From The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Trial by Water is a new 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?

Episode 1 will arrive on Saturday, June 1.

From The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Trial by Water is a new 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?
Episode 1 will arrive on Saturday, June 1.

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

Wrong Skin: a relationship banned under traditional law. An investigation into an unsolved suspicious death and a missing person in the Australian outback.

Wrong Skin

A North Korean dictator, bags of heroin, drug lords, spooks, sailors, Australian cops and a web of lies: Come aboard The Last Voyage of The Pong Su.

The Last Voyage of the Pong Su

The Confession is a podcast where the justice system itself is on trial.

At the centre of it all is Katia Pyliotis, accused of bludgeoning a man with a statue of the Virgin Mary. Four years of Katia’s life is spent behind bars, until the truth emerges because of a stroke of luck. When an item thought long lost is suddenly found and the spotlight is shifted from Katia to her accusers, the police.

Richard Baker tells the story of a murder, a botched trial and the system that allowed it to happen.

See our website for more exclusive content: https://www.theage.com.au/topic/the-confession-podcast-6fs2

The Confession is a podcast where the justice system itself is on trial.
At the centre of it all is Katia Pyliotis, accused of bludgeoning a man with a statue of the Virgin Mary. Four years of Katia’s life is spent behind bars, until the truth emerges because of a stroke of luck. When an item thought long lost is suddenly found and the spotlight is shifted from Katia to her accusers, the police.
Richard Baker tells the story of a murder, a botched trial and the system that allowed it to happen.
See our website for more exclusive content: <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/topic/the-confession-podcast-6fs2">https://www.theage.com.au/topic/the-confession-podcast-6fs2</a>

The astonishing true story of how Melbourne homicide detectives broke all the rules in their quest to have Katia Pyliotis convicted for brutally murdering a dirty old man with a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The Confession

The Drop is a weekly show tackling the latest in the world of pop culture and entertainment. Why does it seem like everything on television is based on a true story? Why is Kate Bush back in the charts? How did Pete Davidson get so popular? Join host Osman Faruqi and The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age's team of culture writers and critics as they answer these questions and more along with interviews with musicians, actors, film makers and everyone involved in the world of culture.

The Drop is a weekly show tackling the latest in the world of pop culture and entertainment. Why does it seem like everything on television is based on a true story? Why is Kate Bush back in the charts? How did Pete Davidson get so popular? Join host Osman Faruqi and The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age's team of culture writers and critics as they answer these questions and more along with interviews with musicians, actors, film makers and everyone involved in the world of culture.

The Drop with Osman Faruqi

Good Weekend Talks features in-depth conversations with the people fascinating Australians right now, from sport to politics to the arts, business and beyond, interviewed weekly by the country's top journalists. Consider it a magazine for your ears.

Good Weekend Talks features in-depth conversations with the people fascinating Australians right now, from sport to politics to the arts, business and beyond, interviewed weekly by the country's top journalists. Consider it a magazine for your ears.

Good Weekend Talks

Since late 2020, the case of missing Sydney woman Melissa Caddick has captivated the country. A seemingly successful businesswoman from Sydney's eastern suburbs went missing after authorities raided her Dover Heights home amid questions over an unlicensed financial planning business.
Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist Kate McClymont would reveal key details of a massive Ponzi scheme and a $23 million fraud that ripped off investors including her family and friends as Caddick lived the high life of overseas trips, cars and high end fashion. McClymont's coverage would win her a ninth Walkley Award.
Now McClymont and 60 Minutes’ Tom Steinfort are set to present a breakthrough podcast Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions that will follow the twists and turns of a case where everyone has a theory of their own. What happened to the money and what happened to Melissa? Liar Liar will reveal fresh details of the crime of the century through interviews with key players and takes listeners from upmarket jewellery auction rooms in Hong Kong, to the ski slopes of Aspen to private islands in the South Pacific.

Since late 2020, the case of missing Sydney woman Melissa Caddick has captivated the country. A seemingly successful businesswoman from Sydney's eastern suburbs went missing after authorities raided her Dover Heights home amid questions over an unlicensed financial planning business. Sydney Morning Herald investigative journalist Kate McClymont would reveal key details of a massive Ponzi scheme and a $23 million fraud that ripped off investors including her family and friends as Caddick lived the high life of overseas trips, cars and high end fashion. McClymont's coverage would win her a ninth Walkley Award. Now McClymont and 60 Minutes&rsquo; Tom Steinfort are set to present a breakthrough podcast&nbsp;Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions&nbsp;that will follow the twists and turns of a case where everyone has a theory of their own. What happened to the money and what happened to Melissa? Liar Liar will reveal fresh details of the crime of the century through interviews with key players and takes listeners from upmarket jewellery auction rooms in Hong Kong, to the ski slopes of Aspen to private islands in the South Pacific.

Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions

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

The best footy writers from The Age and SMH bring you the weekly lowdown on all things AFL.

If you like the pod, please take the time to rate & review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. We love to hear from you and it makes it easier for the rest of the podcast world to find us.

And, why not become a subscriber? Our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

The best footy writers from The Age and SMH bring you the weekly lowdown on all things AFL.
If you like the pod, please take the time to rate &amp; review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. We love to hear from you and it makes it easier for the rest of the podcast world to find us.
And, why not become a subscriber? Our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/

News, analysis and insight on the AFL from The Age sports team.

Real Footy

Take a journey into the dark depths of the Australian criminal underworld with Australia’s most formidable crime reporter - John Silvester.

Naked City

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.

Introducing: Trial by Water

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.

Introducing: Trial by Water

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Trial by Water

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