For nearly six years, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty commanded the New South Wales Homicide Squad, overseeing more than 450 murders, a wave of organised crime killings, and some of the most complex mass-casualty investigations in the state's recent history, including Bondi Junction.

Now retired after a 40-year career, Danny sits down with Adam Shand to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to run one of Australia's most demanding policing units. They cover the investigative "surge" model that put almost every organised crime murder before the courts in a single year; why the first 48 hours has given way to the first two weeks; the psychology of killers who refuse to give up a body — from Bruce Burrell to Chris Dawson; the promise of forensic investigative genetic genealogy; and the unsolved cases that still keep him up at night.

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A new show from Adam Shand. Welcome to The Adam Shand Collection

Subscribe now for the first 3 episodes ad free and early on Apple Podcast

Series 1 - Creating Mr Cruel.

For more than 30 years, the name Mr Cruel has haunted Melbourne.

He was meticulous, terrifying and seemingly vanished without a trace leaving behind one of Australia’s most disturbing unsolved crime mysteries. But in this gripping six-part investigation, Adam Shand uncovers secret forensic evidence that challenges everything police thought they knew about the case.

Across the series, we revisit the abductions, the fear that gripped suburban Melbourne, the assumptions that shaped the investigation, and the hidden evidence that may overturn them all.

Was Mr Cruel really the offender police believed they were hunting or has the truth been buried in the evidence all along?

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When Sergeant Benedict Bryant pulled into Henderson Road on the morning of February 19, 2022, he had travelled 800 metres from Redfern Police Station to respond to a serious crime in progress. What followed took 3.9 seconds, and cost him his career, his finances and his freedom.

Adam Shand is joined by Retired Chief Inspector Paul Fownes, who has been supporting Bryant's legal fight and fundraising appeal. Together they examine the detail of what actually happened that morning, the coroner's conduct, the decision to bring in a barrister who had previously prosecuted police over an Aboriginal death in custody, and what this conviction means as a precedent for every officer who responds to a dynamic situation in seconds, with a legal system watching in slow motion.

Paul Fownes Support Page:

https://www.sergeantbryantfight.com/

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