When a deadly accident doesn’t add up | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support
please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show
notes for this episode on your app or on our website aboriginal and torres strait islander peoples should be aware
that this episode contains the names of people who have passed away the families of cindy and mona lisa
smith have given caseval permission to wear this content [Music] cousins jacinta rose and mona lisa smith
had been inseparable since childhood the two girls were just one year apart in age and grew up
close to one another in the small town of burke located in central northern new south wales
jacinta who was the younger of the two was better known by her nickname of cindy she was born on october 23
1972 and was the youngest of seven children with four brothers and two sisters cindy lived with her mother iona dawn
smith and her siblings in a house on the east side of town she was often looked after by her
brother lloyd who was seven years her senior mona lisa's family resided on an aboriginal reserve
named the alice edwards village which was located about two and a half kilometers west of burke
known by locals as the reserve the alice edwards village consisted of 20 cottages which were run
down and overcrowded it was entirely populated by indigenous australians from two families
the edwards and the smiths siblings cousins and other extended family members lived
side by side and the close community provided a sense of safety and belonging to its residents
mona lisa was born on november 29 1971 to parents june smith and to dougie shillingsworth
on the night she was born her father had walked to burke hospital to visit june enter their newborn
singing nat king cole's song of mona lisa the entire way this led the couple to name their baby
girl after the famous song they also had another daughter fiona and four sons dougie held big dreams for all of his
children hoping that they would have good jobs and to lead successful lives the close-knit family spent their
evenings together dancing and singing but when mona lisa was just six years old dougie suffered a heart attack and
passed away cindy and mona attended primary school together before enrolling at the same
high school they were both happy-go-lucky popular kind and well-liked cindy was the nurturing
type taking on babysitting duties and caring for her younger cousins when needed mona also babysat for her
cousins and was sporty playing regularly in a netball team when cindy was in her early teens she
left high school and mona followed suit at the end of 1987 when she was 16 years old
cindy who was now 15 often travelled the short distance to the reserve to spend time with mona and her family
the two girls occasionally got up to mischief together but they were well behaved and widely
regarded as good kids because there wasn't a lot to do in burke which was a remote outback town they
would spend their time hanging out with friends visiting parks and swimming and fishing at the nearby
darling river on saturday december 5 1987 cindy and mona spent the day together and accompanied
one of their aunties to a nearby park by the time evening fell the two of them had decided to go into town
[Music] [Music] burke was a small town with a population of just 3400 people it was originally home to the nember
people but when white settlers arrived in the area during the mid-1800s these traditional land holders were
dispossessed like all indigenous people across australia the nember people battled a
loss of land and culture were hit hard by european disease and experienced conflict with colonists
by the late 19th century their population had dwindled while some continued to live a
traditional lifestyle in the regions surrounding burke others found employment on nearby cattle
stations in the 1940s burke's indigenous population grew again when displaced people from other regions
arrived the majority of these indigenous settlers were wonkamara people from the far northwest of new south
wales and they included some of cindy smith's relatives by the late 1980s burke was home to a
mix of indigenous and white australians as well as itinerant workers who worked on the cotton farms in the surrounding
area aboriginal people in the community were often subjected to racism and discrimination
and to the town had a higher crime rate with significant levels of alcohol and drug abuse despite this
mona smith's sister fiona told caseville it generally felt like a safe place to live
neither cindy nor mona had ever travelled far from their hometown the furthest away they had been was the
town of angonia located 97 kilometers north of burke both girls were well known in their
community and had a number of friends and acquaintances around town on the evening of saturday december
5 they headed into burke at around 7 30 pm as it was early summer there was still
daylight when they arrived cindy who was the smaller of the two was wearing a blue
yellow and white striped t-shirt black tracksuit pants and blue and white runners
mona was dressed in black track suit pants and navy blue hoodie with the words perisher valley on the hood
white and blue football socks with red trim and a pair of runners the two girls went to the home of mona's
cousin 18 year old daniel booth then hung out near his house for a little while at around 9 pm they were seen walking
back to the reserve at 4 00 am on the morning of sunday december 6 three farm workers and their wives left
a farm north of burke to drive to a small town over the state border in southern
queensland it was still dark outside when the six of them piled into two separate
four-wheel drives and made their way to the nearby mitchell highway which is a key road link connecting new
south wales with queensland locals refer to the stretch of highway between burke
and the nearest town to the north angonia as the angonia road the rural two-lane roadway measures
about six metres wide and is bordered by red dirt and sparse patches of scrub with taller trees growing slightly
further away after traveling for about 30 minutes along angonia road the driver of the first vehicle farm
foreman tex johnson spotted a horrific scene a white 1985 toyota hilux ute sat wrapped by the side of the highway
with its driver's side roof smashed in and its windscreen lying on the ground nearby
along the shoulder of the road was a body lying face down tax told his wife adele to stay in the
car while he got out to inspect the crash he approached the body and saw that it
belonged to an adolescent aboriginal girl she had seemingly been tossed from the
car then rolled into a hollow dirt area by the side of the road that functioned as a drain the girl had
sustained severe injuries and was deceased she was wearing black tracksuit pants
and a navy blue hoodie the same outfit that burke teen mona lisa smith had been wearing the
previous day adele then called out of the car window that she could see two more bodies near some scrub by the
side of the road by this time the second four-wheel drive had arrived and pulled over it was being driven by
texas brother shane batty who had also gotten out to survey the scene tax approached the bodies that his wife
had noticed they were lying alongside one another on a sheet of tarpaulin that looked as
though it had been neatly laid out on the ground one of the bodies was that of an
aboriginal girl dressed in the clothes of mona lisa's cousin cindy a blue yellow and white striped t-shirt
