Was This Really a Murder Confession? | Forensic Files

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[music] As it neared 6:00 p.m. on the evening of Monday, May 23, 1994, [music] Peter Lawrence was starting to worry.
Peter lived in Mosman Park, an affluent suburb 11 km outside of Perth in Western
Australia. [music] And that afternoon, a violent storm had hit the city. Gale force winds raged
while thunder and lightning clashed and heavy rain pummeled down. It was the type of storm that knocked [music] down
power poles and blacked out traffic lights. Worryingly, Peter's wife, 45-year-old
Pamela Lawrence, still hadn't arrived home from work, nor had she called to say she was running late. [music]
Pamela owned an upscale jewelry store called Flora Metallica, which was located on Glide Street, a few [music]
minutes drive from the couple's home. It wasn't a typical jewelry store, but instead offered a variety of quirky
giftear and original items handmade by Pamela in her small shed turned workshop at the rear of the property. [music] She
specialized in dipping everyday objects into decorative metals such as gold, silver, or copper to create unique items
that were cherished by her customers. [music] Flora Metallica was part of a small
cluster of shops near the Mossman Park train station. Some other shops around the area had
recently been broken into, and while Flora Metallica hadn't been targeted, a brick had been thrown through the front
window, putting Pamela on edge. Given the recent criminal activity, she had instructed her staff that if anyone
tried to rob them while they were working to just hand over whatever they wanted. [music]
Money and material objects weren't worth getting hurt over. When Peter still hadn't heard from
Pamela by 6:15 p.m., he called Flora Metallica to see what [music] time she thought she'd get home,
but there was no answer. His [music] concern increasing, Peter decided to brave the storm to go down to
the store and check on her. [music] At 6:39 p.m., a call came through to Australia's emergency services helpline,
trip0, requesting an ambulance to the Flora Metallica jewelry store in Mossman Park. When the paramedics arrived, they
found Pamela Lawrence lying on the ground in the kitchen area near the back door, unconscious and covered in blood.
She had sustained severe head wounds which were bleeding profusely. [music] And although she was still alive, she
was barely breathing. Her husband, Peter, was kneeling by her side, [music] trying desperately to stop
the bleeding by holding a piece of material against her scalp. Pamela was loaded onto a stretcher and
[music] rushed to hospital. A visibly shaken Peter Lawrence told the police that he'd arrived at Flora
Metallica to find the front door was locked, but the shop hadn't been closed up for the night. [music]
The lights were still on and an A-frame sign and a pot plant, which Pamela typically brought inside overnight,
[music] was still out the front. Peter had unlocked the front door using his own key and taken the items inside,
at which point he'd heard a strange noise coming from the rear of the shop. That's when he'd found Pamela in a pool
of blood clinging to life. [music] After surveying the scene, Peter pointed out that no money appeared to have been
stolen from the cash register, nor had any jewelry or inventory been taken. [music]
However, Pamela's purse, which she typically carried a couple of hundred cash in, was missing from her handbag.
[music] Despite all the efforts of the paramedics, Pamela Lawrence didn't survive her injuries. And at 7:15, she
was pronounced deceased upon arrival at the hospital. Peter was allowed to return home to
break the tragic news to his two grown daughters. They were soon joined by distraught
loved ones as they collectively struggled to come to terms with what had happened.
[music] The major crime squad was called in with the investigation led by Detective
Sergeant Malcolm Shervel. A cursory search for the murder weapon turned up nothing and before long a
blackout hit the area, putting the store into complete darkness. Unable to properly assess the crime
scene, the decision was made to lock and guard the store overnight with a thorough forensic examination scheduled
to take place the next day. Given how heavy it was raining, investigators reasoned that any
footprints in the ground outside of the store would already be long gone. [music]
Meanwhile, an autopsy revealed that Pamela Lawrence had died as a result of severe head wounds caused by an unknown
blunt object. All up, she had sustained [music] 12 blows. There were no defensive injuries,
indicating she'd been caught off guard. A trail of blood leading from Flora Metallica's service counter suggested
she'd been [music] hit there first before being dragged to the space towards the back of the shop [music]
where she was struck again. The forensic pathologist examined Pamela's injuries under a microscope and
discovered [music] that seven of the wounds contained specks of an unknown bluey green material as well as a
peculiar pattern. He was informed that the police were considering the possibility that Pamela could have been
killed using a tool taken from her workshop, such as a copper anode, a metal bar Pamela used in her jewelry
making process. The forensic pathologist believed it was possible that the anode could have
caused her injuries. Copper sulfate can produce a bluish color similar to the specks found in
Pamela's head wounds. And the copper anodess in Pamela's workshop were partly covered in blue green crystals.
However, the colored material was sent to a forensic chemist who identified it as an oilbased enamel [music] paint
containing Prussian blue pigment. Whatever weapon had caused Pamela's injuries remained unknown.
When Pamela's coworker, Jackie Bardon, heard what had happened, she couldn't believe [music] it. Jackie had spent the
day working alongside Pamela, and it had been a completely normal workday before
she'd clocked off at around 300 p.m. But when Jackie's 13-year-old daughter, Catherine, later arrived home from
school, she had an odd story. Catherine had been picked up [music] that day by her grandmother.
As they were driving home down Glide Street, they'd stopped at a set of traffic lights directly outside of Flora
Metallica. Catherine looked inside and saw a strange man standing behind the counter.
She described him as being Caucasian, around 30 to 35 years old, around 6 ft tall, and of medium build.
He had a slight orange or strawberry blond colored beard and it looked like he was wearing some type of scarf like a
bandana on his head. As Catherine stared at the man, the two made eye contact and he quickly crouched
down behind the counter. Catherine had never seen the man in the shop before and thinking it was strange
that he was behind the counter, she made sure to check the time. It was 5:02 p.m.
When she got home, she told her mom, Jackie, about it, who agreed that it sounded strange.
Jackie picked up the phone to call Pamela and make sure everything was okay, but then changed her mind at the
last minute, deciding it was probably nothing. When the police were informed about this
sighting, the forensic pathologist concluded that the time frame fit. If Pamela Lawrence had been attacked at
around 5:00, he believed it was possible that she could have still been alive by
the time her husband Peter discovered her just after 6:30 p.m. This timeline was narrowed down even
further after phone records revealed that Pamela had spoken to a customer between 5:10 and 5:20 p.m.
The man Catherine witnessed immediately jumped into the position of prime suspect and an identicit drawing was
created based on her description and is sent out to the media. But there was other information for the
police to consider too. Although Mosman Park was a prestigious area dotted with high-end luxury homes and wellto-do
residents, it also had its share of government housing units and was home to many unemployed people who were
struggling with substance abuse issues. Many of these people turned to crime to support their habits, and reports had
come in about other people who had been seen acting suspiciously in the area. Questions were also raised as to whether
the attack on Pamela could be related to one of the recent breakins or to the brick that was thrown through the window
of her store. Before long, the police had over 100 names on their list of persons of
interest. Although Peter Lawrence had been at home with one of his daughters before making
the grim discovery at Flora Metallica, being Pamela's spouse and the one to find her body, he came under suspicion,
too. The police had allowed him to leave the scene in his blood soaked clothing. And
when the forensic team requested that he bring the clothing back in for examination 2 days later, there was bad
news. Peter had already thrown the clothes in an outside bin, and it had been raining
heavily ever since, thwarting any chance of a reliable blood pattern analysis. The police looked into Peter and
Pamela's relationship and learned that they'd been happily married for 23 years. Their two daughters, aged 17 and
20, were both university students who still lived at home. They told the police there had never
been any violence or any other issues in their household and that their parents were still very much in love.
