Speaker 1: Apo Che Production.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to our Little Lady and an episode I've
Speaker 2: been excited to share for some time. In this episode,
Speaker 2: we're going to catch up with Jason and Amanda, who
Speaker 2: are busy in Tasmania giving back to someone that's helped
Speaker 2: them a lot. With an election this weekend. This is
Speaker 2: less about politics and more about helping someone that's helped
Speaker 2: Jason and Amanda, what are you doing?
Speaker 3: Ambitionite dropping off Jackie Lamby fines mate because she's looked
Speaker 3: after us, we're looking after her in an election.
Speaker 4: We've got the East Coast leg of the signage to
Speaker 4: put out two volunteers that have offered their fences front
Speaker 4: randas just a handful of people.
Speaker 1: She didn't want to.
Speaker 4: Fuss too much about promoting through the election because she
Speaker 4: said she's done the work and she continues to do
Speaker 4: the work and it's beats for itself. So we're just
Speaker 4: a little reminder, but.
Speaker 5: They're pretty big signs.
Speaker 3: Jay.
Speaker 2: In the last episode, you heard Byron Collins with his
Speaker 2: interim report on Eden's death. Up until now, the coroners
Speaker 2: have prevented doctor Collins from obtaining photos of the autopsy
Speaker 2: of Eden.
Speaker 4: I've been a little fragile because of the reality of
Speaker 4: what Byron has described.
Speaker 1: And I just feel like.
Speaker 6: It's okay how alone Eden felt on that night with
Speaker 6: all the people that she encountered, not one of them
Speaker 6: cared enough to come and inform us or bring her home.
Speaker 4: And even after her death, the way they handled her,
Speaker 4: and she was still alone all the way through the
Speaker 4: pathology and the autopsy.
Speaker 1: The people that were handling her, they didn't regard her
Speaker 1: like they should have.
Speaker 4: The people from Dunn's funeral were the only people that
Speaker 4: had any real grace about themselves with handling Eden's body.
Speaker 7: And I just feel like, what a horrible ending to
Speaker 7: such a beautiful person.
Speaker 5: So that's how Amanda feels. Jay. It broke her mate.
Speaker 5: You know, I read it.
Speaker 3: As well, and I mentioned to you last week before
Speaker 3: when we were raging this date, how that report, that
Speaker 3: interim report made me feel the emotions, And I'm going
Speaker 3: to share it with you, Jay, I felt more emotions
Speaker 3: on that last episode you gave us than I felt
Speaker 3: throughout a long time. I was at first angry, I
Speaker 3: was upset, and then I almost felt sorry for the
Speaker 3: people that have done this, and then I thought, no,
Speaker 3: this is deliberate I'm actually embarrassed for them because when
Speaker 3: you look at the detail in the pathologist's report, he
Speaker 3: mentions the pathologist that did the autopsy report was quite qualified,
Speaker 3: and there's things in there that the second injury to
Speaker 3: Eden's neck, which is a separate injury to the hanging one,
Speaker 3: is indicative of homicide when I've done my research. So
Speaker 3: that to me makes me think the pathologists found a
Speaker 3: second injury which was different to the hanging.
Speaker 5: Now there it was three.
Speaker 3: Or four days after Eden died, so that was an
Speaker 3: alarm bell.
Speaker 5: I read light shine and on Eden's body at the autopsy.
Speaker 3: Yet the police that were investigating it didn't seem to
Speaker 3: address that paragraph, which we now look at and wonder
Speaker 3: how that second injury occurred in her neck. Now let's
Speaker 3: be mindful also, Jay, we didn't ask for the person
Speaker 3: to come up our driveway on Australia Day to tell
Speaker 3: us what he.
Speaker 5: Was told happened to Eden. Isn't it interesting what he
Speaker 5: told us.
Speaker 3: I'm just really pested off, Jay, and it's upset my
Speaker 3: whole family. We're picking up pieces because of that report
Speaker 3: can't be finalized. It's a kick in the guts again
Speaker 3: from the corner and their groups.
Speaker 4: What Jason's saying, when that person found those suspicious injuries,
Speaker 4: they could have.
Speaker 1: Gone back to her little body and checked. And why
Speaker 1: didn't they check her? Why weren't fingernails scrapings? Don't they
Speaker 1: took fingerprints of her?
Speaker 5: What the hell was that?
Speaker 3: And you know me and we know now, Jay, and
Speaker 3: I'm sure you're aware. There's things that have come out.
