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1
00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:10,180
My name's Roderick Gerald Noble,
2
00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:13,120
and in 1963 I was 13.
3
00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,160
Perth was very quiet in those days.
4
00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,400
Very well-off people lived here.
5
00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:23,580
But it's a very small place.
6
00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,000
Everyone knew everyone
or seemed to know everyone.
7
00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:28,020
Over this side, anyway,
8
00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:29,380
this side of the river.
9
00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:31,560
That's the Western Suburbs side.
10
00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:35,860
Every backyard had an outside dunny.
11
00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:37,620
Still works. It's a beauty.
12
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:41,700
Everyone had buffalo grass
and the Hill's Hoist clothesline.
13
00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,980
And they'd spin you around
while you were swinging off it.
14
00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,600
Kids lived out here, basically.
15
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:50,140
We had a fabulous life.
16
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,680
We were footloose and fancy free.
17
00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,220
And all of a sudden,
18
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:57,660
there was the body on the back lawn.
19
00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,760
(DRAMATIC MUSIC BUILDS)
20
00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:18,780
It was like it happened yesterday.
21
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,500
Even now, I can see that backyard.
22
00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:23,600
I can see the body.
23
00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:26,080
Still today,
I have trouble sleeping.
24
00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,280
This thing will never go away.
25
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:32,860
(THEME MUSIC)
26
00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:35,980
# So you run, run, run
27
00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,760
# From everything you are
28
00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,280
# And you're lost
29
00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,240
# With every scar
30
00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,060
# And you say my name
like it's a game
31
00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:54,800
# But you can't hide
32
00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,000
# I see you there
33
00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,520
# Behind the lies
34
00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,020
# You'll never know the pain
35
00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,660
# Comes and goes in waves
36
00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:13,260
# That cannot be erased
37
00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:15,340
# We've only been through it
38
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:21,440
# Long enough to remember
the price we paid. #
39
00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,960
(PIANO PLAYS)
40
00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:43,840
- Perth was blown apart by a major,
major crime wave in 1963,
41
00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,080
especially within
the Western Suburbs.
42
00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:50,180
It shattered our world,
43
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:51,340
shattered my world.
44
00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:53,260
It shattered everybody's world.
45
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,080
Perth changed forever, instantly.
46
00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:59,220
The police were right onto it,
of course.
47
00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,580
Daryl Beamish was locked up for life
48
00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:03,900
for the hatchet murder
of Jillian Brewer.
49
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,640
John Button was in jail for
running down Rosemary Anderson.
50
00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,880
And now we had the shooter
for Shirley McLeod.
51
00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:14,480
It was Eric Edgar Cooke.
52
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,340
REPORTER: Perth was numb
in September '63.
53
00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:21,700
The cruel killer who'd terrorised us
for most of the year
54
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,620
was a truck driver with seven kids.
55
00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:26,260
- It was a great relief that
56
00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,640
the police were
getting on top of things.
57
00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:31,460
Although we were all aware
58
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:34,700
that the killer responsible for
the shootings on Australia Day
59
00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:36,800
was still at large.
60
00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:39,700
But there was a twist.
61
00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:41,660
My police section...
62
00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,460
I was yet to discover
that the good work of the police
63
00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:46,460
was far from good.
64
00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:48,700
John Button was completely innocent.
65
00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:50,960
This is a cover up by the police.
66
00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,580
Once police had confirmed that
Cooke had shot Shirley McLeod,
67
00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:04,980
they started to think
that he might be behind
68
00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:07,080
the Australia Day shootings.
69
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:09,620
They all had a similarity.
70
00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,980
The victims had all been shot
accurately in the forehead
71
00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:15,080
with a .22 calibre rifle.
72
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,300
It was so certain to police
he was the one,
73
00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:20,180
but they had no evidence.
74
00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:22,180
So they had to find
the murder weapon,
75
00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:26,480
because the gun was different from
the one used to kill Shirley McLeod.
76
00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,220
- But Cookie wouldn't talk to them.
77
00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,880
So that was where I come
in the picture.
78
00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:43,640
I was down the football club
on my only day off. (LAUGHS)
79
00:04:44,840 --> 00:04:48,500
Inspector Lamb, he said,
'We dearly want a cough,'
80
00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:50,940
meaning admitting.
81
00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,480
I said, 'Well, OK.'
82
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:56,660
So I went down and saw Cookie,
83
00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:58,460
and he did the old trick.
84
00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,060
'No, not me, Mr Baker.
Not me, not me.'
85
00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:02,500
'Yes, it is you.'
86
00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:07,200
So we put him in the car
and drove around.
87
00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,220
Nedlands, West Perth,
88
00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,320
everywhere.
89
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,860
- So they took him on a tour
of the Western Suburbs,
90
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:17,940
where the Australia Day shootings
took place,
91
00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,060
hoping to prompt a confession.
92
00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:22,340
But instead, he just took them
to lots of houses
93
00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,100
where he confessed to
a variety of thefts,
94
00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,340
some peeping Tom crimes,
stealing cars.
95
00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:27,620
There were so many.
96
00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:29,900
You could pretty well say
that in those days
97
00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,540
if you caught somebody in your
backyard or looking in your window,
98
00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:35,640
it was most likely Cooke.
99
00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,080
But that wasn't what they wanted.
100
00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,940
- What I was doing is seeing how
he reacted to everyone
101
00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,040
that we went past.
102
00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,800
You know, you'd say,
'How about that one, eh?'
103
00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:52,640
And he'd say,
'No, no, not that one.'
104
00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:57,080
But he was a person
that'll tell lies.
105
00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:00,900
We stopped at the Albion Hotel
106
00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,680
and bought him some
curried chicken and rice.
107
00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:05,700
As we sat there,
108
00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,300
I thought, 'Oh jeez,
I've had enough of this.'
