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Out Loud. Yeah, we

4:00

go gonna be honest. It's pretty blurry. I think

4:02

one of them is inside out. Oh So

4:06

good luck. Well, maybe

4:08

it's inside out upside down because we're

4:10

done In

4:15

2003 a 13 year old boy

4:17

vanished in broad daylight while

4:19

waiting for a bus in the

4:21

sunshine in or on I checked

4:23

It's in Wow. Mmm, Australia you

4:25

crazy. Yeah, no Alright, so

4:27

he was waiting for a bus in the

4:30

Sunshine Coast of Australia What

4:33

followed was the largest criminal investigation in

4:35

the history of Queensland in

4:37

a case where nothing and nobody is as it seems

4:40

It took seven years before the case concluded

4:42

in one of the most controversial elaborate

4:45

and lengthy covert police operations ever

4:47

carried out in Australia This

4:50

is the story that you've asked for so it's your

4:53

fault of Daniel Morcom

4:56

and the unbelievable investigation to

4:58

find the truth On

5:01

the 1st of April 2011 Brett

5:03

Peter Cowan sat down in seat

5:05

42d for the long flight from

5:08

Brisbane to As

5:16

Joe Emory By the

5:18

time the six-hour flight was over the pair had

5:20

formed a budding bromance even swapping

5:22

members Who

5:25

had had a rough day of things recently didn't

5:27

waste any time getting in touch with you He

5:30

was keen for a new mate and the pair

5:32

hung out regularly over the following weeks Going

5:34

car shopping smoking weed and generally

5:37

shooting the shit and

5:39

from Brett's side of things. It really did seem

5:41

like shit He told Joe

5:43

that he'd been in and out of prison He

5:45

wasn't very close to his family and they

5:48

he'd even had a couple of failed marriages and

5:50

also a few kids that he wasn't allowed Red

5:53

flags But

5:59

it seemed like Brett could possibly just be

6:01

a guy whose life hadn't worked out

6:04

and in many ways that was true. But

6:07

Brett was also a man with

6:09

many a dark secret. Secrets

6:12

that he knew would only push his newfound

6:14

friend away. So Brett tried

6:16

his very best to put the past

6:18

behind him and present himself as

6:21

a regular guy to regular Joe. There

6:25

were peculiarities about Brett

6:27

that slipped through. For

6:29

example, on one occasion

6:31

Brett excitedly showed Joe a letter saying

6:33

that he had legally changed his name

6:36

from Brett Peter Cowan to

6:40

Shadow Nunya Hunter. The

6:43

man formerly known as Brett proudly explained that

6:46

Shadow was his old dog's name and

6:49

that Nunya was for Nunya. It's a

6:51

Nunya business. Yeah, why not?

6:54

Brett didn't explain why he had changed

6:56

his name and Joe, although

6:58

a little bit confused, did just brush

7:00

it off as a bit of a weird quirk. A

7:03

few weeks passed and one day Brett told

7:05

Joe that he just lost his job and

7:08

that he was really struggling. So

7:10

Joe, being the good friend that he was, said

7:12

that he might be able to help. Joe

7:15

told Brett in confidence that he

7:17

worked for a secretive criminal organisation

7:19

that operated across Australia

7:22

and that if his boss gave the green light he

7:24

might be able to get Brett some jobs and

7:27

soon on the 5th of May 2011 Joe handed Brett

7:29

a photo

7:32

of a man and told him to call

7:34

him as soon as he spotted this

7:36

man getting off a plane at the airport.

7:39

It was the easiest $150 Brett

7:41

had ever made. After that

7:43

the shady jobs just kept coming.

7:47

The following Monday all Brett needed to do

7:49

was go and sit in a car while

7:51

Joe collected a $6,000 gambling

7:53

debt for the boss. Brett

7:56

counted the cash and Joe handed

7:58

him his day's pay of another $150. And

8:01

asked him if he was interested in more

8:03

work. That. Was

8:05

very interested. On

8:08

the next job Brett with going to be

8:10

working with a colleague of Jay's a man

8:12

called Poor Fit see Sit Simmons. Britain

8:14

fit see drove to the city of

8:16

Freemantle together to pick up five thousand

8:19

dollars from a brothel that their organization

8:21

ram. During. The forty five

8:23

minute drive Brett talk incessantly about his

8:25

theory on how hormones and chicken meat

8:27

would giving young girls big place. He.

8:30

Also has to be introduced as shut.

8:39

Shut. Eye without that and if anyone's

8:41

got to questions like a my middle name

8:43

make a. Over

8:46

the following month, the jobs came

8:48

in thick and fast, involving everything

8:51

from extortion, blackmail, tastes. And.

8:53

Gun running. On occasion

8:55

with sits by black possible

8:57

for the man who worked

8:59

at the Immigration department. Citizens

9:01

of The. Hook

9:04

Mackey seconds it must send since

9:06

ah no, no, it's what they

9:09

should be. Many, many, many things

9:11

are going on. And it

9:13

goes on for months And months and

9:15

months. All of these jobs, all of

9:17

this kind of dodgy dealing with. Guy

9:20

decides to tell with a real fucking deal

9:22

and he wanted him. During

9:25

their time together, city explain the ins

9:27

and outs of the organization because right

9:29

now brats not like in the organization.

9:31

He's very. Much on the periphery. He's

9:33

like. Kind. Of as a

9:35

handyman said. Agree pithy well. He's

9:38

not like in the crew. But.

9:40

Since he made it obvious to him that it was a very

9:42

hush hush and that they were like. A tight knit

9:44

family. Has He also

9:46

explained that above all else, the

9:48

group valued honesty, trust, and loyalty.

9:51

Is Brett looked after them and was one

9:53

hundred percent honest? are all times. There

9:56

was nothing the organization wouldn't do for

9:58

him. Is. He

10:00

were able to, you know, really get

10:02

his feet under the table. Pretty

10:05

soon, Fitzy introduced Brett to his

10:07

boss, a man called Jeff. Jeff

10:10

was the leader of the Western Australian Arm

10:12

of the organisation. After the

10:15

meet, Brett was excited to learn that Jeff had

10:17

liked him, which Fitzy said was a

10:19

rare thing. The jobs

10:21

and the pay got bigger and bigger.

10:24

And then one day, Fitzy told Brett, You're

10:26

one of us now. Every man in

10:28

the organisation is a brother to me, and

10:30

now you are too. Brett,

10:33

whose three real brothers absolutely

10:35

hated his guts, was overjoyed.

10:38

Everything was finally going right for Brett,

10:41

and he knew the only thing that could fuck it

10:43

all up was if they

10:45

found out his horrible secret. He

10:49

just couldn't let that happen. Soon

10:52

after his inauguration into the group,

10:54

Fitzy and boss man Jeff explained

10:57

to Brett that he shouldn't try

10:59

and contact Joe anymore, as

11:02

Joe had gotten into some trouble, but he

11:04

was being looked after. Jeff

11:06

explained that they were sending Joe to

11:08

London with a new identity and

11:11

$10,000 while they made his problems go

11:13

away. Brett

11:15

was sad to hear about Joe. After all, he was

11:17

the one who had shown him so much kindness and

11:19

brought him into the group. But if anyone

11:22

could sort out whatever trouble Joe was in, it

11:24

was easy. And

11:26

with Joe now out of the picture, it

11:29

looked like there might be a spot opening up

11:31

for blobs. It

11:33

was finally time for Brett to meet the Big

11:36

Boos, the guy who

11:38

headed up the entire organisation, Arnold.

11:41

Fitzy and Brett flew out to Melbourne for the meeting on

11:43

12 July 2011. Brett,

11:47

during this trip, was thrilled about three things.

11:50

He was finally stepping up in life. He

11:52

was going to Melbourne for the first time, and

11:55

his plane ticket said Shadow

11:57

Hunter on it. He was

11:59

done. with the wet carvings.

12:03

On the day of the face-to-face, the men

12:05

headed to a fancy hotel in the city.

