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Four Corners: April 4

Four Corners asks why nobody has been convicted of the death of three Aboriginal children from Bowraville in 1990.

Earlier this week Australian Story tackled a true crime story but there were some questions over the balance of the episode.

Next week Four Corners takes a look at another famous case, from Bowraville in 1990 and asks why nobody has been convicted of the death of three Aboriginal children.

This week on Four Corners: three children are dead. Investigators have only one suspect. So why, twenty years on, is no-one in jail? Debbie Whitmont investigates. “We haven’t brought you justice… No-one’s been called to account.” This is the unflinching judgment of Gary Jubelin, one of the nation’s leading murder investigators. He’s reflecting upon the search for the killer of three Aboriginal children whose murders have haunted the small NSW town of Bowraville and left families torn apart.

“Should the murders have been solved? Yes, they should have. Could the murders have been solved? Yes, they could have.” Jubelin’s verdict calls into question the actions of NSW police involved in the initial hunt for the killer.

Reporter Debbie Whitmont takes several of the police officers involved back through the investigation to try and uncover why no-one has been convicted of the murder of 16-year-old Colleen Walker, 4-year-old Evelyn Greenup and 16-year-old Clinton Speedy in 1990.

What she finds is a disturbing story of inaction, inexperience and under resourcing and the dreadful thought that if police had acted earlier then the killer may have been stopped before he took more lives.

There are questions too, for the NSW Office of the Director of the Public Prosecutions about the conduct of the two trials where Bowraville man Jay Hart stood accused of two of the murders. He was acquitted.

And all this took place against an ugly background of racism and innuendo.

Bowraville has a nasty divisive racial history. And while the days of the colour bar may have ended, a deep sense of mistrust has remained. The families involved believe their Aboriginality was a factor in the lack of police action, despite their pleas for help.

When 16-year-old Colleen Walker went missing after a party her worried family believed something dreadful must have happened, but the police treated the case as a routine missing persons report, suggesting to her mother that Colleen may have “gone walkabout”. As she recounts: “they even said that to me… I was just only a black person, just reporting my child missing.” When 4-year-old Evelyn Greenup went missing the reaction was the same. As Evelyn’s Aunt explains: ““I kept arguing with them and saying to them Evelyn didn’t go walkabout, she’s a four-year-old kid”. Then 16-year-old Clinton Speedy went missing. Three children, in five months. By the time Clinton Speedy’s body was found there were fears a serial killer was stalking the Aboriginal community. But as the investigation continued many in the Aboriginal community felt that the system was sitting in judgment upon them.

While the story raises questions about the conduct of the initial investigation and the following court cases, there are hard realisations for the Aboriginal community of Bowraville too. At the time of the murders the community was blighted by alcohol and drug abuse leaving a legacy of shame and regret.

In this thought-provoking investigation, Debbie Whitmont examines why, twenty years on, no-one is in jail.

It airs 8:30pm Monday on ABC1.

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