and black tracksuit pants while her t-shirt covered her torso and upper legs her pants and underwear were both down
around her ankles a middle-aged white man lay next to her his left arm draped across her chest
on one corner of the tarpaulin sat a half empty bottle of beer shane checked the girl for a pulse but
found none as the two brothers assessed the scene the man lying alongside the girl stirred
and came to appearing groggy but uninjured shane informed the man that the two teenage girls in his company were both
deceased and referred to them using a racial slur the man looked up and insisted shane was
wrong explaining that the two girls had too much to drink he then laid down again resuming his
original position next to the deceased teenager shane got back into his vehicle and
drove to angonia to report the crash while everyone else stayed behind at the scene
tex again attempted to inform the man that the girls were both dead but he became abusive in response
telling tex to [ __ ] off eventually tex the other farmhand and the women decided to follow shane to
angonia which was 34 kilometers north of their location [Music] it was 5 a.m when shane arrived at
angonia and alerted the police constables kevin harper and ken mckenzie set out immediately
arriving at the scene of the crash at 5 45 they saw mona lisa smith's body lying by
the shoulder of the roadway and a man standing by the damaged toyota hilux near the tarpaulin where cindy smith lay
the officers noticed that cindy's t-shirt was up around her neck revealing her breasts and her left leg
was bent at the knee lying at an angle to the rest of her body and exposing her genitals
upon approaching the man the two officers saw he appeared to be heavily intoxicated
and confused he was dirty and disheveled dressed in a khaki shirt matching pants
and work boots his speech was slurred as he told the two policemen that he had been in the crash
and was driving the ute at the time constable mckenzie went to cover cindy's naked body with an excess
portion of the tarp and as he did so the man asked they're only asleep aren't they constable mckenzie replied
angrily that both girls were dead but the man continued to insist they were merely sleeping
the officers asked the man to explain what had happened and where he had been traveling to
he responded that he didn't know what occurred but he had been driving from burke to
northberg which was about a 10 kilometer distance he was surprised to learn he was
actually 63 kilometers from burke suddenly he pointed at mona and told the officers
quote she was driving the man was identified as forty-year-old alexander graham who explained that he'd been drinking
the previous day at several pubs in burke he didn't know the names of the two girls
but they had asked him for a lift to the north burke hotel to the offices it appeared that grant
was still very intoxicated his eyes were bloodshot his speech was occasionally incoherent
and his breath smelled strongly of alcohol at times he seemed to struggle to stand
upright and supported himself by leaning against the police car constable mckenzie inspected the man's
toyota hilux and denoted there was extensive damage to the roof the front passenger panels and the
driver's side all of the tyres appeared to be in good condition but the rear passenger side rim was
buckled the windscreen was lying on the ground as were a number of tools and pieces of
equipment it was a manual vehicle and only had two doors both of which were jammed sharp
constable mckenzie reached through the driver's window to check the steering wheel and to saw
that the keys were missing from the ignition the road itself was about six metres
wide and the sealed bitumen was in good condition with wide table drain on both sides of
the road the speed limit on the highway was 100 kilometers per hour at 6 00 am two ambulances arrived from
burke grant's vital signs were checked and found to be normal when grant overheard constable mckenzie
telling an ambulance officer that he had been driving the vehicle he shouted out no she was the driver
and again pointed at mona the paramedics confirmed that both girls were deceased
before transferring grant to hospital for a more thorough examination as he was being driven to
the hospital grant asked if they could stop in at the caravan park where he lived
so he could tell his wife what had happened but the ambulance officer refused a second ambulance transported the girls
bodies to burke to be autopsied while a tow truck took the toyota hilux to angonia police
station by 7 30 a.m a detective from burke named peter resman had arrived at the
crash site detective esmen examined the scene and noticed a second empty bottle of beer in
addition to the one on the tarpaulin that was half consumed as well as an almost empty bottle of rum
inside the vehicle constable mckenzie drew a detailed sketch of the site including measurements of the road the
proximity of the bodies to the vehicle and skid marks left by the tyres he later surmised how the crash had
unfolded in a statement quote as the vehicle traveled along a straight portion of roadway
about 260 meters off the berk 63 kilometer marker peg the driver has lost control of the vehicle and the vehicle
has left the left side of the roadway and travelled with the nearside wheels in the gravel for a distance of
approximately 32 meters the vehicle has then veered to the center of the roadway in a curve
for a distance of about 36 meters before veering to the near side of the roadway
again the vehicle has again left the roadway on the western side and travelled a distance of 35 meters in
a left-hand broadside and then rolled over the vehicle rolled once and came to rest
on its wheels again near the side of the bitumen and then rolled back down the slide embankment of
the roadway shoulder and stopped on the edge of the light scrub the vehicle is expected to be a total
ride off as a result of the accident alexander grant was examined at the hospital
where it was confirmed that he had only sustained a knock to his head and grazed elbows
testing revealed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.159 more than three times the legal limit in
australia grant was 40 years old and had grown up in hamilton new zealand after finishing school he took up
intermittent work on farms and construction sites by 1970 he'd been married and divorced
and he moved to australia in 1977 at the age of 30. he had dark hair that he combed back over his head
and a thin face and build and was 5 feet 10 inches tall for a time grant resided in the northern
new south wales town of morie where he worked at various jobs in excavation by the early 1980s he'd had a number of
encounters with the police due to his pattern of drinking and driving in late october 1980 he was picked up
for drink driving and had his driver's license disqualified for three months the following month he was again
arrested for driving while drunk and had a blood alcohol reading of more than twice the legal limit
he had a further six months added to his licence disqualification was placed on a good behaviour bond for
three years and fined fifteen hundred dollars two months later in february 1981 grand was booked for speeding
even though he was still disqualified from driving the charge was dismissed after no
concrete proof could be offered that he was exceeding the speed limit in may 1983 grant was arrested for
driving while disqualified and was fined 800 and disqualified from driving until the end of november
1984 in mid-1987 grant moved to burke where he resided in a caravan park and worked as an itinerant excavator