12:08

As they made their way inside, Brett said

12:10

it was the first time he'd ever walked

12:12

through a revolving door. Yeah,

12:14

he is very much a

12:17

tragic, tragic character

12:20

of the highest regard, but also

12:23

bad guy. He's got a secret. Have

12:25

we not made that clear? No, I don't think so. And

12:29

I've seen pictures of Brett, even though

12:31

I know what he actually looks like. When I'm

12:34

talking about this case, when we're talking about this script, I

12:37

just picture Alfie Allen. I'm

12:42

sorry Alfie. Alfie Allen from

12:44

Game of Thrones, like when he looks

12:46

really like, gross and haggard. When

12:49

he's like, you know, being health captive. That

12:51

is who I imagine as

12:53

Brett Petercomb. Interesting.

12:57

I also hate revolving doors. They

13:00

are a nightmare. They make me extremely anxious.

13:02

But because the world doesn't owe me an anxiety-free

13:05

life, I have to use the revolving door.

13:07

Oh, you have done it. Yeah, not like

13:10

Brett. Who is going to meet

13:12

Arnold for the first time and is like, oh my

13:14

God, a revolving door. What else

13:16

have they got in Melbourne? And

13:19

just like us, Fitzy laughed and reminded the

13:21

starry-eyed Brett once again that Arnold needed to

13:23

know that he could trust Brett if he

13:25

was going to keep moving on up in

13:27

those ranks. And

13:29

also, he warned that a background check would be

13:31

done. But it was all standard stuff

13:34

and that as long as Brett was being honest

13:36

and didn't have some sort of massive secret they

13:38

had been hiding, then he just had nothing

13:40

to worry about.

13:42

A month later and a load more jobs later,

13:45

including a diamond smuggling operation out of

13:47

Melbourne. The background check results

13:49

were in. A

13:52

policeman that the group worked with Warned

13:55

Brett that he was about to

13:57

be subpoenaed in Queensland. Explain

14:00

to a confused looking fit the. The

14:02

He'd been living in an area where a

14:05

boy had gone missing seven years before and

14:07

two thousand and three. Hundred.

14:09

He'd been wrongly accused of being

14:11

responsible. And. Fact. When.

14:14

He met yet he had been on

14:16

the plane back from being subpoenaed by

14:18

the coroner's court. Brett. Claimed

14:20

that it will notice a big misunderstanding.

14:23

And assured that see. The he

14:25

was one hundred percent innocent and the his

14:27

alibi with at. The.

14:29

Boy that brat was referring to. Was

14:32

Daniel Mocha. The. Thirteen year

14:34

old who had vanished waiting for a

14:36

bus. Daniel

14:39

and his twin brother Bradley were born

14:41

on the nineteenth of December, Nineteen Eighty

14:43

Nine to Bruce and any smoking. When.

14:46

Bradley and Daniel turn to. Bruce.

14:48

Potter franchise of a lawn mowing company in

14:50

Melbourne, the Eastern Suburbs. Meanwhile.

14:53

The Nice had a handful lucky also Daniel

14:55

Bradley and the Balkans eldest. Son He's who.

14:57

Dean. As. Their business gray

14:59

them all. Can the sport themselves? A hobby

15:01

farm? And. Built a family home on

15:03

the land and the picturesque suburb. Of

15:06

merge she door in Queensland. And.

15:08

If you are wondering, just like we

15:11

are all Be Farm is a small

15:13

farm that's maintained without the expectation of

15:15

it being. A primary source of income. It's

15:17

like not quite an allotment let bigger than

15:20

and a lot. Yeah, But. You're

15:22

like. A. Knife Betty to make any

15:24

money. Just a bit of much.

15:26

I can see some until it's. Not

15:30

like a hobby horse which is just like

15:32

a horse with the steaks that doesn't is

15:34

not an actual was. It. Is a farm.

15:37

Does not one that's gonna an you any money.

15:41

And. It was actually perfect for little Daniel who was

15:43

obsessed with animals and wanted to be a vet

15:45

when he grew up. which like that's what they.

15:47

Can say it's really hard A K.

15:50

And also people who love animals won't become.

15:52

That's until they realize that will you do

15:54

with basically go around like a shooting horses

15:57

yeah and that's why that's have an incredibly

15:59

high seas. side rate. Also

16:01

I know that that's not true horses but you

16:03

know what I mean, putting animals down basically becomes

16:05

a big part of your day. Anyway,

16:08

Daniel didn't know that yet because he hadn't been

16:10

jaded by the weight of existence. He actually just

16:12

rode ponies on the farm, played with the family

16:14

dog, which was a German shepherd called Chief, and

16:16

brought a straight hat home basically every single night.

16:19

By the time the twins were 11, they

16:21

had jobs picking fruit for their next-door

16:24

neighbour. The brothers saved their wages

16:26

with dreams of buying a small motorbike that they

16:28

could one day share, and life was

16:30

generally going really well for the Morcoms. But

16:33

all that changed on Friday the 7th of December

16:35

2003. It

16:38

was the start of the school holidays, and

16:40

with Christmas and the twins' 14th birthdays

16:42

fast approaching, it was a busy

16:44

day in the Morcom house. The

16:46

twins had a 6am fruit picking shift

16:49

which I was just like, are you fucking kidding?

16:51

They're 13 years old and they're getting up at

16:53

6am. We're not even getting up at 6am. They're

16:55

on the farm at 6am to pick fruit. Yes,

16:58

too hot otherwise. I

17:00

like their work ethic and they've certainly got a lot of it

17:02

because they were doing this regularly. And

17:05

that day, Bruce and Denise were throwing

17:07

a big Christmas party for all their

17:09

employees. And with it

17:11

being Australia, that Christmas party was of

17:13

course a picnic in probably the blazing

17:15

heat. Upside down Christmas. Exactly. Or

17:18

at least that's what everyone thought until

17:20

it started absolutely pissing it down with me.

17:23

So, Bruce and Denise left the boys at home and

17:26

went off and tried to do a

17:28

last minute staff Christmas party salvage mission. The

17:31

teenagers mooched about at home that

17:33

morning when Daniel suddenly realised that

17:36

he hadn't bought anyone any presents yet. He

17:39

asked Bradley to go to the Sunshine Plaza with him,

17:41

which was a nearby shopping centre, but

17:43

both Bradley and the older brother Dean couldn't

17:45

really be asked. So Daniel decided

17:48

to go on his own. It

17:50

was only a short bus ride away and

17:52

he'd been countless times before. Daniel

17:55

Left the house at 1pm wearing blue

17:58

shorts and a red t-shirt. With.

18:00

A hundred dollars in cash. A.

18:02

Phone. And the huskies

18:04

his pockets. He woke

18:06

to an underpass about kilometer from his home. Where.

18:09

He knew just like all of the locals, there

18:11

was an unofficial bus stop. The.

18:13

Next buses to at one thirty five but

18:16

it didn't pump. What?

18:18

Can you didn't know? Was

18:20

that that boss had broken down a

18:22

few stops? The thought. To

18:24

replacement buses the center. thirty minutes later.

18:27

The. First one picked up all of the

18:29

annoyed passengers. From the broken down boss. And

18:32

the driver was told to take them

18:34

straight to married pseudo. Without.

18:36

Stopping. And that's what he did.

18:39

This. Rather record going straight poster boy in

18:41

blue shorts and or a decent who waved

18:43

him to stay. As he

18:45

went ballistic confused looking boy the dry

18:47

them out the words there's another one

18:50

coming on pointed behind him. Today.

18:52

That then picked up his radio. And even.

18:54

Cool the other bus driver saying.

18:57

There's. A young team in a red t shirt that

18:59

needs picking. That. When the second

19:01

bus arrived just two minutes later, There

19:04

was nobody there. The boy was

19:06

gone. Bruce. Antony returned

19:08

home from Brisbane at around four pm

19:11

that day. I was surprised to

19:13

find that Bradley was the only one at home.

19:16

He. Told them that team without. And.

19:18

That Daniel had gone to the shopping center. After

19:21

about an hour to nice to the underpass

19:23

bus stop to find Daniel. Burst.

19:26

Into Nice had been letting the twins catch the bus on their

19:28

own for a couple of years. By this stage. And

19:31

avoid new to make sure that they caught the

19:33

last bus home at five pm. Daniel.

