Unravel
Chinese restaurants are being firebombed in the dead of night. The police arson squad is racing against the clock to stop the next attack. Along the way, there are buried weapons, secret informers, punks, ninjas, and political manoeuvres. As the rest of Australia celebrates the nation's bicentenary, a campaign of terror is getting underway in Perth. Now, in this deeply personal season of Unravel True Crime, Crispian Chan investigates what really happened after his family's restaurant went up in flames
Unravel True Crime is the ABC's award-winning true crime podcast. Previous seasons include 'Blood on the Tracks', 'Barrenjoey Road', 'Last Seen: Katoomba' and 'Snowball'..
Episodes
PRESENTS | Great Aussie Cons
While you're waiting on the next season of Unravel, why not check out this series on Great Aussie Cons made by our colleagues over at The History Listen?Australian history is littered with con artists, grifters and swindlers.Join renowned Australian actor Richard Roxburgh as he tells the stories of these brazen and downright deviant identities who used their charm and smarts to spy, extort and counterfeit.How did they get away with it?Find out by looking for The History Listen on the ABC Listen app.
11/06/24•1m 45s
BONUS | Behind the scenes
Go behind the scenes of the podcast with co-reporters Crispian and Alex as they describe how they made this season of Unravel True Crime.
09/10/23•31m 30s
07 | Close to Home
Crispian and Alex find troubling signs among current-day extremist groups. Meanwhile, in this episode of Unravel True Crime the restaurant kids discuss how they processed what happened to their families.
25/09/23•48m 0s
06 | Track Jack
Crispian and Alex hit the road to track down the gang's leader, Jack Van Tongeren. It turns out that Jack's past contains some big surprises. Meanwhile, in this episode of Unravel True Crime a former member of the gang reveals its secrets.
18/09/23•49m 0s
05 | The Gang Rises
A decade later, the gang reemerges. In this episode of Unravel True Crime, Crispian and Alex come face to face with a former follower of the gang at a men's health and yoga retreat, sparking a bizarre and emotional reckoning.More InformationHost and co-reporter: Crispian ChanCo-reporter: Alex MannProducer and researcher: Dunja KaragicResearch and fact checking: Johnny LieuRollout producer: Amelia MerthaTheme and music composition: Martin PeraltaSound design and additional music: Simon BranthwaiteCommissioning editor: Alice BrennanExecutive Producer: Tim Roxburgh
11/09/23•
04 | Operation Jackhammer
A risky undercover operation strikes at the heart of the firebombing gang. But in this episode of Unravel True Crime, hatred reverberates around the city, and lives are lost. (Audio of Russell Willey courtesy of Anthony Buckley AM, from the film ‘Nazi Supergrass’)
04/09/23•44m 30s
03 | Punks and Ninjas
As police struggle to keep up with a wave of terrorism, unlikely defenders emerge to confront the city's gangs.In this episode of Unravel True Crime, activists are badly beaten, and the neo-Nazi gang is starting to push its luck, but the police still can't nail anyone over the restaurant firebombings.
28/08/23•41m 12s
02 | The Posters
The city has been blanketed in threatening posters. The list of suspects narrows as the fire bombers' potential motivations become clearer.In this episode of Unravel True Crime, Police become suspicious of a hardened and fanatical group of neo-Nazi activists, who are thumbing their nose at law enforcement and threatening Asian communities in Perth.
21/08/23•37m 6s
01 | The Man Lin
Chinese restaurants are being firebombed in the dead of night. As the attacks spread, police scramble to work out what is happening in the city.In this episode of Firebomb, host Crispian Chan sets out to investigate the events surrounding the fire that destroyed his family's restaurant.
14/08/23•25m 30s
INTRODUCING — Firebomb
Chinese restaurants are being firebombed in the dead of night. The police arson squad is racing against the clock to stop the next attack. Along the way, there are buried weapons, secret informers, punks, ninjas, and political manoeuvres.As the rest of Australia celebrates the nation's bicentenary, a campaign of terror is getting underway in Perth. Now, in this deeply personal season of Unravel True Crime, Crispian Chan will investigate what really happened after his family's restaurant went up in flames.Episode 1 will be released on the 15th of August 2023. Unravel True Crime is the ABC's award-winning true crime podcast. Previous seasons include 'Blood on the Tracks', 'Barrenjoey Road', 'Last Seen: Katoomba' and 'Snowball'.
