Shandee's Story

It's been four years since Hedley, Dr Kirsty Wright and Vicki and Shannah Blackburn first Zoomed in late 2021 about the forensic testing anomalies in Shandee's case. 

In the final episode of Shandee's Legacy for now, the podcast’s focus turns to the future and a bid to solve Shandee's case.

Hedley and Karina look into the status of Shandee's crime scene samples and those from other historical cases as Queensland’s Attorney-General Deb Frecklington pledges they will be re-tested.

The senior lawyer in a defamation case brought by Shandee's former boyfriend over an episode of the podcast unpacks the high-stakes legal contest so far - and the potential for a full-blown trial.

The new director of the lab, former NSW Police Force Commissioner Mick Fuller, is tasked with leading the lab out of ruin and transforming it into a world-class facility. 

He shares his plans for salvaging the lab with Hedley and explains why he is the right person for the top job, even though he's not a scientist.

A confidential briefing note from the lab to Queensland Health in March 2023 warned of critical risks and a lack of confidence in the lab's scientists and science. Two years later, Dr Kirsty Wright says the issues demanded a temporary shut down of the lab. Instead, the lab persisted with testing and providing potentially unreliable results to the police and courts.    

The terrible toll for victims affected by the DNA lab’s ongoing failure is laid bare by Magda.

Eighteen months after her alleged rape, the mining site worker is still waiting for the lab to tell her what, if anything, is happening with the forensic testing of samples from her ordeal.

Magda shares her searing story with Hedley as Dr Kirsty Wright discloses major problems with the lab's testing of rape kits.

New managers of the lab in Brisbane put their faith in a United States lab to help with the backlog and bring down the long delays in giving results to victims.
And confidential documents which are being revealed publicly for the first time show bad things got with the lab's former management again taking short-cuts with testing even though it resulted in criminals' DNA going undetected, and crimes remaining unsolved.

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After a break of two years, the podcast returns with the first of several new bombshell episodes of Shandee’s Legacy.

The DNA lab in Queensland is again under close scrutiny for gross scientific failure despite the findings of two public inquiries, major reforms and a huge injection of public funds.

Dr Kirsty Wright answers another SOS to lift the lid on what’s going wrong in the lab - and she’s asked to help fix it once and for all. Kirsty reveals her disgust and shock at what’s happened.

As serious contamination problems and huge backlogs came to light, Dr Linzi Wilson-Wilde, the lab’s leader since early 2023, was dramatically forced out and then quit. 

Vicki and Shannah Blackburn share news about Shandee’s case.