19:36

Her only missed the last bus home

19:38

once before. And he phoned his parents

19:40

to let them know not to worry. That.

19:43

This time. There. Was no sign

19:45

of Daniel at the bus stop. And.

19:48

Know cool to explain what had happened. And

19:52

a nice remember having seen a broken down son

19:54

bus on the side of the road when they've.

19:56

Been driving home from the Christmas party. Maybe.

20:00

What does? stranded at The Plaza? Sudanese

20:02

headed straight there. But.

20:05

At six pm, the entire. Shopping center

20:07

with completely and. And

20:09

Daniel still wasn't answering his. After.

20:11

Checking out a few more likely places

20:13

where there's some might be, Denise and

20:15

Bruce went straight to the police station.

20:18

That. They were also the standard question. Was.

20:21

Done, You're depressed. Was it usual for him to

20:24

be late to the A? runaway? Bruce.

20:26

Assured the officer that the answer. To all of

20:29

those questions was not. Daniel.

20:31

With happy. After all had gone

20:33

to the shopping center to buy presents

20:35

for an environment. And

20:37

he was very responsible. I.

20:40

Mean, he was thirteen years old and had a weekly

20:42

six a m fruit picking shift that he never missed.

20:44

I think messiness. The. Officer

20:46

told them or comes that he wasn't

20:48

going to log Daniel as officially missing.

20:50

just it. And said that

20:53

they should come to the station eighty and the next morning

20:55

as he still hadn't turned up. Two

20:57

thousand And Three. This. Is Not like

20:59

Nineteen Seventy Three? Just. Two thousand

21:01

And Three. And that site. Now.

21:04

Even though the child it's been

21:07

reported missing had no history of

21:09

this know past running away, Know.

21:12

Past like anything in his behavior. Only

21:14

do you have a job more low risk

21:16

get having been somebody who's run off. Why?

21:18

But you know look into this is. Just

21:21

mind boggling the mistakes the believe me.

21:24

Of course it was a sleepless night and the

21:26

more can house. Bruce. And

21:28

Denise continue to search every place like a thing

21:30

cause. And they found every one

21:32

of Daniels friends. Denise.

21:36

Checked Daniels room. And. The front

21:38

driveway every ten minutes until four thirty

21:40

am. But. Annual never

21:42

came. And. Unity. It.

21:46

The next morning at the station. The

21:48

officer off Daniels parent. Whether.

21:50

He had been wearing a red shirt and blue

21:52

shorts. The. Officer spoken with a

21:54

driver from the Sun Bus Company to record

21:56

seeing a boy wearing the same thing waiting

21:59

at that on. The show best not

22:01

hinder the underpass. Can.

22:03

Or will come. After this was

22:05

originally looked into the system is

22:08

a missing person. And

22:11

a single. The. Officer didn't seem to

22:13

feel the need to tell person. To

22:15

nice mowjcamp. About the suspicious

22:17

looking man. That. The bus

22:20

driver had also reported seeing. Standing.

22:23

Near annual. I

22:25

hate that I feel like. You

22:27

know when you see in know out of your grand those

22:29

pictures. In it will be like. As

22:32

a one famous picture. Was like a

22:34

picture of a little boy who goes missing.

22:36

National Parks. And if you look really closely

22:38

at it. You can kind of like

22:40

a man and among non gaap can you

22:42

him? And you know how much of it is like?

22:51

An eyewitness testimony of Aperture.

22:54

And it was weird enough for him to see as

22:56

he was driving past with a boston of angry people.

22:59

To. Notice that that was a strange man

23:01

who might have. That

23:05

notice Alfie Allen the bus driver did

23:07

he described the man is looking dirty

23:09

with stringy go see some can and

23:12

cheeks and a sunburn face. I.

23:14

Cannot wait for your

23:17

Spf anxieties that are

23:19

to come. At the

23:21

end of this year. Now

23:24

that I have a clerk.

23:27

Were. Even coming. In October

23:29

which I I've heard it's not the

23:31

hot is it? I like it. Saw

23:34

it. As a hole in the ozone

23:36

layer january February I thought. May.

23:38

Look. I'm gonna have to

23:40

buy like could use the repellent packs.

23:42

I just get your be keeping costs

23:44

would be outstanding with fans and athletes.

23:46

As such a place for the love

23:49

of God. I'm also getting my

23:51

face like him, microneedle to shit. I definitely.

23:53

Can't go endless on his regular. Be

23:55

a bloody disaster. So. yeah lots

23:57

of hearts the umbrella my have to make a

23:59

real parents, the cuba umbrella, go

24:02

peak Asian, bad

24:05

times, bad bad times. I

24:08

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There's no safe like Simply

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Safe. Investigators

26:33

in Queensland quickly contacted

26:35

Task Force Argos, which

26:38

you should know about if you

26:40

listen to anything we say or tell you to

26:42

do. Task Force

26:45

Argos is Australia's rockstar child

26:47

sex offender investigative team and

26:50

they are of course the heroes that

26:52

brought down Warhead and Child's Play. Go and

26:54

listen to Hunting Warhead if you haven't already.

26:57

They also have been involved with the demise

26:59

of numerous other nonce

27:01

networks. Argos were

27:03

also asked to review any intelligence that

27:06

they had on convicted paedophiles known to

27:08

operate in the area where Daniel had

27:10

vanished. Meanwhile, alerts to

27:13

look out for Daniel were broadcast across

27:15

Australia media stations. Forensic teams

27:17

combed every surface of the buses that

27:19

ran that day. Security footage

27:21

from every camera within a five-mile

27:24

radius was analysed. Investigators

27:26

examined the Morecambe family's computers. They called

27:28

every taxi company to see who they

27:30

picked up and dropped off. They checked

27:33

all 71 pawn shops in the area

27:35

to check for any of Daniel's belongings

27:38

and diving teams checked every waterway in

27:40

the area. But for

27:42

all of their efforts, the police

27:45

had nothing, not one

27:47

single lead. By

27:49

Tuesday morning, Daniel Morecambe had been missing

27:52

for 48 hours and his case

27:54

was being investigated by 50 police

27:56

officers and four homicide detectives.

27:59

All over me. I think they dropped the ball

28:01

on the initial reaction when Denise

28:03

and Bruce go and report their

28:05

son missing. But after that, the

28:08

police do everything they can to try

28:10

and find Daniel. And it is just

28:12

that thing of like, the sooner you

28:14

act, the more chance there is. And although

28:17

they have this mammoth team working on the

28:19

case within 48 hours, it

28:21

already feels too late. Yeah, I

28:23

know what you mean. I think like children it's different.

28:26

But I do think you have to factor

28:28

in how many

28:30

times that police station will have

28:32

been approached. This person is missing and

28:35

then they show up. I know. I've been that

28:37

person. Yes. I've been reported missing. I showed up.

28:39

You have. And the

28:41

police were very unbothered by my absence.

28:44

I know. Because I, so yes, it is like, you

28:47

know, with the gift of hindsight and it is a child's

28:49

heart is different. But I do think you do have to

28:51

factor in just how much Oh, yeah, this happens. No,

28:53

that's definitely true. And I think it comes back

28:55

to the children and the

28:58

history of not having disappeared

29:00

in the past. And yes, of course, with

29:02

hindsight, you can blame them. But I

29:04

do have to give them credit where credit is

29:07

due afterwards, after they open the

29:09

investigation and properly treat Daniel walk over as

29:11

a missing person. I do think the police do

29:13

everything they feasibly can. And you're going

29:15

to find out all about that.

29:18

I witness accounts obviously flooded in

29:21

once the police describing the same tall, skinny,

29:26

gaunt man with a weathered face and

29:28

unkempt hair standing near the bus stop

29:30

where Daniel had last been. Then

29:33

taskforce Argos provided

29:35

the police with a list of

29:37

known pedophiles they could confirm were

29:39

in the area that day. And

29:42

one of the names that stood out to the officers was

29:45

Brett Peter Cowan, aka

29:47

shadow Nanya. Born

29:50

in 1969. Brett was the third of four

29:53

boys born to Peter and Marlene Cowan.