109
00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:10,620
'He's never said a bloody word
to me,
110
00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:12,720
so I've gotta get it from him.'
111
00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:15,700
Now it's in the report.
112
00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:19,420
And I said,
'Hey Cookie, you're going to hang.'
113
00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:21,820
'There's not much doubt about that.'
114
00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,300
'Now think about your wife and kids.
115
00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:27,900
Are you going to be dragged to
the gallows like a mongrel dog
116
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,260
or are you gonna go like a man?'
117
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:32,860
And he actually hit the right spot,
118
00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,760
because Cooke was very fond
of his family.
119
00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,060
- Spluttering his curried chicken,
he said,
120
00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,140
'Mr Baker, what do you want
to know?'
121
00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:45,560
I said, 'Did you shoot George
Walmsley and the others that night?'
122
00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,380
Cookie said, 'Yes,
I'm the bloke you're looking for.'
123
00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:52,480
'What happens now?'
124
00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:59,100
- And so then Cooke himself
125
00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:02,080
told the police
how he did everything.
126
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:37,340
- I think I want a drink.
127
00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:39,440
- I think I'm thirsty.
- I'll get it off, don't worry.
128
00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:37,380
- There's the Narrows Bridge,
129
00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:39,740
and he was there
with the detectives.
130
00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:41,060
Cooke had a great memory,
131
00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,220
and he could remember that he
threw it from light pole number 324
132
00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:45,940
with an over arm motion.
133
00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,040
(PIANO PLAYS)
134
00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:54,460
And there it is.
135
00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:58,180
That rifle that Cooke had stolen
and used on Australia Day
136
00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:00,840
was still there
in ten centimetres of silt.
137
00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:06,980
After all those years of hunting
for Cooke and getting the pressure,
138
00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:09,080
quite a trophy.
139
00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:13,820
- Understandably,
it was a terrific relief,
140
00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,900
not only to members of the public,
141
00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,080
but also naturally, of course,
to the police.
142
00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,600
- Oh yes, great jubilation,
for everybody.
143
00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:29,460
- For the first time,
I felt relief.
144
00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:31,560
People just breathed out.
145
00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,300
- But Cooke,
once he started confessing,
146
00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,400
he didn't stop.
147
00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,360
- Dad held a party.
148
00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,040
My sisters had friends
staying there that night,
149
00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:00,240
and it went on quite a while.
150
00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:05,220
At the end of it,
151
00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:07,780
Dad used to throw whisky bottles
and plates on the back lawn
152
00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:09,880
and wash them out.
153
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,540
We got up early.
154
00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:22,500
Dad used to go to the beach
every morning,
155
00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:24,540
and often I'd go with him.
156
00:12:24,640 --> 00:12:26,180
And I went to the toilet,
157
00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,280
right at the back of the yard.
158
00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:35,100
Opened the door, like that.
159
00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,200
Mum was behind me.
160
00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:39,720
And down on the grass was a body.
161
00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:44,260
She was nude.
162
00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:46,360
I thought it was one of my sisters.
163
00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,600
She had the whisky bottle
from the party under an arm.
164
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,440
My mum started calling out and found
out all the girls were safe.
165
00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:58,540
And then I thought, 'She's dead.'
166
00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:01,640
(PIANO PLAYS)
167
00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,520
I just thought, 'She's dead.'
168
00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:07,840
It was Constance Lucy Madrill.
169
00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,200
She was a lovely girl.
170
00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,500
We played cricket in that laneway
all the time.
171
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,540
We used to hit the ball into her
backyard often,
172
00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:22,640
and she used to throw the ball back.
173
00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:25,500
During the night,
174
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,100
he strangled her with the bed flex
of a Bakelite lamp
175
00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,340
that was on the bed.
176
00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:32,440
He dragged her through the house.
177
00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:35,920
Had sex with her outside,
on the back lawn.
178
00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:43,660
And dragged her into our backyard
and put her on our back lawn.
179
00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:46,760
(TENSE MUSIC)
180
00:13:57,760 --> 00:13:59,020
Dad rang the police.
181
00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,220
They came down the laneway.
182
00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:03,660
They must have been shattered
when they saw it.
183
00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:05,760
Really shattered.
184
00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:10,040
- Oh, it was shocking.
185
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:16,540
Everything was investigated,
186
00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,940
the city, the suburb and country,
187
00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:21,100
everywhere,
188
00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,060
with no days off.
189
00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,600
We were full up,
right up to there.
190
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:28,620
- And all of a sudden there were
191
00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,740
Criminal Investigation Bureau
everywhere.
192
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:33,980
They took over
our house as headquarters.
193
00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,500
They thought he'd come back
because this one was strangled,
194
00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:38,600
and all the others were shot.
195
00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:42,700
At the time I just felt awful.
196
00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:44,700
I just thought,
'I wish they'd catch him.
197
00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:46,540
I wish it was over and done with.'
198
00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:48,100
INTERVIEWER: Do you think
it was associated
199
00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:49,820
with the other crimes at the time?
200
00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:51,340
Definitely not,
201
00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:53,420
because she wasn't shot,
202
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,460
and he shot every other one.
203
00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:56,540
I couldn't believe it.
204
00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:57,580
- Really?
205
00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:59,660
I couldn't believe it.
206
00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:01,420
- The police hadn't linked
207
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,900
Lucy Madrill's strangling
with the shooter.
208
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,780
They were looking for a shooter
and a strangler.
209
00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:08,740
Cooke's confession
to the Madrill killing
210
00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:10,780
was a huge shock to the police.
211
00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,020
They took Cooke
to the Madrill property
212
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:16,180
and he walked them through again
in minute detail.
213
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,260
He'd strangled her
with the cord of her own lamp.
214
00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:23,260
He'd dragged to the back garden
of the house behind.
