Where is Daniel Morcombe? | 7. Mr Big

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And Shopify even has AI tools that help write product descriptions, create headlines, and enhance your photos. So you don't have to do everything all by yourself, you know, we got some help. They also help you find customers with built an email and social media tools and manage everything in one place from inventory to payments to analytics. I mean, it's amazing. It's basically like having a whole team behind you. So whether you're shopping or selling, Shopify just makes things smoother. See less carts go abandoned and more sales go with Shopify and their shop pay button. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash cases. Go to Shopify.com slash cases. That's Shopify.com slash cases. Amazing deals on package holidays. Pay now. I've got tickets to that sold out show. Message now. Your subscription's been suspended. Update your payment details. Final warning. To receive your package, pay the fee immediately. Mum, I've had an accident. Please send money. There's been suspicious activity on your bank account and I need a few personal details. Fraud is getting more sophisticated. Always stop, think, and check. Stay ahead of scams at Gov.uk slash stop, think fraud. This episode contains graphic descriptions of child abduction, sexual assault, and murder. Please listen with care. Over the years, police had asked a number of people to complete character assessment questionnaires on Brett Peter Cowan. They sought these from those who knew him best, family members, exes. The questionnaires were used to help investigators build a psychological profile of the suspect. And judging from the answers they received, it was easy to infer the following. Brett Peter Cowan was a self-absorbed pathological liar. He was impulsive, driven by money, and desperate for attention and acceptance. In other words, he was the perfect target for what was to come. For nearly eight years, Bruce and Denise Morkham had been trapped in a living nightmare. Little did they know, it had already entered its final act. I'm Matt Angel, and from Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media, this is Where Is Daniel Morkham. Episode 7, Mr. Big. The first person to be arrested was, perhaps, most crucial of all. Once Cowan was excused from the inquest proceedings, the detective was to make Cowan feel like he was officially free of the investigation into the abduction and murder of Daniel Morkham. So that moment, when Linwood drove him to the airport, walked him to security and delivered that farewell, it was a vital, carefully crafted of instilling the criminal with confidence. It was like a false matey, you know, wanted him to leave feeling great. He dodged the bullet, whatever. Then it was up to Joe Emery, the undercover operative. His mission on the five-hour flight was to establish a connection with Cowan, to initiate a friendship. They became besties by the end of the flight. For the next two weeks, Emery and Cowan were in daily communication. The covert operatives only contact in the field was his controller, John Kerry. The whole point of controllers is that daily A's with investigators. You'd never, ever have anything to do with covert operatives. Grant Linwood, back in Queensland, was one of those investigators. I was in almost daily contact with John Kerry, who would tell me what was happening and, you know, brief me on what's going on. My only real contribution at that point would be background info. We need to know this about him. We need to know that, see if he can find out about his lifestyle, whatever, to assist them. Linwood could help them with that, because he and Cowan were still in contact. He'd give me phone calls when, you know, the media were annoying him, which is why he's carrying my number in. Using Linwood's intel, police would place Emery and Cowan in carefully crafted situations. Every interaction would be recorded. The hope was that as the two spent more time together, Brett would feel their bond strengthening and let something slip. Investigators were taking things one step at a time. Then one day, Grant Linwood's phone rang. It was a detective from the Western Australia Police Force. And he more or less said to me, have I got an idea for you. Western Australia Police were riding high off their recent success with an innovative covert technique. One designed for targets with very specific personality traits. And after learning everything there was to know about Brett Peter Cowan, they concluded he'd be the perfect next mark. The technique? It's called Mr. Big. The Western Australia detective laid it out for Linwood. So I remember thinking, wow, that's like a James Bond movie. That's awesome. It goes a little something like this. A group of undercover operatives posing as gang members gently coax a suspect into what appears to be a thriving, far-reaching criminal enterprise. The job starts small, sophisticated, low-level crimes. And then they grow. Over the course of several months, the scope of the gang's power is put on full display. They build the mark's confidence. They appeal to the suspect's desires by offering what he craves most, money, friendship, protection. And