29:57

Peter was a military man and Marlene was a

29:59

stay at home mum and pillar. the local community

30:01

in Kepperer in Brisbane, which is where the cowens

30:03

eventually settled down. And

30:05

from the very beginning, Brett was the

30:08

black sheep of the family. He

30:10

struggled academically and his behaviour outside of

30:12

school was troubling, to say

30:14

the least. By

30:17

the age of just 10, Brett's

30:19

sexual deviance was already starting

30:21

to show. He'd approach

30:23

younger boys in the local swimming pool and

30:26

fondle them under the water and

30:28

occasionally he'd even lure them into the changing

30:30

room, which is very similar

30:33

actually to Warhead and

30:35

what he starts off doing. Brett

30:38

began molesting a younger

30:40

female relative as well that same year and

30:43

would continue to do so for close to

30:45

a decade. He'd

30:47

later say that it hadn't occurred to him that

30:49

what he'd been doing was wrong until he was

30:51

much older. While his

30:53

three older brothers were excelling in school, Brett

30:56

dropped out in year 10. And

30:59

this is when Brett's delinquent behaviour really

31:01

began to ramble. By the

31:03

time he was 18, Brett had been

31:05

in court multiple times for petty crimes.

31:08

His quiet, church-going parents didn't know how to

31:10

deal with any of it. But

31:12

it wasn't until the 5th of

31:14

December 1987 that they'd find out

31:16

just how depraved their son truly

31:19

was. 18-year-old

31:21

Brett was carrying out some court-ordered

31:23

community service doing maintenance work at

31:25

a child care centre, which seems

31:28

like the worst possible place to

31:30

put someone like that. As

31:32

he worked digging around some pipes, Brett's attention

31:34

was focused on a group of boys playing

31:36

nearby. He was specifically

31:39

taken with one blond-haired, seven-year-old

31:41

boy. When

31:43

nobody was watching, Brett took the

31:45

child to a nearby toilet and

31:47

raped him. That

31:50

night, the little boy went home and told

31:52

his mum everything. The

31:55

arresting officer would later comment on how shocked he

31:57

was at Brett's nonchalant behaviour as they placed him

31:59

in cuffs. Brett was

32:01

charged with sodomy and with child abuse but, for

32:04

some reason, he was allowed out

32:06

on bail. And

32:08

of course, Brett had absolutely no intention

32:10

of returning for his trial. He

32:13

vanished, successfully for over a

32:15

year, until the police finally caught

32:17

up with him in Sydney. Eventually

32:20

Brett pleaded not guilty, forcing

32:23

his young victim to have to

32:25

face him at trial. The

32:28

little boy pointed straight at Brett

32:30

when asked in court who had

32:32

abused him. And

32:34

Brett, again very similarly to

32:37

Warhead, just smiled.

32:40

Somehow the jury concluded that Brett was

32:42

guilty of abuse but that the charges

32:45

of sodomy hadn't been proven. As

32:48

a result, Brett was sentenced to two years

32:50

in prison, of which he only

32:52

served one. When

32:55

Brett was released, his parents sent him to

32:57

live with his grandmother, in

32:59

Murachida. But before long, Brett

33:02

moved out and went back to his old

33:04

ways, stealing and breaking

33:06

into houses. In

33:08

1991, while living in Namboor, Queensland,

33:11

Brett met an 18-year-old girl

33:13

called Tracy Hanval and dug

33:15

his hooks in. Before

33:18

long, Tracy moved in with Brett at the

33:20

BP Palms Caravan Park in Darwin. And

33:23

for a while, life was actually quite good

33:25

in the trailer park. A

33:27

lot of other residents were Tracy's age and the

33:29

couple would spend their evenings barbecuing and drinking beers

33:31

with their new mates. Brett

33:33

even seemed to have sorted himself out a bit by

33:35

landing a job. But soon

33:38

enough, Brett began using it again and

33:41

started disappearing every night. Then

33:44

came the night that changed everything, on

33:47

the 23rd of September 1993. Tracy

33:50

had come home to find the trailer locked up and

33:53

no sign of Brett. She'd

33:55

long suspected that he'd started cheating again

33:57

and thought that maybe it was to do with that. While

34:00

Tracy was running around looking for her shitty

34:02

boyfriend, she found out that

34:04

Brett wasn't the only one missing. One

34:07

of the little boys from the trailer park had

34:09

also vanished. Later that night,

34:12

Brett suddenly turned up, walking

34:14

back from the showers without a care in

34:16

the world. He

34:18

told Tracy that he'd gotten dirty trying to steal

34:20

some sprinklers or something. How does one steal a

34:23

sprinkler? I don't know. I mean, if anyone is

34:25

going to steal a sprinkler, it's him. And

34:28

before Tracy even got a chance to question him,

34:31

the sound of sirens filled the air. Emergency

34:35

vehicles were headed for the BP petrol station down

34:37

the road. The missing boy had

34:39

just stumbled in there looking for help. He

34:41

was naked, bleeding, covered in mud and barely

34:44

breathing. His injuries were

34:46

so bad that the paramedics weren't certain that

34:48

he was going to survive. As

34:51

he was taken off to the nearest hospital, detectives

34:53

locked down the entire trailer park. Nobody

34:56

was going to go in or

34:58

out until everyone had

35:01

been interviewed. At

35:03

the hospital, doctors discovered that the boy

35:06

had been beaten and strangled, which

35:08

is why his face was covered

35:10

in blood blisters and bruises. He

35:13

had a collapsed lung, a deep wound in

35:15

the back of his head, lacerations all

35:17

over his legs and around his

35:19

scrotum. The little boy had

35:21

also been raped with something that had

35:24

caused serious internal bleeding. It

35:27

was a miracle that he was still alive, and

35:29

even more of a miracle that he'd mustered up the

35:32

strength to give the officers

35:34

some vital information. The

35:36

boy said the man who had attacked him was

35:38

from the trailer park. He

35:40

was tall, skinny and had mousy brown

35:42

hair. According to the

35:44

boy, the man lived in the trailer opposite

35:47

the toilets and kept a bike out front.

35:50

Brett claimed that he'd been in his trailer the

35:52

entire time and that his girlfriend Tracy

35:54

could back him up. But Tracy

35:57

did not back him up. Good for you, Tracy.

36:00

And so, when officers checked Bette

36:02

Cowan's records and saw that

36:04

he'd previously been convicted of assaulting a child,

36:07

they arrested him faster than you can say Macey

36:09

Brown-Hare. During his

36:11

interrogation, Brett went from flat-out denying

36:14

everything to saying, I wish I'd

36:16

never done it, I wish it had never happened, I'm

36:18

sorry. Brett was

36:20

sentenced on the 14th of June

36:22

1994 on charges of gross indecency,

36:24

grievous harm and deprivation of liberty.

36:27

Because he pleaded guilty to these charges, the

36:30

attempted murder charge was dropped. And

36:33

the judge also decided to give Brett the benefit

36:35

of the doubt due to his apparent remorse

36:38

and promises to seek help. What

36:40

the judge didn't know, however, was that Brett

36:43

had been abusing children since the age of

36:45

10 and he was never

36:47

going to stop. In

36:50

the end, Brett, and now

36:52

twice convicted child rapist, let

36:54

that sink in, was

36:56

sentenced to just seven years in prison. And

36:59

he was released after just

37:02

three and a half. It's

37:04

honesty so, so dark.

37:08

He served one year for the first

37:10

incident and now three and a half

37:12

for this. It's mind-boggling, like

37:15

how he just manages not even to slip through

37:17

the net because he's arrested and

37:19

convicted, but how minimal

37:22

these jail terms seem. And

37:24

again, look, we got in a lot of

37:26

like shit when we did the Peter Phar Hunters episode.

37:29

But what I'm going to say is again, it also shows

37:31

you how just imprisoning people

37:33

who do this, it

37:36

doesn't solve anything anyway. Even if

37:38

he had got a longer sentence, there's

37:40

no conversation that happens anywhere about what you

37:42

do with people that are like Brett Peter

37:44

Cowan. It was something I couldn't stop thinking

37:46

about when we were doing the research for

37:48

this episode. I'm like, the parents are like,

37:50

he's a wrong one. He's molested children.

37:52

He's raped his own cousin

37:55

from the age of 10 for a decade afterwards.

