Accused thief’s confession or a wrongful arrest? | Forensic Files

[Music] on Monday the 23rd of May 1994 a violent storm hit the city of Perth Western
Australia Peter Lawrence was at home with one of his daughters he was concerned it was getting late and his
wife Pamela Lorenz hadn't gotten home from work yet he called her store at 6:15 p.m. when he didn't get an answer
he decided he had better go down and check on that [Music] and remoulade was born on the 16th of
August 1962 his parents were roy and grace mallard andrew was born in england where his father Roy had a long career
in the army the mallards were a hard-working well respected and law-abiding family Andrew
also had an older sister Jackie who was 10 years older than the mallards left England in 1967 and moved to Perth in
Western Australia Andrew had difficulty fitting into his new country he was exceptionally tall for his age and that
combined with his English accent was good enough to make him a target for bullies kids would mimic his accent call
him lots of colorful names and some one as far as to attack him physically Andrew never felt like he belonged
high school was even worse Andrew being the type of kid that bullies could feel safe in heating because they knew he
wouldn't get back Andrew left school at 16 with no plans or career paths in mind
[Music] when he turned 18 Andrew started hitting the nightclub scene he was now a six
foot six inch tall adult he definitely stood out in the crowd it was the nightclub scene that introduced him to
marijuana and he was soon smoking it regularly his parents didn't approve a weary
injury was heading in life he was broke unemployed and living at home so he decided to do something he thought would
impress them he enlisted in the army but he wasn't cutting out for it he never made it through basic training instead
being offered a medical discharge due to a mild sleeping disorder Andrey returned
back to Perth and got back to result not clubbing and dope smoking ways he felt lost in life with the out of purpose
convinced he didn't belong in Australia he pestered his parents to buy him an airfare back to England but he didn't do
much good over there either and it wasn't long before his parents were paying for an airfare to get him back
home to Perth by this stage Andrew was on the verge of a complete breakdown he couldn't go outside because he started
suffering from extreme anxiety and panic attacks his father Roy sent him to a psychologist who he met with every week
for a few months it really helped him start to get back on track Andrew stop smoking pot and he
felt like he was ready to move out and face the world again he moved into a shared accommodation place in see earth
but his newfound optimism was short-lived when he was unsuccessful at a number of job interviews
when one of his housemates lit up a joint injury couldn't resist his old habit within a few months he was broken
homeless wandering the streets of Perth [Music] in May 1994 Andrew met a girl named
Michelle he was instantly attracted to her the feeling wasn't mutual but Michelle did allow Andrey to sleep
on her lounge he couldn't believe his luck an attractive woman was taking him in she lived in a flat just off glide
Street in Mossman Park it took less than a week for Andrew to outstayed his welcome though whenever Michelle started
hinting it might be time for him to move on Andrew did whatever he could to find
her some marijuana Michelle loved the smoke and when she was stoned the talk about him moving out stopped Michelle
didn't even know Andrews real name she believed Andrew was an English backpacker named Andre who just needed
somewhere to crash while he waited for some money to be transferred from England that story didn't last long
because Michelle found a copy of his resume in his backpack but Andrew wasn't about to tell his real story
he said he was really an agent from Interpol working the break an organized crime syndicate in Fremantle his real
name was Michael Faraday the resume for Andrew Mallard was part of his cover apparently Michelle bought the story
Andrew was in the middle of a manic episode he was spiraling out of control he had
been coming under the attention of local police due to his ever-increasing erratic behavior but on the night of
Sunday the 22nd of May 1994 he took things up a notch Andrea left Michele's place and went to
a nearby unit back where a former boyfriend of Michelle's lived he started bashing down the door of the caretakers
unit demanding that the caretaker let him into the unit of the old boyfriend his story he was a drug squad detective
and he had just received information they were drugs stashed in his unit when the caretaker told Andrea she didn't
have a key he broke down his door he was actually there to look for some items that Michelle claims her old boyfriend
had stolen from her it was basically just trying to impress her Andrea didn't find the stolen items in his unit but he
did steal his guitar and a few jackets but it didn't take long for the old boyfriend to put it all together and
very soon the police came looking for Andrew he was arrested the next day Monday the 23rd of May 1994 while he was
back at the police station he was left unattended at a desk for a period of time so he helped himself to a police
tie pin and a badge he thought those would come in handy to help sell his story to Michelle and impress her even
more he was at the station until about 3:45 p.m. when he was released he waited around for a while before eventually
finding a taxi he jumped in and instructed the driver to head to Mossman Park he got there around 5 p.m.
