01:24:50
He became fixated with her new relationship
and was furious at the thought of another
01:24:56
man becoming a father figure to his sons. Yet
he refused to look after the boys when Cindy
01:25:03
needed a babysitter – including on one
occasion when she had to go to hospital.
01:25:09
He made menacing threats, saying things like:
“I’ve got contacts – don’t underestimate me.”
01:25:19
On the night of September 1, four days before her
sons died, Robert called Cindy at home. Throughout
01:25:27
the conversation, Cindy noticed that he sounded
very depressed. She was concerned enough that she
01:25:33
mentioned it to Stephen’s mother, who advised
her to: “Just watch out”. But Cindy had never
01:25:41
dreamed that her boys might be in danger. She
suspected that Robert was suicidal, not homicidal.
01:25:50
Cindy continued to believe in Robert’s
innocence throughout his trial, though she was troubled by Greg’s
testimony. It didn’t make sense
01:26:00
that a close friend of Robert’s would come
forward with such a story if it wasn’t true.
01:26:07
When she heard Robert had won his appeal, Cindy
didn’t feel relieved at all. She began to realise
01:26:15
that perhaps she’d been in denial about her
ex-husband’s role in their sons’ deaths.
01:26:21
When Detective Clanchy called to tell
her that a witness had come forward, she decided to provide
police with a new statement.
01:26:31
This time, she’d reveal some things she’d
previously kept hidden about her ex-husband.
01:26:42
The next time Cindy set eyes on Robert was when
she walked into Victoria’s Supreme Court for his
01:26:47
retrial on May 4 2010. Cindy and her supporters
all wore her trademark shade of purple and her
01:26:56
hair was streaked with violet highlights. When
she took the stand, she spoke openly about
01:27:04
the problems before, during, and after her
marriage. Several times she glanced at Robert.
01:27:11
Her expression grew angry when she was asked
to identify him as her children’s father.
01:27:19
When the defence grilled Cindy on why she was
changing her stance after initially supporting
01:27:24
Robert, she replied: “I’ve had five years
to think about this. He killed my kids.”
01:27:34
Dawn also testified about what she’d
seen on the night of the accident. Robert Farquharson hadn’t taken the stand
during his previous trial. But at his retrial,
01:27:47
he was the defence’s first witness. He fidgeted
awkwardly as he swore on a bible. His small
01:27:55
stature seemed exaggerated by the formal shirt and
tie he was wearing. He refused to look at Cindy.
01:28:06
Robert repeated his story about having a coughing
fit and waking to find the car bobbing in the dam.
01:28:14
Although Dawn’s testimony indicated all three boys
were squashed together in the back of the car,
01:28:20
Robert insisted that Jai had been sitting
beside him in the front passenger seat.
01:28:26
He was unable to answer a number of questions, claiming he couldn’t recall some details
or wasn’t sure of certain things.
01:28:36
Under cross-examination, the prosecution asked why
Robert hadn’t tried harder to free his children.
01:28:44
Why hadn’t he leaned across the backseat
to undo two-year-old Bailey’s booster seat?
01:28:50
Robert simply answered: “I
probably had no thought process.” He wasn’t sure how the rear
doors had come to be locked,
01:29:02
but suggested Bailey might have inadvertently
switched them off by playing with the latch.
01:29:09
Robert said he’d seen Jai open the passenger door,
causing water to flood the car, even though the
01:29:15
headlights were off and it was pitch black. He
couldn’t say how or when the lights were switched
01:29:22
off. The prosecution suggested he’d turned them
off to prevent the car from being easily found.
01:29:31
He denied this, now insisting that they and the ignition were both on when they
landed in the water. The prosecution asked:
01:29:42
“Is there any person in the car who could possibly
have turned off the ignition, other than you?”
01:29:49
“Well, Jai could have, easily”, said Robert. The jury looked shocked. The prosecution responded: “Are you seriously
suggesting that one of your children,
01:30:05
in the moments before they died, would have had
any reason to turn off the ignition of that car?”