37:57

And when confronted with it, all he says later is

37:59

like, I didn't say that it was a wrong thing to

38:01

be doing. If your child does something like

38:04

that and you're presented with it, what

38:06

do you do? Like, what do

38:08

you actually do? It's

38:10

just this whole thing of like, what do

38:12

you do with somebody like Brett Peter Cowan,

38:14

who is a relentless and persistent and committed

38:17

abuser? Like, what do you actually do? But

38:19

he's been doing it since he was 10.

38:22

At what point do you intervene? What is

38:24

the process? What's the procedure? It all

38:26

just feels so futile, and it

38:28

obviously just ends in tragedy. So

38:31

during his time in prison, Brett attended

38:34

a sex offenders course, and

38:36

like many before him, he found

38:38

Jesus. When he

38:40

was released, his mother's sister, Jennifer, and her

38:42

husband agreed to take Brett in, which I'm

38:45

just like, are you serious?

38:48

But they do, they agree. And they

38:50

probably did it because Keith and Jennifer Philbrook

38:52

were pastors at the Suncoast Christian Church. And

38:54

look, I'm not gonna slack them off. I think

38:56

they genuinely see met two people that were like,

38:59

we can help him. He found Jesus, we can

39:01

help him get him on the straight and namely. This

39:04

church that Keith and Jennifer

39:06

ran was just a few roads

39:08

away from where Daniel Morco would

39:11

go missing in 2003. I

39:14

think you can all see that. Brett

39:17

moved him to his aunt and uncle's granny fort

39:19

in Bly Bly, which

39:22

is the name of the place. I can look

39:24

it up. It reads like it's Bly Bly, but

39:26

it's Bly Bly. And the way she got.

39:30

However, living here, there would

39:32

be strict conditions. Brett would have to

39:34

pay $65 a week for rent. He'd

39:36

have to attend their church. And he

39:39

had to absolutely get a job. I

39:42

just think that's so

39:44

astonishingly noble. And

39:46

one of the major reasons that

39:49

there is such a lack of resource

39:51

for like rehabilitating sex offenders is that

39:53

nobody wants to fucking do it because

39:55

it's horrible. Yep, yep. And really,

39:58

really difficult. a tool

40:00

ever successful. So

40:03

yes, I understand why there's

40:05

all those problems with resources and also because nobody wants

40:07

to be the politician that comes out and says, this

40:09

is what we're going to do. Because everyone will be

40:11

like, oh, you're a non-sympathizer. Yeah. And you're going

40:13

to spend my tax money on rehabilitating

40:16

people that I would rather kill myself if

40:18

I got my hands on them. Exactly.

40:21

And look, I really have

40:24

no sympathy for Brett Peter Cowan. It's

40:26

the ramifications and the effects and

40:28

the lives that people like him destroy

40:30

and what we should and could do as

40:33

a society to stop that happening. I don't

40:35

know what that is. There will always be

40:37

predators and predators will always exist in places

40:40

where they can abuse their power.

40:42

And typically they will go after children,

40:44

the elderly, etc. What do you do about that? I

40:46

don't know, but this case is so

40:48

infuriating. So for a

40:50

while, Brett was living with his

40:52

aunt and uncle and he seemed

40:55

to have reformed. But then

40:57

his parents gave him a car and

41:00

this car gave Brett his freedom back. Freedom

41:03

that he used to stay out all night

41:05

doing drugs. I

41:07

think there are people that blame his parents for

41:10

giving him a car. But I'm like, Brett

41:12

was going to do this regardless.

41:15

You think a car was the only thing slipping him

41:17

from doing what he goes on to do? I

41:20

think it's incredibly hard. I have all the sympathy

41:22

in the world for his parents because what the

41:24

fuck do you do? Probably

41:26

not enable him. But there

41:28

we go. The

41:31

car gave Brett his freedom back. Freedom that he

41:33

used to stay out all night doing drugs. And

41:36

very strangely, despite being

41:38

on parole, Brett was never

41:40

once visited by a parole officer who

41:43

should have been drug testing him. In

41:47

the summer of 1998, Brett met

41:49

another young woman named Tracey

41:51

Moncrief and just like

41:53

he had with Tracey Hanvold, Brett

41:55

immediately dug his grubby little hooks into her.

42:00

In he saw the good in everyone. And.

42:02

This is why when Brett reveal to

42:04

have some of the details of his

42:06

criminal history and told her I for

42:09

formed I sound god. She.

42:11

Believed him. Pretty. Soon

42:13

the power dating and once again Brett seem

42:15

to turn himself around. He. Stopped guy

42:18

house at night and doing drugs and even told

42:20

Tracy that he wanted to wait until they were

42:22

married to have sex. Just.

42:24

A few days later, Brett rate Tracy.

42:27

In. The ground isn't. But

42:29

he apologized and promise never to do

42:31

it again. And the

42:33

peg got married in September the following year. Before

42:36

the wedding, a pasta had pulled Tracy aside.

42:38

Have a word. He tells her that a

42:41

fifteen year old girl from the church had

42:43

accused Brett of attempting to rape her. But.

42:46

Tracy refuse. To believe it. And

42:48

she married Brett anyway. I'd

42:51

miss one of those cases way or like it's

42:54

definitely not the everyone was like, oh, my God,

42:56

I never saw it coming guess where. Ever

42:58

one Zurich coming. And look

43:01

again, at what point do you stop

43:03

blaming people because his pasta. Knows

43:05

that a sixteen year old girl has told

43:07

him. That. Brett has. He

43:11

told casey. He. Can he

43:14

He He. He

43:16

didn't He told the police is it again this

43:18

they have like I don't wanna you know, bring

43:20

drama to our door. We don't need that but

43:23

how Born Tracy. You

43:25

do to the police. And you

43:27

you can say that maybe he doesn't wanna put

43:29

Tracy in a position where she's been confronted. Him

43:32

in confident. I don't know how that

43:34

relationship works I guess of thousands. Of

43:37

confidentiality. But. Then also I know that teaches

43:39

if a child comes to you as as can I

43:41

tell you something. And they're about to make a disclosure

43:43

of the peace in this country and I know in

43:45

Australia and last to they have mandatory reporting. And.

43:50

You will keep a secret you cannot say. Please tell

43:52

me I won't tell anybody. You're not allowed to say

43:54

that because you have a duty to report in Australia

43:56

for have managed to put in. Which means that if

43:59

you find out something. That jogging abuse or you

44:01

should reasonably have suspected and you didn't report

44:03

it. You can go to jail. Now

44:06

of the see the same amount of because that makes people

44:08

think. He just

44:10

collapsed everything. One thousand hot water

44:12

lakes on the like, This

44:15

past it doesn't report that. Is

44:18

a kinda. Shocking. To me.

44:25

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redhanded. Now

46:23

let's fast forward a year. The married

46:25

couple, Tracy and Brett, were

46:27

living together in a cottage in

46:29

Beowar. While Tracy did all

46:31

the housework cooking and cleaning, Brett

46:33

was busy growing weed under the house, doing

46:35

drugs all night and watching porn in the

46:37

living room. And it all

46:40

comes as absolutely no surprise that he wasn't

46:42

watching any regular porn. Brett

46:44

enjoyed watching bestiality and hardcore

46:46

violent amputee sex seems to

46:49

have been his particular flavour.

46:53

He'd even show it to his wife hoping

46:55

that she'd like it. She

46:57

didn't. Then came

46:59

the point of no return for Tracy. She

47:02

got pregnant and gave birth in July

47:04

2008. Later

47:07

that same year just before Christmas Day, a detective

47:10

from taskforce Argos knocked

47:12

on their door. He

47:15

was there to speak to Brett about his

47:17

whereabouts on the 7th of December, the day

47:19

that Daniel Morecambe had vanished from that bus stop.

47:23

Brett very calmly explained that he'd picked up

47:25

a mulcher from a man called Keith Davis so

47:27

he could get rid of some tree branches in

47:29

his garden. He

47:31

explained he'd left around 1.30pm,

47:35

picked up the mulcher at 2 and was

47:37

home by 2.30 at the latest. To

47:40

the detective shock, Brett

47:42

had just placed himself in

47:45

the area of Daniel Morecambe's

47:47

disappearance. At the

47:49

exact time Daniel Morecambe disappeared.

