Shandee's Story
A TRUE CRIME PODCAST BY HEDLEY THOMAS
Subscribers to The Australian have exclusive first access to episodes of Shandee's Story via The Australian app. Subscribe to The Australian here.
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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SHANDEE'S STORY
SHANDEE'S STORY
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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.
Read stories from this podcast here
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
Shandee's Story
A TRUE CRIME PODCAST BY HEDLEY THOMAS
Shandee's Story
A TRUE CRIME PODCAST BY HEDLEY THOMAS