If you were wondering, like a couple of people have asked in the last day or so, whether the family had a pre-view of the documentary aired last Sunday night — Murder in the Goldfields — then the answer is . . .No.
No, that was our first viewing, too.
Plus, given that we here in WA have an aversion to faded curtains, and the eastern states populace love to sleep with the lights on, there is currently a three hour time difference between us and those peeps. I started getting messages from friends and fam who live “over there” from about 6PM onward as they watched it ahead of us. By 7:15PM, my heart rate had peaked at approx. 187bpm, and the resulting additional blood flow to outer limbs caused my arm to lift, tip, lower, and repeat at least three times the usual pace.
By 8:45PM, when the doco started, I was very relaxed again, is what I’m saying. I had consumed enough bush chooks to sedate a fully grown chimpanzee. Thank you for thoughts and prayers otherwise, though.
Then the doco finally played. My wife and I held hands as we sat on the couch. Or, it might have been the dog’s paw, one each, I cannot recall exactly. All I know is that it was warm and comforting.
“Love it already,” we said prior to the first ad break. “Thank you for suggesting I wear the golden flannie, Sweets, it was a very symbolic touch,” I said.
The route maps had me kowtowing the tv! As did the animations of the perpetrator at the bottom of the mine shaft, which (and I’m not in any way suggesting it was on purpose) did look uncannily familiar…
A few paragraphs in, or whatever it is they call those parts in videos, when it was on the second round of Caroline saying, “This is Dave’s belief only”, and thereafter watching myself inside the picture box describing in detail how and what potentially happened, I turned to my lovely wife and said, “Well… I better get a lawyer, huh Sweets? Better get a good one.” and she looked back at me with fire in her eyes, suggesting that she “told me so” and the embrace became icy cold. Momentarily.
The doco was also very gentle on the police. They could have laid the boots in heavily if they wanted – I for one gave the producers plenty of ammunition. Yet, they did not. The Po should probably thank them for that, really. That’s just a suggestion.
Both Ray and Jennie’s girls — Charmaine, Kelly, Mel, and Britney — were incredibly strong. They delivered their interviews bravely and with brevity. Their parents would be immensely proud.
Anyhow, that’s just a few thoughts about it, if you happened to be wondering. If you haven’t watched it, the doco is now available on 7plus, linked below.
Murder in the Goldfields
https://7plus.com.au/murder-in-the-goldfields
Obviously there’s tonnes of information that wasn’t covered in the doco; but, for a sub-1hr slot for channel 7, what was shown definitely did the job. For the last couple of days, since the first viewing, the court of public opinion has ruled: Job done. Job done very well.
Bravo to Caroline, the producers, crews, et al.
Lisa Govan and Charlie Park’s investigations are also covered, and it must be said that their family and friends have endured a similar storm for many more years. We can all only hope that giving these three cases the exposure they deserve will incentivise justice.
The whole experience was so far out of my comfort zone, and for my whole family, it feels like we’re still in orbit. But it needed to be done. Ray and Jennie’s “mystery”, or lack thereof, needed to be shown, not just told. And to do so, to break a lifetime of conditioning, it turns out all you need is incentive.
Now the only question left is, what incentive do police and prosecutors need, to break their own conditioning?
Not seen it. Your reaction is great. Makes it worth watching. Your substack story was in your face life and you conveyed feeling so well.