5, 4, 3, 2, 1: The Incredible True Story of How Australian Police Trapped Daniel Morcombe’s Killer, Part One of Three
On Sunday 7 December 2003, thirteen year old Daniel Morcombe walked from his family’s farm at Palmwoods to wait for a bus under the Kiel Mountain Road overpass on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. He was going to Sunshine Plaza to buy Christmas presents for his family. The bus was running late, and when it finally came it drove straight past him. Minutes later, the next bus found nobody there. What followed became the largest investigation in Queensland’s history: thousands of interviews, a hunt for a blue car, a million dollar reward and a family who never stopped pushing. Seven years on, a coronial inquest put a man in the witness box for two days, and he gave nothing away. But on the flight home, someone sat down beside him.
This is Part One of a three part series. Subscribers get all three parts today. On the free feed, Part Two, The Gang, is out Wednesday and Part Three follows on Friday.
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FURTHER READING
Kate Kyriacou, The Sting: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Morcombe’s Killer (Echo Publishing). This series relies heavily on Kate’s reporting, and her book is highly recommended: https://booktopia.com.au/the-sting-kate-kyriacou/book/9781760681036.html
THE DANIEL MORCOMBE FOUNDATION
Bruce and Denise Morcombe founded the Daniel Morcombe Foundation in 2005 to teach children how to keep themselves safe. Learn more about their work: https://danielmorcombe.com.au
Support the foundation: https://danielmorcombe.com.au/get-involved/
A NOTE ON SOURCING
Brett Peter Cowan was convicted in 2014 of the murder of Daniel Morcombe. His appeal was dismissed by the Queensland Court of Appeal in 2015 and the High Court refused special leave in 2016. His earlier offending is described only as recorded by the coroner and the Court of Appeal. Every other person of interest in the investigation is unnamed, and none has been charged with any offence relating to Daniel. Persons of interest at the inquest were identified by code under suppression orders. The account of the bus and roadside witnesses follows the 2019 coronial findings, which note that some accounts conflict. Details of Daniel’s life and family come from Kate Kyriacou’s The Sting and from published interviews with the Morcombe family, and are attributed on air.
SOURCES
Coroners Court of Queensland, findings of inquest into the death of Daniel James Morcombe, State Coroner Terry Ryan, 5 Apr 2019
R v Cowan [2013] QSC 337, 12 Dec 2013
R v Cowan; R v Cowan; Ex parte Attorney-General (Qld) [2015] QCA 87, 21 May 2015
Cowan v The Queen [2016] HCATrans 57, 11 Mar 2016
Kate Kyriacou, The Sting (Echo Publishing, 2015)
ABC News, coverage of the inquest, 1 and 6 Apr 2011
ABC News, 2009 (reward appeal) and 3 Dec 2012 (committal)
ABC 7.30, interview with former detective Kenneth King
Stephanie Wood, Brisbane Times / Sydney Morning Herald, 2014 (trial coverage)
Brisbane Times, 2015 (Daniel Morcombe Foundation)
Newcastle Herald, 2023 (interview with Bruce Morcombe)
SUPPORT
This episode deals with the abduction of a child. If it raises anything for you: Lifeline 13 11 14 (Australia), Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (Australia), 1737 (New Zealand).
Written and Researched with AI assistance and fact-checked against the coronial findings and court judgments.
A Brevity Studios production. https://theguiltpodcast.com | https://brevityplus.com
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