they preach the importance of trust, honesty, and loyalty. They're a brotherhood. And he, their newcomer, is an indispensable part of this enterprise. But this world, the gang, it is nothing more than a backdrop, laying the groundwork for the moment of truth. The moment the suspect is brought into a meeting with the boss, aka Mr. Big. When I asked people who I should talk to about what happened next in this story, the answer was always the same. Ross Barnett. During the time when the Daniel Morkham investigation came to its conclusion, I was one of two deputy commissioners in the Queen's End Police. As deputy commissioner, Ross was just one peg below commissioner Bob Atkinson, and one peg above, assistant commissioner Mike Condon. He oversaw the state crime command and homicide squad. And he has a wealth of knowledge on the Mr. Big technique. It's often referred to as a Canadian technique. That's because it originated in Canada. Some say the strategy was first used over 100 years ago in Winnipeg. Others say British Columbia in 1965. Regardless, by the 1990s, it was being utilized in cases across the Great White North and beyond. It's essentially only used in very serious matters, usually a cold case murder, where the investigating police have a very firm idea that they believe they know who is responsible for particular crime, but they are short of enough admissible evidence to make an arrest and secure a conviction. Mr. Big is designed to obtain that admissible evidence in one very specific form. In general terms, with the Mr. Big strategy, the end game is the attempt to gain the confession. The technique is elaborate. It's costly, and it's definitely controversial. There are two key objections by opponents to the Mr. Big strategy. One is that it can tend to lead to a false confession. In an operation like this, where a suspect is trying to impress his fellow gang members, the confession could be unreliable. And the second objection? That it's fundamentally unfair to the accused person because they've been duped by the police. They've been deceived. That deception, even in the name of justice, comes with risks. Defense lawyers could and often do argue that a confession was secured unfairly, that their client was coerced. In other words, it's entrapment. This is why Mr. Big is prohibited in America, where it is against federal law for police to induce someone to commit a crime they otherwise wouldn't have committed. But Australia doesn't see it this way. As far as they're concerned, the gang isn't asking anyone to commit a crime, because technically, no crime ever occurs. If they tell the suspect that they're going to steal a car, it's not being stolen, it's just being borrowed from a friendly source. If they see drugs being transferred, they're not drugs, it's just a substitute. So no offences are actually being committed, although the accused believes that they are. They're just pretending that something bad is happening when it's not. For this reason, the High Court of Australia has declared the use of the Mr. Big strategy lawful. Still, if you want to do everything you can to guarantee a judge rules the evidence admissible, two key conditions should be met. Condition one, the confession must be voluntary. They audio and video record whatever they can, whatever they can, of their interactions with the suspect all the way through the strategy. Every car ride, every conversation, every job, the final sit down with Mr. Big, they capture it all, days and weeks worth of tape. So that, when the issue comes up at trial and the accused attempts to have the confession ruled admissible, the police are in a position to say, here's the videotape, here's the audio tape, judge for yourself whether he or she is there voluntarily. Are they under any coercion? Are they there of their free will? And condition two, the confession must be verifiable. Maybe the suspect says something only the killer would know, or something that can be backed up with further evidence. In the case of Brett Cowan, the covarts had their work cut out for them. They didn't have much evidence for verification. There was no body, no crime scene. They were rolling the dice, hoping that if Cowan did confess, it would be a confession they could somehow corroborate. It was a clear risk. One they had decided was worth taking. They just had to wait for the perfect moment. That moment came in August of 2011, when it was decided that the inquest would resume. It had been more than four months since Brett Cowan left that Brisbane courthouse and caught that flight home to Perth. But the coroner's court decided they weren't finished with him just yet. He was going to be subpoenaed to re-attend the inquest for further questioning. The subpoena was a great opportunity for the undercover cops to initiate the final phase of the operation. They wanted us to hold off, or at least coordinate. It's pleased, like, serve him at the perfect time. They can then go, what's this all about? You know, the timing of that was critical. The covert operatives had spent months setting the table. The subpoena was served, requesting that Cowan head back to Queensland to give further evidence. It was time for Brett Peter Cowan to meet Mr. Big. This segment is brought to you by Vanguard. Joel, would you listen to this? 