Speaker 3: One of those things is there was a black.
Speaker 5: Band under Eden at the tree. Now a hairband.
Speaker 2: Talk to me about how you got that.
Speaker 3: Yeah. When we asked for the actual all the slides
Speaker 3: and photographs to be given to the forensic pathologist, doctor
Speaker 3: Richard Byron Collins, the coroner provided twenty five pitches okayjpeg
Speaker 3: whatever they're called. Now where we haven't looked at a
Speaker 3: man like because we don't want to, you know that. However,
Speaker 3: there's twenty five documented given to him by the coroner
Speaker 3: on her file. Now, interestingly enough, when we got the
Speaker 3: rape specialist in America to have a look to see
Speaker 3: what he could come back with, there was twenty seven
Speaker 3: slides given.
Speaker 5: Now that's an anomaly in what the coroners had.
Speaker 3: So we're now found out the police had more photos
Speaker 3: than they provided the coroner, so we wanted to know
Speaker 3: what was in those photos.
Speaker 5: Now, one of them is almost.
Speaker 3: Identical to let's say, fote A ten, which is okay interesting,
Speaker 3: But the second one is a black hairband. Now, Eden
Speaker 3: didn't have a black hairband on that night.
Speaker 5: It's not Eden's hairband.
Speaker 3: Were shown that we now know whose hairband that is, because.
Speaker 5: Let's think about it, Jaye. All the way back in
Speaker 5: the start of the podcast, someone was getting their hair
Speaker 5: braided by Eden that night. Kate Young Kate.
Speaker 3: Now I'll guarantee you that hairband has Kate's DNA on
Speaker 3: it and it's.
Speaker 5: Yet again destroyed.
Speaker 3: So this is why the police and they're all just
Speaker 3: trying to close this up, mate, because they got nothing
Speaker 3: to convict anyone because they fucked Upmrte and they're just
Speaker 3: trying to do everything they can to nail and hammer
Speaker 3: this one shut and it's not going to work.
Speaker 5: That's not Eden's, that was never DNA tested.
Speaker 3: So what we now know is there is no evidence
Speaker 3: available for the Karner or for the court to convict
Speaker 3: anyone because they've destroyed it all. And that's embarrassing because
Speaker 3: of their mistake, and they're trying to handle it over
Speaker 3: to Jason Vanna and saying, you people are dissatisfied, grieving parents.
Speaker 3: You need to move on. We've made up our decision.
Speaker 3: We're right, you're wrong. Bullshit, we're not wrong. You people
Speaker 3: need to be accountable.
Speaker 5: You need to fix this mess.
Speaker 4: When you've got someone like Paul Reynolds who is now.
Speaker 4: I mean, clearly he was in Thick, and the investigating
Speaker 4: officers since then.
Speaker 1: Say he was no part of it. I mean, why is.
Speaker 4: This all written and lied about if there was not
Speaker 4: something to say.
Speaker 5: Because he's not a convicted pedophile.
Speaker 3: They're saying it's an alleged so they're saying he's a
Speaker 3: good guy and they're going to back him all the
Speaker 3: way to the grave.
Speaker 1: Just be really quite just stuff.
Speaker 5: Sorry, Jay, we're a bit. Yeah, you've got us. Yeah,
Speaker 5: the last few weeks have been really tough on us.
Speaker 3: And I do want to thank you for having that
Speaker 3: last episode with doctor Byron Collins, because it really opened
Speaker 3: up my eyes to what's going on and it's made me,
Speaker 3: as you can hear, I've got a lot of emotions
Speaker 3: going on inside me. My chemicals, every fiber at different
Speaker 3: stages is hot, and I haven't felt that in a while,
Speaker 3: probably since I was in a multi kickbox and Marie.
Speaker 3: I'm really fiery, j And I'm probably not very approachable,
Speaker 3: and I don't like being that person, as you know,
Speaker 3: because I'm a friendly sort of a guy.
Speaker 5: Mate. They're bringing out the worst in me, but I'm
Speaker 5: not going to let him destroy me.
Speaker 3: I'm going to be strong and I'm going to get
Speaker 3: through this and I'm not giving up, mate, because I
Speaker 3: think we're really close. Mate, And thank you j be
Speaker 3: because they thought they could silence us, and they probably
Speaker 3: could because they're in a small little town on the
Speaker 3: east coast of Tasmania where you know, secret squirrel business happens.