on that afternoon perth was hit by a massive freak storm there were gale force winds lightning thunder and heavy
rain the type of storm that knocked down power poles and blacked out traffic lights
Pamela Lawrence was working in her jewelry store called flora Metallica it wasn't a traditional type of jewelry
store came like the deep everyday items into various metals and create her own unique style of jewelry her shop was
located in the glide Street shopping area in Mossman Park NEMA Shoals unit p.m. was a theater nurse before deciding
on the career challenge she had been lovingly married to Peter Lyons for 23 years and they had two daughters Amy and
Katie Penn was a friendly bubbly person who could light up a room Muslim Park is
a mostly affluent suburb of Perth eleven kilometers or roughly five miles southwest of the CBD with the Indian
Ocean to the west and the Swan River to the east it has its fair share of green expensive houses and well-to-do
residents although it did have its share of government housing units where a lot
of the residents were less desirable types most were unemployed and addicted to drugs turning to crime to fuel their
habits the shops are in Gilad Street had been the targets of several recent break-ins flora Metallica hadn't been
broken into but somebody had thrown a brick through the front window the recent criminal activity led p.m. to
instruct her staff members that if anyone broke in or tried to rob them while they were there just to hand over
whatever they wanted money and material objects weren't worth getting hurt over p.m. did have a staff member working
with her that day Jackie Basten but she finished at 3:00 p.m. after that p.m. was by herself
still on that same afternoon the 23rd of May 13 year old Catherine Barden had been picked up from school by her
grandmother Catherine the daughter of Jackie barzmann who worked at flora Metallica with Penn in order to get home
Catherine's grandmother had the drive directly past the store they actually got stopped at traffic lights directly
outside Catherine got a shock when she looked inside the shop from the car and saw a strange Caucasian man standing
behind the counter she described him as being 30 to 35 years old medium build a slight orange beard six feet tall and it
looked like he was wearing a bend down Catherine kept staring at the man and he eventually made eye contact with her
after which he immediately crouched down behind the counter Catherine had never seen the men in the shop before she
thought it was strange and made sure to look at the clock in the car the time was two minutes past 5:00 she told her
mom Jackie when she got home Jackie thought it sounded strange so she picked up the phone to call p.m. to make sure
she was at Kay but then she changed him on deciding it was probably nothing Peter Laurence was at home with one of
his daughters he was concerned that his wife Pam hadn't returned home from work yet he called the store at quarter past
six to say when she planned on getting home when Clem didn't answer he decided he had better go down and check on it at
6:39 p.m. a call was made to emergency services a woman had been attacked an ambulance was requested to the flora
metallica jewelry store at muslim park Peter Lawrence had walked into the store to find PM lying in a pool of blood with
severe head wounds Peter was covered in blood himself as he was kneeling down next to his wife trying to help her when
the ambulance and police arrived Pam had lost liters of blood she was barely breathing they put her on a stretcher
and rushed her to hospital on the way to the hospital her breathing stopped they
performed CPR and did everything they could but it was too late Pam was dead on arrival a later autopsy would reveal
the PM died as a result of her severe head wounds the cause of the wounds was an unknown blunt force object there were
no defensive injuries in Pam's wounds the forensic pathologist found little specks of an unknown blue material it
was believed that that material came from the murder weapon detectives from the Major Crime Squad were caught in the
lead detective of the investigation was Detective Sergeant shovel assisted by Detective Kapaun and a whole team of
other detectives little was done that night in the way of a forensic investigation the jewelry store was
locked and guarded until the following day when a thorough examination could take place a search was conducted to try
and find the murder weapon but they turned up nothing Peter Lorenz pointed out that no money
had been stolen from the register and no jewelry had been taken but pm's purse was missing it was the next day Tuesday
the 24th of May when police first learnt about the suspicious man Catherine Barden had seen in the store there was
other information to consider two reports that unknown people were seen in the area acting suspiciously around the
time of the murder other reports of some of the known local junkies hanging around - and what about some of the
undesirable characters that live in the government housing flats nearby or the mental health patient that lives there
maybe it's related to the break-ins or the brief that was thrown through the window of the store not that long ago
many names were added to a list of possible suspects but none of them were very solid at that stage the Lisp ended
up containing over a hundred names the main concern for detectives was finding out who the suspicious men in the store
was the Catherine bars then had seen an odd any kept drawing was made up of the men based on Catherine's description and
it was sending out to the media the forensic pathologist concluded that 5:00 p.m. when she saw the men fit the time
frame of the attack as p.m. could have remained alive that long naturally Peter Lawrence was a suspect
in his wife's murder but there was nothing to cast suspicion on Peter other than the fact he found his wife's body
there were no reports of violence or any other issues in the house they were still very much in love his daughters
had no doubt that he was innocent it was Thursday three days after the murder when the name of 31 year old
Andrew Mallard was first mentioned to police as part of the investigation police did an extensive Dornoch of
surrounding residence one of the people they spoke to was Michelle the girl who had let Andrew sleep on her lounge
it was detective Kapaun who spoke with her and he learnt all about Michelle's strange housemate with these weird
stories and unpredictable erratic behavior he had been arrested for the break-in on the morning of the murder
and she was sure he didn't get home until about 6:30 p.m. that night Andrew wasn't home to be questioned though he
had already attended court for the break in charge and the judge recommended that