215
00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,780
These details hadn't been
reported in the paper,
216
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:27,880
so they had to accept
this confession.
217
00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:30,740
What a shock.
218
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,080
The shooter and the strangler
was one and the same.
219
00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,520
- How do you feel toward him?
220
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:41,360
Bitter.
221
00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:43,840
Yeah, very bitter.
222
00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:49,560
My whole life changed,
from that morning.
223
00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:52,420
There's no counselling, no therapy.
224
00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:54,900
I've never talked about it
like this before.
225
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:57,000
- Really?
- Yeah.
226
00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,040
Still today,
I don't know why he did that.
227
00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,400
Then, there was another
completely unexpected turn.
228
00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:12,820
Cooke started confessing to murders
229
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,900
that other people had already been
named as responsible for.
230
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,780
Pnina Berkman and Jillian Brewer.
231
00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:24,900
The police were convinced that
Pnina Berkman's boyfriend,
232
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:26,340
who had fled back to Greece,
233
00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:28,020
was responsible for her murder.
234
00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:29,180
And Jillian Brewer,
235
00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:30,500
they already had their man.
236
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,660
They had that odd 19-year-old,
Daryl Beamish.
237
00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:36,760
They had him put away for life.
238
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:43,160
And then he confessed to
running down Rosemary Anderson.
239
00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:49,060
- When Eric Edgar Cooke
confessed to running down Rosemary,
240
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,660
this was the first time
that something gave me hope
241
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,760
to be released.
242
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,120
I would have been able to maybe
put the pieces back together again.
243
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:01,460
- John did not do it.
244
00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,560
Thank God someone
has come forward to admit.
245
00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:07,740
- My father, Ken Hatfield,
246
00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:10,220
went to visit Button in prison
247
00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:13,220
and told him he wanted
to get the appeal
248
00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,240
to prove that John was innocent.
249
00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,920
- I was just waiting for someone
to come and release me.
250
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:23,560
But that is not what happened.
251
00:17:25,360 --> 00:17:27,740
- The police, they had to
investigate everything.
252
00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:29,500
So they took Cooke
to Stubbs Terrace,
253
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,600
where Rosemary was run down.
254
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:34,820
They took him there and said,
255
00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,720
'Alright, Cookie, you tell us
all the details.'
256
00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:40,780
And he did.
257
00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:42,260
So he's showing the detectives
258
00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:45,740
where he first saw her
walking along the road,
259
00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:47,840
where he did a U-turn,
260
00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:50,520
where he came back behind her,
261
00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:53,720
and where he hit her.
262
00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:58,620
But the location Cooke pointed to
where Rosemary was struck
263
00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:00,760
was out by a few metres.
264
00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,800
She was lying in the sand
further on than he'd said.
265
00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:12,640
- But he also said on the record
he had stolen a car that night.
266
00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:17,460
He said that after he'd hit Rosemary
and damaged the car,
267
00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:21,780
he drove it to Kings Park
and smashed it into a tree
268
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,240
to disguise the damage.
269
00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:27,000
- So they took him to the tree.
270
00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:33,420
Wrong tree.
271
00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,620
The one that he pointed out was
three or four trees away
272
00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:38,720
from where that Holden
had been found.
273
00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:41,820
- He had a bloody good memory,
274
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:45,620
and his memory let him
down on that one.
275
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,000
So they knocked him out of that one.
276
00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:50,920
He was found out telling lies.
277
00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:54,460
- The police, they wouldn't
believe him.
278
00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:57,020
The man they thought
had done the killing,
279
00:18:57,120 --> 00:18:59,320
John Button, was locked up in jail.
280
00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:03,620
- Cooke thought he was
going to be executed,
281
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,620
and it was my belief that he was
extending time,
282
00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,700
causing us investigations
and the court proceedings
283
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:10,780
and that sort of thing,
284
00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,560
to delay and spar for time.
285
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,220
- They were certain Cooke was
lying about Rosemary Anderson.
286
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,260
They said, 'Cookie, you're lying.
You didn't do this.'
287
00:19:20,360 --> 00:19:23,540
So he retracted that confession.
288
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,940
He confessed to Rosemary Anderson
in the morning,
289
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:28,340
and he retracted it
in the afternoon,
290
00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:30,880
and he apologised
for taking up their time.
291
00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:35,580
- I was devastated.
292
00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,320
Our last chance of getting
that appeal were dashed.
293
00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,540
- In those days,
punishment for murder
294
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:51,640
was capital punishment.
295
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,240
And the community was very upset.
296
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,940
He's a vicious and violent murderer,
297
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,980
and he doesn't deserve any sympathy
from anybody whatsoever.
298
00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,700
- He's caused so much unhappiness
and sorrow to people.
299
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:07,860
They shouldn't waste money
on trialling him or nothing,
300
00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:09,620
a man'll do what he done.
301
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:11,860
I think he should definitely hang.
302
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:13,460
Until he is hung,
303
00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:15,260
the book can't be closed.
304
00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:17,360
(GAVEL BANGS)
305
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,020
- At the time,
306
00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:36,740
people they wondered, you know,
307
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:38,260
what the motivation might have been.
308
00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:43,560
Was it somebody taking revenge
on middle-class people, for example?
309
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,340
- The fact that he would
come over to Nedlands,
310
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,560
and they were all people around
this area that he murdered.
311
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:57,640
He had a harelip and a cleft palate
and would have felt inferior.
312
00:21:58,560 --> 00:21:59,980
INTERVIEWER:
People in this part of town,
313
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,060
are they inclusive
of people like...
314
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:04,720
No, that was all in his head,
I'm sure.
315
00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:09,820
- I think he'd gone through his life
feeling pushed aside
316
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:11,940
because of that disfigurement,
317
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:16,140
and it had created a terrible,
terrible blind rage in him.
318
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:17,900
And somehow,
319
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:20,740
he took it out on
society at large.
