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The Abduction and Murder of Daniel Morcombe · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back everybody for another deep dive. This time we're
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  going all the way to Australia, Oh, to investigate a
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  case that I think really captivated the entire nation for years. Yeah,
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  the disappearance and murder of Daniel Morcamb.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and this is one that stuck with me for
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  a long time.
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  Speaker 1: This one's going to be tough. Yeah, but we're going
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  to use a bunch of news articles as well as
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  information from the Daniel Morcamb Foundation as our guide.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Sound good, and.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: This case led to some major changes in Australian law.
• 0:30
  Oh wow, So we're going to unpack all of that together.
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  Speaker 2: The Morekhambe families push for change was really something else.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Their dedication to finding answers is amazing for sure.
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  But before we get into all of that, let's talk
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  about Daniel. He was just a regular thirteen year old
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  kid who loved horses and video games and just hanging
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  out with his twin brother Bradley.
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  Speaker 2: A typical kid.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, just a normal kid from a small town Palm Woods.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: One thing that always gets me is how Daniel would
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  pick flowers for his mom on his way home from school.
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  It's just a small gesture but it really shows what
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  a sweet kid he was.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's those little details that really bring it home
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  that we're talking about a real person here.
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  Speaker 1: With a family who left him. Yeah, exactly, And it's
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  so important to remember that because his life was tragically
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  cut short in a way that nobody could have predicted.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: It all started on Sunday, December seventh, two thousand and three. Okay,
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  summer holidays had just started, right, and Daniel wanted to
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  do some Christmas shopping okay, at the Sunshine Plaza, which
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  was a local mall, makes sense. He left his house
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  to go to the bus stop, which was about a
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  twenty minute walk.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. So it wasn't right outside his.
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  Speaker 1: Door, No, not at all. It was under the Keel
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  Mountain Road overpass okay.
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  Speaker 2: And was that in a busy area?
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  Speaker 1: No not really, which might have made Daniel an easier target.
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  Speaker 2: That's scary.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and what happened next was just a series of
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  unfortunate events.
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  Speaker 2: Oh no.
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  Speaker 1: So the first bus driver was running late okay because
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  of a breakdown earlier, and he saw Daniel trying to
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  flag him down. Oh wow, but he's said that another
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  bus was coming.
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  Speaker 2: Right, So a second bus did arrive a few minutes later,
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  but Daniel was gone.
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  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that gap between buses is so unsettling.
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  What happened in those few minutes.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's one witness who was in the area. Really,
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  her name is Belinda Russell. Okay, she saw Daniel waiting,
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  and then she noticed a man nearby who she described
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  as looking kind of scruffy. Then a little while later
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  she saw a blue sedan driving erradically okay, and she
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  said she had a feeling that someone was being beaten
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  up in the back.
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  Speaker 1: Oh gosh.
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  Speaker 2: She'd tried to write down the license plate good, but
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  her pen wouldn't work.
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  Speaker 1: Are you serious?
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  Speaker 2: I know, isn't that crazy?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah? You think about how that one little thing could
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  have changed everything.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. When Daniel didn't come home, his parents, Bruce and
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  Denise obviously panicked, of course, and the next day a
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  huge investigation was launched. I can imagine over one hundred
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  officers involved. Wow, ten thousand interviews conducted. That's massive, and
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  a ten thousand page report. Why it's the largest in
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  Queensland history. Really speaks to how serious they were taking this.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and through it all, you can just imagine the
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  anguish Daniel's family was going through.
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  Speaker 2: It's unimaginable.
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  Speaker 1: His twin brother Brad has talked about how their mother
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  was just overwhelmed with grief and how they would just
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  hope that he'd walk back through the door.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you just cling to that hope.
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  Speaker 1: Denise kept Daniel's room untouched for years, his pajamas folded
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  on the bed. Oh my god, just waiting for him.
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  Speaker 2: That's heartbreaking.
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  Speaker 1: Years went by and the investigation continued, but there weren't
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  any solid leads.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: By twenty ten, the police had identified thirty five persons
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  of interest.
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  Speaker 2: So that means people who might have information about the case.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, but no real answers.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 1: So Daniel's parents pushed for a coronial inquest.
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  Speaker 2: Now can you explain what that is? Exactly?
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  Speaker 1: So, in Australia, a coronial inquest isn't about finding someone
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  guilty or innocent like a trial. It's more about establishing
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  the facts of the case, gathering information and hopefully finding
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  new leads.
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  Speaker 2: So it's all about finding the truth exactly.
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  Speaker 1: One of the persons of interest was this guy, Brett
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  Peter Callan, who was thirty four at the time. All right,
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  and this is where things take a really disturbing term. Oh,
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  Brett had a serious criminal history, convictions for molestation and
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  he had attacked a six year old boy in Darwin
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  almost fatally.
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  Speaker 2: That's awful. He was clearly dangerous, yeah.
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  Speaker 1: A predator. So to try to get him to talk,
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  the police used this really controversial tactic. It's called a
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  mister Big sting operation.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, I've heard of that.
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  Speaker 1: Basically, undercover police officers pretend to be part of a
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  criminal gang and they try to draw the suspect into
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  their fake criminal world. Wow, they stage fake crimes. Oh wow,
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  they promised lots of money and acceptance into the.
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  Speaker 2: Game, so they try to gain his trust exactly.
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  Speaker 1: And it's been really controversial.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I can see why are they entrapping him?
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  Speaker 1: Right? And can you really trust a confession that comes
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  from that kind of situation?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? Is he confessing because he actually did it or
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  because he's trying to fit in.
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  Speaker 1: With this gang exactly and avoid consequences from them.
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  Speaker 2: It's a tough question legally and ethically.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, the courts have to look at that really carefully. Definitely,
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  And in this case, the Mister Big operation did lead
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  to a confession. Wow, after months of working under cover,
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  Brett admitted to the officers that he had killed Daniel.
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  Oh my god, after trying to molest him.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. So that confession changed everything.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but how it was obtained is still a big debate.
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  Speaker 2: For sure, a very controversial aspect of this whole story.
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  It's a tough one for sure.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. So using that confession from Brett, right, the police
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  were able to find Daniel's remains Oh wow, in the
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  Glasshouse Mountains.
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  Speaker 2: Gosh, what a moment for the family to finally have
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  that answer.
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  Speaker 1: But it's closure, but it's also the worst possible.
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  Speaker 2: Outcome, absolutely just devastating.
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  Speaker 1: Brett Cowen went to trial, Yeah, and he was found
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  dussie on all charges Wow, sentenced to life in prism
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  and the judge even said that he didn't think Brett
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  should ever be released Oh wow, which I think shows
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  just how horrific this crime was.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and how it affected the whole community.
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  Speaker 1: But what's really amazing is that the morkhambe family, they
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  channeled all of their grief and anger into something positive.
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  They started the Daniel Morkham Foundation Oh wow, dedicated to
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  child safety, education and supporting victims of crime.
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  Speaker 2: What a legacy for their son.
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  Speaker 1: I know, it's really something else.
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  Speaker 2: So what kind of things does the foundation do?
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  Speaker 1: Well. They have one really big initiative called Day for Daniel.
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  It's held every year on the last Friday of October
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  and it's become Australia's biggest child safety education and awareness day.
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  Speaker 2: That's amazing. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And on Day for Daniel, everyone wears red red because
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  that was the color of the shirt that Daniel was
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  wearing when he disappeared.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wow. So it's like a visual reminder.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. And they also have educational activities and resources
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  to help communities learn about child safety.
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  Speaker 2: So it's really about empowering.
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  Speaker 1: People, Yeah, to keep kids safe.
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  Speaker 2: That's so important.
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  Speaker 1: D For Daniel has really become a part of Australian culture.
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  Speaker 2: It's incredible how they were able to do that.
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  Speaker 1: I know, and the Morkham family didn't stop there.
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  Speaker 2: Really.