Speaker 5: But you know, with what you've done, We've.
Speaker 3: Got to tell our story and no one will believe
Speaker 3: without doubt.
Speaker 5: We've created the doubt for people to now believe us.
Speaker 3: We've not only created doubt to believe, we've got strong
Speaker 3: evidence that Eden met foul play.
Speaker 5: And when not going away, Jay, I can continue that
Speaker 5: conversation with you.
Speaker 3: We are going to continue to fight this till we
Speaker 3: get the truth written and Eden's name cleared.
Speaker 2: You can hear the Jason and Amanda are angry at
Speaker 2: how hamstrung they are with the current rules around moving
Speaker 2: forward with this case. How are you feeling now, do
Speaker 2: you feel like you're closer.
Speaker 5: Closer to what Jay?
Speaker 3: You know, if these people are in control of the
Speaker 3: actual investigation or if they're in control of opening.
Speaker 1: Up the Jason, we are closer than ever.
Speaker 4: This is the closest that we've ever been because.
Speaker 5: We all now now through doctor Borron Collins that you know,
Speaker 5: how they determined ed and died in the seventeenths is inadequate.
Speaker 5: You know that there's just no reason to say she
Speaker 5: where did he give? What did she rely on to
Speaker 5: come back with that? What? There was medical evidence.
Speaker 1: There was no evidence about the mental anguish.
Speaker 4: There was no evidence about the way that Eden was found,
Speaker 4: There was no evidence of her pathway, like I told you.
Speaker 3: Complete then this is almost laughable.
Speaker 8: They're saying in the police's statements through your Rights of Information,
Speaker 8: and we've got a couple of police officers as saying
Speaker 8: this that Amanda Westbrook told them that the rape came
Speaker 8: from our place off a craypot.
Speaker 3: Okay, now I only owned two crape pots. That's one
Speaker 3: from a maund of one for me. You've gotta have
Speaker 3: a license for it. Now, I spliced my rapes on
Speaker 3: the pot jay, so they go through the pot, then
Speaker 3: they come in and then they get spliced and burnt,
Speaker 3: so they're very sealed and says the other end on
Speaker 3: two boys.
Speaker 5: So for hypothetically to have got our crypot rapes, she
Speaker 5: would have had to use a sharp knife and she
Speaker 5: would have had to cut them.
Speaker 3: Not only that, they would have actually been taken from
Speaker 3: the craypots.
Speaker 5: Now, you would think if Amanda.
Speaker 3: Had told these police offers that have put in there
Speaker 3: after David's and they've sworn statements that Amanda had said this,
Speaker 3: you'd think you'd go up there and check those crypots.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't you, especially if you dropped me off.
Speaker 5: Guess what, mate, No one come to our place and.
Speaker 3: Checked the crypots, and if they did, they would have
Speaker 3: found the rape didn't come from our crpepots because they
Speaker 3: were still on the cratepots.
Speaker 5: Now we've also found, now that.
Speaker 3: We've got rights of freedom of information, that the rape's
Speaker 3: not even the same as the crypot ropes we had. Anyway,
Speaker 3: it's all self serving written on their behalf just to
Speaker 3: all just say this is what's happened. Let's all just
Speaker 3: fucking say that Eden killed us up and we'll sign
Speaker 3: this off and we'll silence the Westbrooks, cheat them badly
Speaker 3: and they'll sell up and they'll move. We're not settling up, Jay,
Speaker 3: We're building a house a little time at home. I've
Speaker 3: got a boat. I love fishing and this coastline's gorgeous.
Speaker 3: You've been here, mate, nothing's making me leave this beautiful
Speaker 3: state of Tasmania.
Speaker 5: And there's some really good people here, Mate.
Speaker 3: I've made lifelong friends out of what's happened over the
Speaker 3: last couple of years since your podcast. People have come
Speaker 3: out of the woodwork, mate, and there are one hundred
Speaker 3: percent behind it. Some don't want to be seen with us,
Speaker 3: but they're given a silent support. And those that do
Speaker 3: want to be seen with us, they've got their chests out, mate,
Speaker 3: they're walking tall beside us.
Speaker 5: So we're going to get to the bottom of it, Jay.
Speaker 4: And Eden is not the only person child who they've
Speaker 4: done this with. That's why if they release the autopsy photos, it's.
Speaker 1: A Pandora's box.
Speaker 4: They're going to have to explain themselves to many other
Speaker 4: families across Tasmania going to ask.
Speaker 5: I wonder there fight against it, They've going to.
Speaker 4: Want to see the same because the admiration that Jason
Speaker 4: and I are receiving is quite humbling for what we
Speaker 4: have pursued and what we've endured.
Speaker 2: As Jason and Amanda talked, it was a stark reminder
Speaker 2: to me that the last three seasons of this podcast
Speaker 2: have been about the story of Eden Westbrook, but more
Speaker 2: it's about their family and their daughter.
Speaker 3: Because it takes courage to share this sad story about
Speaker 3: our daughter. Honey, when I read what's in the paper,
Speaker 3: when I hear what's being spoke about, that's our daughter
Speaker 3: is So I don't know if you, even your audience
Speaker 3: can understand what to share this story.
Speaker 5: It's as good as it's been, it's also it has
Speaker 5: been hard for us, Jade, because this is our daughter
Speaker 5: we're talking about.
Speaker 3: We're talking about a fifteen year old girl found hung
Speaker 3: in the main street of.
Speaker 5: The seaside town on the East case of taserradia.
Speaker 3: That's not something to be you know, we're not proud
Speaker 3: of that, mate. You know, we're not ashamed of it either.
Speaker 3: But it's our daughter.
Speaker 5: So the emotions is something I can't explain.
Speaker 2: For more than a year, Jason and Amanda have had
Speaker 2: more peace working quietly in the background. You'll notice we
Speaker 2: haven't spoken of their old barrister who no longer works
Speaker 2: on Eden's case. But the good news is that Jason
Speaker 2: and Amanda have secured the services of an elite Australian
Speaker 2: barrister who's going to work on this case pro bono
Speaker 2: for no other reason than to help the family. This
Speaker 2: new practicing barrister is currently tied up in a high
Speaker 2: profile case. Once that's clear, he'll start the work with
Speaker 2: all the new information that the team behind Jason and
Speaker 2: Amanda have been gathering. Do you want to talk to
Speaker 2: me about how that came about and how that makes
Speaker 2: you feel.
Speaker 3: Confident to have this personal, high profile barrister with the
Speaker 3: high profile case currently underway.
Speaker 5: So we've got a bit of correspondence back and forth.
Speaker 3: It's looking really good, Jay and once he's finished with
Speaker 3: this case he's dealing with at the moment, and he's
Speaker 3: extremely interested in getting to the bottom of this situation.
Speaker 2: So just like that, excellent news, and it means that
Speaker 2: legally you can continue to push forward without having that
Speaker 2: sort of and I guess I can sense the frustration,
Speaker 2: the anger and also the hope.
Speaker 3: Yes, those two words you just use frustration and hope
Speaker 3: that they're probably too I missed out on my emotions
Speaker 3: when I read doctor Borron Collins' report, Jay, They're very
Speaker 3: descriptive of how I felt, to be honest.
Speaker 2: There's one more final bit of good news that was
Speaker 2: released in the last few weeks from the Attorney General,
Speaker 2: Guy Barnett. This letter that was dated the ninth of April.
Speaker 2: He wrote to Jason Amanda. These are his words, but
Speaker 2: not his voice.
Speaker 9: Dear mister and missus Westbrook, I am writing to thank
Speaker 9: you for the feedback you provided on the draft Justice
Speaker 9: and Related Legislation Miscellaneous Amendments Bill twenty twenty five to Bill. Firstly,
Speaker 9: I want to offer my sincere apologies that you were
Speaker 9: not notified of the consultation period for this bill. This
Speaker 9: was an oversight and I will personally make sure that
Speaker 9: you are kept informed as these important reforms progress. In
Speaker 9: that spirit, today I will be tabling the final bill
Speaker 9: as enclosed in Parliament. You will see that the amendments
Speaker 9: to the Coroners Act nineteen ninety five the Coroner's Act
Speaker 9: in the final Bill have been significantly changed in response
Speaker 9: to the feedback you provide. I instructed my Department of
Speaker 9: Justice to make these amendments to the Coroners Act to
Speaker 9: provide for a clear and direct right of access by
Speaker 9: senior next of kin to coronial records. This is essential
Speaker 9: in the spirit of open justice to ensure transparency, accountability,
Speaker 9: and public confidence in our justice system. I also hope
Speaker 9: that the provision of this material can provide some amount
Speaker 9: of closure to yourself and other families following an investigation
Speaker 9: into a death. I sincerely hope that these proposed changes
Speaker 9: will address the concerns you have raised. Thank you once
Speaker 9: again for taking the time to provide feedback on these
Speaker 9: important amendments.
