ABC has announced a new true crime series, Mark of a Murderer, following award-winning journalist Colleen Egan’s 28-year investigation into a major miscarriage of justice.
Produced in association with the UK’s Channel 4, the four-part series revisits two murders in Western Australia, uncovering new links to a series of deaths in the UK and raising questions about how the cases were handled.
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The ABC is pleased to announce the gripping true crime series Mark of a Murderer, featuring award-winning journalist-turned MP Colleen Egan.
The four-part docuseries details the extraordinary intersecting lives of Andrew Mallard and Simon Rochford, two British-born men living in Fremantle, Western Australia, in 1994. Â
Both men are separately charged with the murders of local women and given life sentences. Mallard is given a minimum of 20 years for the brutal murder of jeweller Pamela Lawrence, and Rochford is ordered to serve 15 years for killing his girlfriend Brigitta Dickens. But nothing is as it first appears.
Cameras capture a young Colleen as she fights for the truth, leading to a High Court appeal, Mallard’s release from prison in 2006 and a revelation that implicates Rochford in the killing of both women.
Mallard’s wrongful conviction is among Australia’s worst miscarriages of justice, and it provides the springboard for Colleen’s contemporary hunt for answers. Mapping Rochford’s movements, she discovers a connection to a brutal murder in a London hotel in 1992, as well as three other similar deaths in his Gloucestershire hometown.
How was Rochford missed in Australia, is he a serial killer, and will British police finally investigate him?
Colleen’s work sparks police reviews of three cold cases… and a surprising conclusion.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
An Artemis Media production for the ABC in association with Channel 4. Major production investment from the ABC, in association with Screen Australia.
Developed and produced with the assistance of Screenwest and Lotterywest. Local distribution by ABC Commercial.
Executive Producer Celia Tait; Presenter & Co Writer Colleen Egan, Series Producer, Director, Co-writer Claire Forster, Story Producer & Post Director Phillipa Hutchison, Drama Director Alison James, Post Director Steve Peddie.
ABC Commissioning Editor Stephen Oliver. ABC Head of Documentary & Specialist: Susie Jones.