driver at the time of the crash he was employed at a cotton gin in north burke where he excavated irrigation channels
despite telling the ambulance officer that he had a wife grant was unmarried and owned next to
nothing in terms of assets while he was in hospital on the morning of december 6
1987 grant provided his first official police statement he claimed that as he was making a phone
call from a pub in burke the previous night the two girls had approached and asked him for a lift
to northberg he agreed and they all piled into his ute leaving burke at around 11pm
grant was in the driver's seat cindy was next to him in the middle and mona whom he
identified as quote the bigger girl was on the end as they were traveling north grant
alleged that the bigger girl asked if she could have a turn driving he said he initially refused
but then agreed upon seeing how little traffic there was mona mostly stayed under the speed limit
by going between 70 and 80 kilometers per hour and was a smooth steady driver grant claimed
that at one stage she sped up to the limit of 100 at which point he told her to slow down
and grabbed the steering wheel after she had driven for approximately 30 to 40 kilometers
they pulled over to have a drink and a cigarette they then turned around to head back to
burke and grant said mona took the wheel again suddenly the vehicle had veered though
grant had no idea why he estimated that the time of the crash was either between
1 and 2 am or 2 and 3 am as this meant a minimum of two hours had passed between the three of them leaving burke
and the crash taking place there was a significant chunk of time that grant was unable
or unwilling to account for one questioned about the alcohol he had consumed grant said he'd had his first drink at
around 5 30 or 6 p.m the previous day at the carrier's arms hotel in burke he hadn't kept count but he believed
he'd drunk between 6 and 10 middies of beer each measuring 285 milliliters or the equivalent of 1.1 standard drinks
his last drink had been at about 11 pm or midnight which was a bottle of beer he consumed while
driving with the two girls grant denied a drinking between the time of the crash
and when the police arrived he was released from the hospital by late morning and went to burke police station to
provide another statement to detective peter resman grant denied making sexual advances to
we the girl but claimed that after the crash cindy had come on to him grant said he had crawled out through
the passenger door and saw her lying back on the tarp pulling her clothes off and asking do you want me now
he allegedly ignored her and instead went to check on mona who had seemingly been thrown
from the vehicle when he asked if she was alright she groaned in response prompting him to
believe she was fine grant claimed he then joined cindy on the tarp and decided to have a beer
the interview concluded at 12 20 pm detective asman told grant that he would make further enquiries about the matter
and speak to him again at a later date adding quote if you leave town let me know where i
can contact you grant replied yeah it might be a good idea to get away for a while
i'll let you know where i'll be that afternoon dawn and june smith have viewed the victims bodies at
burke hospital and confirmed that they were their daughters cindy and mona news of the tragedy spread throughout
burke and the town became gripped by despair when it was discovered the police hadn't
arrested the man involved in the crash this despair quickly turned to anger recent events in the region had already
led to a somewhat fraught relationship between the indigenous community and a local law
enforcement several months earlier on august 6 1987 a 27 year old aboriginal man named
lloyd boney was arrested in the nearby town of brewarana after breaching his bail conditions
he was taken into custody and found dead just 95 minutes later with police saying
they had found his body suspended by the neck with a football sock lloyd's friends and family suspected
that the death was not a suicide though this theory was dismissed in an official inquiry
after lloyd's funeral on august 15 a violent riot broke out between members of brewaraner's indigenous community
and the police although brewarana was about 100 kilometers east of burke it wasn't uncommon for police officers
in the region to work cases across various towns one of the officers injured in the riot
detective sergeant vaughn reed was assigned to investigate cindy and mona smith's deaths alongside
detective asman in a book about the case titled angonia road author richard stanton
argues that the subsequent bad blood between police and the indigenous community meant that
burke police were unhappy about having to investigate the fatal crash several months later this
view is shared by some of cindy and mona's family members [Music] on the night of december 6 less than 24
hours after cindy and mona's deaths alexander grant traveled to ningen a town almost
200 kilometers southeast of burke after grant ute was towed to the police station
it was later transferred back to the farm in north burke where he was employed as it actually belonged to grant's
employers who had been leasing it out to him at 3 pm on sunday december 6 a crime scene officer went to the
property to photograph the vehicle it was examined again the following day by senior constable john ludwig
of the crime scene unit physical evidence section he noted that the roof had been crushed
down into the top of the driver's seat and to the middle of the steering wheel senior constable ludwig also visited the
crash site to take further photographs detectives in burke pieced together the events
leading up to the crash grant had said he spent the morning of saturday december 5
working at the cotton gym in north burke until his excavator broke down at 2 30 pm he went to the oxford hotel
in town in search of someone who could give him a replacement part to repair the
excavator despite originally telling the police he didn't start drinking until around
5 30 pm bar staff at the oxford hotel confirmed he'd drunk six beers in a two-hour period
from there he went to two more pubs drinking a beer at each before returning to the oxford hotel
where he had eight more over six hours he had consumed 16 beers or 17.6 standard drinks
throughout the evening a number of witnesses had also seen cindy and mona in burke though
only two were interviewed by police fifteen-year-olds betty ann edwards and karen johnson
provided statements that they'd seen cindy and mona with grant on the night in question at around 8 15
pm betty ann and karen had been walking in the direction of the reserve when a white man pulled over in a toyota
hilux and offered them a lift they declined but cindy and mona who was sitting nearby outside the home of a friend ran
over they asked the driver if he would take them across to a levee that marked the crossing point between
burke and the reserve betty ann described the driver as somewhat slow and dopey as though he was drunk
when he reached across to open the car door she saw half a carton of beer next to him
and a stubby in his hand betty ann believed that the man drove off with the girls
but they were seen in the same area about 15 minutes later by one of cindy's brothers
who was walking home from visiting an auntie at 9pm they were also spotted by mona's
cousin daniel booth heading to the reserve on foot neither of these men were interviewed by