31/07/23•3m 40s
07 | The Morning After
After the confrontation in the supermarket carpark, Ollie is left feeling confused — has he been charmed just like everyone else in this story? Will Lezlie fail to keep her promises to Ollie or leave him and his family hanging?
02/09/19•23m 35s
06 | Stakeout
Ollie and Simon have criss-crossed California to find themselves parked in a supermarket car park staking out where Lezlie supposedly works. They may only have one shot to talk to her and finally get some answers. It doesn't go the way Ollie imagined.
02/09/19•41m 48s
05 | Black Widow
Ollie and his brother Simon follow the trail of broken dreams and failed restaurants to Paso Robles, California. It's apparent Lezlie's exploits didn't stop when she left New Zealand. Ollie discovers his former sister-in-law had manufactured an image of a successful restaurateur in Hawaii, Lake Tahoe and New Zealand. Her exotic CV and exciting stories pull a new family into her web — with disastrous consequences.
02/09/19•44m 29s
04 | Charmed
Following the trail to Lezlie Manukian, Ollie and his other brother Simon end up in California. With a muscle car and loud Hawaiian shirts, the brothers look every bit like '80s TV detectives as they head off on their very first stakeout. But, when the trail runs cold, they decide to chase down a lead at Lezlie's first restaurant in the resort town of Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile, Lezlie's emails become stranger than fiction.
02/09/19•40m 54s
03 | The Coconut Wireless
Lezlie Manukian's stories about her time in Hawaii usually ended with murderous local mobsters running her off the island. So, to track down his brother Greg's ex-wife, Ollie Wards needs to understand her past. What really happened according to "the coconut wireless"?
02/09/19•41m 22s
02 | The Great Houdini
Ollie and Greg's dad, David Wards, picks through the clues left behind by Greg's American wife, Lezlie. He realises that the entire family may have been victims of an elaborate con job.David is obsessed with finding answers, launching his own investigations and even becoming a 60-something computer hacker.
02/09/19•43m 39s
01 | The Girl With The Dragonfly Tattoo
When Ollie Wards' brother Greg marries his American dream girl in New Zealand and they go into business together, it seems like a perfect start to a new life. But only a few months later, Greg is heartbroken, the family home is gone — and so is Lezlie.
02/09/19•48m 28s
INTRODUCING — Snowball
Ollie Wards' family lost everything after their brush with a charming Californian con woman. As he embarks on a quest to find out how she did it, why she did it, and where she is now, he opens the door on a mystery that spans decades and across continents.
28/08/19•4m 26s
BONUS — Seeing Is Believing
Host Gina McKeon interviews film-maker Helen Barrow about her coverage of Belinda Peisley’s inquest and the behind-the-scenes moments that we can’t hear in the audio.Helen’s one-hour tv documentary WHO KILLED BELINDA PEISLEY? is available on the streaming platform ABC iView. Download the app or visit the website: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/who-killed-belinda-peisley
12/03/19•9m 0s
05 | The Visitor
Some of the most explosive moments in Belinda Peisley’s inquest happen between lawyer Phil Strickland and the man we’re calling Luke. Luke admits to using heroin and to staying on Belinda’s floor from time to time, like a lot of their crowd in Katoomba at the time. He’s got a violent past and a long rap sheet, but denies being a standover man or ever demanding money from Belinda. In the coroner’s court, Luke is grilled about an alleged conversation he had in jail with a fellow prisoner who remembers Luke bragging about smashing Belinda’s head with a rock. Luke denies all these accusations.
05/03/19•39m 11s
04 | The Best Friend's Boyfriend
Jeremy Ward Douglas was going out with Belinda Peisley’s best friend, Heidi Wailes, at the time Belinda disappeared. The inquest into her death heard Jeremy had a reputation around town as a violent and controlling guy with a short temper who would hang around Belinda’s house, often against her wishes. Heidi says that, after Belinda disappeared, she remembers Jeremy behaving like he knew she wasn’t coming back. The court hears stories from others of Jeremy’s rage and that he allegedly had ideas about where Belinda’s body might be.