he be sent to Grayland psychiatric hospital for a 28-day mental health assessment that got detective Kapaun
even more interested Capel and went to the hospital to speak to Andrew he thought to himself that he
sort of looked like the identikit pitcher that was made of the man Catherine bars and saw in the store he
let Andrew know he was investigating the murder of Pamela Lawrence and asked where he was at the time of the murder
Andrew let Cape Horn know that after he got released from the police station he called a taxi back to Michelle's unit
in Mossman Park getting him there around 5:00 p.m. that didn't fit with what Kate
Bourne had been told by Michelle she said it was more like 6:30 p.m. when he got home Kapaun also found out that
Andrew used to wear bandanas although he said he stopped wearing them several months earlier Capel and then paid a
visit to the taxi company he found the driver who picked up Andrew the driver didn't have any trouble remembering him
because he said he was a rock star from England he said he didn't drop him off at
Michelle's unit walk it was a completely different unit here boy but definitely not Michelle's
Andrew told the driver he was just going in to get some friends and he would be right back it was 5:00 p.m. but Andrew
never returned by 20 past 5:00 the driver realized he had done the runner on him
Kapaun returned back to the hospital the next day eager to question Andrew about this new
information he wanted to know more about this missing 90 minutes between 5:00 p.m. when he got out of the taxi and
6:30 p.m. when Michelle says he got home it was during this second chat that Andrew came clean he admitted running
off without paying for the taxi and he says he got dropped off at that particular unit block because he knew
people who he could score dope off in there Andrew gave numerous names of people he was with or spoke to
detectives canvassed the unit bought trying to verify his story but they couldn't no one remembered being with
Andrew during that time Capel and got a warrant and took Andrews clothing for forensic testing his right shoe tested
positive for two different blood groups one was undetermined the second was from
blood group B the same blood group of Pamela Lawrence that was found in only 4% of the population
inconsistent stories no alibi and admitted drug user who was displaying such bizarre behavior that led him to
being sent to a psychiatric hospital on a court order and now there was the blood
Kapaun was convinced he had his men he briefed the rest of the detectives on the case what he had uncovered and on
Friday the 3rd of June the full result of the DNA test was revealed the moment Kapaun had been waiting for was at
Pamela's blood on Andrews shoe no the initial tests were incorrect it was actually Andrews wife it was the
following Friday the 10th of June 94 lady Andrew was released from hospital he was diagnosed with manic depression
and bipolar disorder but he didn't have to stay there any longer his condition was manageable so long as he agreed to
keep regular appointments for treatment Andrew had to reappear before a judge who ruled that he was officially free to
go detective Cape Horn was waiting for him in the courtroom he approached Andrew
and asked if he was prepared to go back to the station and answer a few more questions if he agreed
Kapaun would give him his clothes and shoes back once they got to the police station they went straight into an
interview room they went back over Andrews story what he did and where he was on the day of Pamela's murder Andrew
gave the same version he was released from the police station called a taxi did the runner tried to buy some
marijuana then returned to Michelle's flat he also informed Kapaun that he had been inside flora Metallica
in the days before the murder he was trying to sell some of his jewelry but he was told they weren't that type of
store Andrew wasn't under arrest officially he was the heir of his own free will having
a chat and to get his clothes back so his rights weren't read through him [Music]
they started poking holes in his story about the missing 90 minutes Andrew would give a name of someone who he
thought he had spoken to in that time and the detectives would knock it down sorry we spoken to him and there was
actually Sunday their night before the murder that you were together how come you can't remember where you were or
what you are doing Andrew why are you lying Andrew what are you trying to hide injury just make it easier on yourself
tell us the truth what really happened we can help you the detectives also knew about the type-in and police badge and
Andrew had stolen to impress Michelle when asked about those items he said a friend had given them to him but they
had serial numbers that detectives knew he was lying after about six or seven hours into the
interview Andrew started giving an account like a hypothetical account what he believed happened as if he was a
psychic saying that he could get into the killer's head and read his mind and see what happened
he started saying he thought the person responsible was evil and scared and he just kept hitting Pam and couldn't stop
this got capons attention he ready and drew his rights Andrew continued giving his theory I
think he was just looking to steal something he went in through the back door she was still in the shop locking
up and saw him he got scared so he kept on hitting her and couldn't stop he hit her on the head repeatedly with a wrench
then he saw the girl in the car looking at him he got scared and had to get here
so he moved the body dragged her to the back door she was making gurgling noises
so he hit her again then Rania where was the wrench that detectives asked Andrew
said the killer caught a train to North Fremantle and threw it in the ocean Andrew was trying to please the
detectives and tell them what they wanted to hear so he could get out of the interview room Capel and talk to
Andrews third person account as a confession when the detectives wanted to go back through his story again and get
to the bottom of how he knew all that information if he didn't do it Andrew lost it and started yelling and
swearing denying he was responsible protesting his innocence Andrews aggression led to a physical
altercation and he ended up biting cable the interview was over and they charged
him with assaulting a police officer but he wasn't held in custody he was released
he never got his clothes or shoes back though none of that first interview was recorded the detectives made notes of
what was said but they weren't signed by Andrew while that interview was being conducted Peter Lawrence was on the
phone to Detective chervil he told him that he thought a 10-inch cid chrome wrench was missing from out the back of