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New subscribers only, varies by plan. One free breakfast item per box for one year while subscription is active. With the Mr. Big meeting on the horizon, Detective Grant Limwood needed to be on the ground. So I flew to Western Australia. The detective from the Queensland Police Service was about to step into a world of policing he wasn't used to. The undercover world. It was funny because I got off the plane in a suit and immediately got told, dress down, come to suit. Get him, throw your jeans and a T-shirt on your clown. You know, he was, you know, he's unshaven and you don't do it. It was good. It was funny. With the covert operatives in the field, Limwood spent the next few days with their controllers. It's a part of the journey he can't say much about, but he says enough. Let's just say it wasn't. We weren't hanging around police stations. When it came time for the mission, Limwood presented two briefs. One on the general background of the eight year investigation and one on Brett Peter Cowan. Everything about his life, his movements, where he'd been, what he'd done, Sandra Drummond, his alibi, you know, all those sort of things. And at the end we had a summary and I said, we're basically right place, right time, but we need the body or evidence of what happened to it and over to you guys. Limwood was brought to a hotel room, the mission's control center. Just a few doors down the hall from the Swan River room where the operative plane Arnold or Mr. Big was waiting. The control center was packed with investigators and monitors. The screens displayed the live feed of hidden cameras. Every element of this meeting would be recorded. If Cowan said anything incriminating, they needed to capture his behavior, his body language, anything that might help them convince a judge and jury that this was worthy evidence. I was there as a courtesy. You're the lead Queensland investigator. Just have a seat watch, but they were running the show. It was so cool. Most things you see in the movies are like real policing, but this was one of the few times it kind of was. Gave me a set of headphones and we were watching. We were watching it in real time as it happened. Brett Peter Cowan entered the suite. He took his seat on the couch. Arnold excused the others. They exchanged small talk and then it began. Listen, one of the reasons I bought you here was, um, as you know, I said to you before we got to walk before we run, we got to crawl before we walk. And as you probably also know, I've got a lot of people in my confines all around the country that I pay good money to to get good information from. It's a carefully choreographed conversation. Every word, every silence, thought through and planned in advance. I'll be straight with you. I'm here on other business, but I got some information through early this morning, which is kind of mainly post-prone or that stuff, so that we can sort this out. Is there something you need to tell me or? Um, and bearing in mind that this whole, what we do is based on respect and honesty. All right? Well, telephone and death. Just let me stop you here before you go on. I'll let you know that I don't care what you've done. All right? I've got no qualms at all. You know, I've dealt with a lot of real bad cancer, right? And I've had a lot of real bad cancer in my books. What they do, what they get up to, doesn't faze them at all. All I'm looking for is loyalty, respect and honesty. And I'll pay you back as you pay me back. So go on. I was living in the area in O3 when Daniel Walken went missing and just I've been interviewed and I was handed for ages about that. I can guarantee I had nothing to do with Daniel Walken's disappearance. One of my alibi. Cowan goes on to explain that the police had got it wrong, how he thought this was all behind him now. The audio wasn't great. So I had really straining to hear. Do I remember him denying it and denying it? And I'm thinking, here we go. In the criminal world, pedophiles don't generally admit their behavior and child murderers and rapists are absolutely reviled by other criminals. So if this was a scenario where he killed other drug dealers or something like that, you know, yeah, I did that and criminals all high five each other. But to come out and admit what he'd done, I just didn't think he'd do it, even if he had. And then Mr Biggs says, that's not what I've heard. Yeah, look, I got some info this morning. Basically saying those things, but that you're the one who's done it. And like I said, that doesn't bother me at all. But what concerns me is that I need to, I can sort this for you. You know, I can sort things out. I can buy alibis. I can get rid of stuff, all that kind of things that needs to be done. I can do, but I need to know what I need to do. You know what I mean? It's an important moment. A high wire act. If Arnold pushes too hard, Cown might catch on. So you're saying me look, I had nothing to do with it. That's not what I'm being told. And that brings me in a real dilemma in a crossroads, because I want to move forward with what we're doing. But