By all accounts, Pamela was a friendly, bubbly, and well-liked person. Naturally
caring and affectionate, she was a former theater nurse who had decided on a career change several years earlier,
opening Flora Metallica with the full support of her husband. Pamela's creativity and talent was well
regarded and her store had recently attracted statewide attention. With the police concluding that she was
in a loving and stable marriage and had no known enemies, the motive for her murder remained unclear.
Money seemed the obvious reason, but nothing besides Pamela's purse had been taken despite a container of cash being
visible on a shelf behind the counter. >> [music] >> An examination of Flora Metallica
revealed several fingerprints, but all of these were successfully attributed back to employees of the shop or those
who had attended the crime scene. The only unidentified print was a partial bloody palm print that was found
on top of one of the glass service counters. This couldn't [music] be attributed to
anyone. Police continued searching for the murder weapon and for Pamela's missing
purse, but with no luck. 3 days after the murder on Thursday, May 26, they continued their extensive door
knock of the surrounding area. Each officer was armed with a questionnaire and the identicate sketch
made up using Catherine's description. Detective Sergeant David Caporn knocked on the door of 23-year-old Michelle
Engelhard, a woman who lived in a unit block just a few minutes walk from Flora Metallica.
It turned out she had an interesting story to tell. A couple of weeks earlier, Michelle had
met an English backpacker who introduced himself as Andre and said he needed somewhere to crash while he waited for
some money to be transferred from England. Michelle allowed Andre to sleep on her
couch for a couple of nights, but he quickly outstayed his welcome. Whenever Michelle started hinting that it might
be time to move on, Andre did whatever he could to find her some cannabis. Michelle enjoyed a smoke, and when she
was stoned, she stopped talking about Andre moving out. [music] But Michelle quickly realized that her
house guest had been lying when she found a copy of his resume in his backpack and discovered that his name
was really Andrew Malard and he was a 31-year-old unemployed man who lived in Perth.
When she confronted him about it, Andrew said he was really an agent from Interpol working to break an organized
crime syndicate in Fremantle. He said his real name was Michael Faraday and that the resume for Andrew
Malard was part of his cover. Michelle accepted this story and reluctantly agreed to let Andrew stay at
her house. But after telling him about a former friend who had recently stolen from her,
Andrew tried to impress Michelle by getting the items back. On Sunday, May 22, he went to the friend's unit block
and started bashing on the caretaker's door, demanding to be led into Michelle's friend's unit.
Andrew [music] claimed he was a drug squad detective who had just received information there were drugs stashed
inside. When the caretaker told Andrew she didn't have a key, he broke into the unit instead.
Andrew didn't find Michelle's stolen items, but he did steal a guitar, a push bike, and a few jackets.
It didn't take long for Michelle's old friend to piece it all together. And very soon, the police came looking for
Andrew. He was arrested the next day, Monday, May 23, for the break-in, as well as impersonating a police officer.
He was [music] taken to the East Perth lockup before being granted bail and released later that afternoon. [music]
Michelle told the police that Andrew didn't get home until around 6:30 that night.
She recalled that he hadn't been wearing a bandana or any other headgear and that
the cap he typically wore had been on a hook at her home. Shortly after arriving home at around
700 p.m. Andrew left Michelle's place with another friend and caught a train to Fremantle.
Detective Caporn wanted to speak with Andrew, but he was no longer living at Michelle's. He had already attended
court for the break-in charge, and the judge had recommended that he be sent to the Franklin Center, a state-run mental
health facility within Greyland Psychiatric Hospital that provides involuntary treatment of patients within
the criminal justice system. There, he was required to undergo a 28-day [music] assessment.
Detective Caporn's interest was officially peaked. 31-year-old Andrew Malard was born in
England to parents Roy and Grace Malard. His father Roy had a long career in the
army and the Malards were a hardworking, wellrespected and law-abiding family. Andrew also had a sister named Jackie
who was 10 years his senior. The Malards had left England in 1967 and moved to Western Australia, but Andrew
struggled to fit into his new country. He was exceptionally tall for his age, which combined with his British accent
made him a target for bullies. Kids would mimic his accent, call him names, and some even attacked him
physically. As a child, Andrew never felt like he belonged, and in high school, things got
even worse. Bullies felt safe hitting him because they knew he would never fight back.
Andrew left school at 16 with no plans or career path in mind. As he got older, he started hitting the nightclub scene
where at 6'6 in tall, he stood out in a crowd. It was through this scene that he was
introduced to cannabis, which he started smoking regularly. Andrew's [music] parents didn't approve
of where their son was heading in life. He was broke, unemployed, and living [music] at home. In a bid to impress
them, he enlisted in the army at the age of 20. But he never made it through basic training, [music] instead being
offered a medical discharge due to a mild case of the sleeping disorder narcolepsy.
Andrew returned to Perth and back to his old ways. With no sense of purpose, he felt lost
in life. Convinced he didn't belong in Australia, [music] he pested his parents to buy him a plane
ticket to England. They eventually agreed, but he didn't do much good over there either, and it wasn't long before
his parents were paying for his airfare back to Perth. By this stage, Andrew's mental health
was declining, [music] and he was on the verge of a complete breakdown. He suffered from extreme anxiety [music]
and panic attacks and could barely go outside. Andrew also struggled with personal
relationships and a general feeling of inadequacy. His father Roy sent him to a psychologist who Andrew met with every
week for a few months. It really helped him and got him back on track. He stopped smoking cannabis and felt like
he was ready to move out of his parents' [music] house and face the world again.
Andrew moved into a share house in South Perth, but his newfound optimism was short-lived when he was unsuccessful at
a number of job interviews. When one of his [music] housemates lit up a joint, Andrew couldn't resist his
old habit. Within a few months, he was broke and borderline homeless, wandering the
streets of Perth [music] and telling fanciful stories in order to secure a place to sleep for the night.
By the time he was living at Michelle's house, Andrew was in the middle of a manic episode.
He survived off social security payments and by selling items that he either came
upon or stole. He dressed oddly in layers and spoke often about his interest in Celtic
[music] design and spiritualism, telling people he was a Viking or a warrior who
could [music] speak multiple languages. He came under the attention of police due to his everinccreasing erratic
behavior. While at the East Perth lockup after his arrest for the break-in, Andrew was left
at a desk unattended [music] for a period of time. He helped himself to a police tie in and a badge, thinking
they would come in handy to help bolster his Interbol story to Michelle and impress her.
A sergeant from the East Perth lockup nominated [music] him as a person of interest in Pamela Lawrence's murder,
telling the detectives that he was quote, "A bloke you need to be [music] interested in."
