On a winter morning in June 1980, Maria James turned to her son Mark and looked him in the eyes. "If anything happens to me, look after your brother." Later that day she was found stabbed to death at the back of her suburban Melbourne bookshop.
ABC investigative reporter Rachael Brown heard through the grapevine that maybe something had been overlooked in the original investigation, and went looking for that seemingly insignificant detail, that piece of evidence, that trace of the killer.
Credits
Trace is a podcast created and presented by ABC investigative reporter Rachael Brown
Investigation by Rachael Brown
Assistant production by Kerrie Ritchie, Rachel Carbonell, Andy Burns & Ryan Pemberton
Research and fact checking by Emma Lancaster
Legals provided by Grant McAvaney
Digital production lead by Jeremy Story Carter
Sound, original music and additional production by Martin Peralta
Additional original music by Josh Curtis
Script editing by Sophie Townsend
Executive Producer Tim Roxburgh
Executive Producer/Series Editor Jesse Cox
More Information
Listen to more episodes in the series or subscribe to the podcast using the ABC Radio App, on your favourite podcasting app or at iTunes.
Image Details
Maria James' phone remains off the hook. Her bedroom is in the background.