Kem's jewelry shop [Music] the reason Andrew was allowed to go was so they could run an undercover
operation on him they didn't have enough evidence they didn't have any of it and
truly all they had was Andrews unrecorded ramblings of a third person account of how he thought the murder
happened they needed more so Andrew was about to meet a new friend they were hoping he would confess and lead the
undercover officer to the murder weapon and the pm's purse Andrew had nowhere to
go Michelle wasn't having him back and he didn't want to go back home to his parents so he was forced to sleep in a
park it was only a few days later while Andrew was hanging in the park that he met Gary
he instantly hit it off with Gary and was impressed when you drove him around to score some dope he was even more
impressed when Gary shouted him a couple of nights in a hotel room Gary said he was writing a book on Pamela's murder
and he wanted Andrews help Gary wanted to know all about Andrews theory of what happened so Andrew gave him the same
story he gave to the detectives Gary then started mentioning weapons and wanted to know what Andrews thoughts
were Gary even brought up wrenches specifically making mention of said chrome wrenches he asked the injury what
he thought could that be the murder weapon he also asked if you thought there would
have been a lot of blood what the killer would have done with his clothes where the killer would have got the weapon and
where the killer would have disposed of the weapon andrew was only too happy to speculate based on injuries answers
Gary's report would later read that the motive of the murder was robbery the murder weapon was a wrench the wrench
had been thrown off a bridge into the Swan River and the killer watched the blood of his clothes using the salt
water in the river in Andrews words that would [ __ ] with the forensics again Andrew hadn't confessed directly but the
police believed what he was saying was information only the killer would know and he was giving his confession in some
sort of speculative third-person way Andrew wasn't well between their in-depth discussions about cams murder
he was smoking a heap of pot and his behavior was getting more erratic he started talking about how he had passed
through several dimensions and his soul could enter different bodies he also mentioned that he was really a Viking
warrior and that comment led Gary to encourage Andrew to participate in a makeover
Gary bought him a pair of boots an army jacket and a kilt at a secondhand store then he took him
to get his head partly shaved there you go Andrew you look much more like a viking warrior now Gary started
the fear free safety believing Andrew was a murderer and seeing his behavior get more and more erratic
the undercover operation was called off no admissions were made and they never got led to the murder weapon or to PM's
purse Andrew failed to attend court for the assault police charge so a warrant was
issued for his arrest he was arrested by Detective Brandon who was also working on PM's case he was taken back to the
police station and put back into the same interview room that he was in before detective Brandon wanted him to
answer some more questions about Pam's murder Andrew went back to his third-person theories about what he
thought had happened this time he added in a description of PM's injuries Andrew
was able to describe them because he says he was shown a photo of them in the first interview they handed Andrew a
piece of paper they told him to draw the wrench that he believes the killer used
Andrew did as he was told he even wrote the words CID chrome on the wrench remembering what Gary had told him
andrew was interviewed for over eleven hours this second time round of which only 30 minutes was recorded on video a
record of the rest of the interview was completed by the detectives making unsigned notes just like the first
interview when the tape was turned on they went back over the story now asking him
questions based on all the information Andrew had given them mostly in the third person but he also spoke in the
first person at times okay yeah I've told you that you don't have to be under guard video recorded Rivlin music
correct you told me that and what your my responsibilities I want to be video recorded so that I can be cleared okay
we're on this we brought you in this morning we had a conversation in the lighting to the panel Lawrence at Muslim
Park do you agree with that during the course of those discussions he told us certain things okay you said
that you needed money I did okay and that and you told us that you went in the rear went in through the rear of the
shop of flora Metallica is that what you told us I told me that okay okay I'm just gonna
go through that Nina okay what you told us will sort the rest out later actually
told us so you went on the front on glass three and then you were looking back and you saw that the flora metallic
of the door was shut yes and that you thought that it was closed so it was safe to do a break is that what you told
us that's correct okay you just got you describe the steps to us and you described the rear door and
the fly screen door you did about you have something as I start you go on if Pamela Lawrence was looking the store up
maybe she came in through the back way like I did the front doors are locked way back
yeah and she left the key in the back door that's what he had easy access and that's what he didn't hear him until he
was monster who Gong with what you told us earlier archived before we go into anything else you happy with that very
happy I can that Bob you told us that she became hysterical and started screaming that's right okay and that you
said that you didn't mean this is our guy it's difficult because this is what you said I didn't mean you didn't mean
to cause any further injury okay because it painting our paint and at the time my florals on speed or drugs
but maybe not you thought I think you said initially that you only meant to knock her out that's right okay you told
us that she was dressed in what a skirt of some sort of game being a woman to taste the sophistication to Europe had
to be more I not a skillet like this but one that joins up okay but that and the
fact is that the fact is that you told us all these things and you now say that that was a complete pack of lies that
all that things that you told I say that is my my version my conjecture of of what scene of the cars will over that
you told us you went in through the rear of the shop at flora Metallica I told you that now you said you went into the
shed yes you told us you got a wrench is that correct I rented from the toolbox you
said to her that you were going to rob her this is what you told us this is what I imagine this person would say
okay what I'm saying is this is what you told us and you said to us you hit her how many times I would say six to twelve
at the max the autopsy report said 1212 was a good answer and on and on the questions went
even though the detectives maintained only the killer could know this information that Andrew was giving a lot
of it was actually incorrect his description of PM's person handbag were wrong his description of the car
catherine Basden was in was wrong his description of what p.m. was wearing was wrong his description of the back of the
shop and what was stored there was also wrong after the interview ended andrew still
had to face court over the assault police charged the judge sent him back to graylien psychiatric hospital for
another assessment two days later detective chervil and Cape Horn met with top prosecutor John McKechnie they
presented their case to him which was basically just the Andrews mostly third person confessions McKechnie said that
without the video then there definitely wasn't enough for a case they couldn't just go with the unrecorded unsigned
notes that the detectives made but the video was the clincher he gave the detectives the go-ahead the
next day the 19th of July 1994 Andrew was released from hospital into the custody of detectives he was charged
with the murder of p.m. Ella Lawrence he wasn't sent back to the hospital he was
sent to prison the first step in the court process was a preliminary hearing to see if the
prosecution had enough evidence to send the case to trial and to see what evidence would be allowed into the trial
the judge ruled that the unsilent records of Andrews confessions would be admissible and that the prosecution had
enough evidence to proceed a trial date was set for the second of November 1995 Andrew had no money so he was
represented by legal aid some might be more familiar with the term public defender he wasn't convinced that his
public defender was up to the task so he requested a barrister the public defender actually agreed with him and he
applied for funding to get a barrister onto the case but it was left too late so in order to make that happen they
would need an adjournment the judge didn't allow the month the trial was to proceed as scheduled the case was
prosecuted by Ken Bates he presented it to the jury in his opening statement as a robbery gone wrong
Andrew went to the jewelry store with the intention breaking in thinking no one was there he was surprised to see
PML are still working late he panicked and bludgeoned her to death with a wrench he stole her purse but left
before he could steal anything else due to his panic state during the trial the 30 minute video was presented Bates
described it as a confession intricate in nature with details only the killer could know although the video did start
and end with the injury protesting his innocence kay Pollan took the stand and it took
several days for him to give his evidence he went through the first day to our interview reading the notes that
were written down but not signed or recorded on video they didn't call Gary as a witness in fact the undercover
operation wasn't mentioned at the trial at all Andrew took the stand and gave evidence he denied everything the
prosecution was alleging at one point he even looked at Peter Lawrence and said I
did not kill your wife mr. Lawrence I had nothing to do with it he also denied saying he had killed p.m. with a wrench
saying it was his theory that's what the killer used the trial lasted for two weeks
it didn't take the jury long to reach their verdict [Music] guilty he was sentenced on the 21st of December
1995 the judge had this to say you showed no sign of remorse and during your trial or now at trial you displayed
confident assertive behavior and displayed clear evidence you're a manipulative individual prepared to lie
cheat steal and defraud if the need arose you went to the shop to commit burglary but when you realize that you
would be identified you panicked and struck PML alliance repeatedly with a heavy wrench and rouge stood up and
screamed why did not the judge continued the blows were delivered until you were
satisfied two is dead your sentence will be twenty years of strict security life
imprisonment Andrew continued to scream and protest his innocence as it was dragged away the
20 years that was mentioned was the non-parole period so it was possible that Andrew would never be released
especially when a big factor in parole is remorse andreal purely sentence and it was heard
at the Court of Criminal Appeal in June 1996 three Supreme Court judges said on the appeal Andrew was now being
represented by barrister he's barrister attacked the confessions labeling them unreliable because only 30
minutes was recorded out of 19 hours of total interview time and a video camera was available in the room the entire
time he also heavily attacked the inaccuracies of injuries confession the descriptions of the purse the car
catherine was in the shop and what PM was wearing the fact that there was no forensic evidence no positive ID and no
murder weapon were all raised as was the Tommy it was extremely unlikely Andrew would have been able to get out of the
taxi at 5 p.m. then run to Flora Metallica to be seen by Catherine bars Dhin two minutes later the prosecution
relied on what they called the 15 things any injuries confession that only the killer could know but as you've heard
some of these details were given to Andrew like the CID chrome wrench they couldn't even prove a wrench was the
murder weapon they certainly hadn't found the murder weapon yet it formed one of the 15
points in Andrews confession that only the killer could have known the three appeal judges listened to both sides and
retired to reach their verdict which came three months later and it was unanimous Andrews appeal
dismissed conviction upheld although the ruling did come with a warning to police
unrecorded confessions would no longer be allowed but the trial result in Andrews case wouldn't be altered their
ruling did state there were some unsatisfactory aspects of Andrews case but they were happy there was no
miscarriage of justice the ruling meant that there was one court left to go the High Court
but you couldn't just take any old case to the High Court you first had to convince three judges that the appeal
had grounds to be heard in the High Court sort of like an application process generally the High Court is only
interested in severe miscarriages of justice all matters of national importance Andrews barrister failed to convince
them the case wouldn't be heard in the High Court it was done Andrew was imprisoned for life
Andrew struggled to cope with the ruling demanding to take a lie-detector test even demanding to be injected with truth
serum not knowing knees weren't actually options as time went on he started to believe he was the victim of a big
conspiracy they must be trying to brainwash him the real killer was a powerful man
so Andrew was set up as a patsy he started to believe everyone was in on it the real murderer the police the lawyers
the judges the prison guards everyone the long interviews he had were actually brainwashing sessions designed to
convince him he was responsible he even went to the prison library trying to find anything he could about
brainwashing and hypnosis convinced this must be the answer the idea continued to go in his head he
started to see the prison as a brainwashing facility the lights were actually cameras recording his every
move the live feed of which was being sent back to detective cable the distress alarm in his cell was a speaker
where messages were whispered to him in his sleep he saw the other prisoners as actors this was their job to come here
and convince him he was in prison when really they were part of the brainwashing conspiracy he became
obsessed with the idea refusing to speak to any other prisoners and even cutting
off all visits from his family he put up a sign in his cell my name is Andrew mark Mallard
I will not speak to any police or member of the justice system prisons department or any other
authority without proper legal representation I have nothing to say despite his delusional State Andrew was
known as a passive well behaved prisoner Andrews parents Roy and grace and his sister Jackie were convinced he was
innocent Roy dedicated himself to studying court transcripts witness accounts and law
books to try and find a hole in the case he was certain the story didn't add up something was wrong while obsessing over
Andrews case Roy started to experience pain in his stomach a trip to the doctors revealed it was cancer and he
wasn't given long to live Roy told grace not to tell Andrew concern that he was already in a terrible mental state with
these brainwashing conspiracy theories he didn't want to give him something else to worry about grace agreed Roy
died less than four weeks later having cut off all visits Andrew hadn't seen his family for years when his
mother broke been used to him of his father's death Andrew didn't believe her he was still
running with these conspiracy theory and he believed that they had now gotten to
his family that it was a story designed to finally break him he said don't worry
mum I know you've been told to say this told dad I know he's alright don't worry about me okay his sister
couldn't convince him either his dad was the strongest man in you he was in great
health no way he was dead Andrew was upset they've gone through his family but he wouldn't let them
break him grace Maillard never wavered from her belief that her son was innocent she
spoke to anyone who would listen about his case one of those people was Colleen Egan who was working for today tonight
at the time a current affairs news program on Channel seven Colleen wasn't interested in the story for today
tonight but she was interested in it personally what caught her attention was a letter that a well-known barrister
Malcolm McCusker had written Colleen used to be a court reporter so she knew who was who in the legal
circles McCusker was well respected and he had written that Andrews case was very unsettling but there was nothing
that could be done unless they came up with fresh evidence that if presented to a jury may change the outcome that was
enough to interest Colleen to take a look at the court transcripts after which she was convinced Andrew had been
given a raw deal when grace and Jackie went to tell Andrew that a reporter was interested in helping them Andrew was
far from impressed convinced this was just another part of the conspiracy he refused the talk and said he didn't want
any help colleen advice Greyson Jackie that they should first worry about getting Andrew psychiatric help before
they were worried about fighting the case the prison was initially reluctant to force injury into any treatment sure his
behavior was odd but he wasn't violent and he wasn't causing trouble but eventually they changed their stance
and he was sent for a psychiatric assessment it was being placed in a hospital environment that seemed to snap
Andrew back to reality he realized there was no way his fellow patients were actors they were legitimate patients he
was in a real Hospital it suddenly became clear to Andrew this was real it wasn't a conspiracy he wasn't in a
brainwashing facility the switch was flicked Andrew started to come back gone were his delusional ramblings
Andrew wanted to cooperate with the psychiatrist and prove he was innocent after a few months of treatment his
condition had greatly improved and he was sent back to prison Andrew apologized to his mum into his
sister saying the conspiracy brainwashing theory was the only way he could rationalize what had happened to
him Jackie called Colleen and told her the good news Andrew was ready it was a long process
Colleen worked on the case for four years with the help of Andrews barrister and many others but they couldn't find
what they needed they hadn't uncovered any fresh evidence so there was no grounds for a new appeal Colleen decided
to approach an unlikely ally John Quigley was a well-known lawyer who spent 25 years working with the police
union defending police officers accused of wrongdoing he rarely lost a case his reputation was exceptional known as one
of the best lawyers you could get he was also a big personality who loved the light and love to the camera
Colleen knew this from her crime reporting days but Quigley had recently quit law and had taken up politics
becoming a Labour Party backbencher during the four years she had been working on the case
Colleen had changed jobs it just so happened she was now working for a newspaper covering politics quickly knew
everything there was to know about police procedures and practices that's what made him such a good person to
approach but it was risky 25 years of defending police officers had developed some solid relationships and contacts he
was the only non police officer to be given a life membership of the police union Colleen approached him and let him
know she strongly believed there was an innocent man behind bars what better way
to start a career in politics hoping get an innocent man out of prison Quigley didn't make any promises but he told
Colleen he would have a look at the case and get back to her it didn't take him long to find a problem it was what