320
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:22,020
He had a...
321
00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:25,240
a white-hot
sort of revenge on society.
322
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,180
- Do you think he was proud
of what he did?
323
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:29,500
- I believe he was.
324
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:34,680
It seemed to give him
a great feeling of self-importance.
325
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:38,520
- The court found Cooke guilty,
326
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,020
And he was sentenced to death.
327
00:22:42,120 --> 00:22:45,780
I remember to this day it was 1964.
328
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:47,340
I think it was in the October,
329
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,500
and everyone knew he was
going to be hanged that day.
330
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:51,940
We were sitting outside,
331
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:53,860
waiting to go into classes.
332
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,060
Come 8 o'clock that morning,
333
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,160
we sat silently,
334
00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:00,860
thinking about what was happening
335
00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:03,480
a few kilometres down the road
at Fremantle Prison.
336
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:10,020
I was on tenterhooks.
337
00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:13,120
(TENSE MUSIC)
338
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,860
- But then, on the morning
of Cooke's execution,
339
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,140
he was in the punishment cells
behind the gallows.
340
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,300
He voluntarily took the Bible
out of the Minister's hand,
341
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,260
and holding it, said
342
00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:30,420
'I swear before Almighty God,
343
00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,880
I did kill Brewer and Anderson.'
344
00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,400
- And a minute later
they hanged him,
345
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:41,800
and he was gone.
346
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:44,060
I was thrilled.
347
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,020
It was a relief.
348
00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:48,780
I know Mum and Dad
were very relieved.
349
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:50,740
- I knew there was something
wrong about this.
350
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:54,260
I knew there was something
terribly wrong about this.
351
00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:55,980
It happened in all the films.
352
00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:57,460
The good guys won.
353
00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,340
The baddies died.
354
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,500
But I just seemed to think
even then,
355
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:05,100
there was something going wrong,
356
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,200
something I didn't agree with.
357
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:16,900
- After five years,
358
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:18,220
I got parole,
359
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:24,000
so I got released from prison
late December 1967.
360
00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:28,780
I came out believing I was going to
hang around with the mates
361
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:30,880
I used to hang around with before.
362
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,880
But friends dropped off.
363
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:37,940
They obviously believed
that I was guilty,
364
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,020
and that hurt.
365
00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:42,180
It wasn't a very good moment.
366
00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,500
- The hurt,
thinking all these people,
367
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,580
they don't believe me, still.
368
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,540
Think the hurt
of Jack and Joan Anderson,
369
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:52,780
the parents of Rosemary Anderson,
370
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,160
still not believing in him.
371
00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:57,980
You must think of it all the time.
372
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,340
Why? Why can't they believe me?
373
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,100
- And all of a sudden,
374
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,020
this life that I'd yearned for
for so long
375
00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:08,020
was just a myth.
376
00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:12,700
And I think it was at that point
that I lost all hope,
377
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,760
and I started falling into
deep depression.
378
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:27,820
Certainly growing up,
379
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,540
I was very clear in my awareness
380
00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,300
that my dad was a criminal
381
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:37,960
and served time in prison
for manslaughter.
382
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:42,740
When I was ten, eleven years of age,
383
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:46,340
I remember driving up this road
with my parents
384
00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,340
and my mum made a passing
comment to my dad.
385
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,980
'John, there's your old home.'
386
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:56,220
I looked up at that looming
limestone wall,
387
00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:00,940
and as a ten-year-old,
it really sunk in.
388
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:03,860
My dad had lived the other
side of that wall
389
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:05,700
for a period of time.
390
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,700
I guess that was the moment
when the enormity,
391
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,940
the deep sadness and the pain
of what my dad had experienced
392
00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:15,040
started to take hold of me.
393
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:20,740
As I was growing,
394
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:26,280
I noticed my father was still
imprisoned emotionally within.
395
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,500
I think I started to take on
my dad's fight.
396
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:35,300
It was so important for him,
397
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:37,440
and that was therefore
so important for me.
398
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,140
I believed my father was innocent,
399
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,280
but now we need proof
that he was innocent.
400
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:50,880
- And then I come into the picture.
401
00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:53,140
As fate would have it,
402
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:54,420
I met John Button's brother Jim
403
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:56,340
at a dance soon after.
404
00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:58,460
That's me dancing with Jim Button,
in fact.
405
00:26:58,560 --> 00:26:59,940
(LAUGHTER)
406
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,040
I love dancing.
407
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:07,380
Jim told me his brother had served
time in prison
408
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,600
for a murder that Cooke said he did.
409
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,500
Well, I did not believe him,
410
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:14,340
but I believed
in the justice system.
411
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:15,980
I believed in the police.
412
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:17,500
But I'm a nosy journo.
413
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:19,600
I was curious.
414
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,380
- I remember the phone rang,
415
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,060
and it was my Uncle Jim.
416
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,900
He had met this woman who was
an investigative journalist.
417
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,940
She was really keen to meet my dad.
418
00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,020
So I got some time alone with John,
then,
419
00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:35,120
who told me his story.
420
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,200
I was pretty intrigued by the story,
421
00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:42,980
and I wondered what was
there in the police files
422
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,800
about Eric Edgar Cooke
and John Button.
423
00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,340
And through my government networks
as a press secretary,
424
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,220
I was able to access
all the Cooke and Button files
425
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:54,820
that hadn't been public
426
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:57,120
and had just been archived
all those decades.
427
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,220
This is the transcript
of Button's trial,
428
00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:04,860
right back in 1963.
429
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,220
I arrive at the police files,
the record section,
430
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,560
not knowing what I'd find.
431
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:12,220
If anything, I thought
432
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,340
I would find something that would
find John Button guilty.
433
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,980
(READING) Very seldom
locked the door...