Detective Caporn went to the Franklin Center to speak with Andrew Mard. Upon seeing him, he thought he bore a
resemblance to the identicate picture of the man Catherine had seen in the store.
asked for his whereabouts at the time of Pamela Lawrence's murder. Andrew said that after being released from the East
Perth lockup at around 3:45 p.m., he'd waited around for a while before catching a taxi back to Michelle's unit
in Mossman Park, arriving about 5:00 p.m. This contradicted Michelle's account that Andrew had returned home around
6:30 p.m. Andrew also said that he used to wear bandanas, but had stopped doing so
several months earlier. Detective Caporn visited the taxi company that Andrew had used and spoke
to the driver who had picked him up on the evening of Monday, May 23. The driver had no trouble remembering
Andrew because he told him that he was a rock star from England, and he hadn't dropped him off at
Michelle's unit, but at a different unit block a little further down Michelle's street.
They'd arrived at 5:00 p.m. and Andrew had told the driver he was just running in to collect some friends and would be
right back. When Andrew still hadn't returned by 5:20 p.m., the driver realized that
Andrew had done a runner on him. Eager to question Andrew about this new information, [music] Detective Caporn
returned to the Franklin Center the following day. He wanted to know more about the
90-minute gap [music] between when the taxi driver dropped Andrew off and when Michelle said he arrived home.
Andrew came [music] clean, admitting that he'd run off without paying the taxi and that he'd gotten dropped off at
that particular unit block because he knew people there he could score dope off of.
He gave the names of numerous people who he said could vouch for his whereabouts.
Detectives [music] canvased the unit block to verify Andrew's story, but none of the people he mentioned remembered
[music] seeing him during the time in question. Police obtained a [music] warrant to
take his clothes for forensic testing. There was no blood on any of his clothing, but his right shoe tested
positive for two different blood groups. One was undetermined, the other was [music] type B.
On average, type a B blood is only found in 4% of the population. It just [music] so happened to be Pamela
Lawrence's blood group. The discovery of the blood, combined with Andrew Malard's inconsistent
stories, lack of alibi, admitted drug use, and recent criminal history, had Detective Caporn convinced that he'd
found Pamela's killer. While the blood was tested [music] for DNA, he briefed the rest of the team
about what he'd so far uncovered. Then on Friday, June 3, the results of the DNA test came back.
It was the moment Detective Caporn had been waiting for. But the initial tests showed that the
blood wasn't Pamela's. It was Andrews. A week later on Friday, June 10, Andrew Meard was released from the Franklin
Center 2 days later than scheduled with a diagnosis of manic depression and bipolar disorder.
His condition was deemed manageable so long as he agreed to keep up regular appointments for [music] treatment.
Andrew was put back before a magistrate with the result and was officially free to go.
Detective Caporn was waiting for him outside the courtroom. He approached Andrew and asked if he was prepared to
go back to the station to answer a few more questions. If so, Caporn said he would give him back the clothes and
shoes that had been confiscated for forensic testing. Having no other clothes of his own,
Andrew agreed and was taken to an interview room at police headquarters. Given that he had agreed to the police
interview voluntarily and wasn't under arrest, his rights weren't read to him. [music] And despite his mental illness,
he wasn't offered a lawyer or support person. Although the interview room was equipped
with recording equipment, the police did not record their conversation. Asked again about his movements on the
evening of Monday, May 23, Andrew Meard reiterated his story about taking a taxi
to the unit block in Mossman Park, where he did a runner and tried to score some
cannabis before returning to Michelle Angelhart's flat. He also informed the detectives that
he'd actually been inside Flora Metallica in the days leading up to Pamela's murder. He said he was trying
to sell some of his jewelry, but [music] was told they weren't that type of store.
The detectives started questioning [music] Andrew's story, saying they'd spoken to the people he said could
verify his alibi, and no one recalled seeing him at the unit that Monday evening.
They prodded him with questions. [music] How come you can't remember where you were or what you were doing, Andrew? Why
are you lying, Andrew? What are you trying to hide, Andrew? Just make it easier on yourself and tell us the truth
about what really happened. We can help you. [music] Pressed about the inconsistencies in his
story, Andrew said he was either confused or couldn't remember. He also claimed that he was a police informant,
described himself as a flim flam man, and made [music] grandio statements about his skills and intelligence.
The detectives [music] knew about the tie pin and police badge that Andrew had stolen to impress Michelle.
Asked about these items, Andrew said a friend had given them to him, not knowing that they had serial numbers,
which proved he was lying. The interview went on for about 5 hours before it was put directly to Andrew
that he might be responsible for Pamela Lawrence's murder. He emphatically denied it, stating, "I
didn't murder her. I didn't do it. I swear to God, I didn't murder her." Told that a witness had placed someone
matching his description in the store around the time Pamela was killed. Andrew said, "You can put me in the
store when I asked that woman about jewelry, but no way did I do the murder." He became increasingly upset, saying, "I
have been cooperative, and you were trying to pin me for the murder. That's it. I didn't do it. I'm innocent. I
swear I didn't do it." As the pressure continued to mount, Andrew told the detectives that he had
gone into Flora Metallica on the night Pamela [music] was killed, but only to case it for a potential robbery.
He claimed to have locked eyes with a girl in a passing car before hearing a noise and leaving.
Andrew then immediately retracted this story, saying that he'd made it all up to get the detectives off his back.
Asked then how he knew about the girl in the passing car. Andrew said, "I am a very intelligent man. I worked it out
from the things you said to me." By the time the interview had reached the 6 or 7 hour mark, Andrew had reached
a breaking point. He started crying, saying that the person who had murdered Pamela Lawrence was very scared and
didn't want to get caught. He then started giving a strange third person account of what he believed could
have [music] happened, saying that he could get into the killer's head and that the person responsible was evil.
According to Andrew, the killer had just kept hitting Pamela and couldn't stop. [music] With that, Detective Caporn
began reading Andrew his rights, but Andrew continued talking about the hypothetical killer.
Andrew said that the killer was looking to steal something and had entered the store via the back door only to find
that Pamela Lawrence was still there locking up. The killer got scared and started
hitting Pamela on the head with a wrench. Once he started, he couldn't stop. He then looked outside and saw the
teenager in the car looking at him. So, he realized he had to get out. He dragged Pamela's body to the back door
and realized she was making gurgling noises, so he hit her again before running out. [music] He murdered her.
He's very scared. He doesn't want to get caught, Andrew said. This person, the evil person, I don't
know his name. When the detectives asked where the wrench was, Andrew said the killer had
caught a train to the nearby suburb of North Fremantle and thrown it into the ocean.
Outside of the interview room, lead detective Malcolm Shervel spoke to Peter Lawrence on the phone.
Peter confirmed that a 10-in Sid Chrome brand wrench could possibly be missing from Pamela's workshop.
As far as the detectives were concerned, Andrew's hypothetical third person account was actually a confession.
Detective Caporn asked if the evil person he was talking about was himself, to which Andrew responded, "No, [music]
this evil person is not me." The detectives asked him to go back through the [music] story again, wanting
to know how he could possibly know these details if he wasn't the one responsible.
Andrew lost it and started yelling and swearing. He emphatically denied any involvement in Pamela's murder,
reasoning that he'd just been telling the detectives what he thought they wanted to hear so he could leave the
interview room. He repeatedly [music] protested his innocence, but his aggression led to a physical altercation
in which he bit Detective Kborn on the upper thigh. The interview was over. Andrew Mard was
charged with assaulting a police officer and after being examined at the hospital
was granted bail [music] and allowed to leave the station. He never got his clothes back as
promised. No longer welcome at Michelle Angelhard's flat and not wanting to go home to his parents, Andrew was forced
to sleep in a park. A few days later, while hanging out in the park, he met a man named [music]
Gary. The two immediately hit it off, and Andrew was impressed when Gary drove him around to score some dope. He was
even more impressed when Gary treated him to a couple of nights in a hotel room.
Gary said he was writing a book about Pamela's murder and that he wanted Andrew's help. He was curious to know
Andrew's theory about what had happened. Andrew told Gary the same story [music]
he'd told the detectives. Gary then started mentioning possible weapons, asking Andrew if he believed a
Sid chrome brand wrench could have been used in the murder. He also asked if Andrew thought there had been a lot of
blood, what the killer did with his clothes, where the killer could have got the weapon from, and where they disposed
of it afterwards. Andrew was happy to speculate. With Gary taking note of all his answers, he said
the motive of the murder was likely robbery. The murder weapon was a wrench, which had been thrown off a bridge into
the Swan River. The killer had washed the blood off his clothes using the salt water in the river, [music] which in
Andrew's words would [ __ ] with the forensics. It was clear that Andrew was not
mentally well. Between the in-depth discussions about Pamela's murder, he was also smoking a lot of cannabis and
[music] his behavior was becoming more and more erratic. He started talking about how he had
passed through several dimensions and saying that his soul could enter different bodies.
He also told Gary he was really a Viking warrior. With that comment, Gary encouraged
Andrew to participate in a makeover. He bought Andrew a secondhand pair of [music] boots, an army jacket, and a
kilt, and then took him to get his head partly shaved. There you go, Andrew. you look much more
like a Viking warrior now. In reality, Gary was an undercover police officer who had been sent to
befriend Andrew. The reason Andrew had been allowed to leave the police station after being
charged with assaulting an officer in the first place was that the detectives wanted to run an undercover operation on
him. Other than the unrecorded ramblings about how he believed Pamela's murder could have happened, they had no
evidence against him. They hoped Gary could coax something out. But again, while Andrew hadn't confessed directly,
the police believed the story he was giving contained information that only the killer could possibly know.
Fearing Andrew really was the murderer and seeing his behavior become increasingly erratic, Gary started to
fear for his safety. The undercover operation was called off with no admissions of guilt or any other
evidence that could tie Andrew to the crime. On the morning of Friday, June 14, Andrew Meard was due to attend court for
the assault charge against him, but failed to show up. A warrant was therefore issued for his
arrest, which was enacted upon by detective Francis Brandom, an investigator who was working on Pamela's
murder case. Brandom took Andrew back to the station for another round of questioning.
Again, Andrew revealed his third person theory of what he believed could have happened.
This time [music] he added in a description of Pamela's injuries, saying he was able to do so because the police
had shown him a photo during his first interview. When asked directly about the bandana
that 13-year-old Catherine had seen the man in the store wearing, [music] Andrew
said he wasn't wearing a bandana that day, but he had been wearing a backwoods cap.
He agreed that when turned around it might look like a bandanna. The detectives then handed Andrew a
piece of paper and asked him to draw the wrench he believed the killer had used.
Andrew did as he was told and remembering what Gary had told him, he even wrote the brand name Sid Chrome on
it. All up, Andrew was interviewed for 11 and 1/2 hours, only 30 minutes of which
was recorded on video. Throughout the remaining 11 hours, the detectives merely took unsigned notes, just like
they did during the first interview. When the tape was turned on, the detectives went back over Andrew's story
and asked him various questions based on the information he'd given them, mostly
while speaking in the third person, [music] but also speaking in the first person at
times. >> Okay. Now, I've told you that you don't have to be undergo a video recorded
record interview. Is that correct? You told me that and what's your >> My response to that is I want to be
video recorded so that um I can be cleared. >> Okay. All right. Okay. We brought you in
this morning and we had a conversation in relation to the murder of Pamela Lawrence at Mosman Park. Do you agree
with that? I do. Okay. During the course of those discussions, you told us certain things. Okay. You
said that you um needed money. >> I did. >> Okay. And that and you told us that um
you went in the rear went in through the rear of the shop at Flora Metallica. Is
that what you told us? >> I told you that. >> Okay. Okay. I'm just going to go through
that now. Okay. What you told us. All right. We'll sort the rest out later. Okay. You told us that you went on the
front on the glo and that you were looking back and you saw that the floor metallica 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 desri you described the steps
to us and you described the rear door and the fly screen door. You may say something else.
>> Okay. Yeah. Go on. >> If Pamela Lawrence was locking this door up, maybe she came in through the back
way and the front door was already locked. Maybe. >> Okay. Yep. >> And she left the key in the in the back
door and that's why he had easy access and that's why she didn't hear him until he was much to go on with what you told
us earlier. Okay. Before we go into anything else, you happy with that? >> Very happy with that.
>> Okay, no problem. >> You told us that she became hysterical and started screaming.
>> That's right. And that you said that you didn't mean this is again this it's difficult because this is what you said.
>> I didn't mean to. You said you didn't mean to >> cause any further injury. >> Okay.
>> Because it panic I panicked and at the time I thought I was on speed or drugs
but maybe not. You thought I think you said initially that you only meant to knock her out.
>> Uh, that's right. >> Okay. You told us that she was um dressed in what? >> A skirt of some sort. Again, being a
woman of taste and sophistication, she would have had to be more a not a skirt like this, but one that joins up.
>> All right. >> Okay. But the the [clears throat] fact is that um 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 us.
>> I say that is my my version, my conjecture of the scene of the crime. >> Okay. All right. We'll leave it at that.
>> The detectives pressed on saying, "You told us you went in through the rear of
the shop at Flora Metallica. Now you said you went into the shed." [music] "Yes," Andrew responded. I told you
that. You told us you got a wrench. Is that correct? The detectives asked. [music]
A wrench from the toolbox, Andrew replied. The detectives pointed out that Andrew
had told them he went into the store to rob Pamela. He responded, "This is what I imagined this person
would say." The detective replied, "Okay, what I'm saying is this is what you told us, and
you said to us you hit her how many times?" to which Andrew replied, "I would say 6 to 12 at the max."
Although the detectives maintained that only the killer could possibly know this
information, a lot of the details Andrew gave were actually incorrect. His description of Pamela's purse and
handbag were wrong, as was his description of the car 13-year-old Catherine had been in. His description
of Pamela's workshop at the back of the store and what was inside was also wrong.
After the interview ended, Andrew Meard still had to face court over the assault
charges against him. Again, the judge sent him back to the Franklin Center for an assessment.
Meanwhile, the detectives working on Pamela's murder presented their case to one of the state's top prosecutors, John
McKnney. Their case relied mostly on Andrew's supposed confessions, which had been given mostly in the third person
and without being recorded. All up, Andrew had been interviewed for a total of 19 hours, but less than an
hour of that was captured on tape. The rest of his account relied on detectives notes.
[music] Given that Andrew had never signed those notes, it meant he hadn't corroborated what was said. But Mcknne
felt that what was captured on tape was enough to proceed with a murder charge. On July 19, 8 weeks after Pamela was
killed, Andrew Malard was released from the Franklin Center and into the custody
of detectives. He was charged with the murder of Pamela Lawrence. This [music] time he wasn't sent back to
the hospital. He was sent to prison. At a subsequent preliminary hearing, the judge ruled that the unsigned records of
Andrew's supposed confessions would be admissible at trial and that therefore the prosecution had enough evidence to
proceed. A trial date was set for November 2 the following year. Given that Andrew had no money, he was
represented by a government-appointed public defender. [music] Not convinced that the public defender
assigned was up to the task, [music] Andrew requested the more specialized skills of a senior barristister,
the public defender actually agreed with him and applied for funding to get a barristister onto the case.
