Christa Pike survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her. Should the state be allowed to try again? From the Desk, Adam Shand examines the legal precedent, the English legend of mercy after a failed hanging, and the moral limits of capital punishment. Even if another execution attempt is lawful, does that make it right?

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When police officer David Raymond walked into the darkness hunting a killer, he often had just one partner besides him, a partner who couldn’t speak but whose instincts David trusted with his life. For 26 years, David worked with police dogs in Far North Queensland. But one dog would come to define his career: Vader, a jet-black German Shepherd who tracked killers, confronted armed offenders, searched for the missing and helped save lives. In this episode of Real Crime, David Raymond takes us inside the extraordinary world of police dog operations: the danger, the humour, the psychological toll and the remarkable bond that develops when a man and a dog repeatedly walk into danger together.

It’s a story about courage, loyalty and an almost instinctive trust between two partners and the heartbreaking reality that even the strongest partnerships eventually come to an end.

David Raymond and Vader: a police officer, a police dog, and the unbreakable bond that brought them both home.

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Long before Roberta Williams became one of the most recognisable names in Melbourne’s gangland story, she was Roberta Merciecaa, a rebellious 15-year-old growing up around Frankston.Lee McIntosh knew her then.

As a youth worker, Lee worked with young people dealing with broken homes, trauma and uncertain futures. She understood them because she had lived through her own family upheaval. But Lee came to Real Crime with a mystery of her own. She had never met her father and wanted to find the man who had been missing from her life for decades.

In this episode, Lee takes us back to the teenage years of the girl who would become Roberta Williams, revealing a fascinating prequel to the Underbelly story. And then we embark on a very different investigation: the search for Lee’s long-lost father. Two stories about family, identity and the strange turns a life can take and one question Lee has waited a lifetime to answer.

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Three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer vanished from Fairy Meadow beach at Wollongong in 1970. A teenager later told police he had abducted and killed her. Decades on, he was charged with murder—but the case ended when a judge ruled that his police interview could not be used at trial. He pleaded not guilty, and no jury reached a verdict. After a tireless campaign for justice by Cheryl's family, the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions agreed to review the court ruling but recently upheld the decision to exclude the confession of the alleged killer. It was a devastating blow but the family fights on. They are now demanding an independent review of this decision and why evidence from new witnesses has not been investigated by police. In this From the Desk, Adam Shand asks how a family finds answers when the evidence at the heart of a case cannot be heard in court.

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Victoria, with the support of her new partner, Grant, reports that the father of her children has raped and sexually assaulted her. Victoria summons the courage to go through the three-year process that led to his conviction and a 13-year prison sentence. Another woman is inspired to bring charges against the perpetrator for crimes committed against her. Victoria has waived her right to anonymity to tell this story in the hope of encouraging other women to liberate themselves from abusive partners.

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Jeff Maher had a stellar career as an investigator, including a 15-year stint as a detective senior sergeant in the Victoria Police homicide squad. His crew worked on some of the most high-profile murder cases in the state’s history, which included locking up a serial killer. Peter Dupas. Jeff also worked in arson and explosives investigations. In this revealing interview, he discusses investigative methods and how he dealt with the stresses of working on horrific murder cases and dealing with the loved ones while maintaining a laser focus on professionalism. He also talks about giving back at the end of his career, training detectives at the Victoria Police Academy and a new role helping to train police in Cambodia investigating homicide and child protection cases.

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Debbie Fahey’s death in a Melbourne motel room in 1981 was treated as a heroin overdose. But more than four decades later, troubling questions remain.Multiple syringes. Four foils of heroin. No obvious heat source to prepare the drug. And a strange telegram that appeared to explain Debbie’s state of mind.Then there is the man in her life: Alistair Farquhar "Sandy" MacRae — later convicted of four murders — who identified Debbie’s body and described himself as her fiancé.Were these simply the circumstances surrounding a tragic overdose? Or was somebody trying to make Debbie’s death look like one?

In this special From the Desk, Adam Shand examines the anomalies in the original investigation and makes a direct appeal to anyone who knew Debbie, MacRae, or Melbourne’s drug scene in 1981.Someone may still know what happened inside that motel room. After 45 years, it’s time to talk.

Listen to the full epsidoe with Debbie's daughter, Des here

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Like thousands of young Australians in the 1980s, Patrick McKenzie became addicted to heroin and found his way to Sydney's King Cross joining a sub-culture of drug users who financed their habit by committing petty crime. It took five days in jail for him to begin to see a life beyond drug addiction but the road to recovery was difficult, including multiple stints in rehab, relapses and the painful restoration of personal relationships. Patrick takes Adam Shand through his story of self-destruction and redemption.

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