investigators after grant was seen speaking with the girls at 8 15 he went back to the oxford hotel to
buy a six-pack of beer then went to the carrier's arms hotel where he drank six glasses of bourbon and coke and four
more beers he left at around 9 30 p.m and was next seen half an hour later at the riverview
hotel a barman said that grant had entered alone but he thought he saw an indigenous girl
waiting for him by the doorway grant bought half a bottle of rum two bottles of coke
and another six pack of beer in total he drunk the equivalent of 30 standard drinks throughout the day
and had half a bottle of rum and 12 stubbies of beer in his possession experienced pathologist dr clive pringle
traveled more than 370 kilometers from the city of dubbo to perform cindy and mona's autopsies
he concluded that mona who was recovered face down by the shoulder of the road had suffered severe head injuries and
internal bleeding causing her to pass away quickly following the crash cindy who was found on the tarpaulin had
deep abrasions across her face chest abdomen and back dr pringle found a dried substance on
her inner legs which he thought could be seminal fluid he took swabs of the substance which
were given to a scientific officer and transferred to the department of forensic biology
for testing cindy had suffered a perforated liver and a large laceration to her bladder
leading to severe hemorrhaging and a tear to a major muscle in the lower abdomen
that is crucial to walking dr pringle noted that while she may not have died immediately
she would have succumbed to her injuries quickly and it was highly unlikely she was
conscious following the crash he concluded that neither of the girls had been wearing
seat belts the findings from the autopsies were not passed along to either of the girls
families the only official information they were given regarding cindy and mona's deaths was a coroner's report
after receiving dr pringle's report detective zasman and reed were inclined to believe that
monarch had been driving grant's ute as he had claimed the severity of her injuries combined
with the significant damage to the vehicle's driver's side and grants a lack of wounds indicated to
them that grant was telling the truth at 7 pm on tuesday december 8 the two detectives travelled to ningen
to interview grant again he was wearing the same clothes that he'd had on during the crash and was staying at a
cheap hotel grant claimed that his wife had kicked him out for having been with cindy and
mona and the detectives noted that he appeared to be intoxicated they informed him that they wished to
discuss the crash but he requested that the conversation be postponed until the following morning
as he was exhausted the detectives agreed and collected him early on wednesday december 9
for an interview at the police station the officers grilled grant about his alcohol consumption the previous
saturday he acknowledged being pretty drunk by the time he encountered cindy and mona but denied drinking the
bottle of rum that was found nearly empty in his vehicle he said that following the crash he and
cindy had both climbed out of the passenger side door then cindy had stood and asked for a
beer he gave her the bottle that was later found on the tarpaulin and after drinking some she
propositioned him grant insisted he had not placed the tarpaulin on the ground and that cindy had walked over to it and
laid down of her own accord he didn't remember much else and suggested he had blacked out
until he was awoken by the farm workers who came across the scene grant again claimed cindy undressed
herself and that he'd had no sexual contact with either of the girls he said that the one mistake he made
that night was not checking whether mona had her driver's license the interview concluded after two and a
half hours it was another week before grant was officially charged rather than taking him back to
burke police made the decision to charge him in ningen on wednesday december 16 he appeared in
the ningen courthouse charged with two counts of willful neglect or misconduct causing grievous bodily harm and
allowing an unlicensed driver to drive his motor vehicle in 1987 there was a maximum penalty
of two years in prison for each of the willful neglect charges the punishment for permitting an
unlicensed individual to drive was a one thousand dollar fine and up to 500 hours
community service grant was ordered to appear in burke local court in two months time
to enter a plea he was not detained in custody and was permitted to leave the area
following these charges police were instructed not to reveal details of the charges
leaving cindy and mona's families uncertain as to what the exact accusations against
him were a joint funeral was held for cindy and moana at the church of the holy spirit
in burke two hearses carried the girl's coffins through the town and approximately 600 mourners gathered
to pay their respects with students from the town's high school forming a guard of honor
outside the church the majority of the people who attended the funeral were indigenous the cousins were laid to
rest side by side in the burke cemetery under matching black marble headstones adorned with figurines rosary beads and
flowers mona's sister fiona would later say that she could recall little about the service as her memory
was hazy when it came to events following her sister's death some people in burke feared that there
would be retribution from the indigenous community that night with rumors spreading that businesses
would be firebombed but this did not eventuate the girl's deaths and grant's involvement received almost
no attention from the media on monday december 21 the sydney morning herald published
an article titled two deaths and an outback silence journalist the deborah cameron
interviewed cindy and mona's mothers for the piece with both women stating they had been told
of very little about the crash how their daughters had died or the investigation
dawn smith cindy's mother shared her belief that police were withholding information
because they didn't want to stir up trouble in town but the silence had the adverse
effect by creating an atmosphere of rumor and suspicion the sydney morning herald made an
application for information about the case investigators agreed to release details
relating to grant's charges only after an aboriginal liaison officer from sydney
intervened telling them that quote their secrecy may cause more trouble than it would prevent
the head of burke police defended the decision to charge grant in another town stating he won't come back down here
either until things quieten down we will wait until things settle down again we don't want
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almost no assets but in january 1988 one of his former employers agreed to fund his defense the unidentified
employer was described as being from old sydney family money and had decided to pay for grant's legal fees
out of a sense of quote higher christian values leading sydney barrister anthony quinlivan was hired to represent
grant at an expensive rate said to be beyond the income of most average people later that month grant wrote a new
statement about the crash for his legal team which was republished in full in richard
stanton's book angonio road despite telling police he had a wife grant described himself as
single but otherwise stuck to many of his original claims he stated that his intoxication had
probably contributed to him making the uncharacteristic decision to give cindy and mona smith a lift and letting