until I can sort this out, I can't because you're too hot. I'm told you there is a subpoena coming for you. I'll show you the email I got from this morning. Arnold crosses the room to get his laptop. Arnold source explains that in his mind, there is no doubt Cown is responsible. He says multiple witnesses placed him at the scene, and he points to the unaccounted for 45 minutes and his flimsy alibi. I suggest you Google some of the info that I've provided to get more of a feeling for this matter, which I've done. Cown has inquired, so I'm recommending Shorland Town will again be in the spotlight. If you can't sort this out, then I suggest you drop them like a hot potato. That's what I've copped. I've postponed everything. I haven't postponed what's happening, but I've postponed the business I have to do this morning to sit down when you want to one and sort this shit out. Like I've said, I can't sort out what I don't know. So look, what happened and how can I sort it out? Like I said, honestly, trust, respect. You know what your options are here. All right, and if I've got to postpone what we're going to do for a few months to sort this out, I'm happy to do that for your sake, all right, because I'm told that you're pretty low. You've built up a good relationship with some of the boys, and they speak very highly of you. So what are we going to do? No. Yeah, I did it. Down the hall in that makeshift surveillance room, Grant Linwood and his colleagues are floored. They've just secured their confession. But without missing a beat, the operative plane Arnold keeps going. Well, look, just leave me through the whole fucking thing now, happy from where to go, and then I'll think about things that we need to sort and fix. Then he opens up and he just starts to go through it. And I thought, I can't believe this. Like he's he's just telling the whole story. Cowan begins to detail moment by moment how he abducted and murdered 13 year old Daniel Morcombe. Yeah, the sunbuss broke him down. And then I seen Daniel went up and around and parked in the church car park. I walked down and sat there. I didn't talk to him at all when I got there. Maybe just look at those waiting for the bus. The bus drove past and that's when I got on going down to the shopping center doing a lift. He spent a tank in the shopping center and took him to secluded spots that on your went through abandoned house like sort of when he started to struggle like I was starting to pull his pants down. And he said, oh, no. And started to struggle and never got to my estimating. But that's his panic from my panic to my great demiraniac tropes and this for on the order of dead taking him out. So I put it in the back of where the house is. There's a little track that goes off down there through a gate. And there's a caravan and an old mobile tool mill running how to go like in the house. 150 metres to where I couldn't saw pushing. I carried him over and threw him down the embankment. I went down there and just went and dragged him through. I just took him off and and I'm Arnold tells Brett Cowan what happens next. He and a couple of the boys will head to Queensland the next day. They'll retrace his steps from December 7th, 2003. And they'll ensure no evidence remains that could come back to haunt him. Investigators had their confession and they were more than confident that it was admissible. They had been recording Cowan for months. It was clear that he was a willing participant that he hadn't been coerced. But something to verify that confession would seal the deal. They needed to find Cowan's crime scene and he was going to lead them there. So Caravan is so easy just to click and we've got ourselves a car. See? So many cars. That's a cliquetastic inventory. And check out the financing options. Payments to fit our budget. I mean that's Clickonomics 101. Delivery to our door. Just a hop, skip and a click away. And bought. No better feeling than when everything just clicks. Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. Jacqueline Ferland Smith, a 40-year-old former Canadian military trainer, moves to Costa Rica to follow her dreams. But in the summer of 2021, vanishes without a trace. How can a woman just go missing and us put out all that effort to find her and she's still missing? I'm David Ridgen and this is Someone Knows Something Season 10, the Jacqueline Ferland Smith case. Available now on CBC Listen and wherever you get your podcasts. On the afternoon of Tuesday, August 9th, 2011, Ross Barnett was told by Assistant Commissioner Mike Condon that there was good news out of Perth. So all we knew was that he'd confess and told us broadly what he'd done. But that was enough for next steps and the mad scramble began. This is happening on the other side of the country. Five hours flying time from Queensland. Detective Grant Limwood had no time to process what he'd just witnessed. I'd actually literally take the disc, flew the red eye back. Once the confession had happened, everyone wanted to be involved. Every man, his dog was coming in and there was people everywhere, it was mind blowing. Senior detectives wanted to keep a lid on it, but that was easier said than done. And it was going like wildfire