434
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:19,780
But after a couple of days,
435
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:21,920
I found something really
extraordinary.
436
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,220
Confessions that Cooke made
437
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:29,700
that the police didn't make
public at the time.
438
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:31,920
Why would they keep them quiet?
439
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:35,560
That's Cooke's handwriting.
440
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,040
There were boxes of them.
441
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,100
And in those confessions,
442
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,100
I found his confessions
to other violent crimes,
443
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,580
other hit runs against women.
444
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,680
(TENSE MUSIC)
445
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:54,680
Well who were these women?
446
00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:58,480
I had to track them down.
447
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,060
It's really interesting
to go through it with you.
448
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:05,220
Among all his confessions,
449
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,320
I found Glenys Peak.
450
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,820
I'm walking down here,
minding me own business.
451
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:11,920
I heard this car start up.
452
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:17,040
I got to about here,
when I heard the car rev up.
453
00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,020
I thought, 'Oh my God,
he's going to hit me.'
454
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,540
And then all hell broke loose.
455
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:25,220
One minute he was coming
down the road,
456
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,320
the next minute
I'm flying through the air.
457
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:30,580
And all I could think of was,
458
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,220
'I've got to get home.
I've gotta get home.'
459
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,460
I kept screaming
that he was coming for me.
460
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,700
He's coming for me.
461
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:39,900
Then I got the ambulance,
462
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,040
and they took me to Perth,
to the hospital.
463
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,780
The next day, I could not be
in the house on my own.
464
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,580
I was absolutely scared stiff
that he was going to come back.
465
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,200
I still cannot walk
on the side of the road.
466
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,060
- This was the same
as Rosemary Anderson.
467
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:00,420
A woman walking along a dark street,
468
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:02,820
late at night on her own.
469
00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:05,540
The MO was exactly the same.
470
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:07,640
And then I discovered more.
471
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:11,660
- It was raining quite heavily,
472
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:13,580
and luckily, we'd brought
our umbrellas.
473
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:15,300
- Yeah.
- And we turned
474
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,860
and we heard this car roaring,
475
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:19,900
headed straight for us.
476
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,000
I said, 'Look out!'
477
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:24,300
Maureen was hit
478
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,780
and carried on the bonnet
of the car,
479
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:30,340
'till when he turned left
at Cross Street,
480
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:32,180
and then she rolled off.
481
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,160
Georgina was hit to the side.
482
00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:37,340
I had blood everywhere.
483
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,540
My back was gashed open,
484
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,740
and my head.
485
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,940
- I just ran because I thought,
486
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:45,300
'He's going to come back and get me,
487
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,800
'cause he knows that
he didn't get me.'
488
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,180
I had to sleep with my parents
for a long time,
489
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:52,660
because I was scared.
490
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:54,900
- Just scared.
491
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:56,700
Cooke had confessed to this,
492
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:58,300
where he stole the car,
493
00:30:58,400 --> 00:30:59,620
where he saw the women,
494
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:01,060
where he ran them down,
495
00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:03,140
and where he abandoned the car.
496
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:04,860
And at the bottom,
497
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,660
it was stated that the police
and the Crown
498
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,000
accepted those confessions
as correct.
499
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,140
Well if Cooke did do
these five other hit runs
500
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:20,620
and the police and the Crown,
the state, accepted them,
501
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:22,800
then hang on.
502
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:28,780
That's what really got me going
503
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:32,180
and pursuing this story
very strongly,
504
00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,180
because I believe the cover-up
of the other hit and runs was that,
505
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,540
had we people of Perth
at the time known
506
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:39,100
that that was an MO of Cooke's,
507
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,020
that he did it on
five other occasions,
508
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:45,600
we would have been much more open to
John Button's pleas of innocence.
509
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:48,820
All it could be was
510
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:53,140
that if this showed that Cooke
was the killer of Rosemary Anderson,
511
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,920
it would prove that they had
the wrong person in prison.
512
00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:02,060
- Estelle came around
to share with my parents
513
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,220
that she had discovered a confession
514
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:08,140
of other hit and runs
that he had done.
515
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:11,940
- She told me in the police files
there was a single page
516
00:32:12,040 --> 00:32:14,220
of five other accidents
517
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,620
where Eric Cooke was involved
in running down females,
518
00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,860
which showed that Eric Cooke's
modus operandi
519
00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,960
was identical to what happened
to Rosemary.
520
00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,240
- It was a pretty
overwhelming moment.
521
00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:30,500
There was this energy for my mum
522
00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:34,260
and my brother and myself
and my dad of,
523
00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:35,900
'We've got this, you know.
524
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:37,420
We... This is...
525
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:43,520
This is the time to
really clear my dad's name.'
526
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,740
- It gave me hope that one day
I'd be able to get back
527
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,000
into living again.
528
00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:55,760
But there was still a big problem.
529
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:58,960
John had confessed
to killing Rosemary.
530
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:04,320
We believed that if he confessed
to the crime, he must be guilty.
531
00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:07,780
I began to reappraise the evidence
532
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,140
and wondered if there was truth
to the claims
533
00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:12,140
that he confessed under duress.
534
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:13,820
I began to interview the police.
535
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:18,740
One most interesting one I did was
with Detective Sergeant Max Baker.
536
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,300
He said, 'Things happen
that you wouldn't read about.
537
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,620
You might persuade the fellow
with a couple of rib-ticklers,
538
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,980
such as that would be far better
if he told the truth. (LAUGHS)'
539
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:30,460
He was laughing through this.
540
00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:32,500
'And that's where you went
out of bounds.'
541
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,600
He told me this.
542
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:39,260
- I do have a habit of hunches.
543
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:44,980
I've put numerous people
in jail for ...
544
00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:49,260
One reason, I didn't believe
what he was saying,
545
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:50,700
and I kept at it.
