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Trace

An investigative podcast hosted by ABC journalist Rachael Brown, Trace examines the fractures in Australia's criminal justice system, and the decades-long ripples they have caused.

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A Victorian Coroner has failed to name a killer in the 1980 cold case of Maria James. Her sons are devasted. But there's still hope, in leads yet to be chased by police.

Maria James inquest finding

The new coronial inquest into the murder of Maria James has wrapped up. Will the Coroner be able to name her killer? And of the police exhibits that haven't disappeared, what DNA testing can be done? This episode nears us closer to the end of the James brothers' 41-year-fight for answers for their mum.

S1 | The Inquest

The discovery of a police exhibit - thought to be missing for around three decades - could finally help unmask the killer in the 1980 cold case of Maria James.

S1 | Breakthrough in Maria James cold case

The Royal Commission has released its final report into defence lawyer turned police informer Nicola Gobbo.

S2 BONUS — The Price

We reveal the story of Nicola Gobbo's audacious bid to return to Australia.

S2 08 | End game

Everything unravels, for Nicola Gobbo and Victoria Police. Their secret is out.

S2 07 | Reckoning

Nicola hits rock bottom, but Victoria Police wants her to take on a new role ... as a witness.

S2 06 | Whatever it takes

Nicola wants to be the best source ever, and she leads police to the biggest target of all: the mafia. Her double life is getting riskier, but she can't stop. This episode charts an addiction and a crash.

S2 05 | Glittering prize

Nicola crosses the point of no return and becomes a police informer. She'll represent clients, while passing on the underworld's secrets to Victoria Police.

S2 04 | Rubicon

A drug house burglary smells of police corruption and a police informer is executed.

S2 03 | The darkest night

As the gangland war explodes, both police and criminals start questioning Nicola's allegiances. Where do her loyalties lie?

S2 02 | One of the crew

We meet Nicola Gobbo in a secret location, in hiding, now that her double life as a police informer is out, and she begins telling us her full story.

S2 01 | Nicola

Lawyer Nicola Gobbo represented some of Australia's most dangerous criminals, all the while secretly working as a police informer. Why did she do it?

INTRODUCING Trace season 2 - The Informer

More than a year on from their plea for a new coronial inquest, the James brothers get a decision.

Will they finally get answers to the burning questions they've carried for 38 years about the murder of their mother?

And what about those items Trace has been given that might have DNA on them?

Can they identify the killer?

We take them to one of the world's best DNA labs, with some of the most sensitive equipment, to find out.

S1 07 | Hope

New evidence has been found. So can police test it for a trace of the killer? What happened to crucial documents? And a new confession.

It is nearly a year since the James brothers applied for a new coronial inquest into their mum's murder, but the case hangs in legal limbo.

S1 06 | Limbo

The fall-out from major revelations in the Maria James cold-case continue, as her sons make a desperate plea to the Coroner.

S1 05 | Wait

There's a major break in the case, as Trace uncovers a police bungle in the murder of Maria James. But it only serves to throw up more questions than answers, as the James brothers continue their desperate search for justice.

S1 04 | DNA

A second person of interest emerges within the church. Rachael Brown investigates their past and discovers a dark and disturbing history.

S1 03 | Sins

Since Trace was first released, the ABC has received over 50 emails from the community with leads and tip offs. In this bonus update, reporter Rachael Brown follows up with two women who got in touch to say they saw men acting suspiciously around Maria's bookshop at the time of her murder. Send us your tips: trace@abc.net.au

BONUS | How your leads are helping the investigation

Rachael Brown's investigation into the death of Maria James turns to the local Church, and Rachael tracks down a new witness who saw someone covered in blood around the time of Maria's death.

S1 02 | Confessions

On a winter morning in June 1980, Maria James turned to her son Mark and looked him in the eyes. "If anything happens to me, look after your brother." Later that day she was found stabbed to death at the back of her suburban Melbourne bookshop.

S1 01 | Bookshop murder

June, 1980, suburban Melbourne: Mother of two Maria James is stabbed to death in the back of her bookshop. Her killer has never been found. Was it a scorned lover? A random stranger? Or was Maria's murder tied up in the sins of the Catholic Church?