But because they had left it so late to make that happen, they would need an adjournment.
The judge didn't allow them one, [music] and the trial was to proceed as scheduled.
>> [music] >> When the trial commenced, the case was prosecuted by Ken Bates. In his opening
address, he presented Pamela's murder as a robbery gone wrong. Bates's case was that Andrew went to the
jewelry store with the intention of breaking in, thinking no one was there. He was surprised to see Pamela still
there working late. He panicked and [music] bludgeoned her to death with a wrench.
He stole her purse, but then due to his panicked state, he left before he could steal anything else.
The video of Andrew's police interview was presented. [music] Although the video started and ended
with Andrew protesting his innocence, Bates described it as a confession intricate in nature with details only
the killer could know. Detective Caporn took the stand and gave evidence over several days.
He went through the first 8-hour interview with Andrew, reading his unsigned written notes.
Bates didn't call the undercover officer, Gary, as a witness. In fact, the undercover operation wasn't
mentioned by the prosecution at all, and it wasn't mentioned by the defense either because they didn't know what had
ever happened. Andrew Mard took the stand and gave evidence in [music] his own defense,
denying everything the prosecution was alleging. At one [music] point, he even looked at
Peter Lawrence directly and said, "I did not kill your wife, Mr. Lawrence. I had
nothing to do with it." Andrew denied, saying that [music] he had killed Pamela with a wrench,
claiming it was just his theory about what the killer might have used. The trial lasted for 2 weeks and it
didn't take the jury long to reach their verdict. Guilty. Andrew Malard was sentenced on December
21, 1995 with the judge declaring, "You showed no sign of remorse during your trial or now." At trial, you
displayed confident, assertive behavior and displayed clear evidence you are a manipulative individual prepared to lie,
[music] cheat, steal, and defraud if the need arose. You went to the shop to commit burglary,
but when you realized that you would be identified, you panicked [music] and struck Pamela Lawrence repeatedly with a
heavy wrench. Andrew stood up and screamed, insisting, "I did not." But the judge continued,
"The blows were delivered until you were satisfied she was dead. Your sentence will be 20 years of strict security life
imprisonment." Andrew continued to scream and protest his innocence as he was dragged away.
The 20-year sentence was just the non-p parole period, which meant it was possible that Andrew would never be
released, especially when a big factor in securing parole is remorse. Andrew Mard appealed his sentence and it
was heard at the Court of Criminal Appeal in June 1996 before three Supreme Court judges.
By this point, Andrew was being represented by a barristister who attacked the so-called confessions.
He labeled them as unreliable given that although a video camera was available in
the room the entire time, less than 1 hour was recorded out of the 19 hours that Andrew was interviewed.
He also heavily attacked the inaccuracies of Andrew's supposed confession, [music] such as the
descriptions of Pamela's purse, the car Catherine was driving past in, and Pamela's store itself.
He highlighted the fact that there was no forensic evidence, no positive ID, [music] and no murder weapon to tie his
client to the crime. The barristister also said it was extremely unlikely that Andrew would
have had enough time to exit the taxi at the unit block in Mossman Park at 5:00 p.m. only to make it roughly 350 m to
Flora Metallica to be seen by Catherine at 5:02 p.m. The prosecution relied on what they
called the 15 things in Andrew's confession that only the murderer could have known.
But some of these details had been told to [music] Andrew, such as the fact that
the murder weapon was a Sid Chrome wrench. There was no proof that a wrench had been used, and no murder weapon had ever
been uncovered. [music] But this detail formed part of the 15-point case against
Andrew regardless. The appeal judges listened to both sides before retiring to reach their verdict.
3 months later, they unanimously dismissed Andrew's appeal and his conviction was upheld.
However, the ruling did come with a warning to police. Unrecorded confessions would no longer
be allowed. The ruling also stated that while there had been some unsatisfactory aspects of
Andrew's case, there had been no miscarriage of justice. This ruling meant there was only one
court left for Andrew to go, the High Court. But you couldn't just take any old case to the High Court.
Generally speaking, the High Court is only interested in severe miscarriages [music]
of justice or matters of national importance. Andrew would have to convince three
judges that his appeal had grounds to be heard there. His barrista pleaded the case to the judges, but they weren't
convinced that the case had merit to be heard in the high court. With that, it was done. Andrew Meard
would be imprisoned for life. Andrew struggled to cope with the ruling. He demanded to take a lie
detector test and even demanded to be injected with truth serum. As time went on, he started to believe he was the
victim of a big conspiracy. He was convinced the authorities must be trying to brainwash him. The real killer
must be a powerful man. And Andrew was set up as a psy. He started to believe that everyone was
in on it. The murderer, the police, the lawyers, the judges, the prison guards, everyone.
He became convinced that the long police interviews were actually brainwashing sessions designed to convince him he was
responsible for Pamela's murder. He went to the prison library trying to find anything he could about brainwashing and
hypnosis. Convinced this could be the only explanation. The idea continued to grow in Andrew's
head. He started to see the jail as a brainwashing facility in which the lights were actually cameras recording
his every move and the live feed was being sent back to Detective Caporn. The distress alarm in his cell was a
speaker where messages were whispered to him in his sleep. He saw other prisoners
as actors whose job was to convince him he was in prison when really they were part of the brainwashing conspiracy.
Andrew became obsessed with this idea, refusing to speak to any other prisoners and even cutting off all visits from his
family. He even put a sign in his cell that read, "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 this, Andrew was known to be a passive, well- behaved prisoner who kept
to himself, and he was therefore generally left alone. Andrew's parents, Roy and Grace, as well
as his sister, Jackie, never believed that Andrew was guilty. Convinced [music] that the story didn't add up,
Roy dedicated himself to studying court transcripts, witness accounts, and legal
books to try and find a hole in the case against his son. While obsessing over Andrew's case, Roy started to experience
pain in his stomach. A trip to the doctors revealed it was cancer and that Roy didn't have long to live.
Roy told Grace not to tell Andrew. [music] Already concerned about his mental state, he didn't want to give him
something else to worry about. Grace agreed [music] and Roy died less than 4 weeks later.
[music] Having cut off all visits, Andrew hadn't seen his family for years. When his mother broke the news to him
about his father's death, Andrew didn't believe her. Still running [music] with his conspiracy theory, he believed the
powers at play had gotten to his family, [music] and the story of his father's death was designed to finally make him
crack. Don't worry, Mom. Andrew [music] said, "I know you've been told to say this.
Tell Dad I know he's all right." "Don't worry about me, okay?" [music] His sister couldn't convince him
either. In Andrew's view, his dad was the strongest man he knew and was in great health. There was no way he was
dead. [music] Although Andrew was upset that the authorities had gotten to his family,
[music] he was determined not to let them break him. Grace Mallard never wavered from her
belief that her son was innocent. She spoke to anyone she could about his case, including Colleen Egan, an
investigative journalist for Channel 7's current affairs program, Today Tonight.