Speaker 2: I want to ask how you felt when you saw
Speaker 2: that letter from Guy Barnett come through.
Speaker 7: It was a long time coming, but it felt like
Speaker 7: there is going to be some sincere justice when that
Speaker 7: legislation has changed.
Speaker 5: And I think he's since there.
Speaker 4: I think Guy has seen enough paperwork from us to
Speaker 4: have evidence to support that movement, and he has, and
Speaker 4: this is the only real authority or power that he
Speaker 4: had to obtain these autopsy photos. That's how tricky the
Speaker 4: Coroner's Act has been previously to this new act coming about.
Speaker 4: So when you have such a tricky situation and the
Speaker 4: coroner themselves doesn't have the time to put into every
Speaker 4: single body that came through their office, then we really
Speaker 4: can't give the coroner all that power authority, trust, trust
Speaker 4: that they're going to handle everybody's body sensitively. Whether it's
Speaker 4: a piece of paper or not, it's still a person,
Speaker 4: it's still somebody's loved one.
Speaker 1: And I found since that most.
Speaker 4: People would expect this to be something that goes without
Speaker 4: question or goes without say. It just should automatically happen
Speaker 4: in such an office.
Speaker 3: It's a privilege to have someone of the caliber of
Speaker 3: God as Attorney General Staan in Tasmanian Parliament and speak.
Speaker 5: Highly of Amanda and I in our family.
Speaker 3: I don't know if you heard what he said on
Speaker 3: that day, Jay, but it was quite humbling and he
Speaker 3: almost I felt respects us for what we're doing.
Speaker 5: And then we got gun fighting, Jackie.
Speaker 3: You know, So we got these two politicians, which but
Speaker 3: not always a line.
Speaker 5: You know this, Jay, Yeah, we got these two.
Speaker 3: From different groups fighting for our family, and that's power.
Speaker 5: So you say how I felt when the letter come mate,
Speaker 5: I've got.
Speaker 3: Letters coming from attorney generals wanting to change legislation in
Speaker 3: Tasmania because of the noise you and I am Amanda
Speaker 3: have made j and Jackie and you know, I say,
Speaker 3: I feel empowered a little and I really do hope
Speaker 3: we can get these autopsy photos to doctor Byron Collins,
Speaker 3: and I hope he can finish his report because as
Speaker 3: at the moment for him to come back with Eden's
Speaker 3: deaths undetermined. That's doing my head in mate, because.
Speaker 2: So this legislation allows you to have any of the
Speaker 2: files that the current has, but it only allows you
Speaker 2: to have them right now, so it hasn't really changed
Speaker 2: the fact that doctor Byron Collins can't see them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because we're.
Speaker 1: Not saying that they would do that.
Speaker 4: We're just saying, in a hypothetical we have been that's right,
Speaker 4: we've been gagged. We were being told when we receive
Speaker 4: this we cannot share it with anybody but the people
Speaker 4: which we have missed, which we haven't, and we don't
Speaker 4: want that to be for somebody to go through. We
Speaker 4: want the person to be confidently okay, granted the information.
Speaker 4: Grant the information firstly, and then pass it on to
Speaker 4: someone who specifies specifically in these areas.
Speaker 5: An expert, and we're not that. We're a mom and
Speaker 5: dad mate.
Speaker 1: No mom and dad will be that.
Speaker 4: So it's it's silly just to say, Okay, we'll give
Speaker 4: it to the parents.
Speaker 3: Let's make them even feel worse by giving the autosy photos.
Speaker 5: To the parents. It can't happen. It's got to go
Speaker 5: to the experts. It's got to go to the professionals.
Speaker 3: And the family do not need to see their loved
Speaker 3: ones in that consent of.
Speaker 1: The next of kin or the parent or whomever is.
Speaker 5: It doesn't matter how strong you are, that will break you.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry because I get hearing things.
Speaker 5: I couldn't imagine to see it. I just couldn't.
Speaker 3: I've read some pretty horrific things on my door to Jay,
Speaker 3: and I'm sure throughout the last couple of years you've
Speaker 3: had some correspondence come through your desk, which is hard
Speaker 3: to read because you too are a father mate.
Speaker 5: You know,