throughout the whole command. They wouldn't tell you what it was, but they were pulling staff from everywhere, lock on a mender, incident rooms, not to talk to anyone. They're all detectives, they're not stupid, you know, something's going on. Their main concern was the media. They had to ensure that this didn't get out. There's many, many considerations because it's such a high profile case. There was a big concern if we ended up with a bit of a crime scene, start having a look at what would have blown it. Back in Perth, Brett Peter Cowan remained oblivious to the recorded conversation he'd just given police. It was highly likely that we were not going to get anything more than the confession, but the next step has to be getting him back to Queensland with the undercovers to then take them to the scene and describe it further so that we can then get a crime scene and try and then start a search, try and find anything we can find. So that's what happened. Cowan, Fitsie and a second covert operative hopped on the flight back east to the Sunshine Coast. The moment the three men arrived, they set out to retrace Cowan's movements from that day, nearly eight years ago. They went to his old home in Beirwa where he lived with his wife, to Frank Davis's house where he'd picked up the mulcher, to the underpass where he'd stalked Daniel, to the church parking lot where he'd parked his car, and finally to the glass house mountains. He takes them up and he does a drive to the crime scene where he said he murdered Daniel. The macadamia farm was tucked away in the dense forest. The structure Cowan claimed he killed Daniel in was no longer there, but he still walked them through the graphic details of what had happened. From there, they walked around the tall macadamia trees, down a small path, through the overgrowth, to an embankment. A five-foot drop, a few steps further, and Cowan told them that they were standing at the spot. This was where he had left Daniel's body. They made one more stop after that. He took the undercover officers to a bridge over a small creek, a short distance away, where he said he had thrown Daniel's clothing. The case against Cowan was only getting stronger. Police now had a site to search, and they had a second recorded confession in even greater detail than the first. But some weren't convinced. After months of extraordinary police work by the coverts, after nearly eight years and more than 100 investigators pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into this case, were they really going to arrest and charge Cowan without any physical evidence? The problem you have is you've really only got one shot at this. If we arrest him and we don't have enough evidence and we lose it in court, that might be the end of it. For the next 72 hours, undercover operatives remained in character, keeping Cowan busy under the guise of awaiting Arnold's orders. In reality, they were affording investigators the time they needed to make an official call. That call was ultimately Ross Barnett's to make. He was a commissioner of the time, Bob Atkinson. He was very close to the Morecom family, so he'd excused himself from making the decision, and he delegated. He said Ross Barnett's going to make the decision. We had a meeting at Police Headquarters, myself, there was a couple of assistant commissioners, and all of the investigation team. The reason we had that meeting is I wanted to hear everyone's views. There are obviously only two next steps. One was to arrest him at the scene, but the other suggestion being put forward by some of the senior officers was that he should not be arrested, but he should be allowed to go free while we tried to gather further evidence, including potentially a search of the site. That would mean they would let Cowan go and continue the sting on the West Coast, while officials searched for any physical evidence to help corroborate Cowan's claims. The biggest concern everyone had, though, was that we had massive floods in Queensland, and that whole area had just been smashed through the floods, so there was all this concern that what if we go there and we find nothing because the floods have destroyed it. Ross Barnett had concerns of his own. There is no way that we could conduct a search covertly in that area without the media finding out. Next thing would be a news helicopter, and all of a sudden some very correct speculation would start to emerge about the fact that we were potentially looking for Daniel's body. That news would sweep the airwaves. Cowan would catch on. He might go on the run, change his identity. Australia is a very big country, and if you don't want to be found and you don't have strong ties and you can change your appearance and change your name, you could be very hard to find. Which brought Ross to the moral duty they had to protect the public from Cowan. If he knows he's going to be arrested for a murder, he might, you know, be emboldened to commit another offence before he's caught. Obviously, that would be the worst of all worlds, to have had him in our grasp and then for him to abduct, rape or murder another child would be just absolutely unconscionable. Detective Limwood stood in front of more than 