mona drive his vehicle grant said that after driving for some distance they stopped to have a drink he claimed
that the girls poured some rum into the bottles of coke he had purchased before the decision was made
to head home mona had been steering the vehicle steadily up until that point but suddenly veered off the road
possibly to avoid a kangaroo the ute rolled over then landed on its wheels grant retracted previous claims he'd
made about cindy undressing herself and propositioning him stating now that he didn't recall this
happening yet he said that he did remember checking to see if mona was alright after that point he had a gap in his
memory until the farm workers stumbled across the scene of the crash at 4 30 a.m
barrister anthony quinlivan accompanied his client to burke local court on monday february 15
where grant entered a plea of not guilty to all three charges against him although farm employee shane batty had
been one of the first people to discover the crash site police didn't speak with him until three
months after the incident author richard stanton has theorised that this may have been because shane
was a seasonal worker and investigators were unable to track him down earlier on march 8 1988 shane provided a sworn
statement at dayton police station located about 680 kilometers southwest of burke
shane's description of the scene featured some striking differences to the one described by responding police
and ambulance officers the officers had noted that cindy's pants had been pulled down
and her t-shirt was lifted up exposing almost her entire body while her right leg was stretched out
straight in front of her her left leg was bent at the knee and had fallen outwards
when shane had encountered the scene more than an hour earlier cindy's pants and underwear were around
her ankles but her t-shirt was pulled down concealing her chest and torso shane also noted that both of cindy's
legs had been lying straight out side by side to investigators these discrepancies
indicated that grant must have interfered with cindy's clothing and body after the farm workers departed for
angonia to alert police of the crash they also meant that his statements regarding the events
had been at least partially false [Music] the case shifted direction again the following month
when a new officer began reviewing the charges against grant sergeant raymond godkin worked for the
northwest accident investigation squad in the new south wales city of parramatta his job was to review
indictable matters before the courts after reviewing the case of cindy and mona smith's deaths
he became concerned that the charges against grant were not truly representative of what had occurred that
night sergeant godkin noticed that when police officers had first arrived at the scene grant had
said that he'd been driving shortly afterwards he had changed his story and told them
mona was the driver a claim he had stuck to ever since sergeant godkin spoke with mona's family
to determine whether she could actually drive a car mona's brother doug stated that she had
only tried to drive a car once several months before the crash a friend had brought their blue ford
sedan to the reserve and mona had sat behind the wheel for less than five minutes she slowly maneuvered the
car down a dirt road before getting out the vehicle was an automatic unlike alexander grant's four-wheel drive which
was a manual doug stated i am sure that she has never driven any other car if someone told me
mona drove a manual car i wouldn't believe them because she just doesn't know how to
drive doug's statement was supported by mona's cousin daniel booth and her mother june who both witnessed
her brief drive in the sedan june added that mona had accidentally reversed into a steel
pole at which point june immediately told her to get out of the car cindy's mother dawn had later heard
about the incident and stated we are a very close community and if mona was driving at any time then
i would hear about it anybody who said that mona was driving the four-wheel drive that was involved
in the accident would be lying because she just couldn't drive it several days after interviewing mona's
relatives sergeant godkin arranged to speak with alexander grant on may 11 1988 grant initially declined to speak
without his lawyer present but when sergeant godkin asked whether there was anything he wanted to say in
their absence he remarked well i've thought about it and a lot of the stuff i told the
detectives is not right and some of the things i said is really [ __ ] he discussed the night of december 5
1987 openly admitting that he had been far more drunk than he had told the detectives
grant maintained that cindy and mona had approached him asking for a lift and mona had driven
the vehicle for a good portion of the journey adding quote she drove pretty good
and handled it real well really good on the gears he claimed that when the vehicle crashed
mona had gone through the windscreen while he and cindy remained stuck inside he was sitting next to the passenger
door and cindy was in the middle so he opened the door cleared it out and pulled cindy out after him
when sergeant godkin asked if grant recalled telling the detectives that cindy had been walking around
after the crash he replied from what i have heard since about her injuries that can't be right
like i said a lot of the things i have said isn't right he claimed that her clothing
must have been pulled down accidentally when he dragged her from the vehicle sergeant godkin reiterated grant's
extremely high blood alcohol level of 0.159 when tested hours after the crash then stated it is my view that you were
the driver of the vehicle it is my intention to charge you with two counts of culpable driving
and also with driving with the prescribed concentration of alcohol is there anything else you would like to
tell me about this matter grant replied i can't think of anything other than to say that no way was i
driving i know i did the wrong thing letting her drive without a license on saturday may 14 sergeant godkin
arranged for a physical evidence collector from the crime investigation unit to re-examine grant's toyota hilux
although the vehicle was significantly damaged grant's employers had sold it to a man
named peter hill whom grant knew and was friendly with and peter had spent some time attempting
to repair it he denoted that when he received the vehicle the passenger side door was open
and its lock had been damaged in a way that was consistent with having been forced open with a crowbar
the physical evidence collector photographed the toyota hilux and tested the inside cabin for traces
of blood he immediately noticed that the steering wheel was missing and asked where it was
peter said that he had removed it and shipped it to grant the previous day at grant's request
investigators suspected peter hill had told grant that police were planning to inspect the
vehicle which had caused grant to panic and ask for the steering wheel without it officers were unable to dust
it for fingerprints to confirm who had been driving nothing relating to the steering wheel
was ever heard of again in re-examining the case sergeant godkin also took the step of speaking with the
detectives involved and the first responders to the crash site after doing so he was certain that
cindy's body had been undressed and rearranged after being discovered by the farm workers
although multiple swabs had been taken from cindy's body during her autopsy including a sample of what was believed
