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Crime Investigation Australia

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Genre
  
Crime/Factual

Original language(s)
  
English

No. of episodes
  
36

First episode date
  
August 2005

Cast
  
Steve Liebmann

8.2/10
IMDb

Country of origin
  
Australia

No. of seasons
  
3

Executive producer(s)
  
Graham McNeice

Presented by
  
Steve Liebmann

Crime Investigation Australia httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaen774Cri

Networks
  
Nine Network, Crime & Investigation Network

Nominations
  
ASTRA Awards for Most Outstanding Factual Program

Similar
  
Forensic Investigators, Tough Nuts: Australia, Beyond the Darklands, Deadly Women, Border Security: Australia

Crime Investigation Australia is an Australian true-crime series that first premiered on Foxtel's Crime & Investigation Network in August 2005. The series is also rebroadcast on the Nine Network, and made its debut there on 14 August 2007. The host of the series is Steve Liebmann.

Contents

Production

The series is produced by Graham McNeice of Moore Park NSW. In a 2008 interview McNeice said the impetus for the series was to provide an element of local content to a channel (Foxtel) that is dominated by American and European crime stories.

The series (often abbreviated to CIA) examines some of Australia's most shocking and infamous crimes. It includes interviews from victims, loved ones and the investigators who brought the criminals to justice. These crimes are further examined by re-enactments shot in the actual locations where the crimes took place.

Foxtel announced that the series would be "rested" for 2010. However, it never returned.

Series 1

  • Episode 01: No More Grannies – The Granny Killer
  • Episode 02: Kid for Ransom/Tears for Daniel
  • Episode 03: Death in a Heartbeat/The Body in the Bag
  • Episode 04: Ivan Milat: The Backpacker Murders
  • Episode 05: Contract to Kill/The Mornington Monster
  • Episode 06: The Moorhouse Horrors/The Call Girl Killing
  • Episode 07: The Killer Punch/The Will of Death
  • Episode 08: The Anita Cobby Murder
  • Episode 09: Snowtown: Bodies in the Barrels
  • Episode 10: The Kimberley Killer
  • Episode 11: The Wanda Beach Murders/Beaumont Children Mystery
  • Episode 12: The Greenough Family Massacre
  • Episode 13: The Disappearance of Donald Mackay
  • Episode 14: The Body in the Sports Bag
  • Episode 15: The Assassination of John Newman
  • Episode 16: The Butchered Boys

    • Series 2

  • Episode 17: The Killing Fields of Truro
  • Episode 18: No Mercy: The Killing of Virginia Morse
  • Episode 19: The Night Caller: Eric Edgar Cooke
  • Episode 20: Headless Body: The Kim Barry Murder
  • Episode 21: The Gonzales Family Murders
  • Episode 22: Thrill Kill: The Janine Balding Murder
  • Episode 23: Hunt for a Killer: The Claremont Murders
  • Episode 24: The Devil Inside – John Ernest Cribb
  • Episode 25: The Predator: Leonard John Fraser
  • Episode 26: Evil Heart: The Murder of Donna Wheeler/The Disappearance of Trudie Adams

    • Series 3

  • Episode 27: The Girls Who Knew Too Much (Juanita Nielsen and Sallie-Anne Huckstepp)
  • Episode 28: Bloodsport – The Bondi Gay Murders
  • Episode 29: A Killer Amongst Us – The Norfolk Island Murder
  • Episode 30: Night of Terror: The Bega Schoolgirls
  • Episode 31: Murder of Innocence – Sian Kingi
  • Episode 32: Date with a Serial Killer: Rodney Cameron
  • Episode 33: Cop Killer – The Winchester Assassination
  • Episode 34: Michael Kanaan: Shoot to Kill
  • Episode 35: Buried Alive: Luckman and Reid
  • Episode 36: Mystery of the Homestead Murders

    • Reception

    The show has been generally well received.

    Michelle Nagy in her Editorial Review of the program writes: "Crime Investigation Australia presents an impressive package, using re-enactments, montages of real evidence, locations, maps, photos and real footage – not to mention leading Australian anchor Steve Liebmann, who lends weight and integrity to the series."

    Similarly: "Producer Graham McNeice's Crime Investigation Australia program revisits landmark crimes that once shocked and that remain embedded in the memories of many of us. Hosted by stern, gravelly voiced Steve Liebmann, McNeice's films skilfully dramatise the stories behind these cases, though in disturbing the past he sometimes creates a sense of dismay... It's all very noir, very tabloid, and very conspiratorial. McNeice, with his just-the-facts method, unashamedly gives us criminality, violence, gritty realism, horror and psychopathology. There is no apology and no shame here, which is what makes it such riveting TV."

