In tonight’s second episode, Keiran McGee and Pip Rey are three months into their investigation into the unsolved 1975 disappearance of their relation, journalist, and activist Juanita Nielsen.
Keiran is following a fortuitous tip about Shayne Martin-Simmonds, one of the men that was in the King’s Cross, Carousel Club the day Juanita went to a meeting there and vanished. Shayne might be in New Zealand so Keiran travels to visit his relatives. His relations tell her that he’s dead – but strangely there is no hard evidence in NZ of his death.
Back in Australia, Pip and Keiran further explore Juanita’s life. What they find reveals both Juanita’s character and her sophisticated strategies to stop powerful developers like Frank Theeman. Frank Theeman is now dead, but at a strange meeting with an anonymous source connected to the Theeman family, Keiran’s own safety is threatened.
Juanita’s unsolved disappearance has spawned many theories and Pip and Keiran explore author Barry Ward’s view that she was onto a big story about Abe Saffron. They also dig deep into old development applications – a process which casts some doubt on potential benefits Frank Theeman might have got from Juanita’s absence.
While Keiran interrogates the coronial inquest into Juanita’s disappearance with writer Peter Rees, Pip is in contact with a source who reveals, for the first time publicly, a first-hand account of Juanita’s death.
In the wake of his chilling account, the crime and corruption it points to, Keiran lays out her conclusions about the mystery. Juanita’s relations reflect on the meanings of what they have discovered about her extraordinary life.
Production credits: A Wildbear Entertainment Production for the ABC. Developed with Screen NSW Slate Development and financed with the assistance of Screen NSW. Director Kriv Stenders, Executive Producer Alan Erson, Producer Keiran McGee, Associate Producer Laura Ritchie, ABC Executive Producer Ben Commens and ABC Factual Manager Julie Hanna.
my dob is 22.10.38, so I have lived through , and remember well, the Juanita Nielsen story and also the Ghost Train disaster. Let me start with the latter:.
Jenny Godson was the twin sister of Paul Poidevin who was ,married to my sister Rozalie , At the time of the tragedy, I was a ,member of a Prayer Group and spent some considerable time with Jenny after her tragic loss, including visits to her during her stays at Watt St. Newcastle mental health facility…
I commend the 4 Corners coverage..
I had no such personal involvement with Juanita Nielsen saga.. However, the comment made in the final episode aired last night about Juanita’s words that she was “onto something big” led me to the question are the two events connected.? Strange that the same characters are involved?. If Juanita had got wind of a deal about to go down with Abe Safron over Luna Park redevelopment which involved the characters named in the 4C report, it would have been sufficient reason to silence her, and then lay low for 4 or 5 years till the ‘smoke’ cleared..Thank you.
tried to view Jaunita: A Family Mystery but wouldnt accept my password!