While Colleen wasn't interested in covering [music] the story for Today Tonight, she was interested in it
personally. What caught her attention was a letter that a well-known barrista named Malcolm
McCaskca had written to the Malard family. As a former court reporter, Colleen knew who was who in the legal
circles, and Macascar was well respected. He had written that he found Andrew's case very unsettling, but nothing could
be done unless fresh evidence emerged. Only then, if presented to a jury, might the outcome change.
That was enough to encourage Colleen to take a look at the court transcripts. She soon became convinced that Andrew
had been given a raw deal and agreed to help, enlisting the assistance of his defense barrista, who offered his
services for free. When Andrew's family went to tell him that a reporter was interested in
helping them, he was far from impressed. Convinced this was just another part of
the conspiracy, [music] he refused to talk, saying that he didn't want any help.
Colleen advised Andrew's family that they should worry about getting Andrew's psychiatric help before they worried
about fighting the case against him. The prison was initially reluctant to force Andrew into any treatment. Sure,
his behavior was odd, but he wasn't violent and he wasn't causing any trouble. Eventually, they changed their
stance and Andrew was once again sent to the Franklin Center for an assessment by
a psychiatrist. Being [music] in the hospital for the third time seemed to snap Andrew back to
reality. He realized there was no way his fellow patients could be [music] actors and
that he was in a real hospital. It suddenly became clear to him that this was not a conspiracy.
This was [music] real. The switch was flicked. Andrew was back. Putting an end to his conspiracy
thinking, Andrew wanted to cooperate with the psychiatrist and prove he was innocent.
After a few months of treatment, his condition greatly improved [music] and he was sent back to prison.
Andrew apologized to his family, [music] saying his conspiracy theory was the only way he could rationalize what had
happened to him. [music] Andrew's sister, Jackie, called Colleen Egan and told her the good news.
Andrew was ready, but it was a long process. Colleen worked on the case for 4 years with the help of Andrew's
barrista and many others, but they couldn't find the fresh evidence they needed to launch a new appeal.
At a standstill, Colleen decided to approach an unlikely ally. Johnwigley was a well-known lawyer who
spent 25 years working with the police union, defending police officers accused of wrongdoing.
rarely losing a case. He'd earned an exceptional reputation as one of the best lawyers you could get. He was also
a big personality who didn't mind the limelight. Quigley knew everything there was to
know about police procedures and [music] practices. That's what made him such a good person to approach, but it was
risky. [music] Having spent 25 years defending police officers, he developed some solid
relationships and contacts. He was the only non-p police officer to be given a life membership of the police
union. Colleen knew [music] this from her crime reporting days, and she also knew that
Quigley had recently quit law and taken up politics, [music] becoming a Labour Party backbencher.
During the 4 years she'd been working on Andrew's case, Colleen had also changed
jobs. It just so happened she was now working for the Australian newspaper [music] covering politics.
Colleen approached Quigley and let him know that she strongly believed an innocent man was behind bars. What
better start to his career in politics than to help [music] get an innocent man out of prison.
Although Quigley didn't make any [music] promises, he told Colleen he would have
a look at the case and get back to her. Quigley immediately saw a problem. The case against Andrew relied strongly on
the belief that he had killed Pamela using a SID chrome wrench. But the forensic pathologist who
performed Pamela's autopsy, Dr. Clive Cook, said he wasn't convinced that Pamela had been killed using a wrench
and that he hadn't yet seen a wrench that would cause the injuries she had sustained.
Something else didn't sit right with Quigley. After Andrew's first police interview when he was charged with
assaulting a police officer, he'd been allowed to leave despite having nowhere to live at the time. It was very unusual
for an accused offender to be released on bail if they were experiencing homelessness.
Quigley compared this fact with the evidence given by Detective Francis Brandom, who had arrested Andrew after
he failed to show up in court for the assault charge. According to Detective Brandom, he'd
just been driving around when he happened to see Andrew in the park he'd been sleeping in. [music] So, he'd
arrested him on the warrant and conducted the second interview in relation to Pamela Lawrence's murder.
Quigley was able to put two and two together pretty quickly. He realized that Andrew had initially been released
because the police were running an undercover operation on him [music] and that they knew where he'd been the
entire time. He also found it unusual that there had been no mention of the undercover
operation at Andrew's trial. Colleen's idea to approach John Quigley had paid off, as these were [music]
things that stood out to him that Colleen and the others hadn't seen. Assuming that more had probably been
hidden, Quigley decided to meet with the forensic pathologist, [music] 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 had told the detectives in charge of the
case as well as the prosecutor. I find it hard to believe a wrench would have caused these injuries.
Quigley showed him the sketch that Andrew had drawn of the Sidcchrome wrench that had been presented as
evidence during his trial. Dr. Cook had never seen it before. Despite having testified himself, the
sketch had never been shown to Dr. Cook, nor had he been asked on the stand if a
wrench could have caused Pamela's injuries. [music] This was enough for the ball to start
rolling. Colleen Egan started writing articles about the potential miscarriage of justice while John Quigley started
making some noise about it, too. Up until that point, all they had were the court transcripts. So, he used his
political connections to get a hold of the prosecution file. [music] One thing immediately stood out.
Back in 1994, tests had been done on a pig's head to see if a wrench could make the same wound suffered by Pamela
Lawrence. They didn't match. The results of this test were never disclosed to the defense or mentioned at
the trial. Given that the wrench was the only weapon ever mentioned in Andrew's so-called confession, and it was
incapable of inflicting Pamela's injuries, this alone was enough for Quigley to realize that there were some
grave doubts about the reliability of Andrew's confession. The prosecution file also confirmed
Quigley's suspicion that an undercover operation had taken place. By this point, several years had passed
since Andrew's trial, and the prosecutor, Chem Bates, was now highly respected and esteemed in his field.
John McKnney, who was the top prosecutor in the state at the time, and who gave the detectives the go-ahad to charge
Andrew, was now a serving Supreme Court judge. Detectives Shervel and Caporn, who had
been central in the case against Andrew, were now assistant police commissioners.
Detective Brandom, who arrested Andrew and conducted the second interview, was now a superintendent.
Not surprisingly, there was resistance to what Quigley was saying about the case.
Headlines read that Quigley was trying to get a vicious murderer off on a non-disclosure technicality. Those who
had been involved in the investigation and trial maintained that the case against Andrew Malard was strong. They
argued that he had made a solid confession and a jury had been convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was
the killer. But enough had been uncovered for the case to be referred back to the court of
criminal appeal. Prosecutors were determined to fight. While they conceded that they should
have disclosed all of the information, they maintained it was just an oversight and wouldn't have affected the outcome
of the trial. Barristister Malcolm McCusca, whose letter had initially sparked Colleen
Egan's interest in the [music] case, was defending Andrew. And because the case was back before the court and [music]
full disclosure had now been made, there were a few more issues that came up. Michelle Engelhart, the woman Andrew had
been living with at the time of Pamela's murder, had given several statements to
police. Each one was slightly different to the one before it, [music] with details either added in or taken out to
better fit the theory that Andrew was responsible for the crime. Only Michelle's last statement had been
given to the defense, which conveniently made no mention of crucial details that
Michelle had previously given, such as the fact that the baseball cap Andrew often wore had been hanging on a hook at
her home at the time Pamela's murder took place. This was the same cap that the prosecution alleged Andrew had been
wearing backwards at the time he killed Pamela, which 13-year-old Catherine had mistaken for some type of bandana.