happened after the first thing of you when Andrew was charged with assaulting police andrew was homeless at the time
it was very unusual for somebody to be released on bail if they had nowhere to go
he compared this fact with the evidence of detective Branden who arrested Andrew
on the warrant a week later and conducted the second interview Brenham said he was just driving around and by
chance happened to say Andrew in the park so he arrested him on the warrant Quigley was able to put it together
pretty quickly he realized the injury was released because they were running an undercover operation and brendham
didn't just happen to drive past him in the park they knew where he was the entire time it was unusual that there
was an undercover operation and it wasn't mentioned in the trial at all the approach that Quigley had paid off these
were things that stood out for him that the others just didn't see and Quigley assumed that there was probably more
that had been in he decided to meet personally with the forensic pathologist dr. cook
Quigley asked him how it came to be that a wrench was determined to be the murder
weapon dr. cook said he had no idea he told Quigley the same thing he says he told
the detectives in charge of the case and the prosecutor I find it hard to believe
a wrench could have caused those injuries Quigley showed him the sketch that Andrew had drawn of the CID chrome
wrench dr. Cook had never seen it before this was enough for the ball to start rolling
Quigley used his political connections to be given the prosecution for all they had at that point where the court
transcripts it surprised them to see that tests had been done back in 1994 to see what
wounds our wrench made on a pig's head the wounds were different to the wound suffered by pen this test was never
disclosed to the defense all brought up in the trial the prosecution file also confirmed what Quigley had already
worked out anyway that there was an undercover operation several years had now passed since the trial the
prosecutor Ken Bates who was in one of his first high-profile cases was now a highly respected prosecutor with a good
reputation john McKechnie who was the top prosecutor in the state at the time and who gave the detectives that go
ahead the charge was now a serving Supreme Court judge detective chervil and Kapaun when our assistant police
commissioner's detective Brandon who arrested Andrew and conducted the second interview was now a superintendent not
surprisingly there was resistance to what Quigley was saying Headlands read that Quigley was trying to get a vicious
murderer off the hook on a non-disclosure technicality officers in charge of the case and the prosecutor's
office maintained that the case against Andrew was strong he had made a solid confession and a jury was convinced
beyond a reasonable doubt he was the killer but enough had now been uncovered for the case to be referred back to the
Court of Criminal Appeal the prosecution was determined to fight the appeal that
conceded that yes they should have disclosed all of the information but they maintained it was just an oversight
and it wouldn't have affected the outcome of the trial [Music] wellnot embarrassed the Malcolm McCusker
whose letter got Colleen interested in the case was now defending Andrew and because the case was back before the
Court of Criminal Appeal and full disclosure had been made there were a few more issues that came up Michelle
the girl Andrew was living with at the time of the murder was made to give several different
statements to police each one slightly different adding or taking out little details to better fit the theory that
Andrew was responsible only her last statement was given to the defense catherine bar stand the
thirteen-year-old witness who saw the suspicious being in the shop also made a sketch of the man she saw as soon as she
got home and she wrote a statement out herself different to what was later presented at court Catherine had also
failed to pick Andrew out of a photo lineup and she didn't identify him in court as the man she saw
[Music] it was found that a forensic report had also been amended the amended version
was the one supplied to the defense and presented as evidence at the trial it was amended to remove the part that said
there was no trace of salt water on injuries clothing if you remember back to Andrews theory on the crime he said
that the killer washed his clothes in the salt water because it [ __ ] with the forensics as they were relying on his
third person rants as a confession it didn't look good if there was no blood and no traces of salt water on his
clothes but if there was no mention of the salt water not being present baits could still give that theory to the jury
Andrew washed his clothes in the river that's why there was no blood so Andrews defense team were arguing that evidence
was withheld and statements were changed in order to make the case look a whole lot stronger than what it was the case
was heard in the Court of Criminal Appeal before three Supreme Court judges on the 3rd of December 2003 they made
their ruling which was again unanimous appeal dismissed conviction upheld to keep it simple
basically they agreed with the prosecution yes there were clearly non-disclosure issues but no those
non-disclosures wouldn't have affected the outcome of the trial neither chervil or cap on were called as
witnesses by the prosecution in the appeal meaning that offense could not cross-examine on the 27th of October
2004 Andrews defense team presented their case to the High Court again it was initially like an application
process this time they were successful the judges granted special leave for the High Court to hear the appeal but there
was still a long road ahead all that meant was that they got their foot in the door it would be another year before
the case was actually heard but their day in the High Court finally came and five judges sat on the panel to hear the
appeal after considering all the evidence and all the issues around the case they reached a decision and again
it was unanimous conviction quashed a retrial was ordered they believed there had been a
miscarriage of justice shortly after the High Court ruling the corruption and crime Commission started investigating
allegations of misconduct by the lead detectives and the prosecutor the prosecution initially didn't back down
declaring they had every intention of pursuing the retrial but their attitude changed when a judge ruled that those
unrecorded and unsigned confessions wouldn't be admissible in the second trial with that information in mind the
prosecution elected not to be sure a retrial they took a parting shot saying and the
reason they weren't pursuing the case is because the vital evidence was ruled inadmissible and that injury remained
