Since Trace was first released, the ABC has received over 50 emails from the community with leads and tip offs. In this bonus update, reporter Rachael Brown follows up with two women who got in touch to say they saw men acting suspiciously around Maria's bookshop at the time of her murder. Send us your tips: trace@abc.net.au
June, 1980, suburban Melbourne: Mother of two Maria James is stabbed to death in the back of her bookshop. Her killer has never been found. Was it a scorned lover? A random stranger? Or was Maria's murder tied up in the sins of the Catholic Church?
On a winter morning in June 1980, Maria James turned to her son Mark and looked him in the eyes. "If anything happens to me, look after your brother." Later that day she was found stabbed to death at the back of her suburban Melbourne bookshop.
Rachael Brown's investigation into the death of Maria James turns to the local Church, and Rachael tracks down a new witness who saw someone covered in blood around the time of Maria's death.
A second person of interest emerges within the church. Rachael Brown investigates their past and discovers a dark and disturbing history.
There's a major break in the case, as Trace uncovers a police bungle in the murder of Maria James. But it only serves to throw up more questions than answers, as the James brothers continue their desperate search for justice.
The fall-out from major revelations in the Maria James cold-case continue, as her sons make a desperate plea to the Coroner.
New evidence has been found. So can police test it for a trace of the killer? What happened to crucial documents? And a new confession.It is nearly a year since the James brothers applied for a new coronial inquest into their mum's murder, but the case hangs in legal limbo.
More than a year on from their plea for a new coronial inquest, the James brothers get a decision.Will they finally get answers to the burning questions they've carried for 38 years about the murder of their mother?And what about those items Trace has been given that might have DNA on them?Can they identify the killer?We take them to one of the world's best DNA labs, with some of the most sensitive equipment, to find out.
The discovery of a police exhibit - thought to be missing for around three decades - could finally help unmask the killer in the 1980 cold case of Maria James.
The new coronial inquest into the murder of Maria James has wrapped up. Will the Coroner be able to name her killer? And of the police exhibits that haven't disappeared, what DNA testing can be done? This episode nears us closer to the end of the James brothers' 41-year-fight for answers for their mum.
A Victorian Coroner has failed to name a killer in the 1980 cold case of Maria James. Her sons are devastated. But there's still hope, in leads yet to be chased by police.
Victoria Police is set to announce a one million dollar reward for information that finally solves the case of Maria James, who was murdered in the back of her bookshop 44 years ago. And for the first time in seven years of investigating this case, police grant an interview to Rachael Brown.
Lawyer Nicola Gobbo represented some of Australia's most dangerous criminals, all the while secretly working as a police informer. Why did she do it?
We meet Nicola Gobbo in a secret location, in hiding, now that her double life as a police informer is out, and she begins telling us her full story.
As the gangland war explodes, both police and criminals start questioning Nicola's allegiances. Where do her loyalties lie?
A drug house burglary smells of police corruption and a police informer is executed.
Nicola crosses the point of no return and becomes a police informer. She'll represent clients, while passing on the underworld's secrets to Victoria Police.
Nicola wants to be the best source ever, and she leads police to the biggest target of all: the mafia. Her double life is getting riskier, but she can't stop. This episode charts an addiction and a crash.
Nicola hits rock bottom, but Victoria Police wants her to take on a new role ... as a witness.
Korus
finally listen after getting non stop ads for the Nicola Gabbo lawyer x case. ever time I hear a cause in Australia I'm not surprised when it comes to Victoria police and corruption/misconduct.
Elizabeth Stout
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Unicorn 1
God bless you Mark and Adam ❤ I hope you find answers and peace. RIP Maria James 🙏 Fantastic work Rachael Brown - keep fighting for justice! 👏👏
ebony e
I'm sorry but no sympathy. She is a very intelligent women who knew exactly what she was doing and the consequences of being caught out by the people she was spilling the beans on. As if the people she turned on don't want her hurt, the ones saying they dont are full of it. If she wasn't so arrogant in the begining she should have taken the police offer of witness protection. She was never going to come out of it looking glowing, so she'd be safer to stay out of the country. If the father of her children was so concerned about being a part of their lives then perhaps he should move to where she is.
Seth Hamon
A curse on all thier houses! A bunch of bastards, the lot of them.