[music] Catherine had made her own sketch of the suspicious man she'd seen in the store as soon as she'd arrived
home and had also written her own account about what she'd witnessed. [music] In those, Katherine had described the
man's bandana as being blue, green, and cream in color with an orange border. Eight weeks later, when giving another
statement, she was shown Andrew Malard's cap, which was red, yellow, and black with gold braiding around the edge.
After this, a detective added a note to her statement which read, "I have been shown a cap by the police and I cannot
say if it was what I saw on the man in Flora Metallica on Monday, 23 May 1994. I can say that it has the same colors of
what I saw the man wearing in the shop that day." Catherine's final statement simply
described the suspect's headwear as being mixed colored and patented and made no mention of the original sketches
she had drawn in the immediate aftermath. Andrew was also taller than the man Catherine had described and didn't have
a beard, but a mustache. When Catherine had been shown a photo lineup that included Andrew, she had
failed to pick him out as the man she'd seen. None of these details were mentioned in
her final statement, nor were they presented at Andrew's trial. [music] Some vital information had also
been removed from a forensic report, and only the amended version had been supplied to the defense and presented as
evidence at Andrew's trial. [music] The information that had been removed was that there was no trace of salt water on
Andrew's clothing. [music] This was significant because when Andrew had given the police his theory about
Pamela's murder, he said that the killer had washed his clothes in the Swan River
because the salt water quote [ __ ] with the forensics. Given the investigators had treated
Andrew's third person rants as a confession, the fact that there was no salt water on his clothes nor any of
Pamela's blood didn't look good for their case against him. Prosecutor Cam Bates had told the jury
that Andrew had washed his clothes in the river regardless. [music] Andrew's new defense team therefore
argued that evidence had purposely been withheld, altered, or omitted [music] in
order to strengthen the prosecution's case. The case was heard for the second time
in the Court of Criminal Appeal on December 3, 2003, [music] by which point Andrew had spent 8 years in jail.
Neither detectives [music] Sherville or Caporn were called as witnesses by the prosecution during the
appeal, [music] meaning the defense could not cross-examine them. The panel of judges ultimately agreed
that there had been non-disclosure issues, but they didn't think these details would have affected the [music]
outcome of the trial. Their ruling was unanimous. Appeal dismissed, conviction upheld.
Undeterred, Andrew's defense team applied to have their case heard in the high court. And this [music] time, their
application was successful. On October 27, 2004, almost a year after their appeal was rejected, [music] the
High Court judges granted special leave to hear Andrew's case. While this meant his legal team had
gotten a foot in the door, there was still a long road ahead, and it would still be another year before the case
was heard. The High Court operates separately to the state systems and is located in
Canra, the nation's capital. Andrew's team were far more optimistic that they'd get a fair hearing outside
of Western Australia. The high court hearing went ahead on October 6th, 2005, and Andrew's [music]
team outlined the same evidence and issues which they believe amounted to a wrongful conviction.
Again, the judges reached a unanimous decision. But unlike the appellet judges before them, they believed that the only
evidence linking Andrew to the crime were admissions to police, which they labeled as bizarre and fanciful
statements and concluded that he had indeed suffered a miscarriage of justice. Andrew's conviction was quashed and a
retrial was ordered with the Corruption and Crime Commission subsequently launching an investigation into the
allegations of misconduct by the lead detectives and the prosecutor. The prosecution didn't back [music]
down, declaring they had every intention of pursuing the retrial, but their attitude changed when a judge
ruled that Andrew's alleged unrecorded confessions and the accompanying unsigned interview notes would not be
admissible in the second trial. On February 20, 2006, the prosecution cited [music] this ruling as their
deciding factor not to go ahead with a retrial. The police agreed, saying that the case
would remain closed and that Andrew Malard remained their prime [music] suspect in Pamela's murder and that he'd
only been let off on a technicality. After being locked up for 12 years, Andrew Meard was free.
A blood spatter expert was in Perth testifying in an unrelated trial when he saw the media coverage about Andrew's
release. Intrigued, [music] he studied the photos of Pamela's bloody clothing and formed an opinion about who had
killed her. He believed the real person [music] responsible for her murder was her
husband, Peter Lawrence. Despite the police saying the case would remain closed, public pressure mounted
and they [music] were forced to reopen the case and have another look. A special crime squad was formed to
re-examine every piece of evidence using technology that [music] didn't exist 12
years earlier in the hopes it would uncover new information. And it [music] did.
The partial palm print that had been found on the glass countertop at the crime scene was fed through the computer
system, and it quickly produced a match, but it wasn't what anyone was expecting.
In July 1994, just 7 weeks after Pamela's murder, [music] an English backpacker named Simon Roford was
arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Bridget Dickens. Simon had been in Perth for only 6
months at the time, having met local woman shortly after he arrived. Simon had spun a whole heap of lies to
Brea about who he really was and what he was doing. He told her grand tales of being rich and successful when really he
was a criminal who had overstayed his tourist visa. [music] Regita had caught on to his lies
and confronted Simon, threatening to report him to immigration. But Simon was the prime suspect in
[music] a stabbing murder back in England, and he didn't want to risk being deported.
To save himself, Simon had bludgeoned Brega [music] to death with a crude instrument he had made himself using a
weight collar and an old saw handle, causing traumatic brain injury. [music] He then dumped her body in the boot of
her car along with the murder weapon, which he had painted blue. Simon didn't put up much of a fight when
he was arrested for Breida's murder. He was interviewed by Detective Brandom, the same detective who had conducted
Andrew Malard's second interview just a month earlier, during which Simon made a
full videotaped confession. [music] Simon Roford was subsequently sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole
period of 15 years, which was 5 years shorter than what Andrew received. Brea's wounds were the [music] same as
Pamela's. The unknown pieces of blue material in Pamela's wounds [music] were a perfect match to the paint from
Simon's handmade weapon. Brea's autopsy had been conducted by the same forensic pathologist who [music]
conducted Pamela's and some of the same detectives had worked on both cases. The same public defender who had
defended Simon Roford also went on to defend Andrew Meard at his first trial. Despite these factors and the short
amount of time between the two crimes, [music] no investigators had ever linked them, nor had any members of the public
ever nominated Simon Rutford as a person of interest. At the time of Pamela's murder, Simon's
fingerprints hadn't yet been put into the police computer [music] system. And after he was arrested for killing Brega,
no one had checked his prince against those found at Pamela's crime scene because the police were laser focused on
Andrew Malard. But [music] it was now obvious to the special crimes squad that the police had
been wrong from the get-go. The blood spatter report that had named Peter Lawrence as the killer [music] was
criticized, as it was now undeniably clear that Peter had nothing to do with his wife's murder.
But neither had Andrew Malard. Andrew had actually crossed paths with Simon Roford in jail. Although they
never spoke, Andrew recalled that Simon would sit and stare at him all day. Some of the other prisoners even got the
cases the two men were serving time for mixed up, saying to Andrew, "You're in here for that girl in the boot murder,
aren't you?" Andrew would reply, "No, that's the other guy. I'm innocent of my crime."
