On Father’s Day, 2005, Robert Farquharson crashed his car into a dam. He survived, but his three children who were in the car with him didn’t. At first it seemed like a tragic accident. But quickly, it turned into a murder investigation.



For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater. Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

On Father’s Day, 2005, Robert Farquharson crashed his car into a dam. He survived, but his three children who were in the car with him didn’t. At first it seemed like a tragic accident. But quickly, it turned into a murder investigation.
 
For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater. Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

Trial by Water is an investigative podcast series about Robert Farquharson, who has been locked up for decades for an unthinkable crime: murdering his three sons in a dam on Father’s Day, 2005.

Now scientists and lawyers are asking the question: did we get it wrong? And is this man in prison for a crime he didn’t commit?

Trial by Water is an investigative podcast series about Robert Farquharson, who has been locked up for decades for an unthinkable crime: murdering his three sons in a dam on Father’s Day, 2005.
Now scientists and lawyers are asking the question: did we get it wrong? And is this man in prison for a crime he didn’t commit?

He has been locked up for decades for an unthinkable crime. Now scientists and lawyers are raising serious doubts.

Trial by Water

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition

A major investigation by The Age newsroom in Melbourne, Australia, into the death of Phoebe Handsjuk, who was found at the bottom of a garbage chute in a luxury apartment building.

The short life and brutal death of Phoebe Handsjuk.

Phoebe's Fall

Right now, there is a man in Australia who is locked up in a prison within a prison. His cell mates are serial killers and rapists. He’s always insisted that he’s innocent - and now the experts are starting to agree. This podcast series will explore what this man did to end up in a protection unit in a maximum security prison - and investigate if he’s there for a crime he didn’t commit.

Right now, there is a man in Australia who is locked up in a prison within a prison. His cell mates are serial killers and rapists. He’s always insisted that he’s innocent - and now the experts are starting to agree. This podcast series will explore what this man did to end up in a protection unit in a maximum security prison - and investigate if he’s there for a crime he didn’t commit.

Trial By Water,  Episode 1:  Father's Day

Since releasing the Trial by Water podcast, we’ve been contacted by a lot of people. Some have wanted to ask questions, some to give feedback – positive and negative – and others to tell their stories. 

The evidence in this case is so broad-ranging that we couldn’t touch on everything in the series itself. But there are themes to the questions and comments, so in this bonus episode, Trial by Water host Michael Bachelard sits down with the show's executive producer, Ruby Schwartz, to talk through some of those questions. 

Since releasing the Trial by Water podcast, we’ve been contacted by a lot of people. Some have wanted to ask questions, some to give feedback – positive and negative – and others to tell their stories. 
The evidence in this case is so broad-ranging that we couldn’t touch on everything in the series itself. But there are themes to the questions and comments, so in this bonus episode, Trial by Water host Michael Bachelard sits down with the show's executive producer, Ruby Schwartz, to talk through some of those questions.

Bonus Episode: Your questions answered

As lawyer Luke McMahon prepares a new fight for Robert Farquharson’s release, we discover something new: that Farquharson and his ex-wife believed that police investigators were trying to pin the crime on him just days after the crash.

So would it be a problem if the system had a strong impression, right from the start, that Farquharson was guilty?

For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater. Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

As lawyer Luke McMahon prepares a new fight for Robert Farquharson’s release, we discover something new: that Farquharson and his ex-wife believed that police investigators were trying to pin the crime on him just days after the crash.
So would it be a problem if the system had a strong impression, right from the start, that Farquharson was guilty?
For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/podcast/trialbywater">theage.com.au/trialbywater</a> or <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/podcast/trialbywater">smh.com.au/trialbywater</a>. <a href="https://subscribe.smh.com.au/">Subscribe now</a> to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.

Episode 5: The Golden Thread

In the story of Robert Farquharson, there's one thing that’s hardest to understand: his behaviour in the minutes and hours after the crash.

Because on that night, his actions seemed so far outside normal behaviour for a father that the police, the media and the general public all came to the conclusion that he must have murdered his three sons.

But is that true? Or is there some other explanation for his unsettling behaviour that night?

For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit theage.com.au/trialbywater or smh.com.au/trialbywater. Subscribe now to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.



The original version of this episode included a re-enactment of parts of Robert Farquharson's formal police interview. We decided to do the re-enactment because of a legal threat from Victoria Police that we would be in breach of a 2009 law, and potentially liable for imprisonment, if we included the audio of the original interview. But since then we’ve clarified that parliament never intended the law to apply to old recordings, so we’ve replaced that re-enactment with the actual interview of Robert Farquharson.

In the story of Robert Farquharson, there's one thing that’s hardest to understand: his behaviour in the minutes and hours after the crash.
Because on that night, his actions seemed so far outside normal behaviour for a father that the police, the media and the general public all came to the conclusion that he must have murdered his three sons.
But is that true? Or is there some other explanation for his unsettling behaviour that night?
For exclusive content and additional reporting on the case, available to subscribers of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, visit <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/podcast/trialbywater">theage.com.au/trialbywater</a> or <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/podcast/trialbywater">smh.com.au/trialbywater</a>. <a href="https://subscribe.smh.com.au/">Subscribe now</a> to access the special Good Weekend investigation, which features never-before-seen 3D models recreating key scientific evidence, video, audio and other interviews.
 
The original version of this episode included a re-enactment of parts of Robert Farquharson's formal police interview. We decided to do the re-enactment because of a legal threat from Victoria Police that we would be in breach of a 2009 law, and potentially liable for imprisonment, if we included the audio of the original interview. But since then we’ve clarified that parliament never intended the law to apply to old recordings, so we’ve replaced that re-enactment with the actual interview of Robert Farquharson.

Trial By Water, Episode 1: Father's Day

Phoebe's Fall

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