47:53

When asked whether he'd seen a boy in

47:55

red waiting for a bus, Brett

47:58

said he hadn't. His wife... Tracy

48:00

then confirmed Brett's story, and

48:02

so did the man that Brett said he'd borrowed the

48:04

Moultra from. The neighbours also

48:07

confirmed that they'd helped Brett get rid

48:09

of the tree branches that afternoon at

48:11

the time he'd claimed. So

48:14

how could Brett have had time to lure

48:16

Daniel away, murder him, hide his body and

48:18

make it home in time to do the

48:20

gardening within that tight time frame?

48:24

But then again, what were the odds

48:26

that a convicted paedophile who was known to kidnap

48:28

and rape children just so happened to be in

48:30

the right place at the right time and

48:33

not have had anything to do with

48:35

Daniel's disappearance? A

48:39

few months after this visit, Tracy got pregnant

48:42

with a second child. By

48:45

which point Brett was away for weeks at

48:47

a time, supposedly mining in north Queensland. It

48:50

would be months before Tracy found out that

48:52

he had actually been living with another woman.

48:55

And when Tracy confronted him about it, Brett

48:57

decided to walk out on his wife, his

48:59

young son and the unborn child and move

49:01

in with his new boyfriend. But

49:04

that relationship ended quickly when this new

49:06

girlfriend found out that Brett was what

49:08

he was, a paedophile,

49:11

or, as apparently they say

49:14

in Australia, a rock spider.

49:18

So with nowhere to go, Brett turned

49:20

to the only people in his life who

49:22

refused to give up on him. His

49:25

parents. In

49:28

2005, two years after Daniel

49:30

had gone missing, detectives

49:33

decided to re-analyse Brett's alibi

49:35

by retracing his route with a

49:38

step-lage. Speaking with Tracy

49:40

again and checking his

49:42

phone records. What

49:44

they learned was that there was at least 40 minutes

49:47

unaccounted for. And

49:49

considering the fact that Brett had carried out his

49:51

last two attacks in mere minutes, 40 minutes

49:54

was plenty of time for him to have taken Daniel.

49:58

So in July 2005. Brett

50:00

was called in for another interview to go

50:02

over his alibi. The

50:04

police got nowhere though and detectives

50:06

finished by asking him one last question.

50:10

If you had abducted Daniel would you tell me? To

50:13

which Brett simply responded, probably

50:16

not. In

50:18

2008 Brett moved into a house share

50:20

in the Brisbane suburb of Durrock with

50:23

an 18 year old girl called Claire

50:25

and her father David. Brett,

50:29

who was now 38 years old, asked

50:32

his father Peter to help him move in and

50:35

look again hindsight all that. Are

50:38

you going to live with your 18 year old daughter

50:40

and move a 38 year old man into the

50:42

house? Don't do

50:44

that. The Parenting

50:46

Book podcast once again just

50:48

don't do that David.

50:52

Why? Desperate times I

50:54

suppose. Find a granny, find

50:56

anyone else, not him. Within

51:00

just three months Brett was sharing a bed

51:02

with the teenage Claire and he

51:04

managed to manipulate her into taking part

51:06

in his twisted sexual fantasies. These

51:09

fantasies often ended with Brett choking

51:11

Claire until she passed out. Just

51:14

to remind everybody he's 38 years 18 years old. When

51:19

they weren't together Brett was out having sex

51:21

with men that he met online. In

51:24

2009 Brett and Claire had moved into a

51:27

caravan on Briby Island. It

51:29

was here that one day Brett suggested that

51:32

they try a kidnapping rope. He

51:35

told Claire to pretend to be a teenage runaway

51:38

and he'd be a stranger offering her a lift

51:41

and then she'd pretend that he was raping her

51:43

when they got to the cave. Claire

51:47

didn't need to pretend because Brett actually

51:49

did violently rape Claire that day. When

51:52

he finished he asked his crying girlfriend

51:55

was it good for you too? Claire

51:57

would go on to give birth to Brett's third.

52:00

child in December 2009. Following

52:03

this, Brett hung out for a while but eventually

52:06

decided to cut all ties with Claire and

52:08

start afresh in Western Australia and

52:11

his ever-supportive parents gave

52:13

him $5,000 to get on his feet. On

52:18

11 October 2010, an inquest into

52:20

the disappearance of Daniel Morcombe began. During

52:23

the second half of the inquest in January 2011,

52:27

Brett was summoned for a public cross-examination

52:29

in front of a courtroom full of people, including

52:32

Daniel's family. Brett

52:34

spoke freely about his early life, the two

52:36

convictions that he had for abusing children sexually,

52:38

let's remember, and the fact that he

52:41

started abusing children when he was just ten years old.

52:44

And then came the topic of the day that

52:46

Daniel disappeared. Brett

52:48

immediately denied any responsibility and

52:51

then the prosecutor tore him apart.

52:54

The prosecutor began by asking Brett if he

52:56

knew how rare a crime it was for

52:59

a boy under the age of 18 to be

53:01

kidnapped in public and for the perpetrator

53:03

never to be found. He then

53:05

answered his own question by stating that

53:07

in Brett's lifetime, such a

53:10

crime had never ever occurred in

53:12

the state of Queensland apart from

53:14

in Daniel Morcombe's case.

53:17

He went on to point out that as

53:19

of December 2003, Brett was

53:21

one of the very few people in Queensland, if

53:24

not the whole of Australia, who

53:26

had a proven history of kidnapping and

53:28

raping young boys after snatching them in

53:30

public. Here's what he

53:32

said. So, if

53:34

you didn't have anything to do with Daniel's disappearance,

53:37

have you considered how unlikely a scenario

53:39

it is that you, with the extensive

53:42

history of having kidnapped boys and assaulting

53:44

them in a way that might lead

53:46

to their death, happen to be

53:48

in the very place at the very time

53:50

that this once in a decade, once in

53:52

20, 30 year event occurs? Have

53:56

you thought about how incredibly unlikely

53:58

that is? The

54:01

prosecutor was making a very interesting

54:03

point as to the statistical impossibility

54:05

of Brett not having been guilty.

54:08

But Brett Peterstone, Shavadon

54:11

and your hunter, knew that

54:13

they didn't have shit on him. So

54:17

he kept his logic. And he

54:19

boarded his plane back to Perth the following day,

54:22

assured that nothing would come of it. And

54:25

that was when he met the handsome

54:27

stranger who changed his life. Joe

54:30

Emery. What

54:33

Brett didn't know was

54:35

that Joe Emery was

54:37

an undercover police officer. In

54:40

fact, every single

54:42

person in the secretive criminal

54:45

organisation that Brett had joined, thanks to

54:47

Joe Emery, was also an

54:49

undercover police officer. And

54:52

every single quote-unquote crime that Brett

54:54

had committed with the gang had

54:57

actually been a carefully scripted and

55:00

planned fictitious scenario

55:02

written by police. Okay. I

55:05

know. They literally go

55:07

to brothels, they go to different

55:09

places, various different businesses to collect

55:12

gambling, debts, extortion, money, whatever. There's

55:14

so many actors involved in this.

55:17

And it went on for months.

55:21

So this is what's known as a Mr

55:23

Big Operation. It's not

55:25

something we've come across before in those hands.

55:27

No, it hasn't. And it's very interesting. Apart

55:29

from being known as a Mr Big Operation,

55:31

it's also known as the Canadian Technique.

55:34

It's the opposite, basically, of the usual

55:37

sort of police undercover operation, where an

55:39

officer poses as a criminal in order

55:41

to infiltrate a gang of real criminals.

55:45

In a Mr Big Operation, the

55:47

police pose as the criminal organisation

55:49

themselves and seduce their suspect

55:51

into joining them. Then

55:53

they gain the suspect's trust, carry out

55:55

crimes together, and pay them until

55:57

their target feels like he's part of the family.

56:01

That's when their target meets the big

56:03

boss, or Mr Big, who

56:05

is actually a skilled police interrogator.