546
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:54,220
If you think that
they're still guilty,
547
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:55,740
you go to the boss and say,
548
00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:59,220
'Look, they've all said no.
I reckon it's yes.'
549
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:04,020
'Well Max, if you think that they're
still guilty, go and have a go.'
550
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:07,240
'Don't give up, just ...
just try again.'
551
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,400
- This confirms to me they knew
they'd got an innocent man.
552
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,660
After that for me,
everything changed.
553
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:23,260
I knew John Button was innocent,
554
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,360
and I needed him proved innocent.
555
00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:27,980
Being part of the community,
556
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:30,240
how could we allow this to happen?
557
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:35,060
I really felt I needed to take
responsibility
558
00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:38,180
and do something
to make a difference.
559
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,420
I didn't think it was right that
John Button
560
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:43,300
should go through
the rest of his life as a murderer.
561
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,340
I really wanted to get him
a new appeal.
562
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:48,440
There's justice to expose.
563
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,100
I wrote a book about Cooke,
564
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:57,320
the life and crimes of Cooke
that were never known before.
565
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,320
We published it.
566
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:05,660
Couple of weeks later,
567
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,000
the Attorney General
granted a new appeal.
568
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:13,040
Wow, we had a new appeal
for John Button.
569
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,420
- I saw that hope
reignite for my dad.
570
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:20,300
This is the time that someone's
going to take responsibility
571
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,720
for what happened to my dad.
572
00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:27,060
- But I was very nervous
573
00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:30,560
about whether we had enough
fresh evidence to win.
574
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,180
REPORTER: John Button spent
five years in jail
575
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:38,020
for killing his teenage girlfriend,
Rosemary Anderson.
576
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:41,820
37 years later, he's won the right
to a second appeal.
577
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:45,100
But the struggle to clear his name
is far from over.
578
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,180
Today, the DPP argued that
Eric Cooke's confessions
579
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:49,660
aren't proof.
580
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,660
The Crown are entitled to insist
on strict proof of these matters,
581
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:54,760
and we'll prove them.
582
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,460
- We published Estelle's book
in The Post newspapers.
583
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,660
Her book was a masterpiece
of research.
584
00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:10,740
That was that incredible photo of
Eric Cooke in front of his car.
585
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:11,900
I'd met John,
586
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,020
and he certainly didn't seem
like the sort of person
587
00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:16,220
who was capable of
killing someone deliberately.
588
00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:17,420
Accident scene...
589
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:21,060
Or even losing his temper enough
to accidentally kill them.
590
00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:23,220
Amazing stuff.
591
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:25,320
His story seemed to stack up.
592
00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:27,960
- And this was where I lived.
593
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,780
- But the fresh evidence
of the other hit runs...
594
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:32,820
- This fence wasn't there.
595
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:34,940
- That was important,
but it was not proof
596
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:37,220
that Cooke in fact was driving
the car
597
00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:39,300
that killed Rosemary Anderson.
598
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:40,860
- It was all... this was all open.
599
00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:42,060
- That's not evidence.
600
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:44,160
I mean, belief is not proof.
601
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,620
I reckon that the answer to
solving all crimes
602
00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:49,720
always lies in the science.
603
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,220
So then I went searching
for someone who knew all about
604
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:54,780
car versus pedestrian crashes,
605
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:56,340
the science of it,
606
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,580
and I tracked this fellow down
in the United States,
607
00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,060
a bloke called Rusty Haight.
608
00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:04,600
I paid his fare to come out here
and run some crash tests.
609
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:09,420
I said to Rusty,
610
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:11,380
'I don't want you to come
here to prove John innocent.'
611
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,580
'I want you to come
and prove the truth.'
612
00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:18,260
'If these tests show John is guilty,
well so be it.'
613
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:21,360
(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
614
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,420
I remember my parents and I heading
down to the Claremont Showgrounds
615
00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,980
for this test to be conducted.
616
00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:35,460
Bret sourced cars to be used.
617
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:39,620
- Four Simcas, and the Simca was the
car that was owned by John Button.
618
00:37:39,720 --> 00:37:42,620
And I also bought a 1961 Holden.
619
00:37:42,720 --> 00:37:46,380
Now that was the car that Eric Cooke
said he had hit Rosemary with.
620
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:50,740
- Rusty brought his own mannequins
and equipment needed.
621
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,820
- The crash test dummy was the
same size as Rosemary Anderson.
622
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:56,540
Weight is actually not material,
623
00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:58,380
but roughly the same height
is important,
624
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:00,580
because humans have a high
centre of gravity,
625
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:02,180
and if they're struck by a car,
626
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:04,980
they tend to wrap around
the front of the car
627
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,520
because most of the weight is above.
628
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,540
This was a really huge moment,
and I think at that time,
629
00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:15,460
we were all caught up in the
excitement of possibility.
630
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:16,900
- There you go. Alright, now.
631
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:18,780
Go ahead and give her a...
Whoa, whoa, slowly, slowly.
632
00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:21,020
- The tests, they were going to show
633
00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:23,140
whether John was a liar
and a killer,
634
00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:25,500
or whether he was totally innocent.
635
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:27,100
I felt pretty anxious, yeah.
636
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:29,200
That's probably good.
637
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:32,660
Prisons are full of people
who never did it,
638
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:34,100
according to them.
639
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:37,540
So when John Button and his case
640
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:39,100
was referred to the
Court of Criminal Appeal,
641
00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:43,320
there was shock, outrage and fear
among the general community.
642
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:46,780
I couldn't believe it.
643
00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:49,240
I thought no judge
could be so stupid.
644
00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:52,300
John Button, he had signed
a confession.
645
00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:53,740
If he'd signed it,
646
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:56,860
we had to accept it
as being the case.
647
00:38:56,960 --> 00:38:58,140
The confession was real, yeah.
648
00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:01,300
And they had got to it
in a trustworthy way.