to be seminal fluid these were never tested for unknown reasons consequently there was no forensic
evidence confirming whether she had been sexually assaulted however the eyewitness accounts provided
enough evidence to charge alexander grant with indecently interfering with a dead body
which carried the maximum penalty of two years in prison on may 24 1988 grant was officially
charged with this offence as well as two counts of culpable driving causing death after sergeant godkin concluded
that mona would have been incapable of driving a manual four-wheel drive he was also charged with high range
prescribed concentration of alcohol a charge given to individuals who drive a motor vehicle on a public road
with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or above as the counts of culpable driving
conflicted with grant's original charge of allowing an unlicensed driver to take control of his vehicle
the decision was made to hold a committal hearing in order to determine which of the
charges grant would ultimately face the committal hearing was held almost six months later
on november 8 1988 it was a hot day making the burke courthouse feel particularly stuffy and
unpleasant magistrate rosemary kader smith presided over the hearing while police prosecutor sergeant roland
today presented for the prosecution alexander grant was represented by his high-priced
barrister anthony quinlovan and solicitor bill house [Music] the prosecution's primary aim was to
disprove grant's assertion that mona smith had been driving his vehicle the defense pointed to the significant
damage sustained to the driver's side of the eu and argued that grant was too large to
have escaped essentially unscathed if he had been driving as mona had suffered extreme injuries
they posited that it was far more likely she had been behind the wheel the first witness called to the stand
was sergeant raymond godkin whose work on the case had resulted in culpable driving charges being laid
against graham cindy and mona's mothers dawn and june smith also testified speaking about their relationships with
their daughters and both girls the lack of a driving experience the defense attempted to undermine the
evidence of both women under cross-examination suggesting that mona might have had more experience
driving than her family was aware of while dawn and june smith both spoke of how close-knit their community was
barrister anthony quinlivan tried to discredit this by telling the court that the girls were
known to drink on occasion and spend time unsupervised constable ken mckenzie the first officer
to arrive on the scene also testified though he appeared nervous the prosecution portrayed constable
mackenzie as a reliable officer with considerable crime scene experience but the defense implied his failure to
bring his official police notebook to the scene reflected poorly constable mckenzie confirmed that grant
had been slurring his words when questioned by the responding officers prompting quinlivan to query
whether mckenzie had possibly misunderstood his initial claim that he had been driving the eu
constable mckenzie stood firm noting that grant had definitely stated i was in response to
the question of who had been driving dr clive pringle the forensic pathologist who conducted cindy and
mona's autopsies told the court that both girls would have died within an hour of the crash
he further stated that cindy would have been in extreme pain and unable to sit up and had likely
fallen unconscious immediately following the crash due to shock and injuries however under cross-examination from
quinlivan dr pringle acknowledged that it wouldn't be quote totally extraordinary if cindy had
managed to survive for up to two hours witnesses shane buddy and tex johnson spoke of how they stumbled across the
crash scene insisted that both girls were deceased when they arrived but the defense argued he was not in a
position to confirm this as he had no medical experience by trying to extend the period of time
cindy could have survived for grant's legal team were trying to convince the magistrate
that cindy could have still been alive after her body was undressed and adjusted
thus absolving grant of having indecently interfered with a dead body [Music] in summing up the case magistrate
rosemary kader smith noted that although there was evidence suggesting that mona smith had driven a
vehicle at least once before the crash she did not have very extensive experience in driving
she also stated that grant had clearly been dishonest when speaking with police and that it seemed highly out of
character for him to lend his vehicle to a teenager whom he'd just met ultimately judge kader smith determined
that the original charges relating to mona driving the vehicle would be dropped and grant would face
two counts of culpable driving with regards to the charge of indecently interfering with a dead body
judge kader smith noted that cindy would have died quickly and dismissed the notion that
she had removed her own clothing noting that grant was discovered with his arm draped across
cindy's chest indicating interference of a sexual nature had been committed judge kader smith said that this third
charge would also stand grant was committed for trial but was not held on remand
he was escorted from the courthouse to a car waiting outside some of cindy and mona's family and
friends ran after the car as it drove away shouting and shaking their fists with
several making eye contact with grant as they did so [Music] grant had relocated to sydney following
the crash and returned there to await his trial more than six months later in june 1989
the charge of high range prescribed concentration of alcohol was adjourned for unknown reasons it was the only
charge against grant that judge cater smith didn't address during the conclusion of
the committal hearing the trial was scheduled for january 29 1990 in the meantime
grant's defense team requested that the new south wales attorney general issue a no bill to the charge of
indecent interference with a body if a charge was given a no bill it would essentially go away
and not be brought up during a trial grant's defense argued that there was no evidence beyond the reasonable doubt
that cindy was deceased at 5am the approximate time that her shirt was removed they also stated that grant's advanced
level of intoxication meant there was a question as to whether he was in a state to voluntarily
undertake such an action the attorney general agreed with these arguments and on
january 24 1990 the defense team received a letter from the director of public prosecutions
advising that the charge would be withdrawn no other charge was introduced relating
to the possible sexual assault of cindy and the only charges grant would be tried for
were the two counts of culpable driving [Music] cindy and mona's families were not
informed that the charge of interference with a corpse had been dropped until the trial commenced on thursday
february 1 in the burke district court upon hearing the news they became furious and distraught
as the jury were required to exit the court whenever evidence relating to interference with cindy's corpse was
raised they were entirely unaware of the matter or the withdrawn charge the original jury had included two
aboriginal women but grant's defense had challenged their inclusion by arguing that they would be under
pressure from their communities to convict and quote in those circumstances grant probably wouldn't get a fair trial
consequently the two indigenous jury members were replaced resulting in an all-white jury