56:09

This Mr Big tells the suspect

56:11

a prerequisite to joining the gang

56:13

is to reveal their entire criminal

56:16

history to him. This

56:19

controversial technique was first used in Canada way

56:22

back in 1899 and it has since been

56:26

used over there 350 times and it

56:28

has an incredibly high conviction rate. Mr

56:32

Big was first used in Australia in

56:34

the 1990s and over the years it

56:37

has worked to varying degrees of success.

56:41

And successful or not, it is

56:43

controversial. For one

56:45

it involves deception and manipulation, which

56:48

has led to false confessions from vulnerable

56:50

suspects in the past, particularly

56:52

those with low intelligence or mental

56:54

health issues. Defence

56:56

lawyers have also challenged the admissibility of

56:58

evidence obtained through Mr Big operations, arguing

57:01

that the techniques used constitute entrapment and

57:03

coercion. Which like

57:06

they do. There

57:08

have also been cases where individuals have

57:10

been wrongfully convicted based on evidence obtained

57:13

through Mr Big operations. Some

57:16

argue that the pressure and incentives used

57:18

during these operations can lead innocent people

57:21

to confess to crimes they didn't commit.

57:24

This is why Mr Big operations are actually

57:26

totally prohibited in a bunch of countries, including

57:29

the UK and the US, due

57:31

to high standards for what constitutes

57:33

a voluntary confession. So

57:36

right or wrong, it's a total

57:38

murky mess. I know different people who

57:40

have different opinions on this, especially because the

57:42

Daniel Walker case is a very, very,

57:44

very big case. Very very poor

57:46

case in Australia. And there are

57:48

a lot of people who feel like the ends justify

57:51

the means. And sure, in cases where it's

57:53

successful you can be like, what's the

57:55

harm? But there

57:57

are so many problems and this

58:00

type of investigation is

58:02

absolutely riddled with ethical concerns.

58:05

So now, let's get back to where we left off earlier.

58:08

Brett had just admitted to Fitzy that he

58:10

was the prime suspect in the

58:12

disappearance of Daniel Morcom. Fitzy

58:15

once again reassured Brett that all he

58:17

needed to do was to be completely

58:19

honest and the organisation would fix everything

58:22

because they were his family after all. Brett

58:25

had no idea every single

58:27

car he entered and every person in

58:29

the quote unquote gang that he spoke

58:31

to was wired

58:34

with recording devices. A

58:37

few days later, on the 9th of

58:39

August, Fitzy told Brett that Arnold, Mr

58:41

Big, wanted to see him. It

58:44

was the day that Brett had been treading

58:46

for so long. But then

58:48

Brett remembered how the organisation had helped Joe.

58:51

Remember, they told him that Joe was in some trouble. They'd

58:53

given him some money, sent him off to London with a new

58:55

identity. So surely they could do the same for him.

58:59

Fitzy took Brett to the Perth Hyatt Hotel,

59:01

where Arnold was waiting for him in a

59:03

room rigged with microphones and a camera. A

59:06

group of detectives were in the room next

59:08

door, listening to and watching everything.

59:12

Brett sat down on the sofa opposite Arnold

59:14

and Arnold explained what the problem

59:16

was. They had a huge

59:19

job coming up and they all stood to

59:21

make a lot of money. But

59:23

Brett's situation made him a liability

59:26

to everyone involved. Arnold

59:29

asked Brett to be totally honest with him. And

59:31

if he was honest, Arnold could fix everything

59:33

just like he had for Joe. What

59:36

he meant by that was that he

59:38

could make the entire case against

59:41

Brett go away. All

59:43

Brett had to do was tell him the

59:45

truth. Everything

59:47

hinged on this singular moment.

59:51

Months of tireless efforts from over 50 undercover

59:54

officers. All that planning,

59:56

all that work and an incredibly

59:58

costly operation that stretched. across the

1:00:00

entirety of Australia. This

1:00:02

was it. Now

1:00:05

what you're about to hear is a clip from the

1:00:07

40 minute recording of the

1:00:09

conversation between Arnold and Brett that

1:00:12

day. Now

1:00:30

I can sort things out. I can buy

1:00:32

alibis. I can get rid of all that kind

1:00:34

of things that need to be done. I can do. So

1:00:37

I need to know what I need

1:00:39

to do. And like I said, I can't

1:00:41

sort out what

1:00:44

I don't know. So look,

1:00:47

what happened? It happened I sorted

1:00:49

out honesty, trust, respect. Because

1:00:52

I'm told that you're pretty loyal. You

1:00:55

build up a good relationship with some of

1:00:57

the board and and they speak

1:00:59

very highly of me. So what do I need to

1:01:01

fix? Yeah,

1:01:03

okay. No.

1:01:07

Okay, I did it. Oh,

1:01:09

okay. So you did it? Well, I'm saying,

1:01:11

leave me for the whole fucking thing. The

1:01:14

jaws of every detective in the

1:01:16

next room who was listening in

1:01:18

were on the floor. But

1:01:21

they couldn't celebrate just yet. And

1:01:23

Arnold knew that. The job wasn't

1:01:26

done and he didn't miss a beat. With

1:01:28

Brett having just confessed to the murder of

1:01:30

Daniel Morco, Arnold told him that

1:01:33

he needed to take him through everything that

1:01:36

took place that day. Brett

1:01:38

told Arnold that he just picked up a

1:01:40

vulture from his friend and was driving home

1:01:43

when he spotted Daniel standing alone waiting for

1:01:45

the bus. So

1:01:47

he parked up his car and walked up

1:01:49

to Daniel. He pretended

1:01:51

to wait for the bus. And

1:01:53

when the bus drove past, Brett told

1:01:55

Daniel he was going to the shopping centre and asked

1:01:57

if he wanted a lift. Daniel

1:02:01

said yes. Daniel

1:02:03

got into the car willingly thinking he was

1:02:05

getting dropped off at the plaza just 10

1:02:07

minutes away, but Brett took

1:02:09

him to a secluded spot by an abandoned

1:02:12

house in the Glass House Mountains

1:02:14

in Biwa, 30 minutes

1:02:16

away. Daniel had

1:02:18

freaked out when Brett tried to pull his

1:02:20

pants down, so Brett said that

1:02:23

he panicked and choked him. And

1:02:26

before he knew it, Daniel Morecambe

1:02:28

was dead. He

1:02:30

never got to my room or anything quite

1:02:33

about. He panicked, and I panicked and grabbed

1:02:35

him around the side and just fought on

1:02:37

the order of his death. Alright, how long did

1:02:39

it take you to put your family out, you know?

1:02:42

Didn't seem long. Alright. Brett

1:02:45

then put Daniel's body in the boot of

1:02:47

his car, drove about

1:02:49

100 metres away to some thick

1:02:51

bushland, and threw

1:02:53

the boy's body down an embankment.

1:02:57

He then climbed down after Daniel, dragged

1:02:59

him further through the trees, stripped him

1:03:01

of his clothes, and left

1:03:04

Daniel's naked body into some branches. Brett

1:03:07

then threw his clothes into a fast flowing creek,

1:03:10

went home to his wife, and carried

1:03:12

on as though nothing had happened. Brett

1:03:16

told Arnold he went back to try and bury the

1:03:18

body a few days later, but that

1:03:20

it was gone. All

1:03:22

that was left was a single bone fragment

1:03:25

that he crushed with his shovel and then buried.

1:03:29

Even after this damning confession, Arnold

1:03:31

didn't break character. To

1:03:34

make sure that Brett would go away

1:03:37

forever, Arnold needed him to take them

1:03:39

to the scene of the crime. So

1:03:42

Arnold reassured Brett once again

1:03:44

that he would take care of it, and

1:03:47

the group would get rid of any evidence that

1:03:50

Brett may have left behind. The

1:03:53

following day, Brett was sent back to Brisbane on

1:03:55

a plane with Fitzy and another gang

1:03:57

member to show them where he had

1:03:59

come. killed Daniel and

1:04:02

where he'd left the body. By

1:04:05

this point it had been over seven years since the

1:04:07

murder and the abandoned house

1:04:09

that Brett had taken Daniel to was

1:04:12

no longer there. At

1:04:14

the site Brett told Fitzy I

1:04:16

didn't mean to kill him, I just wanted to have

1:04:18

some fun with him. He

1:04:21

added that he hadn't left the house planning on

1:04:23

molesting a child that day but said

1:04:25

that he was just an opportunistic

1:04:27

offender. Brett also revealed

1:04:30

the reason he changed his name to Shadow and

1:04:33

that it was to make it harder for the police to subpoena

1:04:35

him. It's hardly lame.

