Adam Shand is one of Australia’s best known investigative journalists, covering the biggest crime stories and mysteries of the past 40 years. The Adam Shand collection brings together his biggest hits and memories plus new investigations into the shadowy netherworld of crime and justice.
Season 1 is Creating Mr Cruel is on in Apple podcast Subscription from Monday June 22nd.
In the final episode of La Famiglia, the silence that has divided a family for more than two decades is finally broken. Maria Muglia was acquitted of the murder of her sister-in-law Connie Armaro, but Connie’s family never stopped searching for answers. Now, Maria’s daughter Roz Muglia and Connie’s daughter Carole come together to confront the secrets, shame, and bitterness left behind by the killing—and the prosecution they believe failed to tell the full story. They reveal what became of the people at the centre of the tragedy, revisit the final days of a family torn apart, and ask whether telling the truth can finally break a cycle that has haunted the next generation. This is not simply the end of a murder story. It is a story of two daughters finding their voices, a family confronting its past and an attempt, at last, to give Connie Armaro the voice she was denied.
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16 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT
Episode 3: The Trial
Host Adam Shand interviews legal experts as Maria Muglia's murder trial reveals surprising doubts about the prosecution's case and a potential accomplice.
9 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT
Episode 2: A Family Affair
As detectives investigate the murder of Connie Armaro, cracks begin to appear in the story told by the last person to see her alive. A crucial eyewitness challenges the official timeline, while police uncover secret affairs, hidden relationships and mounting tensions inside one of Perth's most respected Sicilian families.
With suspicion falling on multiple family members, detectives make their first arrest. But as the evidence grows, so too does the mystery. Was Connie murdered to protect a marriage, a fortune, or the reputation of a family determined to keep its secrets buried?
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2 Aug 2026
La Famiglia – Episode 1: The Last Goodbye
When beloved Perth grandmother Connie Armaro disappears after a seemingly ordinary meeting with her sister-in-law, her family fears the worst. Days later, her body is found dumped in a pine plantation north of Perth, wrapped in black plastic.
What begins as the murder of a woman with no known enemies quickly exposes long-buried family secrets, hidden lives and fractures inside one of Perth's close-knit Italian families. As relatives speak publicly for the first time, a picture emerges of loyalty, silence and suspicion that has endured for more than two decades.
In Episode One of La Famiglia, Adam Shand begins an investigation into one of Western Australia's most extraordinary unsolved murder cases—one where the truth may have been hiding within the family all along.
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27 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT
Season 2 - La Famiglia - The Killing of Connie Amraro
Award-winning journalist Adam Shand investigates the unsolved murder of Connie Amaro, revealing family secrets and loyalties in this gripping interview.
12 Jul 2026
Ep 6 - Unmasking the Myth
In the final episode of Creating Mr. Cruel, Adam Shand reveals evidence that challenges decades of accepted wisdom. Previously undisclosed DNA evidence, interviews with senior detectives, and fresh scrutiny of the Karmein Chan investigation raise profound questions about whether police pursued the wrong theory for too long. As survivors, investigators, and former homicide chief Peter Halloran reflect on the case, the series concludes with a powerful reminder that unresolved assumptions can be just as dangerous as unanswered questions—and that justice may still be possible.
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5 Jul 2026
Ep 5 - The Father, the Underworld, and the Suspect Who Wasn't
Detectives revisit the murder of Karmein Chan and uncomfortable questions emerge about the investigation's early focus. Was too much attention placed on one theory while other leads—including John Chan's business dealings and criminal associates—were left unexplored? Adam Shand examines claims from retired investigators, weighs allegations against notorious armed robber Normie Lee, and separates evidence from speculation. The result is a revealing look at missed opportunities, investigative blind spots, and why one of Australia's greatest criminal mysteries may be far more complex than anyone first believed.
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28 Jun 2026
Ep 4 - Was Mr Cruel Really One Man?
Thirteen-year-old Nicole Lynas was abducted from her family home and held captive for 50 terrifying hours. Her detailed account gave police vital clues—but it also exposed troubling differences between her attacker and the man described in earlier cases. As the Spectrum Taskforce races to prevent another attack, detectives begin questioning the theory at the heart of the investigation: were they really hunting one offender?
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21 Jun 2026
EP 1 - The Night Melbourne Changed
In the dead of night, a masked man broke into family homes across Melbourne and abducted young girls from their bedrooms. Some were returned hours later. One, 13-year-old Karmein Chan, never came home alive. In episode one, Adam Shand goes back to the first abduction police linked to Mr Cruel and asks whether the hunt for one monster may have blinded investigators to the truth.
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21 Jun 2026
Ep 2 - The Task Force Begins
When Karmein Chan remains were found in a shallow grave, Melbourne’s worst fears were confirmed — the child taken from her home had been murdered. In episode two, Adam Shand follows the creation of the Spectrum Task Force as police began linking a string of terrifying home invasions, abductions and sexual assaults to one unknown offender. But as investigators compared the cases, a darker question emerged: were they hunting one monster, or had several predators been folded into the myth of Mr Cruel?
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21 Jun 2026
Ep 3 - Inside the House of Mr Cruel
For 18 hours, ten-year-old Sharon Wills was held captive inside a stranger’s home—blindfolded, restrained and unable to know where she was. In this episode, Adam Shand reconstructs her abduction and the earlier Lower Plenty attack, as police begin to understand just how calculated their suspect really was. But Mr Cruel wasn’t as careful as he believed. Hidden among the evidence was a mistake that could one day reveal his identity.
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10 Jun 2026
Introducing - Creating Mr Cruel
For more than 30 years, the name Mr Cruel has haunted Melbourne.
He was meticulous, terrifying and seemingly vanished without a trace — leaving behind one of Australia’s most disturbing unsolved crime mysteries. But in this gripping six-part investigation, Adam Shand uncovers secret forensic evidence that challenges everything police thought they knew about the case.
Across the series, we revisit the abductions, the fear that gripped suburban Melbourne, the assumptions that shaped the investigation, and the hidden evidence that may overturn them all.
Was Mr Cruel really the offender police believed they were hunting or has the truth been buried in the evidence all along???
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Inside a recent episode
Episode 4 - My Mother's Voice
Published 23 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] When you contacted me and said you wanted to write a book, I was so scared to expose all of our lives to the world and to expose these people for who they really were. But then I thought about it and I realised I wanted to do it also because every day of my life for the past 24 years, none of this has ever gone away. I remember every single detail. The memories are still there as clear as if it happened yesterday. They never left my mind. Every day there is a tear, a painful reminder or a sad memory. Also, beautiful memories of mum and the life we once had, a life we should have had. Every day I carry the sadness of what happened to her and what happened to all of us. […]
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