649
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:03,020
It was a shock.
650
00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:05,260
You confess to the crime,
you've done it.
651
00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,340
You don't confess to a crime
you haven't done.
652
00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:10,900
That's the way we thought
at the time.
653
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:12,980
REPORTER: There's been appeals
and counter-appeals.
654
00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:15,460
John Button even took his case
to the High Court,
655
00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:16,500
but it failed.
656
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:18,300
Now it's his last chance,
657
00:39:18,400 --> 00:39:20,780
the result of journalist
Estelle Blackburn
658
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:23,420
uncovering startling new evidence.
659
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,220
- We had the whole State against us,
660
00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:29,780
A Director of Public Prosecutions
with a whole team
661
00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,520
working against us volunteers.
662
00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:35,500
- But of course, that was just
going to be the start of it.
663
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:37,600
We'd need to get three judges
over the line.
664
00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,440
Very difficult when there's
existing conviction.
665
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:47,020
- Court of Criminal Appeal Matter
number 122 of 2000,
666
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:49,120
Button against the Queen.
667
00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:51,460
- The Crown fought us
every step of the way.
668
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,820
I've never fought a case as hard as
I had to fight that one,
669
00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:58,800
because there was no cooperation
from the prosecution at all.
670
00:39:59,720 --> 00:40:01,720
Yes, may it please the court,
I appear ...
671
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:04,100
The fresh evidence
672
00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:06,460
is put through the hoops,
if you like,
673
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:12,000
and only submitted if
it is found to have cogency.
674
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,940
These are copies of the photographs
that were given to the judges.
675
00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:17,780
These were the undamaged cars,
676
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:20,400
showing the vehicles
prior to the tests.
677
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:25,740
We built a gallows contraption
to suspend the dummy,
678
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:30,420
and Rusty drove the three Simcas
at the dummy
679
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:32,520
at three different speeds.
680
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,340
He wanted to assess whether you'd
sustain any damage
681
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:37,780
to the front of the car,
682
00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,460
if you hit a lifelike dummy
at the speed
683
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,960
that the police said
John Button hit Rosemary.
684
00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:47,460
And it was an absolutely
graphic representation
685
00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:48,980
of what had happened to her.
686
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:50,020
It was horrible.
687
00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:52,420
It was really quite...
very, very sickening,
688
00:40:52,520 --> 00:40:54,140
for all of us, but for John,
689
00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:56,240
it was a nightmare come true.
690
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:05,780
You start thinking that's the way
it actually was.
691
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:07,880
That's the way it actually happened.
692
00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:10,940
I was devastated.
693
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:13,820
All I could think of
was her being hurt.
694
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,100
It's the only thing
that went through my mind.
695
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:18,740
- You'll see that massive
amount of damage there,
696
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:20,460
and damage to
the leading edge there,
697
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:23,740
which is not evident
on the police photographs
698
00:41:23,840 --> 00:41:25,820
of John Button's car.
699
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:28,020
It's probably clearest
in that photograph there.
700
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,860
See the line of the ...
all the bonnet's completely crushed.
701
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:32,740
INTERVIEWER: Does that mean that
if John Button's car
702
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:33,900
had have hit Rosemary ...
703
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,000
That would have happened to it.
704
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:42,980
So it's clear and obvious
that John Button's car
705
00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:44,820
could not have hit Rosemary,
706
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,220
because that would have been
the damage to his car,
707
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,940
especially had he hit her
hard enough to kill her.
708
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:53,880
That is the... That is the
really salient point.
709
00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:57,980
- In every case with the Simca,
710
00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:00,580
there was no damage
to the front of the car.
711
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:05,340
The whole damage was to
a massive dent in the bonnet.
712
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:08,780
- These Supreme Court judges
were told that Eric Cooke
713
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,620
not only confessed to killing
Rosemary Anderson,
714
00:42:11,720 --> 00:42:16,740
he gave precise details about how
he ran her down in a stolen car
715
00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:19,000
that he later crashed in Kings Park.
716
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:23,820
- I thought it was a big volume
of evidence for John,
717
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:25,860
but to buttress that,
718
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:27,940
he then went and got a car
of the same type
719
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,220
that Cooke we know
was driving that night,
720
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:31,740
a Holden,
721
00:42:31,840 --> 00:42:34,400
and conducted
the same sort of tests.
722
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:38,020
- Cooke's confession
to Rosemary Anderson's murder
723
00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:39,820
was that she'd gone up
on the bonnet,
724
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:43,300
that she had come up under
the sun visor on that old Holden,
725
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:46,760
and then rolled off
onto the side of the road.
726
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:49,380
- So Rusty drove this Holden
727
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:51,260
at the speed Eric Cooke said
he was travelling,
728
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:52,980
about thirty-five miles an hour,
729
00:42:53,080 --> 00:42:55,920
and it hit the dummy at high speed.
730
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,380
This is a picture showing
the Holden hitting the dummy
731
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:04,420
and the dummy cartwheeling
over the front of the car.
732
00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:06,700
You can see the head
contacting the bonnet
733
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,400
and contacting the sun visor there.
734
00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:13,980
- I think the reason the police
refused to believe Eric Cooke
735
00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:15,620
was that it had a sun visor,
736
00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:18,500
and if a body hits
and gets caught under the sun visor,
737
00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:20,940
it would rip the sun visor off.
738
00:43:21,040 --> 00:43:22,900
- Here it is leaving the sun visor,
739
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:25,460
and the sun visor popping back
into place,
740
00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:28,060
and not even cracking the paint
on the sun visor,
741
00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:30,460
let alone ripping it off
or damaging it.
742
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:32,740
The police report said that
Rosemary's body
743
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:35,060
had been displaced
well off the side of the road,
744
00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:36,820
two to three metres in fact.