01:30:13
Robert protested that he was simply
trying to answer as best as he could. He had no reason for wanting
it to be dark out in the dam.
01:30:26
After watching Robert’s testimony, Cindy had no
doubt that he’d avoided her because he was lying.
01:30:34
She was disgusted by him. It seemed
as though he lacked any remorse. The trial concluded on July 19 and the jury
left to deliberate. At 4:50PM on July 22,
01:30:51
it was announced that they’d come
to a verdict. The date would have been Tyler’s 12th birthday if he was still
alive. To Cindy, this was a positive omen.
01:31:05
Once again, Robert Farquharson was
found guilty on all counts. This time, Cindy turned to the jury and
mouthed the words “thank you”.
01:31:18
Almost three months later, Robert was sentenced
to life imprisonment with a 33-year minimum.
01:31:26
The judge told the court that in his 38-years
of practicing law, this was a case that “defied
01:31:33
imagination”, as the victims were “three
vulnerable, helpless, and wholly innocent
01:31:39
children” who had suffered a “terrifying
death”. Addressing Robert directly, he stated:
01:31:49
"Your crimes have devastated a
significant number of people. Primary among them is your ex-wife Cindy
Gambino, the mother of these three children.”
01:32:02
Robert shook his head throughout his sentencing. When he was led out of the courtroom, Cindy began
to cry. Outside, she told reporters: “It’s never
01:32:16
going to be enough… It’s a life sentence for
me – it should be a life sentence for him.”
01:32:24
In August 2013, Robert
Farquharson lost his final appeal. In the years after her children’s deaths, Cindy
Gambino was on the receiving end of abuse from
01:32:39
the public. At first, she received letters from
people calling her “stupid” for supporting Robert.
01:32:46
Others blamed her for having “driven” her ex
to kill. On one occasion, a man approached
01:32:53
her in a supermarket and asked: "What did
you do to him to make him do that to you?”
01:33:01
But Cindy also received strong support, encouragement, and countless messages
from people who empathised with her pain.
01:33:11
In 2010, she married Stephen Moules.
The couple have two sons together. The murders of Jai, Tyler, and Bailey
Farquharson and the subsequent legal
01:33:24
proceedings garnered nationwide attention
and were widely covered by Australia’s media.
01:33:31
In 2013, crime journalist Megan Norris published
a book about the case, titled On Father’s Day.
01:33:40
Norris had previously written about a number of
other cases in which men murdered their children
01:33:45
during the course of marriage breakdown.
She spent lots of time with Cindy while
01:33:51
working on the book and tells much of
the story from Cindy’s perspective. The following year, author
Helen Garner released her book,
01:34:01
This House of Grief, which shares her thoughts
and experiences from attending both trials.
01:34:09
Cindy has initiated legal action to prevent
Robert from being buried in the spot he purchased
01:34:14
alongside their sons’ burial plot and her own
grave. In an interview with the Herald Sun,
01:34:22
she explained: "I'd be mortified if my boys and
I had to be buried with him. I will move the
01:34:30
boys and myself if I have to. People go to all
sorts of extremes for things they believe in.
01:34:38
The night he murdered our boys, he
lost every right to be near them." Jai, Tyler, and Bailey share a large
marble headstone at Winchelsea Cemetery.
01:34:51
It features oval portrait photographs of the
three boys. On the top left-hand side is a
01:34:58
gold logo of the Essendon Football Club, the
Australian Rules team beloved by both Jai and
01:35:04
Tyler. On the other side is an etching of Bob the
Builder, from Bailey’s favourite television show.
01:35:13
Beneath the boys’ names are the words ‘Much loved
and cherished children of Robert and Cindy.’
01:35:24
In 2010, when Robert was out on bail following
his first appeal, someone used a chisel or a
01:35:31
similar tool to scratch his name off the
headstone, leaving rough gouges in the marble.
01:35:38
It isn’t known who was responsible for doing this. Cindy has resisted calls from Robert’s
family to have his name reinstated.