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 inquiry into the lab in 2022, but in her subsequent report did not mention information that she came across showing it was having serious problems recovering DNA. In this episode, Professor Wilson-Wilde launches a staunch defence of her report for the inquiry, saying she was engaged to examine a separate issue of the method contaminating crime scene samples soon after its introduction in 2007. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the trial and verdict, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 is certain that it was deceptive and fraudulent, and it explains why Shandee’s case in 2013 and thousands of others since 2007 have failed. For dedicated followers of this series, the Project 13 report can be found on the inquiry’s website under module four. It’s document number 129.95, and you can compare for yourself the opening paragraph against the figures 9 to 12. To read The Australian's reporting and analysis of the trial and verdict, search Shandee's Story or visit shandee.com.au. If you need support, Lifeline can be reached on 13 11 14.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian's global smash-hit podcast Teacher's Pet returns for Australian audiences on July 1. You can find it wherever you got this podcast. Just search for "The Teacher's Pet". See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will anyone face criminal charges for the disaster at the laboratory? We examine more of Walter Sofronoff’s findings about how this catastrophe unfolded, delve deeper into Cathie Allen’s conduct, and meet a lady who -- when the laboratory couldn’t make sense of DNA results -- was told her own son must have been switched at birth. The Queensland Government moves swiftly to respond to the report, and we cast forward to the laboratory’s future. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At last, Commissioner Walter Sofronoff hands down his 500-plus-page report -- and it is a sweeping denunciation of the laboratory’s failings, and of the conduct of one person in particular: Cathie Allen. He finds the managing scientist lied: to police, to her staff, to ministers and to the Commissioner himself, under oath during the inquiry. Sofronoff exposes a litany of deceit and trickery, compounded by ineptitude and weakness -- but he heralds the bravery of those who stood up, hailing the courage of Dr Kirsty Wright. We hear reactions from Dr Wright and Vicki Blackburn - and we learn some news about John Peros. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the final week of public hearings in the explosive inquiry into a broken DNA lab and we’re all here because of one person -- Shandee Blackburn. The vicious and unprovoked murder of the defenceless 23-year-old walking home from work is front-and-centre as three independent experts give their verdict on the lab’s failure to find any forensic trace of her killer. It’s been a long and, at times, lonely road for Australia’s Dr Kirsty Wright, but now she gets her day in court alongside the world’s most renowned forensic biologist, Dr Bruce Budowle, and New Zealand’s Johanna Veth, revealing shocking new findings.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the harsh spotlight of the inquiry, lab boss Cathie Allen admits to absolutely nothing, tearfully insisting she always acted with the best intentions and has been terribly misunderstood. In her account, white-anting staff were to blame for the toxic culture at the lab, management offered no support, funding was shrinking and the pressure was relentless. We explore her life outside the lab, with some surprising revelations, and examine her claim to have been unfairly portrayed as a ‘Disney villain’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The big guns from the DNA lab - Lara Keller, Justin Howes and Cathie Allen - are rolled into the formal inquiry and subjected to withering questioning by a lawyer on top of his game over alleged cover-up, lies to police, and scientific fraud. The three insist they've been honest at all times, just guilty of misunderstanding the details or being overwhelmed by work and led into human error. The inquiry's lead lawyer Michael Hodge was relentless as he applied a blowtorch to a very broken lab affecting thousands of victims of crime.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Four weeks in, one question lingers in the Walter Sofronoff-led Commission of Inquiry into Queensland's state-run forensics lab: who knew what and when? In this week's episode, Hedley Thomas, Claire Harvey, Matthew Condon, and David Murray further unpack the toxic treatment of scientists who attempted to raise the alarm about inadequate DNA profiling processes and questionable management practices. We look closely at the behaviour of figures who've loomed large but have yet to enter the witness box: Lara Keller, Cathie Allen, and Justin Howes.  Matt Condon also delves into the fascinating history of the facility and the unique way death is dealt with in Queensland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Humiliated. Belittled. Embarrassed. Toxic behaviour by the lab's managers leads to an epic spray from a reporting scientist in this week's episode. Ingrid Moeller used her time in the witness box to unleash on less-than-stellar management of the state-run lab at the centre of the Commission of Inquiry.  Plus, we hear from her colleagues, who tried time and again to raise the alarm about toxic culture and controversial lab practices.  We also grapple with the magnitude of the lab's extraordinary backflips on statements provided to Queensland Police, with potentially thousands of cases thrown into doubt as a result. Join The Australian’s National Chief Correspondent, Hedley Thomas, and his colleagues Claire Harvey, David Murray, and Matthew Condon, as they discuss the third week of the Sofronoff inquiry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We reveal deep concerns that the lab managers put a new, untried and ill-conceived testing system in place immediately after the public inquiry was called. Was it a deliberate strategy of sabotage to try to cover up the mistakes of the past? Or merely accidental - the product of poor judgment? The inquiry is focusing long and hard on this as Dr Kirsty Wright helps identify the errors and potential destruction of evidence. The toxic culture inside the lab are on display along with three of the fascinating legal characters in the inquiry. Join The Australian’s chief national correspondent, Hedley Thomas, and his colleagues Claire Harvey, David Murray and Matthew Condon, as they discuss the second week of the Sofronoff inquiry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the shocking revelations of bungling, secrecy and misconduct within Queensland’s DNA lab exposed in journalist Hedley Thomas’ podcast Shandee’s Story, a major royal commission-style inquiry into the fiasco gets underway in a Brisbane court, headed by retired judge Walter Sofronoff KC. The hearings are immediately rocked by allegations of disharmony and distrust