    A recent review by David Knox explains that: "True crime television is hitting us from all corners lately. Sitting at the top of the heap, at least in Australian productions, is Crime Investigation Australia. Hosted by Steve Liebmann, it shies away from emotive, sometimes even racist, sensationalism of other players. CIA has also triggered viewers to come forth with new information – surely a measure of success for any in this genre. Hopefully, this week’s case study ... will elicit the same response."

    Another review asks the question: "What is it about the true crime genre that's so addictive? A showcase of the worst elements of human nature should be repellent, yet so often it's darkly compelling... Crime Investigation Australia has all the hallmarks of a pay-TV documentary – lots of stock footage, dodgy re-enactments, eerie music and talking heads – but nevertheless tells an engaging tale."

    The re-enactments featured on the show are very often gratuitously portrayed, as for example the Anita Cobby episode in which the moment of the murder is replayed over and over again. There are also inaccuracies and anachronisms, for example in the Beaumont Children Mystery episode where the hairstyles and hair lengths of the child actresses playing Jane and Arnna Beaumont do not match photographs of the real children.

    DVD releases

    The series is currently available in four sets: Series 1 (Volumes 1–5), Series 2 (Volumes 6–10), Series 3, and Box Set (Series 1 and 2).

    Series 1

    CIA Series 1 – 5 DVD Boxed Set became available in late October 2007. Series 1's running time is approximately 670 minutes. The Set is classified MA 15+.

    Volume 1

  • The Backpacker Murders – Ivan Milat (75 mins) (M)
  • The Kimberley Killer – Joseph Schwab (45 mins) (M)

    • Volume 2

  • The Anita Cobby Murder (45 mins) (M)
  • The Moorhouse Horrors – David and Catherine Birnie (30mins) (M)
  • The Call Girl Killing – Roslyn Watson (20 mins) (M)

    • Volume 3

  • Snowtown – The Bodies in the Barrels (50 mins) (MA15+)
  • The Greenough Family Massacre (48 mins) (M)
  • The Killer Punch – Dean Waters (30 mins) (M)
  • The Will of Death – Ludwig Gertsch (15mins) (M)

    • Volume 4

  • The Wanda Beach Murders (30 mins) (M)
  • The Beaumont Children Mystery (25 mins) (M)
  • Kid for Ransom – The Graeme Thorne Case (50 mins) (PG)
  • Tears for Daniel – Disappearance of Daniel Morcombe (25 mins) (PG)
  • No More Grannies – John Glover (50 mins) (M)

    • Volume 5

  • Death in a Heartbeat – Murder of Victor Chang (60mins) (M)
  • The Body in the Bag – Jane Doe (20 mins) (M)
  • Contract to Kill – Megan Kalazcich (25 mins) (MA15+)
  • The Mornington Monster – John Myles Sharpe (25 mins) (MA15+)

    • Series 2

    CIA Series 2 – 5 DVD Boxed Set is now available. Series 2's running time is approximately 250 minutes. The Set is rated MA 15+.

    Volume 6

  • The Disappearance of Donald Mackay – (M)
  • Headless Body – The Kim Barry Murder – (MA15+)

    • Volume 7

  • Thrill Kill – The Janine Balding Murder – (M)
  • The Night Caller – Eric Edgar Cooke – (M)
  • The Body in the Sports Bag

    • Volume 8

  • The Killing Fields of Truro – (M)
  • The Butchered Boys
  • The Devil Inside – John Ernest Cribb – (M)

    • Volume 9

  • No Mercy – The Killing of Virginia Morse – (M)
  • Hunt for a Killer – The Claremont Murders – (M)

    • Volume 10

  • The Gonzales Family Murders – (M)
  • The Assassination of John Newman – (M)

    • Series 3

    CIA Series 3 – 4 DVD Boxed Set became available in early October 2011. Series 3's running time is approximately 619 minutes. The Set is rated MA 15+.

    Disc 1

  • The Predator – Leonard John Fraser
  • Evil Heart – The Murder of Donna Wheeler
  • The Girls Who Knew Too Much – Sallie-Anne Huckstep and Juanita Neilsen

    • Disc 2

  • Blood Sport – The Bondi Gay Murders
  • A Killer Amongst Us – The Norfolk Island Murder
  • Night of Terror – The Bega Schoolgirls

    • Disc 3

  • Murder of Innocence – Sian Kingi
  • Date with a Serial Killer – Rodney Cameron
  • Shoot to Kill – Michael Kanaan

    • Disc 4

  • Cop Killer – The Winchester Assassination
  • Buried Alive – Luckman and Reid
  • The Mystery of the Homestead Murders

    • References

    Crime Investigation Australia Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA