Shandee's Story
SHE WAS just 23
1989
2017
A TRUE CRIME PODCAST BY HEDLEY THOMAS
Shandee Blackburn was left to die after a frenzied knife attack as she walked home.
A mystery figure running hard towards the popular young woman in the seconds before she was savagely cut down near her mother’s house was captured briefly by security cameras.
Detectives went after Shandee's former boyfriend, a champion amateur boxer with jealousy and trust issues. He denied wrongdoing and pointed an accusing finger at a man with a violent record and a shaky alibi.
Video trailer
Shandee Blackburn was a bright and fun-loving 23-year-old woman with a lilting laugh and a cheeky smile. Her death after a ferocious knife attack in 2013 has appalled the community of Mackay for eight years. Shandee's family want answers. They want her killer brought to justice.
Subscribers to The Australian have exclusive first access to episodes of Shandee's Story via The Australian app. Subscribe to The Australian here.
Shandee Renee Blackburn is born in Brisbane. She grows up in the sugar and mining town of Mackay with her mother Vicki and sister Shannah.
2011
Shandee meets John Peros, a talented amateur boxer, at the Envy Nightclub in Mackay. They start dating.
John Peros is acquitted of murder by a jury in a 12-day Supreme Court trial in less than two hours. William Daniel is a witness.
2019
Coroner David O'Connell holds an inquest into Shandee's death. The inquest hears evidence not presented at John's murder trial.
2012
Shandee Blackburn and John Peros break up. Shandee moves to the Gold Coast in March. John sees a psychologist and two psychiatrists. Shandee returns to Mackay in October. She starts dating Arron Macklin.
2013
Shandee is murdered. Police investigate her ex-boyfriend John Peros. In April, police discover a new lead - a local man with a criminal history named William Daniel.
2020
The Coroner names John Peros as Shandee's killer.
2014
John Peros is arrested and charged with murdering Shandee.
Shandee's Story is investigated and written by Hedley Thomas.
Audio and music production by Blacksmith & Co.
Additional reporting by David Murray and Isaac Irons.
Additional research by Isaac Irons.
Video trailer by Gwyn Dixon, 3P Studio.
Editorial Director, Claire Harvey.
Digital execution by Isabel Trujillo and Kellie Southan.
Marketing by Alice Bradbury, Dean Roffe and Jarrah Petzold.
Audio compiling, Lia Tsamoglou and Nicholas Adams-Dzierzba.
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2017
John Peros is acquitted of murder by a jury in a 12-day Supreme Court trial in less than two hours. William Daniel is a witness.
Anyone with information about the murder of Shandee Blackburn can contact Hedley Thomas confidentially here
To share what you know with Crime Stoppers, call 1800 333 000.
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
• New podcast returns to Shandee’s murder scene ›
• Witnesses relive nightmare on Boddington St ›
• Key people in Shandee’s Story ›
Shandee Blackburn is a popular, outgoing young woman who lives with her mother Vicki in a Queensland town renowned for its sugar, Mackay. Shandee walks home at night from her coffee shop job sometimes and she’s filmed by CCTV cameras - along with her killer who runs to launch a frenzied and savage knife attack. Shandee’s murder stuns the community and triggers ongoing trauma and investigations into her relationships including with a former boyfriend.
Sugar Town
EPISODE 1
Episode details
Episode 1 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
SUGAR TOWN
• ‘I didn’t think it could get any worse until I saw Shandee’ ›
• Police targeted boyfriends as suspects ›
• Key people in Episode 1 ›
• Key people in Episode 1 ›
• Key people in Episode 1 ›
• Key people in Episode 1 ›
Read stories from this podcast here
Episode 2 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• Shandee visited psychic about John Peros ›
• Timeline of events ›
• ‘It was really creepy … I think it’s him’ ›
• John Peros nervous and ‘sweating bullets’' ›
• Police surveillance targeted former boyfriend ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
Police detectives talk to Shandee’s former boyfriend John Peros who discloses his trust issues, their arguments, problems in the bedroom and break-up. John willingly goes to the police station to make a statement but he declines to give a sample of his DNA. One of the detectives describes John as very nervous - he tells another cop in a recorded chat at the station that John is ‘sweating bullets’. Jarrod Hau discloses how he warned Shandee and John when they got together to keep their relationship casual.
Sugar Town
EPISODE 2
Sweating Bullets
Episode 1 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• New podcast returns to Shandee’s murder scene ›
• Witnesses relive nightmare on Boddington St ›
• Key people in Episode 1 ›
• ‘I didn’t think it could get any worse until I saw Shandee’ ›
• Police targeted boyfriends as suspects ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
Shandee Blackburn is a popular, outgoing young woman who lives with her mother Vicki in a Queensland town renowned for its sugar, Mackay. Shandee walks home at night from her coffee shop job sometimes and she’s filmed by CCTV cameras - along with her killer who runs to launch a frenzied and savage knife attack. Shandee’s murder stuns the community and triggers ongoing trauma and investigations into her relationships including with a former boyfriend.
SUGAR TOWN
EPISODE 1
Episode 1 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• New podcast returns to Shandee’s murder scene ›
• Witnesses relive nightmare on Boddington St ›
• Key people in Episode 1 ›
• ‘The most gruesome murder I ever saw’ ›
• Police targeted boyfriends as suspects ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
Shandee Blackburn is a popular, outgoing young woman who lives with her mother Vicki in a Queensland town renowned for its sugar, Mackay. Shandee walks home at night from her coffee shop job sometimes and she’s filmed by CCTV cameras - along with her killer who runs to launch a frenzied and savage knife attack. Shandee’s murder stuns the community and triggers ongoing trauma and investigations into her relationships including with a former boyfriend.
SUGAR TOWN
EPISODE 1
Episode 3 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• Shandee was told ‘one call and you’re dead’ ›
• Peros ‘distrusted women, had mental scars’ ›
• The year before her murder, Shandee pleaded for abuse to stop' ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
Detectives forensically examining Shandee’s iPhone uncover thousands of text messages and evidence of fierce rows between John Peros and Shandee in the year before she died. Unresolved trust issues plague John and Shandee’s toxic love as Shandee begs John to stop telling her to kill herself while John demands to be left alone. John visits mental health professionals after breaking up with Shandee and talks of a difficult childhood. Shandee’s friends on the Gold Coast say they heard fierce and abusive rows between John and Shandee sent over a voice-messaging app called HeyTell.
Sugar Town
EPISODE 3
Toxic Love
Episode 2 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• ‘It was really creepy … I think it’s him’ ›
• Police surveillance targeted former boyfriend ›
• John Peros nervous and ‘sweating bullets’ ›
• Timeline of events ›
• Shandee visited psychic about John Peros ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
Police detectives talk to Shandee’s former boyfriend John Peros who discloses his trust issues, their arguments, problems in the bedroom and break-up. John willingly goes to the police station to make a statement but he declines to give a sample of his DNA. One of the detectives describes John as very nervous - he tells another cop in a recorded chat at the station that John is ‘sweating bullets’. Jarrod Hau discloses how he warned Shandee and John when they got together to keep their relationship casual.
Sweating Bullets
EPISODE 2
Episode 2 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• ‘It was really creepy … I think it’s him’ ›
• Police surveillance targeted former boyfriend ›
• John Peros nervous and ‘sweating bullets’ ›
• Timeline of events ›
• Shandee visited psychic about John Peros ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
Police detectives talk to Shandee’s former boyfriend John Peros who discloses his trust issues, their arguments, problems in the bedroom and break-up. John willingly goes to the police station to make a statement but he declines to give a sample of his DNA. One of the detectives describes John as very nervous - he tells another cop in a recorded chat at the station that John is ‘sweating bullets’. Jarrod Hau discloses how he warned Shandee and John when they got together to keep their relationship casual.
Sweating Bullets
EPISODE 2
• Key people in Episode 3 ›
Episode 4 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• Stealth mode: John Peros went dark ›
• FBI profilers called over ‘personal, angry’ murder' ›
• Peros wrote ‘hateful’ Shandee Blackburn letter: Expert ›
• Key people in Episode 4 ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
John Peros tells a friend he has entered “stealth mode”, purchasing a motor scooter, deleting social media and using a new phone as police obtain a warrant to search his property. Friends who socialised with John on Australia Day 2013 give police statements, alleging that John made hateful comments about his former girlfriend on that day, two weeks before Shandee was murdered. A vitriolic document John sent to Shandee is analysed by a forensic linguistic expert, and a former detective speaks about his role in the murder investigation from his home outside Brisbane. Many people who remember John say he is a great bloke. A talented fighter who is calm and measured, and a fiercely loyal friend.
Sugar Town
EPISODE 4
Stealth Mode
Episode 3 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• ‘It was really creepy … I think it’s him’ ›
• Key people in Episode 3 ›
• Peros ‘distrusted women, had mental scars’ ›
• The year before her murder, Shandee pleaded for abuse to stop ›
• Shandee was told ‘one call and you’re dead’ ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
Detectives forensically examining Shandee’s iPhone uncover thousands of text messages and evidence of fierce rows between John Peros and Shandee in the year before she died. Unresolved trust issues plague John and Shandee’s toxic love as Shandee begs John to stop telling her to kill herself while John demands to be left alone. John visits mental health professionals after breaking up with Shandee and talks of a difficult childhood. Shandee’s friends on the Gold Coast say they heard fierce and abusive rows between John and Shandee sent over a voice-messaging app called HeyTell.
Toxic Love
EPISODE 3
Episode 3 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• ‘It was really creepy … I think it’s him’ ›
• Key people in Episode 3 ›
• Peros ‘distrusted women, had mental scars’ ›
• Shandee pleaded for abuse to stop ›
• Shandee was told ‘one call and you’re dead’ ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
Detectives forensically examining Shandee’s iPhone uncover thousands of text messages and evidence of fierce rows between John Peros and Shandee in the year before she died. Unresolved trust issues plague John and Shandee’s toxic love as Shandee begs John to stop telling her to kill herself while John demands to be left alone. John visits mental health professionals after breaking up with Shandee and talks of a difficult childhood. Shandee’s friends on the Gold Coast say they heard fierce and abusive rows between John and Shandee sent over a voice-messaging app called HeyTell.
Toxic Love
EPISODE 3
Episode 5 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• Claims prince of trouble said ‘I did it’ ›
• Knives were out for Shandee target ›
• ‘It’s a conspiracy, I’m being set up’ ›
• Key people in Episode 5 ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
A violent self-styled gangster who carries knives, deals and uses illegal drugs, and attacks men and women in the sugar and mining town looms into serious view for homicide cops. William Daniel is a young man with a long criminal record who calls himself ‘The Black Prince’ and ‘Willy D’ and has become a public menace in Mackay’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. He denies involvement in Shandee’s murder - but his friend Levii Blackman discloses that William said he’d done it. Levii later said it was probably a joke while police suspected it was a ‘throwaway line’ by a show-off - but his use of knives and other factors make him a major target in a police investigation still locked on John Peros.
Sugar Town
EPISODE 5
Willy D
Episode 4 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• Stealth mode: John Peros went dark ›
• FBI profilers called over ‘personal, angry’ murder' ›
• Peros wrote ‘hateful’ Shandee Blackburn letter: Expert ›
• Key people in Episode 4 ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
John Peros tells a friend he has entered “stealth mode”, purchasing a motor scooter, deleting social media and using a new phone as police obtain a warrant to search his property. Friends who socialised with John on Australia Day 2013 give police statements, alleging that John made hateful comments about his former girlfriend on that day, two weeks before Shandee was murdered. A vitriolic document John sent to Shandee is analysed by a forensic linguistic expert, and a former detective speaks about his role in the murder investigation from his home outside Brisbane. Many people who remember John say he is a great bloke. A talented fighter who is calm and measured, and a fiercely loyal friend.
Sugar Town
EPISODE 4
Stealth Mode
Episode 4 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• ‘It was really creepy … I think it’s him’ ›
• Key people in Episode 4 ›
• Peros wrote ‘hateful’ Shandee Blackburn letter: Expert ›
• FBI profilers called over ‘personal, angry’ murder ›
• Stealth mode: John Peros went dark ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
John Peros tells a friend he has entered “stealth mode”, purchasing a motor scooter, deleting social media and using a new phone as police obtain a warrant to search his property. Friends who socialised with John on Australia Day 2013 give police statements, alleging that John made hateful comments about his former girlfriend on that day, two weeks before Shandee was murdered. A vitriolic document John sent to Shandee is analysed by a forensic linguistic expert, and a former detective speaks about his role in the murder investigation from his home outside Brisbane. Many people who remember John say he is a great bloke. A talented fighter who is calm and measured, and a fiercely loyal friend.
Stealth Mode
EPISODE 4
Episode 4 is available now exclusively to subscribers to
The Australian via the podcast player in The Australian app.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe to The Australian here.
• ‘It was really creepy … I think it’s him’ ›
• Key people in Episode 4 ›
• Peros wrote ‘hateful’ Shandee Blackburn letter: Expert ›
• FBI profilers called over ‘personal, angry’ murder ›
• Stealth mode: John Peros went dark ›
STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE
John Peros tells a friend he has entered “stealth mode”, purchasing a motor scooter, deleting social media and using a new phone as police obtain a warrant to search his property. Friends who socialised with John on Australia Day 2013 give police statements, alleging that John made hateful comments about his former girlfriend on that day, two weeks before Shandee was murdered. A vitriolic document John sent to Shandee is analysed by a forensic linguistic expert, and a former detective speaks about his role in the murder investigation from his home outside Brisbane. Many people who remember John say he is a great bloke. A talented fighter who is calm and measured, and a fiercely loyal friend.
Stealth Mode
EPISODE 4