A detective was sent to Albany Prison to interview 38-year-old Simon Roford. Simon denied having anything to do with
Pamela Lawrence's murder and was placed on temporary suicide watch. We will never know what really happened
inside Flora Metallica on the day Pamela died and why Simon Roford did what he did. Because [music] 8 days after that
police interview, after the media publicly named him as the prime suspect in Pamela's murder, Simon took a putty
knife from the prison garden and hacked through [music] his wrist and neck, ending his life.
In 2008, the Corruption and Crime Commission completed their inquiry with the commission finding that Andrew's
false confessions could only be explained by the mental illness he was suffering from at the time. The
psychiatrist who had treated Andrew before and after his interviews with the police told the inquiry that Andrew's
bipolar disorder had been exacerbated by his cannabis use and that he'd been having trouble distinguishing fact from
fiction around the time he made the so-called admissions. Had he been questioned about the
confessions at Andrew's trial, the psychiatrist said he would have raised some serious doubts about their
reliability. According to the commission's findings, detectives Malcolm Shervel and David
Caporn had been so blinded by their tunnel vision on Andrew that they had changed aspects of the case to make it
fit him better. A comprehensive report of the investigation was released to the public
which stated, "The commission is satisfied that detectives Capornne and Shervel 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 to clothing
and headwear color so that more general descriptions could apply to Mr. Malard. The process demonstrates a pattern
[music] which the commission is satisfied cannot have been accidental or coincidence.
The commission ruled that detectives Sherville and Caporn who were now assistant commissioners be disciplined
for misconduct and that there were reasonable grounds for termination of their employment.
Prosecutor Cam Bates got the same recommendation. Despite these findings, the police
commissioner couldn't just go ahead and sack the officers involved. He had to conduct his own inquiry.
Before that could happen, Malcolm Shervel resigned with full benefits, while David Caporn resigned and took up
another government job. Ken Bates resigned and received a six-f figureure payout.
The judges involved in the trial and appeals process carried on with their careers.
In May 2009, it was announced that Andrew Malard would be receiving a $3.25 million payout from the government for
the 12 years he spent in [music] prison. A spokesperson for the attorney general
specified that it wasn't compensation, but a gift and [music] that if Andrew wanted compensation, he would have to
continue his fight. Despite being one of the highest exgratia payments made in Western
Australia at the time, [music] it was half of what Andrew had been seeking, and he found it woefully
inadequate, telling reporters he felt extremely disappointed. His disappointment was shared by his
longtime supporter, JohnWigley, who told reporters, "This man was taken from the streets as
a totally innocent person, imprisoned for 12 and 1/2 years, bashed in prison, [music] sent to a psychiatric hospital
where he was injected because he wouldn't accept his guilt. This is enormous what's happened to him.
For a man who has had to fight against the system, the DPP, the police, and the government for over 12 years to prove
his innocence, it's a bitter and [music] cruel blow to be told for the rest of your compensation.
Keep on fighting, sunshine. That is not fair. The years Andrew had spent in prison and
the entire ordeal had taken a great toll on him. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and
anxiety and underwent years of psychotherapy. He also continued to face scrutiny and
[music] abuse from certain members of the public who continued to believe he was guilty.
In 2010, he told ABC's Australian [music] story that there would always be a stigma that went with being wrongfully
imprisoned. People don't know the full story, Andrew said. They think I'm some sort of
psycho, some sort of mentally ill patient. I had done nothing wrong. I was innocent [music] and protested my
innocence from the word go. Tired of being recognized in Perth and eager for a fresh start, Andrew moved to
England. He had recently graduated from university with a degree in fine arts and planned to start a master's degree
in London. More than anything, he wanted to meet his soulmate, someone with whom
he could settle down and have a family. By 2019, things seemed to finally be working in his direction.
56-year-old Andrew had met a woman who lived in the United States and was head over heels in love. He traveled
frequently to meet up with her. And on the evening of April 18, 2019, he called his mother and sister to say that he was
getting married. The next day, his family received a call from the authorities to advise them that
Andrew had been involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident while crossing Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard.
The driver fled, leaving Andrew to die from his injuries. For Andrew's family, friends, and those
who had dedicated years to supporting him, the news came as a complete blow. 5 days after Andrew's death, a
20-year-old Los Angeles resident named Christopher Smith turned himself into police.
He faced 4 years in prison, but later struck a deal, receiving 30 days of weekend detention, 30 hours of community
service, and 3 years probation. Andrew's family told the prosecution it's what Andrew would have wanted,
saying, "Andrew knew only too well, as do we, the trauma, both emotional and mental, that imprisonment brings."
[music] Speaking to Australian Story about Andrew's death, John Quigley said he couldn't adequately explain the feeling
of grief that washed over him when he heard the news. Reflecting on the first time he'd ever
met Andrew, Quigley said, "I held that man in my arms in prison and promised I'd never leave him. I felt just a
little bit of me die when I heard this news." He described Andrew as a gentle man, an
honest person, saying, "I just think it's so unfair, so sad what happened. I'd like to think that Andrew's soul is
resting in peace. Andrew's death came as a painful shock for Pamela Lawrence's family as well.
Speaking publicly about the case for the first [music] time, Pamela's youngest daughter, Katie, told Australian story
that before Andrew had been cleared for her mother's murder, it had never occurred to her family that the justice
system could fail so dismally. Katie said, "I have enormous regrets at how long it took me to realize that
Andrew was innocent. [music] I really want people to know that my family believe Andrew is innocent 100%.
And we have nothing but regret for what he's [music] been put through, what his family and his supporters have gone
through. If it wasn't for them, I don't think we would ever have known the truth."
Despite everything that the Lawrence family had endured since Pamela was cruy taken from [music] them, Katie said,
"The last thing that mom would have wanted was for the wrong person to be punished over her death and for another
family to have to be put through such an unbelievable ordeal. [music] >> [music]

Casefile Revisited: Pamela Lawrence

Casefile Revisited features newly re-recorded versions of classic episodes, revisiting the stories with enhanced production, fresh narration, and updated research where possible.

When Mosman Park jewellery store owner Pamela Lawrence was late to return home from work on May 23 1994, her husband Peter went to check if everything was okay. There, he found Pamela clinging to life with serious head injuries, which she later succumbed to in the hospital.

Despite a lack of physical evidence or any DNA tying him to the crime scene, accused thief Andrew Mallard was soon arrested for Pamela’s murder. But was the hypothetical murder scenario that Mallard described a confession, or did the police have the wrong man?

CREDITS Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Anonymous Host Additional writing & editing – Elsha McGill Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer

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RESOURCES

The Pamela Lawrence episode was originally released in May 2016.

Brief Summary

The episode covers Pamela Lawrence's murder, Andrew Malard's wrongful conviction, and the eventual identification of the real killer.

Key points

Tragic Discovery. Peter finds his wife Pamela unconscious and severely injured at her jewelry store.
Murder Investigation Begins. The major crime squad investigates Pamela's murder, uncovering a web of mystery.
Detectives' Doubts. Detectives question Andrew's inconsistent stories and his alibi falls apart.
Andrew's Confession. Andrew's hypothetical account of the murder raises suspicion among detectives.
Undercover Operation. Andrew befriends an undercover officer who is investigating him.
Andrew's Trial Verdict. After a two-week trial, Andrew was found guilty of murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Whatever weapon had caused Pamela's injuries remained unknown.

The investigation into Pamela's murder reveals a mystery.

7:09WatchAug 1, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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