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  Speaker 1: They also push for legal changes in Queensland Okay called
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  Daniel's Law Oh wow, which created a public sex offender registry.
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  Speaker 2: Wow. So parents can know if someone dangerous lives nearby.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly. It gives communities more information so they can protect
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  their kids.
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  Speaker 2: I remember Bruce Morcamb had this really powerful message for parents. Yeah,
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  what was that he said, don't fall into the trap
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  of thinking that won't happen to me.
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  Speaker 1: It's true, though, we can never be too careful.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it can happen to anyone.
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  Speaker 1: And the Daniel Markham Foundation has so many resources to help,
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  like what they have programs for schools, for parents, for communities,
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  covering everything from online safety to recognizing abuse.
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  Speaker 2: That's fantastic. They're really trying to cover all the bases.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, they're making a real difference.
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  Speaker 2: It's an incredible story, both tragic and inspiring.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's hard to grasp the pain the family went through, right,
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  but how they responded is just amazing.
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  Speaker 2: Turning their loss into something that could help others.
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  Speaker 1: This case really changed things in Australia in what way
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  it put child safety front and center. Yeah, and led
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  to real action to protect kids.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. It really shows that even from the worst situations,
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  some good can come out of it.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel's story lives on not just in the hearts of
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  everyone who knew him, but also in all the lives
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  that have been touched by the foundation and all the
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  changes that happened because of him.
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  Speaker 2: It's amazing.
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  Speaker 1: So as we're wrapping up our deep dive here. Yeah,
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  what are your thoughts on the whole case?
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  Speaker 2: Well, for me, I think it's just how many different
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  layers there are to this case. The family losing their child, yeah,
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  then the whole investigation which was so complex.
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  Speaker 1: And the ethical questions about the confession.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly, and then how it all changed child safety in Australia.
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  Speaker 1: It really makes you think about everything, definitely. I think
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  this case also showed how important it is for communities
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  to be really aware and to speak up if they
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  see something that doesn't seem right. Absolutely, and it also
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  shows how powerful it can be to never give.
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  Speaker 2: Up even when it seems impossible.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, even when you're dealing with unimaginable grief, right, And
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  that one family's determination can actually make a real difference.
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  Speaker 2: The Daniel Morcomb Foundation is proof of that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Their dedication to educating people and supporting them is
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  really making a difference.
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  Speaker 2: A powerful legacy, it really is.
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  Speaker 1: So what do you think are the most important things
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  for our listeners to take away from this deep dive? H?
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  Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing is that everyone is responsible
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  for child safety. Yeah, it's not just parents or the police.
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  Speaker 1: We all have to work together exactly. We need to
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  be aware of the dangers online and offline, right, and
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  teach kids how to stay safe.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And we have to be open with them so.
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  Speaker 1: They feel like they can come to us if something's wrong.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: We have to listen to them, take their worries seriously.
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  Speaker 2: And support them.
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  Speaker 1: We can also support groups like the Daniel Morkham Foundation
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  who are working so hard to keep kids safe.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Even small things like participating in Day.
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  Speaker 1: For Daniel or talking to your kids about safety can help.
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  It all adds up.
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  Speaker 2: It's true.
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  Speaker 1: This deep dive has taken us through some really dark stuff.
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  Speaker 2: It has.
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  Speaker 1: We saw a terrible crime, yeah, and how much it
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  hurt a family in a whole community.
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  Speaker 2: It's hard to even think about.
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  Speaker 1: But we also saw how strong people can be, yeah,
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  and how they can turn something awful into something good.
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  Daniel's legacy lives on, it doesn't the people who loved him,
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  and in all the work being done to protect kids.
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  Speaker 2: That's a beautiful thought.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on this deep dive into
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  the Daniel Morkham case.
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  Speaker 2: It's been really insightful.
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  Speaker 1: We hope you learn something from it, definitely, and we
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  hope it made you think it did Until next time,
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  keep exploring the world around you.
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  Speaker 2: There's always something new to learn
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  Speaker 1: And remember, even in the darkest times, there's always hope.