the onus was on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that alexander grant
had been driving the vehicle when it crashed their argument was hindered by what
grants barrister later called the fabulous physical evidence of the ute's roof being smashed
in down to the steering wheel on the driver's side quote anybody sitting in that seat was a
goner and my guy didn't have a scratch on thursday february 8 one week after the trial began
the jury returned a verdict of not guilty prompting the court to erupt in anger when the verdict was read aloud dawn
smith removed one of her shoes and threw it at the jury she later spoke of her anger at the finding to journalist
rosemary neal who wrote an article about the case titled the long shadow of a twin tragedy
for the weekend australian newspaper dawn remarked of course i was shocked june added that if a police officer had
been standing near her she would have grabbed their gun and shot gran in retaliation
she recalled that two police officers also seemed bitterly disappointed by grant's
acquittal in the same article june smith told rosemary neal that day was the worst of her life
quote to hear what happened to these girls and he walked free if it had been two little white girls it
would have been a different matter and if it was a black man with two white girls
he would have been locked up there and then thrown away the keys still in jail today
due to the angry reaction from those in the public gallery grant's barrister and solicitor were
given a police escort out of the courthouse they were instructed by police to leave
for sydney immediately and not stop until they reach to bathurst at town six hours away by car
four days later on february 12 grant was arrested in sydney after severely assaulting another
individual and was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm many people in burke were outraged and
disgusted by the trial's outcome feeling that justice had not been served in the years that followed the
inconclusive nature of the case prompted alternate theories as to what really happened on angonia
road on the night of december 5 1987. they have been fueled in part by a police statement
made in may 1987 by a 13 year old cousin of cindy and mona named sharon smith sharon told police that on the evening
of friday december 4 the night before the crash she had been walking through burke towards the reserve with another
cousin named julie when a white four-wheel drive she believed was a toyota pulled over the driver was a white man
who she later identified as alexander grant he smelled of beer and asked if the girls knew where the nearby rodeo was
the girls agreed to show him the way and got into his vehicle upon arriving at the showgrounds where
the rodeo was hosted the girls started drinking with grant soon sharon noticed that cindy was also
there at some stage sharon julie cindy and grant headed towards angonia to visit julie's brother
during the drive grant requested that sharon steer the vehicle as he was extremely drunk as she did so
grant began rubbing the legs of all three girls the group spent some time in angonia
before heading back towards burke when they arrived to back at the showgrounds they encountered
five more of sharon's cousins who all wanted a lift they piled into the rear cargo area of
the ute and before they were dropped off they stole a number of work tools that had
been stored there sharon said she then dropped cindy off at the reserve leaving her and julie alone with grant
he was extremely drunk at this point and propositioned to the young girls offering them money in exchange for sex
they refused and got out of the vehicle at which point grant drove away some people in burke believed that cindy
and mona's deaths the following night were deliberately orchestrated by grant as revenge
for being robbed and that he missed still kamona for julie there are rumors that julie
had stolen drugs and a substantial amount of cash which grant had stashed under one of the
vehicle's seats when grant came into town the following day supposedly looking for someone to help
him repair his excavator he was actually looking for sharon julie and cindy after discovering he'd been robbed
those that subscribed to this theory believe that several aboriginal men who had been in
four different cars assisted grant in brutally attacking the girls in exchange for money the girls were
attacked on angonio road where they were found and the scene was subsequently staged to
resemble a car crash one witness has reported to mona's family that they were present for the
attack and saw grant wielding an axe over mona's head as he said where's my money
julie smith mona replied i'm not julie i'm mona lisa another witness has claimed to have
driven past the crash site the following morning while detectives were at the scene
the witness noticed a man sitting by the side of the road wearing a shirt covered in blood
it has been said that this man later confessed to being present during the attack and
claimed he had tried to help mona however police reports contain no mention of any such man being present at the
scene many years after the girl's deaths mona's mother june and sister fiona visited a male
cousin after another family member accused him of being involved in the incident
the two women asked where the cousin had been on the night in question and he replied that he and their auntie
had been traveling to brewarana amongst four carloads of people the cousin's admission to being in a
convoy of four vehicles led some to believe he was one of the men who helped grant attack the two girls
they suspect he merely said he was in brewarana to cover his tracks and was actually present at the crash
site it has been alleged that the cousin participated in the murders in exchange for money from grant
for those who believe this alternative theory it explains why there was so little blood inside the vehicle
how the ute's tires were inflated and undamaged why a tarpaulin appeared to have been
neatly laid out on the ground and how grant walked away unharmed some of cindy and mona's family members
are also certain that the girls would never get into a vehicle driven by a white stranger unless they knew
someone else who was with the driver author richard stanton who wrote the book angonio road
has proposed another explanation for why grant might have escaped with so few injuries
if he was driving the theory is that grant break suddenly which led to mona being thrown through the windscreen
as the vehicle slowed down cindy was also thrown from the vehicle grant was then
tossed sideways into cindy's now empty seat before the roof was crushed in and he was able to climb out of the now
empty windscreen when the vehicle came to a stop stanton believes this would also explain
how grant exited the vehicle as responding officers found that both doors were jammed shut
according to stanton after the trial several experts conceded that this was a plausible scenario
cindy and mona's family members are torn as to what exactly happened to the girls
on the night of december 5 1987 with much of their confusion stemming from the fact that they
received so little communication from the police kerry cindy smith's sister has criticized investigators for not
properly interviewing the aboriginal community in the immediate aftermath of the girl's
deaths as many had been out in burke that night and could have provided evidence
in 2018 june smith told journalist rosemary neal quote we didn't know nothing the police never came and spoke with us