amongst laboratory staff, sound scientific advice being ignored by senior bureaucrats, and warnings that the lab’s prohibitively high DNA testing thresholds were unsafe also being dismissed. Senior police take the stand at the inquiry, saying they went along with the DNA lab’s new testing model because they trusted Queensland Health experts, only to become suspicious, then alarmed – courtesy of DNA expert Kirsty Wright’s damning assessment of the lab’s failings in Shandee’s Story – that offenders may have literally gotten away with murder for years. But DNA lab staff say the police signed off on the controversial testing decision and fully understood its implications. By the end of the inquiry’s first week it’s already clear that Queensland is in the midst of the greatest health and criminal justice crisis in its history. Join The Australian’s chief national correspondent, Hedley Thomas, and his colleagues Claire Harvey, David Murray and Matthew Condon, in a comprehensive analysis of the opening week of the Sofronoff inquiry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hedley Thomas, Claire Harvey, David Murray, and Matthew Condon return to cover hearings in a major public inquiry into Queensland's state-run DNA lab.  A new episode will be published at the end of every week, for the duration of the inquiry. Search for Shandee's Story in your podcast app, and press follow or subscribe to be notified when new episodes are released. You can read The Australian's ongoing coverage of the inquiry at theaustralian.com.au. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DNA scientist Dr Kirsty Wright is shown how public servants and DNA laboratory managers behind closed doors have been minimising the serious concerns raised in the podcast series. A raft of internal documents responding to Kirsty's revelations become available and these show the immediate refusal of the managers of the laboratory to start a proper audit or acknowledge anything has gone awry. Many documents are heavily redacted but are likely to be flushed out as the new Commission of Inquiry gathers momentum. Kirsty's other efforts to ensure scrutiny of the lab are revealed along with interviews of key witnesses who hadn't spoken to the podcast before. The episode is expected to be the last in Season 1 of Shandee's Story. A new season, Shandee's Legacy, is likely to start during the public inquiry run by retired Supreme Court Justice Walter Sofronoff QC. 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.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finally, seven months after the first disclosures in episode 7 of the podcast by Dr Kirsty Wright about grave concerns over the testing of DNA in Shandee's case and in hundreds of others, a remarkable breakthrough. The Premier of Queensland announces a far-reaching public inquiry to be led by one of Queensland's most respected legal figures and he'll be armed with vast powers and a team of lawyers and investigators to get to the truth in the DNA laboratory. Vicki and Shannah Blackburn were briefed by the premier and the health minister who said they wanted to ensure public confidence in the criminal justice system. A public inquiry became unavoidable after police went public with alarming details about what they were discovering in the lab's handling of evidence and DNA in hundreds of sexual assault cases, triggering a review of rapes going back four years. Major changes are tipped to come from the inquiry which is forecast to run for six months. Vicki says Shandee would be exclaiming 'yes!' 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.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Hedley Thomas and the journalists at The Australian comes The Teacher's Trial. A new episode will be published every Friday for the duration of the trial of Chris Dawson, who is accused of the murder of his wife Lynette Dawson. Search for The Teacher's Trial wherever you listen to podcasts, or read The Australian's ongoing coverage of the trial here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will Shandee Blackburn ever get justice? Will systemic flaws in Queensland’s forensic lab be independently investigated by the authorities? In this episode of the podcast series – which is pausing until new leads arise – Dr Kirsty Wright reveals the letter she confidentially wrote to Queensland’s corruption-fighting agency about the broken lab and her concerns that its problems are more serious than they first appeared. John and Shandee's former friend Jarrod Hau describes as untrue a claim John made to detectives and friends after the murder. Police investigate whether a taxi driver picked up John when he had a bandaged right hand in the days after Shandee’s murder. Vicki and Shannah’s tireless search for justice continues and more developments will come as DNA in Shandee’s case and other leads are reinvestigated by the coroner. 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.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Evidence that appears to have fallen through the cracks in Shandee’s case is revealed as John Peros’s flat – and its hiding places – gets a fresh examination in light of new information from a listener. Retired homicide detective Scott Furlong recalls his visit to the flat the day after the murder as part of the investigation, of seeing apparent renovation works, and then noting a year later the elaborate concealment spaces which had been created by John. The smell of paint or bleach the day after the murder weighs heavily for those who heard about it. A domestic violence expert examines John and Shandee’s abusive relationship. 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.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The footsteps of a running man captured in CCTV footage seconds before and after Shandee’s slaying are re-enacted to test a theory that the running man didn’t have enough time to be her killer. Criminal lawyer Kristy Bell explains the legal principle of double jeopardy and the evidence required to recharge an offender for the same crime under Queensland law. In 2019 the inquest hears detailed police evidence about the CCTV compilation of a suspect's vehicle. John Peros enters the witness box after being compelled to give evidence and reports suffering from memory problems that go back years. 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.auSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Queensland’s government-run forensics lab has been using a testing threshold that is preventing it from detecting DNA in many samples, says Dr Kirsty Wright, with potentially catastrophic consequences for victims of violent crime. A t-shirt described as 'blood-soaked' is found at a Mackay business near the murder scene – but the lab reports “No DNA detected”. A truck driver who is sure he saw Shandee’s handbag at a Mackay rubbish dump just days after the murder says his information wasn't followed up by detectives for two months. In 2019 the inquest examines new persons of interest.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.