745
00:43:36,920 --> 00:43:39,980
When Rusty hit the dummy
with the Simca,
746
00:43:40,080 --> 00:43:42,340
there was no displacement or
anything like that.
747
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:44,660
It just sort of rolled up
onto the front of the car,
748
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:46,460
but then just sort of rolled off.
749
00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:48,940
Whereas with the Holden,
750
00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:51,620
it was the same as Cooke's
description of it,
751
00:43:51,720 --> 00:43:53,720
and the police report.
752
00:43:57,000 --> 00:43:59,460
- We knew a decision
was to be delivered,
753
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:01,820
and the build-up to that
754
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:03,620
was a really powerful moment.
755
00:44:03,720 --> 00:44:05,860
- Silence in court. Please stand.
756
00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:08,740
You always have these very nervous
moments before verdict.
757
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:12,420
We all rose to receive the court.
758
00:44:12,520 --> 00:44:14,020
However, the Chief Justice,
759
00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:17,300
he read a twenty-minute spiel
about it.
760
00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:20,620
- All of this material
needs to be considered
761
00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:24,620
against the background of
Mr Button's youth at the time.
762
00:44:24,720 --> 00:44:26,260
- One minute you thought,
'We're gone.'
763
00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:28,340
The next minute you think,
'We're getting up on this.'
764
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:29,900
And the next minute you think,
765
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:31,500
'They've got a problem with this.'
766
00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:34,220
Similar fact evidence points
directly to the likelihood ...
767
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:35,420
- You never know.
768
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:37,900
Sometimes you have verdicts
go the wrong way.
769
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:39,660
INTERVIEWER: What were you feeling
at that point?
770
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:41,760
Pretty sick.
771
00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:43,180
Very nerve-wracking.
772
00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:44,940
We had to sit there
for thirty minutes,
773
00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:47,380
listening to him give the facts
of the case and ah-di-dah.
774
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:49,740
- Whether the appellant's Simca
motor vehicle was involved
775
00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:51,840
in running down Ms Anderson...
776
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,860
- I remember holding my dad's hand.
777
00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:58,800
My mum sat holding his hand as well.
778
00:45:00,240 --> 00:45:02,880
And it was intense as we waited.
779
00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:11,220
- I have concluded
that the evidence of Mr Haight
780
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:13,760
is sufficient to raise
a reasonable doubt.
781
00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:17,540
All combine to lead me
to the conclusion
782
00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:22,660
that the verdict must be regarded
as unsafe and unsatisfactory
783
00:45:22,760 --> 00:45:23,940
on the grounds...
784
00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:27,040
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
785
00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:36,540
..on the ground that there has been
a miscarriage of justice.
786
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:39,640
(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC)
787
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:54,500
- My dad didn't do it.
788
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:57,520
This is proof that others
can see and know as well.
789
00:45:58,960 --> 00:46:04,560
And it was just this most amazing
and delightful relief.
790
00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,060
REPORTER: John Button finally had
his day in court
791
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,580
and made legal history after
nearly forty years
792
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:18,500
of fighting to clear his name.
793
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:20,020
- It was amazing.
794
00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:22,500
It was a wonderful moment.
795
00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:24,380
- Oh, relief, vindication.
796
00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:26,780
Finally we've got there.
797
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:30,060
- We were able to prove that Button
didn't kill this girl
798
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:34,460
and that Cooke,
beyond almost any doubt, did so.
799
00:46:34,560 --> 00:46:36,020
We were over the moon.
800
00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:37,740
Oh, Rusty.
801
00:46:37,840 --> 00:46:40,220
Oh, it's been absolutely
unbelievable.
802
00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:41,820
It's a wonderful time over here.
803
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:45,380
I just wanted to savour the moment.
804
00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:47,220
I was freed, finally.
805
00:46:47,320 --> 00:46:49,060
Exonerated.
806
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:51,160
Completely freed.
807
00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:56,400
I... I knew life was going to be
different again.
808
00:47:07,080 --> 00:47:09,900
- After John Button's appeal,
I was exhausted.
809
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:12,420
But I was really pleased to know
810
00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:15,520
that my research had helped
clear his name.
811
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:19,340
But I couldn't shake from my mind
812
00:47:19,440 --> 00:47:22,100
the appalling way the police
had treated John,
813
00:47:22,200 --> 00:47:24,940
and I had this nagging feeling
814
00:47:25,040 --> 00:47:28,120
that he wasn't the only victim
of police misconduct.
815
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:32,980
So I delved into another case,
Daryl Beamish,
816
00:47:33,080 --> 00:47:34,660
who'd been sentenced to
life imprisonment
817
00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:37,480
for the killing of Jillian Brewer.
818
00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:41,620
And what I discovered
absolutely floored me.
819
00:47:41,720 --> 00:47:44,720
(THEME MUSIC)
820
00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:50,800
We had really only
just scratched the surface.
821
00:47:51,360 --> 00:47:54,700
And of course at the back of my mind
as I walked out of the case,
822
00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:57,200
I was thinking,
'Well now we have to do Beamish.'
823
00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:02,700
- And suddenly, it occurred to me.
824
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:05,280
I thought, my God, that's the bloke!
825
00:48:06,240 --> 00:48:08,340
- I see it as a private holocaust.
826
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:10,140
It only belongs to me.
827
00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:13,660
- The police took justice
into their own hands.
828
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:18,020
- He wouldn't have a
bar that Beamish was innocent.
829
00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:19,740
- Very, very light on detail,
830
00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:22,900
and yet this is what
he was condemned to death on.
831
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:25,380
- I'm so angry
the police got away with it.
832
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:26,980
- It's changed us all, hasn't it?
833
00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:29,540
And I don't think you will ever
find your freedom.
834
00:48:29,640 --> 00:48:33,080
- I said, 'No matter what happens,
don't run away from it.'
64203
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