they all sort of kept away that's the worst part sitting and waiting and not knowing
alexander grant's defense barrister anthony quinlovan also spoke with the journalist rosemary
neal although he maintained that justice was done he admitted to having some misgivings
about the trial's outcome and described it as one of the most exceptional events that happened to me
in 40 years of being a lawyer as cindy was 15 years old quinlivan queried why the prosecution didn't
attempt to prosecute grant with indecency against a minor instead of indecently interfering with
the corpse quote rearranging her clothing obviously he did that blind freddy could
see he must have done that he was probably doing something despicable at that point
it was difficult to see why it was that the police or the crown authorities did not work out that they might have
had a stronger case if they had charged him with some act of indecency against a minor
under the age of 16. the inferences seem very powerful in that regard quinlivan acknowledged that his former
client had clearly told a bare-faced lies throughout his interviews and court proceedings
adding my fellow was very fortunate to walk away a free man rosemary neal also contacted the new
south wales police for her article and they supplied the following statement the case has gone through court
proceedings over 30 years ago and police have no further comment on matters that are already on public
record the current relationship between new south wales police and all members of the burke and
brewarana communities is cohesive and respectful and continues to develop in 2017 alexander grant
died at the age of 70 in sydney prior to his death he had lived in a nursing home
where he required constant care after a stroke had left him with difficulty speaking
fiona mona smith's sister told case file that she experienced mixed emotions when grant died
because she was deeply saddened that he did never be brought to justice for cindy and mona's deaths
today fiona still lives in burke and works with local indigenous youths by teaching them about their ancestors
and providing a means for young people to get involved in their community she believes that cindy and mona's
spirits are unable to rest due to the traumatic nature of their deaths cindy's mother dawn works for the burke
aboriginal legal service providing professional and culturally appropriate legal services for
aboriginal and torres strait islander people she says that she doesn't want to die
before justice is done cindy's sister kerry now lives in melbourne and believes cindy's spirit
has followed her there as she is unable to rest without justice although grant died in 2017
the girls families have been petitioning for an inquest into their deaths in the hopes they might finally receive
the answers they've sought for more than 30 years in 2018 legal advocacy group the national justice project issued a
formal complaint about the mishandling of the case to the new south wales law enforcement
conduct commission the project's principal solicitor argued that there was evidence alexander
grant was a sexual predator known for attempting to prey on aboriginal girls the statement provided by the girl's
cousin sharon smith who said she'd had an encounter with grant the night before the crash was cited in the submission
the submission also pointed out that the police failure to retrieve the steering
wheel from grant's vehicle was quote to the prosecution charges as they could not prove who was
driving in june 2019 cindy and mona's families met with new south wales police for a
formal mediation session about the case fiona smith told the weekend australian newspaper that the experience was
draining yet positive and she was hopeful they were one step closer to achieving their goals
in an exclusive interview with the weekend australian the magistrate who committed grant to
stand trial rosemary kader smith also spoke out in favour of an inquest she described the original investigation
as incompetent and labeled grant's aversion of events as totally unbelievable lies
quote i do certainly think some questions should be asked and the matter better exposed i think this should
happen in fairness to the families and the relationship with the aboriginal community
who feel that all interests have not been looked after with some reason in june 2020 cindy and mona's families
received notice from the deputy director of new south wales public prosecutions that an inquest was unlikely to go ahead
the decision to drop the charge of indecent interference with cindy's corpse was defended
though the office of the director of public prosecutions apologised for not notifying cindy's family of this
development prior to the trial the new south wales police commissioner had also revealed that
two independent inquiries had found the police handling of the case to be adequate
the girls families were extremely disappointed by these developments with fiona smith telling the weekend
australian quote it's like they're ducking and weaving and no one wants to take responsibility
my mum loses her spark when things like this happen i saw her sink a bit more cindy and mona's mothers are still
fighting for an inquest to be granted during the making of this episode they issued an open letter to casewile
that reads we the mothers of cindy and mona lisa smith want an inquest into our daughter's
deaths which happened on december 6 1987 on the angonio road it has been 33 years now since we lost
them and nothing has been done to help us find out the truth about what happened
to our girls if they were two white girls their killers would have been jailed by
now but they were black girls and everything is swept under the rug so we ask you is there one law for white
people and a separate law for black people we have been through a lot these past 33
years thinking about what happened and whether we will ever get justice for our girls or not
all the stress and pain we are going through now wondering if we will ever get justice for our daughters
yours in struggle i own a dawn smith and a june smith [Music] [Music] you

Case 152: Cindy & Mona Lisa Smith

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this episode contains the names of people who have passed away. The families of Cindy and Mona Lisa Smith have given Casefile permission to air this content.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research – Jessica Forsayeth Writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-152-cindy-mona-lisa-smith

Brief Summary

Cindy and Mona Lisa Smith's tragic deaths lead to a controversial investigation and trial, highlighting systemic racism in justice.

Key points

Cindy and Mona's Childhood. Cindy and Mona were inseparable cousins growing up in Burke, New South Wales.
The Tragic Crash. A horrific scene unfolds as two bodies are discovered by the roadside.
The Aftermath. The police arrive to investigate the crash involving two deceased girls.
Tragedy Strikes Burke. The town is gripped by despair after the tragic deaths of Cindy and Mona Smith.
Autopsy Revelations. Pathologist Dr. Clive Pringle reveals shocking details about the girls' injuries.
Charges Filed. Alexander Grant is charged with serious offenses related to the crash.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It generally felt like a safe place to live.

Mona's sister's perspective on Burke.

6:45WatchAug 8, 2020

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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