Missing, Presumed Dead

With special guest:

• Mark Tedeschi AM KC
  … in conversation with Bill Kable

Mark Tedeschi has faced a number of cold blooded killers in Courtrooms and on many occasions has argued successfully that they should spend the rest of their days in prison. This is an enormous responsibility on behalf of the victims of these crimes but also of the whole community.

In writing his new book Missing, Presumed Dead Mark’s aim was to let the community know what is involved in a complex and lengthy criminal case such as the murder prosecution of Bruce Burrell. We get a glimpse of the determination needed to bring the felon to justice.

Because our justice system makes it a priority to avoid imprisoning innocent people sometimes the guilty go free and that could have happened with Bruce Burrell. Along with this protection for guilty people sometimes innocent people face accusations and innuendo.

In the case of the murder of Kerry Whelan the defence lawyers for the accused tried to shift the blame on to someone else. Should the Police investigate the loving husband Bernie Whelan, Bernie’s son or even the Nanny? These propositions raised in Court must have been devastating for a grieving family.

We took the opportunity in talking with Mark Tedeschi to raise some common misunderstandings. Firstly Mark differentiated the real world from the television world in how DNA is used to investigate crime scenes. DNA evidence is now expected in a trial so if for technical reasons none exists that has to be explained to the jury.

People often think that for a murder conviction the body of the victim must have been found. That was not the case with Bruce Burrell nor for the recent case of Chris Dawson who was convicted of murder 40 years after his wife went missing. Burrell was also convicted of the murder of Dorothy Davis and there is justified suspicion about the disappearance of Charlie Spiers. None of these victims has ever been found. In Mark’s opinion the murderers are unlikely to ever reveal this information despite recent changes in the NSW regulations regarding parole.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is that in Australia, kidnaps (defined as abductions for money demands) have only occurred twice. In 1960 Stephen Bradley kidnapped Graham Thorne and now the Kerry Whelan kidnap in 1997.

In Mark Tedeschi’s 40 year career as a public prosecutor he has been in charge of the biggest murder trials. It is fascinating to hear not only his thoughts on the minds of the murderers but also what goes through his mind as he chases them through the halls of justice.

Mark Tedeschi AM KC

As a Barrister and Crown Prosecutor for more than forty years, Mark Tedeschi KC has worked on some of Australia’s most significant criminal cases. He was the Senior Crown Prosecutor in New South Wales for twenty years, during which time he also served as President of the Australian Association of Crown Prosecutors. Mark has published many articles on the law, history, genealogy and photography, and is the author of critically acclaimed non-fiction titles Eugenia, Kidnapped, Massacre at Myall Creek and Missing, Presumed Dead.

Song selection by our guest: Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor OP 85 by Jacqueline du Pre

Podcast (mp3)