their prime suspect the police agreed saying the case would remain closed Andrew as their men but he had just been
laid off on a technicality after being locked up for 12 years andrew was free just after Andrews release a blood
splatter expert was in Perth testifying in an unrelated trial he studied the photos of bloody clothing that had been
taken off the PM's murder based on those photos he formed an opinion on who killed Penh his report wasn't good news
for PM's husband Peter Lawrence despite the police saying the case would remain closed public pressure mounted and
they'll forced to reopen it and have another look they formed a squad to re-examine every
piece of evidence in the case new technology was now available that didn't exist 12 years earlier and it was hoped
that this new technology might help uncover new information and it did a partial palm print was fed through the
computer system and it quickly produced a match in July 1994 just seven weeks after PM's murder an English backpacker
Solomon Rockford was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend Regina Dickens Simon had been in Perth for only six
months at the time Regina was a local he met when he arrived here the cause of her death was
traumatic brain injury Simon bludgeoned her to death with a weapon he had made himself using an old
wait in an old handle Simon had spun a whole heap of Lies to bridgetta about who he really was and what he was
doing he gave Green tales of being rich and successful when really he was a criminal who had overstayed his tourist
visa Brigitte are eventually caught on to his lies and confronted him she threatened to report him to immigration
but Simon couldn't have that he was the prime suspect for a stabbing murder back
in England Simon dumped her body in the boot of a car and left the murder weapon there to the
murder weapon that he had made himself which he had painted blue the wounds on bridgetta
were the same as Pam's the unknown pieces of blue material in PM's wounds a perfect match to the paint from Simon's
murder weapon finally PM's killer was known Andrew actually remembers Simon from prison he
thought it was strange he would always stare at him but never say a word some of the prisoners even got their cases
mixed up they would say to Andrew you're in here for that girl in the boot murder
Archer Andrew would reply no that's the other guy I'm innocent of my crime Simon
made full admissions to police when he was arrested but he kept the truth about PM's murder to himself
simon's interview was actually conducted by detective random the same detective who had only just conducted Andrews
second interview a month earlier Simon was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 15 years
five years are less than andrew brigitte a--'s autopsy was conducted by the same
forensic pathologist who conducted pm's some of the same detectives were involved in both cases the wounds were
the same the crimes happen close together but no one was able to link the cases at the time aspects of that blood
splatter report naming Peter Lawrence were later criticized clearly it was wrong Peter had nothing to do with his
wife's murder the real killer was now known the corruption and Crime Commission later came to a conclusion as
well their report stated the Commission is satisfied that detectives Kapaun and chervil who were together involved in
the process either by persistent and repeated questioning or by deliberately raising doubts in the witness's minds
until they became confused uncertain or possibly open to suggestion were instrumental in causing the witnesses to
change their statements by being less particular as the clothing and head wear color so that more general descriptions
could apply to mr. Millar the process demonstrates a pattern which the Commission is satisfied can not have
been accidental or coincidence they found that the detectives were blinded by tunnel vision they thought injury was
the killer so they changed aspects of the case to make it fit in better they ruled that chervil and Cape Horn who if
you remember winning our assistant commissioners be disciplined for misconduct and that there were
reasonable grounds for termination of their employment prosecutor Bates got the same recommendation despite the
findings in the corruption and kronk Commission report the police commissioner couldn't use those findings
as a basis to sack the officers involved by law he had to conduct his own inquiry
before that happened chervil resigned with full benefits in Cape Horn resigned and took up another government job
prosecutor Bates resigned and received a pea the judge is involved in the trial and the appeals process carried on with
their careers and received a three point two five million dollar payout from the
government he left Australia and returned the England eager to find a wife and to have children
we will never know what really happened inside flora Metallica that day or why Simon did what he did because when Simon
Rockford was declared a prime suspect in PM's murder he took a putty knife and hacked through
his wrists and his neck ending his life [Music] you

Case 21: Pamela Lawrence

On Monday the 23rd of May 1994, a violent storm hit the city of Perth, Western Australia. Peter Lawrence was starting to become concerned. It was getting late and his wife Pamela Lawrence hadn’t gotten home from work yet. He called her at 6:15 pm, when he didn’t get an answer he decided he had better go down and check on her….

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://www.casefilepodcast.com/case-21-pamela-lawrence

Brief Summary

The episode details Pamela Lawrence's murder and Andrew Mallard's wrongful conviction, highlighting investigative failures and the eventual identification of the real killer.

Key points

Andrew's Troubled Past. Andrew Mallard struggled with fitting in and faced bullying after moving to Australia.
Andrew's Erratic Behavior. Andrew's erratic actions raised suspicions as detectives began to investigate the murder.
Pamela Lawrence's Murder. Pamela was found severely injured in her jewelry store, leading to a frantic emergency response.
The Missing 90 Minutes. Detectives question Andrew about his whereabouts during the crucial time of the murder.
Andrew's Undercover Operation. Andrew was allowed to go free to run an undercover operation, but it backfired.
Confession Through Speculation. Andrew's ramblings led detectives to believe he was confessing in a third-person way.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He couldn't believe his luck.

Andrew was allowed to sleep on Michelle's lounge.

4:10WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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