30 officers and gave a presentation on Brett Cowan. He showed the photos of that six-year-old boy from Darwin. The ones police took in the hours following Cowan's brutal attack. He highlighted the opportunistic nature of that crime, the fact that Cowan had committed the abduction and rape of that child in a matter of minutes. Limwood made his stance perfectly clear. Cowan needed to be taken into custody and charged with murder. I just stood up in front and got absolutely hammered with questions by a couple of very senior officers. It was a bit harrowing for me because, and I was easily the most junior person in the room. I recall there was a little bit of reluctance from some of them and understandably say they'd invested heart and soul for years and years. He wasn't sure which way it would go. A number of people quite vocal in their opposition. The opposition was led by Assistant Commissioner Mike Condon, but this wasn't his call. Limwood's attention was on someone else. I remember Ross Barnett sitting down the back and he was just taking so many notes. As I was talking I thought, that's like he's writing a lot. I remember Barnett right at the end asking me, how long was that offense in Northern Territory or something like that? So I was 15 minutes in there. Okay, look, and I remember thinking, I've convinced him at least. He had. Ross Barnett was backing Limwood. There was no reason to leave him at large. The decision was made. They would do it morning after next. So that gave us enough time to get everything legally and operationally prepared to do what would become one of the most significant arrests in the history of Queensland criminal law. Really, this case was huge. Brett Cowan was told that Arnold had taken care of everything that needed any attention. There was just one last order of business. Daniel had been carrying a silver and gold fob watch the day that he was taken. It bore a distinct three-letter inscription. The name damn. Cowan swore he hadn't kept it. If that was true, Arnold's concern was that it could still be out there in the forest at that site, the last bit of any incriminating evidence. He needed Cowan and his men to return to the area for one final sweep. If they did that and found nothing, Arnold would feel assured that they were in the clear, that nothing would ever be found. Steve and Ross were like behind a big skip bin and Emma and I were in this little shed shack thing. Queensland detectives were set up and ready for Cowan's arrival at the McAdagni farm. I remember seeing this massive snakeskin in there and I'm terrified of snakes and hot weather. I've got the suits on for the look. We're standing in this crappy little shed with all these piles of wood and dead snakeskin and we can hear the cars coming so we're all sitting here waiting. And then they swarm. Police! Stay there, Brett. Stay there, mate. Stay where you are, stay where you are, stay where you are, police. We all come out and we're all just walking towards him. It was just, it was like a deer in headlights. Brett Cowan, Steve Blanchill, Detective Senior Sergeant from the Homicide Unit in Brisbane and you know Ross Hutton, is that correct? Don't know him. You don't know him? Okay. We're investigating the abduction and murder of Daniel Morkham. Okay. You're aware that you've been spoken to before in relation to that? Yep. I remember they did this mock arrest on the operatives. Just grabbed and went bundled straight out and they said, Brett, oh who are those? And he said, I thought they were my friends. I think he knew right then and there that they were police. I was like, it's just the pennies dropped. What I have to tell you is that you don't have to speak to us today. Okay? You have the right to remain silent. Yep. You don't have to answer any question or make any statement. Yep. Do you understand that? Yep. He then looked like the sort of crook you see all the time. You've caught him with a stolen bike or a bit of drugs. They're just, ah, you know, cool as a cucumber. It knows he's in trouble, but not really concerned. You know, just blasé, you know, hands in his pocket. Brett was allowed to make a call. Just to tell him that I'm under arrest, everyone? Not at this time. If you're happy to remain with us and speak with us in relation to this matter. Please, can you arrest me? All right. You're under arrest for the murder of Daniel Morkham. Yep. Cool. I'm under arrest for Daniel's murder. Daniel Morkham's murder. It was a weird reaction, but that's what he does when he's caught. He just shuts up and plays it cool. Linwood sat with Cowan in the back of the van on the way to the police station. The detective made a few feeble attempts to strike up conversation, but Cowan was done talking. In the early years of the investigation, back when Detective Grant Linwood was just a young constable, he had told his peers that someday he was going to help solve Daniel Morkham's case, help hunt down and catch the man responsible. Now he had. I remember that night I did the media conference with Commissioner Atkinson. At seven o'clock that night, the police headquarters and the place was packed. And I think national news everywhere stopped that night to take it live. It was that