logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2021
1h 2m

Episode 8 - Charge

THE AUSTRALIAN
About this episode

John Peros is taken to a windowless room in Brisbane’s police headquarters in early September 2014. Detectives want him to see CCTV footage from the night of the murder of a car remarkably similar to his ute driving around Mackay, and vision of a running man, and to confess to a murder. John refuses to look at the screen, and is charged with Shandee’s murder. Respected forensic scientist Dr Kirsty Wright finds more major and serious problems in the lab - including the failure to get DNA from a sample from Shandee’s forearm that would have at least contained many hundreds of her own skin cells. She describes the situation as “diabolical”, and warns the lab’s results in Shandee’s case and in unknown others cannot be trusted.

Subscribers to The Australian have exclusive first access to episodes of Shandee's Story via The Australian app. Subscribe to The Australian here.

You can download on The Australian's app in Apple's store here.

Also get it on Google Play here.

To contact Hedley Thomas anonymously with any information on Shandee's Story email here - Shandee@theaustralian.com.au

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Oct 2023
From The Front: Queensland's DNA lab is back under the microscope
The Queensland government will reopen an inquiry into its troubled DNA lab after new evidence of flawed automated testing processes emerged. Find out more about The Front podcast here and subscribe in your podcast app. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's we ... Show More
13m 49s
Sep 2023
Shandee’s Legacy Episode 11: What Linzi Left Out
A cloud has been cast over the new chief of the lab following revelations that a DNA extraction method may have failed across thousands of samples in criminal cases for nine years. Professor Linzi Wilson-Wilde reviewed the automated method for retired judge Walter Sofronoff’s inq ... Show More
1h 26m
Sep 2023
Shandee's Legacy Episode 10: Project 13
Dr Kirsty Wright is the remarkable scientist who exposed the worst forensics disaster in Australia’s history, and now she’s identified the ‘smoking gun’ in the Queensland DNA lab disaster. It’s a catastrophe called ‘Project 13’ which has been hiding in plain view -- but Dr Wright ... Show More
1h 17m
Recommended Episodes
Aug 7
The Michael Proctor files. Parents of murdered daughter want answers. And behind the scenes with a CSI.
Prosecutors at the Norfolk County Superior Court in Massachusetts share new details in the murder case against disgraced art salesman Brian Walshe, just two months after they finished one of the biggest trials of the year -- Karen Read. And Michael Proctor, the lead investigator ... Show More
28m 27s
Oct 6
INFAMOUS: The Murdaugh Family Murders
When Maggie and Paul Murdaugh are killed on their family’s estate in 2021, the investigation unravels a history of privilege, corruption, and suspicious deaths tied to one of South Carolina’s most influential families. But beneath the headlines and courtroom drama are stories of ... Show More
56m 1s
Sep 15
INFAMOUS: The Mulholland Drive Murders
In 2003, an LAPD cold case detective digging through old case files finds a piece of forgotten evidence that belongs to an unidentified woman found murdered off Mulholland Drive in 1969. As he searches for her identity, he uncovers eerie parallels to another young woman killed ne ... Show More
43m 41s
Oct 1
MURDERED: Idaho Murders
In November 2022, four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered inside their off-campus home. The killer left behind a trail of evidence: from DNA on a knife sheath to cell phone records and chilling witness accounts. Morgan and Kaelyn unravel the case that shocked a c ... Show More
1h 33m
Mar 2025
Episode 906: Man found guilty of murdering Lisa Thompson
Brian McHugh has been found guilty of killing Lisa Thompson at her home in Ballymun in 2022, a gangland killer has his trial for threatening to kill a prison officer moved due to fears he’ll be shot dead by the Hutch Organised Crime Group, and the judge in the trial of Nikita Bur ... Show More
28m 33s
Feb 2025
REWIND | The Weleetka Murders
Two young girls shot dead in a town of less than 1000 people. With local law enforcement stumped, they turned to the renowned FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit for answers. Julia Cowley is a retired FBI criminal profiler with a twist - she's a forensic scientist too. In this episode w ... Show More
51m 35s
Feb 2025
Stephen Reitz
Stephen Reitz invoked a sleepwalking defense after he was charged with killing a woman during a weekend getaway. He claimed he woke up from a dream that he was fighting off an intruder and discovered her body. Investigators doubted his story, especially when they uncovered eviden ... Show More
1h 9m
Mar 2025
James VanCallis
April Millsap was murdered while walking her dog on a popular Michigan trail. Prosecutors used data from her digital footprint to help secure a conviction in her 2014 murder case. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss James VanCallis. Some eyewitnesses saw a man on a motorcycle int ... Show More
1h 4m
Aug 21
MURDEROUS MINDS: The Killer Step-Brother Pt. 2
Nathan Matthews murdered his 16-year-old stepsister Becky Watts—then helped her family search for her. In Part 2, we break down the failed cover-up, the forensic clues that exposed him, and how the truth about one of Britain’s most disturbing family murders finally came to light. ... Show More
40m 4s
Sep 11
UPDATE: The Murder of Charline Rosemond (Massachusetts)
When we first covered the case of Charline Rosemond on Dark Downeast back in January of 2025, her murder was still unsolved. But a few months after the release of the episode, that finally changed. A suspect has since been indicted. So, we’re rereleasing the original episode cove ... Show More
40m 8s