5, 4, 3, 2, 1: The Incredible True Story of How Australian Police Trapped Daniel Morcombe’s Killer, Part Two of Three
In April 2011, days after giving evidence at the inquest into Daniel Morcombe’s disappearance, Brett Cowan flew home to Perth and made a new friend on the plane. Within weeks he was out of work, out of a home and running jobs for what he believed was a powerful criminal organisation: debt collections, gun deliveries, brothel takings and a bag of diamonds worth close to a million dollars. The gang paid him, praised him and told him there was nothing in the world it couldn’t fix. He called it the first family he’d ever had. Every member of it was a police officer, and every word he said was being recorded. Then a notice arrived from the Coroners Court in Brisbane, and the man at the top of the gang asked to see him.
This is Part Two of a three part series. Subscribers have all three parts now. On the free feed, Part Three, The Confession, is out 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. The undercover officers in this episode are referred to only by their cover names. Every crime Cowan took part in during the operation was staged, and every debtor, sex worker and official he met was a police officer; no real offences were committed. Dialogue from the operation is drawn from covert recordings as quoted in the court judgments and in Kate Kyriacou’s The Sting. Where those accounts differ, the court record is followed. Cowan’s own claims and stories recorded during the operation are presented as his words, and none of the evidence connects them to anyone else. The Coroners Court notice to attend was genuine; the trial judge found it was not a ploy. Private individuals, including Cowan’s former partners and girlfriend, are not named.
This episode contains strong language from recorded conversations.
SOURCES
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
Coroners Court of Queensland, findings of inquest into the death of Daniel James Morcombe, State Coroner Terry Ryan, 5 Apr 2019
Cowan v The Queen [2016] HCATrans 57, 11 Mar 2016
Kate Kyriacou, The Sting (Echo Publishing, 2015)
SBS News / AAP, trial coverage, 2014
SUPPORT
This series deals with the abduction and murder 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 hosted by Ryan Wolf. Researched with AI assistance and fact-checked against the court judgments and coronial findings.
A Brevity Studios production. https://theguiltpodcast.com | https://brevityplus.com
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