significant. It was that sort of a moment in Australian criminal investigation history where people were pausing live TV shows and whatever to take the feed because it was so significant. Ross Barnett and his team made a calculated decision to arrest Brett Peter Cowan where they did, back at the very place where he had taken the life of an innocent 13-year-old boy. They were sending Cowan a message. I know judges and the legal fraternity and the legal system are only interested in the legality of police procedure and the legality and the admissibility of evidence has got to be done the right way. They're not interested in moral equivalence or the irony of how and why certain police investigations are done. When Brett Cowan met Daniel Morkham, he set out deliberately to deceive him. He put on a persona that was not him. He put on the persona of a nice guy offering a lift and he buried the real persona of the opportunistic child, pedophile and rapist. He continued that deception until he sprung his trap and it was too late for Daniel to get out. It was only then that he revealed his true self, his evil true self. I think it's highly ironic that we did the same thing to him, that the undercover police officers set out to deceive Brett Cowan just as he set out to deceive Daniel. They were able to deceive him and string him along until we sprung our trap and it was too late for Brett Cowan to get out. I think that is the sweetest karma that you could imagine, that the master deceiver and the master manipulator was deceived and manipulated himself. We did to him what he did to Daniel. Bruce Morkham had always been an avid gardener. In 2014, he and Denise had worked with a plant breeder to propagate a red rose in Daniel's honor. The color was important to them. It had to be just right. A red Daniel Morkham hibiscus was also red. They had one in their backyard. One morning, Denise found a large black and white butterfly resting on that hibiscus. She'd wonder later if there was some greater significance to that visitor, considering the call she'd be receiving later that day. For seven years and nine months, I always waited for him to come home and walk through that front door. That's why I didn't want to move for the first couple of years. But when Bob Atkinson phoned to say that Cowan had been arrested for Daniel's murder, that was probably worse than knowing that the first night that he went missing, actually finding out that he was not coming home. Even though you know in your heart and you know in yourself that he's not coming home, but it's not until someone tells you that someone's been arrested for your son's murder that he's not going to come home. Another chapter in Daniel's story was brought to a close. But for Bruce and Denise Morkham, this wasn't the end of the battles they would have to face. In a sense, this was just the beginning of coming to terms with what had happened to their son. Unlock all episodes of Where is Daniel Morkham? Add free right now by subscribing to the Binge Podcast channel. Not only will you immediately unlock all episodes of the show, but you'll get binge access to an entire network of other great true crime and investigative podcasts. All add free. Plus, on the first of every month, subscribers get a binge drop of a brand new series. That's all episodes, all at once. Search for the binge on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page. Not on Apple, head to getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. If you'd like to make a donation to the Daniel Morkham Foundation, please visit danielmorkham.com.au. Where is Daniel Morkham? Where is Daniel Morkham? is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media. It was hosted, reported, and co-written by me, Matt Angel. Joe Barrett is the managing producer and co-writer. Grace Valerie Lynette is the associate producer. Additional production support from Tiffany Dimmick. The series was sound designed, composed, and mixed by Garrett Tiedemann. Our studio engineer is Trino Madrez. Fact checked by Tracy Lofgren-Lee. A special thanks to Ashley Ann Criggbaum and Doug Slaywin and our operations team, Ashley Warren, Sabina Mara, and Destiny Dingle. Campside Media's executive producers are Josh Dean, Vanessa Gregoriadis, and Matt Scher. Sony's executive producer is Jonathan Hirsch. For pace-heter productions, the executive producer is Jessica Rhodes. Allison Momasi and Brian Daly are the associate producers. For Mad Jimmy Productions, the executive producers are me, Matt Angel, and Suzanne Koot. Consulting producers are Dan Angel, Lee Parker, and Andrew Fairbanks. If you enjoyed Where Is Daniel Morkham, please rate and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for watching! Back on the dating scene, let's see your profile. Fine. It's 41. Cute dog one. 120 over 78, what's that? My blood pressure. Why? Well, the pharmacist at Boots said it's perfect, so I popped it on my profile. Well, I'm sure that'll get hearts racing. Get a free health MOT for over 40s including NHS blood pressure check. Book yours at boots.com slash health MOT. Boots with you for life. Subject to availability and eligibility criteria. 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