1:04:37

No. They know who you

1:04:40

are. Like even when

1:04:42

he's telling Fitzy these things it's like he knows

1:04:45

or suspects that the people in this gang won't be

1:04:47

okay with him being a child molester and a murderer.

1:04:49

He's just unable to like really explain exactly what he's

1:04:51

doing. He's just like I didn't mean to kill him,

1:04:53

I was just having fun with him. Oh is that

1:04:56

too much? I didn't leave the house planning on molesting

1:04:58

a child that day. I'm just an opportunistic offender. What

1:05:00

does that mean? That's such

1:05:02

like legal pointless talk. He's

1:05:05

such a strange person. But

1:05:09

Fitzy would later recall a brief moment

1:05:11

where he saw Brett showing some real

1:05:13

emotion for the first time. They

1:05:16

were discussing how Daniel's body could have disappeared

1:05:18

after just a few days when

1:05:20

they spotted a pack of wild dogs walking past. Brett

1:05:23

started shivering and chanting under his breath. I'm

1:05:26

sorry Daniel, I'm sorry Daniel, I'm sorry Daniel.

1:05:29

But then just as quickly he snapped out of it,

1:05:32

looking at it with a smile. Yes, I mean

1:05:34

you can never land on whether he actually feels

1:05:37

any remorse for anything he's done or

1:05:39

whether he's kind of taking the piss or whether it's a

1:05:41

bit of an act. Yeah. Three

1:05:44

days later Brett Peter Cowan was placed

1:05:46

under arrest and charged with murder, interfering

1:05:48

with the corpse and indecent treatment

1:05:50

of a child under 16. There's

1:05:54

a video online of the exact moment

1:05:56

that Brett Cowan is placed under arrest

1:05:59

and the exact moment that he learned that everybody

1:06:01

in the gang that he had loved

1:06:03

so much for all those months had

1:06:06

actually been an undercover officer all along. And

1:06:10

another weird thing about Brett is

1:06:12

how nonchalantly he reacts to everything because

1:06:14

that's exactly what he does here. Like

1:06:16

he did every single time he'd been arrested for hurting

1:06:18

a child. It's completely unbelievable.

1:06:22

Over the following weeks police recovered some of

1:06:25

Daniel's remains and clothes in the area that

1:06:27

Brett had led them to, in

1:06:29

the Glasshouse Mountains. So

1:06:31

his guilt really became beyond

1:06:33

question at this point. Brett's

1:06:37

trial began on the 10th of February 2014. Over

1:06:41

the months-long proceedings, 116 witnesses

1:06:44

gave evidence. Over

1:06:46

200 pieces of evidence were

1:06:48

exhibited and Brett's parents and

1:06:50

brothers gave victim impact statements. Brett,

1:06:53

however, pleaded not guilty, declined

1:06:56

to give evidence and stated that he

1:06:58

had no remorse. He

1:07:01

was found guilty on all charges and sentenced

1:07:03

to life with the possibility of parole after

1:07:05

20 years. Today

1:07:08

Brett Cowan is still serving his

1:07:10

sentence in Brisbane and

1:07:13

has been assaulted multiple times by other inmates.

1:07:17

If you google him at any point there's

1:07:19

just countless articles about how

1:07:21

he's been attacked. Now the devastated Morcombe

1:07:23

family have since started the Daniel Morcombe

1:07:25

Foundation in an

1:07:35

effort to educate children across Australia about

1:07:38

personal safety and to raise

1:07:40

awareness about the dangers of predatory criminals. Daniel

1:07:44

was born the same year I was

1:07:46

so he would be 35 this year

1:07:50

and although the man who killed him is

1:07:52

finally behind bars, the

1:07:54

Morcombe's grief over the past few

1:07:56

years has seemed never-ending. Thanks

1:07:59

in most to Brett. Cowan and his

1:08:01

pleas to appeal his conviction.

1:08:04

So as of March 2024, Brett

1:08:07

Cowan has now exhausted all legal

1:08:09

avenues open to him to challenge

1:08:12

his conviction at long last.

1:08:15

To which Daniel's mother Denise tweeted, throw

1:08:19

the keys away. I never want to

1:08:21

hear that name again. RIP

1:08:23

Dan. And

1:08:26

that is just the ongoing pain and suffering

1:08:28

of families who become victims like this. Not

1:08:31

only did they get the conviction, in

1:08:33

2011 it has

1:08:36

taken another 13 years

1:08:39

for the appeals to stop. Of

1:08:41

which they would have had to go to every single one. It's

1:08:44

just mind boggling. And that's the danger

1:08:46

of operations like Mr Big. There

1:08:49

were grounds for something to be questioned. And

1:08:53

it's so hard because obviously you will

1:08:56

always want a watertight case. And

1:08:59

when you do an operation like that, they are

1:09:01

open to challenge. This one got, this one made

1:09:03

it, which you know must have been incredibly

1:09:05

difficult to pull off. But false

1:09:08

confessions do happen. And yes, I'm glad to

1:09:10

hear that the Canadian model is banned in

1:09:12

the UK and the US. But I will

1:09:14

add that the standards for interrogation

1:09:17

manipulation in the UK are much higher than they

1:09:19

are in the US. It's illegal for

1:09:21

the police to lie to you here. So

1:09:24

yeah, I think you know, a happy ending in

1:09:26

as much as it's possible to have one here

1:09:28

that at least Brett Peter Cowan is in prison.

1:09:30

I don't think he will be released ever on

1:09:32

parole. I'm sure he will die behind bars. And

1:09:35

it's prevented any other children that would have

1:09:37

crossed his path from being abused again. The

1:09:40

way in which this happened, although

1:09:43

feels very impressive and very Hollywood

1:09:45

and like, actually they have made

1:09:47

an entire film about this

1:09:49

case, it's called The Stranger. I think

1:09:52

it came out like last year, this year, very,

1:09:54

very recently. And Daniel Morghulme's

1:09:56

parents have obviously been like, it's a disgusting

1:09:59

cash grab. But it's got some

1:10:01

very, very big name stars in it. And

1:10:04

again, it's all because it's like, oh, so dramatic and

1:10:06

so Hollywood, and like they do this whole undercover Mr.

1:10:08

Big operation, and everybody's in on it, and look at

1:10:10

how they pulled it off and they got the result.

1:10:12

But I'm like, so dangerous.

1:10:14

It could have been the reason

1:10:16

that Brett got out. Yeah. Or

1:10:19

never went down in the first place.

1:10:21

Absolutely. Absolutely. And it also could

1:10:23

have even gone further than that. Imagine they had

1:10:25

been found to do something really unethical here. What

1:10:28

could have been the other ramifications of like that?

1:10:30

Could that then have been used by other criminals

1:10:32

who had been convicted using the same technique to

1:10:34

open up appeals and then get their convictions overturned?

1:10:37

It's so dangerous. Yeah. But

1:10:40

that's the story. Yeah, this

1:10:42

time it worked. That's the

1:10:44

best you can say about the Mr. Big operations

1:10:46

is, phew, this time it worked. And phew,

1:10:48

he's not getting out. But

1:10:51

the toll it must have taken on the more poems for

1:10:54

over two decades. It's just heartbreaking.

1:10:58

So that's it, guys. That is the story of

1:11:00

Daniel Morcomb. You did ask for it.

1:11:03

I did put the question out on my Instagram.

1:11:06

And we wanted to see what people would say because

1:11:08

we also wanted to pull you all in. Ozzy's listened

1:11:10

to this episode and you chose it. And

1:11:13

don't worry, New Zealanders. There is a New

1:11:15

Zealand episode coming very soon. We

1:11:17

haven't forgotten about you. We love you

1:11:19

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1:12:39

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this last experience he had with

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that he was a nefarious character.

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Status Untraced is available now. Listen

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