***WARNING: Distressing Content***

On February 11, 1995 a teenager’s life was changed forever. It was the night Bradley Robert Edwards brutally raped the 17-year-old, snatching her as she walked home after a night out with friends. The stuff of nightmares.

We can say this because Edwards' admitted the crime, pleading guilty to the horrific assault at Karrakatta Cemetery just weeks before his trial for rape and murder was due to start late last year.

In archived stories from The West Australian a year after the rape, the victim told journalist Ingrid Mansell she didn’t want to ruin her friends night, by forcing them to leave early, so she decided to make the 700 metre walk home.

That’s when Edwards grabbed her from behind, tied her hands together, put a hood over her head and carried her to his car where he tied her feet together before driving to Karrakatta Cemetery. Once there he dragged her into the bushes and raped her twice.

Claremont had already been reeling from the impact of the Birnies - the serial killer couple who abducted four of their five victims from the suburb in the 1980s, and a series of rapes and attempted rapes in the areas had residents in the affluent suburb on high alert.

This crime sent shock waves through the area.

The victim said she lived in fear other women would suffer a similar fate to her. 

“I realised that unless they found (my attacker) straight away, the only way they would catch him would be if he offended again and I could not bear the thought of that happening to someone else,” she told The West Australian.

Then Sarah Spiers went missing.

Bradley Edwards has always denied killing Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.

John Townsend was The West Australian’s crime reporter at the time. As a guest on the podcast, John recalled speaking to police and the startling information he received shortly after Sarah Spiers disappeared. 

His emotional description of his anger about the little or no information, or the wrong information sent out to the public at the time shows this case has stayed with him for more than 25 years.

Join John Townsend, Natalie Bonjolo and Tim Clarke for this extra episode during a brief court adjournment.

When court resumes, DNA evidence from forensic scientist Aleks Bagdonavicius will continue.

If you, or anyone you know has been affected by the content in this podcast, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) on