26/02/19•27m 51s
03 | The Best Friend
Heidi Wailes was close to Belinda and says she looked out for Belinda like an older sister would. But a break-in at Belinda’s house just days before she disappeared suggests Heidi might not have always been the friend she claimed to be.Many, including the coroner at Belinda’s inquest, believe Heidi may know more about what happened to Belinda than she is revealing. As pressure mounts in the courtroom, cracks begin to show. We also hear from another person in Belinda’s friendship circle, Wanda Loynds (aka "Storm") who admits to punching Belinda on the last day she was seen alive.
19/02/19•38m 50s
02 | The Boyfriend
We go inside the courtroom at Belinda Peisley's inquest to hear firsthand the arguments, phone taps and witness testimony. Jason*, Belinda's boyfriend at the time, says he met up with her on the night she disappeared. They had an argument at her house and he left. It's the last time he ever saw her. Jason is from a footy family in the Mountains and his father John* wasn't impressed his son was going out with someone from the so-called 'junkie' crowd.Hear the inquest testimony from Jason and his father as they answer questions about Belinda's disappearance. *We've changed their names for legal reasons.
12/02/19•38m 26s
01 | Belinda
Belinda Peisley's life descended into chaos after her 18th birthday when she received a big inheritance and bought her own place in Katoomba. Her family hoped the house would set her up for life but, instead, her new address became a magnet for a world of drugs and crowd of people who’d turn up at all hours. Six months later, Belinda disappeared. In the months before she vanished, Belinda told her family she was scared — even that she wanted to change her identity and leave town — but they couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt her.Join reporter Gina McKeon as she travels to Katoomba to begin to understand what happened to Belinda Peisley.
05/02/19•31m 55s
INTRODUCING — Last Seen Katoomba
19-year-old Belinda Peisley vanished after she left a Blue Mountains hospital on September 26, 1998. The single mum-of-two disappeared within a year of inheriting a significant sum of money from a relative and buying a house in Katoomba.
28/01/19•3m 0s
07 | Christmas Tree Hill
In the Season 2 finale, Ruby and Neil get the lead they have hoped for — a tip-off from an old law enforcement source about a potential burial site for Trudie Adams.
13/11/18•33m 25s
06 | The Unholy Relationship
Investigating the link between a career criminal, Trudie ... and a corrupt cop.For decades, Neville Tween evaded scrutiny by law enforcement, despite being a well-known career criminal. But what if he was protected?Not long after Trudie’s inquest, Mark Standen — one of Australia’s most powerful law enforcement officers — went down as a corrupt cop. It turns out Tween was one of Standen’s informants.As Ruby Jones and Neil Mercer begin to examine the relationship between Standen and Tween, they discover Tween was more than just an informant.There are so many questions, but only one man who has the answers.With Standen behind bars, will a letter to him from our investigation team provoke a response?
06/11/18•38m 50s
03 | The Hunting Ground
A chilling visit to bushland where abducted hitch-hikers are taken. In the days and weeks after Trudie’s disappearance, a series of women come forward to the police telling similar, terrible stories about being targeted by two men on the northern beaches.At least 14 women have been abducted while hitchhiking or walking home. They are taken out to bushland, sexually assaulted and warned not to tell anyone. They don’t... until Trudie disappears. Many wonder if what happened to them had also happened to Trudie.The shadows of the bush are about to give up secret horrors... gunshots, a grave and an assault so depraved it could only have been committed by a criminal monster.
16/10/18•36m 39s
INTRODUCING — Barrenjoey Road
The story of Barrenjoey Road explores the disappearance of Trudie Adams in 1978 from Sydney’s northern beaches in 1978 leaving a family and community devastated.
01/10/18•3m 50s
07 | Face To Face
Allan is finally there, in front of someone who might shed light on Mark's last night.
08/07/18•30m 29s
06 | Revelation
The Unravel team cracks the case wide open with new leads and witnesses.
02/07/18•22m 16s
03 | The Boxer
Violence erupts as Uncle Duck and the family confront their number one suspect.
11/06/18•28m 16s
01 | Blood On The Tracks
Thirty years of mystery surrounds the death of 17-year-old Mark Haines.
28/05/18•27m 39s
INTRODUCING — Blood On The Tracks
Blood On The Tracks investigates the suspicious death of 17-year-old Mark Haines, whose body was found on the railway line outside Tamworth in January 1988.
18/05/18•3m 13s