Sharnelle Vella and Bob Murphy
She covered several of the biggest court cases in Victorian history including the trial and sentence of Cardinal George Pell, Bourke street attacker James Gargasoulas, school girl killer Sean Price, and the Christmas Day terror plotters. Bob Murphy
Bob grew up in Gippsland, played for Footscray, and calls Melbourne home.
Married to high school sweetheart, Justine, and with a brood of three children — Jarvis, Frankie, and Delilah — he has subtly carved out a public life that includes writing for The Age as a columnist, penning his own memoir, appearing on various radio and television programs, and for 18 years playing for his beloved Western Bulldogs.
A self-confessed romantic, Bob has a bent for nostalgia, vintage T-shirts, and songs about trains.
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ABC News
26 minutes ago
- ABC News
Geraldton mother Monique Burton to be sentenced over newborn baby's body in freezer
WARNING: This story contains distressing details. A woman who secretly gave birth on her lounge room floor put her newborn baby boy in a plastic bag before her partner stored the infant's body in a freezer, a Perth court has been told. Monique Ellen Burton, 35, denied being pregnant and told friends she had a terminal illness, which saw her raise thousands of dollars via a GoFundMe page. The mother, from Geraldton, is set to be sentenced in Perth tomorrow — and her appearance in the Perth District Court today unveiled the horrific circumstances surrounding the baby's birth. The court heard Burton gave birth at home in August 2022 before putting the baby in a plastic garbage bag and hiding it behind the couch. She claims it was stillborn, but police have not been able to determine when or how the baby died. Methamphetamine was detected in the baby's system, the court was told. Burton managed to conceal the fact she had just given birth from her partner Shaun Bradley Balaam, who took her to hospital because she was visibly ill. Once there, she denied giving birth, telling staff she had been menstruating, prosecutor Jehna Winter told the court. When he got home, Balaam found the garbage bag containing the baby — though he said he did not look inside. He told police he suspected it may have been a baby as he knew Burton had a history of concealing pregnancies, and had felt what he suspected was a head when picking up the bag. He put the bag in a chest freezer, under a bag of dog food, the court was told. Burton was meanwhile transferred to King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth, where she was "repeatedly asked" about giving birth, but continued to deny she'd been pregnant. A friend then set up a GoFundMe on her behalf claiming she had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. Burton had made a minor liver issue "seem worse than it was", and got more than $3,000 in donations, the court heard. However, she was "never diagnosed with a terminal illness," Ms Winter said, and had never undergone dialysis Police became involved once Burton finally revealed to a social worker that the baby was "in the freezer on the back verandah", claiming it had been stillborn. Officers visited the house and found the body of the baby boy, with his legs were crossed, "arms close to his chest" and the umbilical cord still attached. The prosecutor said investigations "couldn't determine cause of death or whether it had taken a first breath". Ms Winter told the court that the boy was "anatomically normal" but methylamphetamine was detected in his system. The court heard Burton could not say why she did not reveal the pregnancy. Her lawyer Anthony Elliott described the concealment as 'amateurish'and said it was 'unlikely there was any sinister intention.' Mr Elliott said she suffered from 'depressive episodes' due to trauma, but "In terms of moral culpability, this is towards the lower end of the scale." Burton had pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse with intent to prevent an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death, and multiple counts of fraud related to the GoFundMe. Earlier, her partner Balaam received a 12-month community based order in Geraldton after admitting improper interference with a corpse. Burton is set to be sentenced on Friday.
ABC News
26 minutes ago
- ABC News
Home Affairs minister met with FBI director during secretive Australia visit
FBI Director Kash Patel paid a quiet visit Australia this week, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke later confirming he dined with the law enforcement chief while he was Sydney. Mr Patel, who is a loyalist of US President Donald Trump, stopped in Sydney earlier this week before travelling to New Zealand to announce the US would expand its FBI office in Wellington. Neither Australia nor the United States publicly flagged the visit, but after he was approached by the ABC Mr Burke said he "enjoyed" his evening with Mr Patel. "We share a commitment to keeping our people safe, and I'm optimistic about what we can achieve together in the interest of national security," he said. A source confirmed the FBI chief met with other officials from the security community while in Sydney, but played-down the significance of the stop-off, suggesting Mr Patel's main focus was on his New Zealand visit. Mr Patel wields significant power as the head of the US's law enforcement but he is also a controversial figure, in part because he's called some of those jailed for the January 6 assault on Capitol Hill "political prisoners". Greens home affairs spokesperson David Shoebridge on Thursday called on the government to provide "more transparency" over the meeting. "The minister, understandably, wanted his meeting with a defender of the January 6 rioters, kept secret," he said. "Equally understandably, the Australian public has an interest in knowing who our minister for home affairs is meeting with, and why. "Going forward the best way to avoid public concern about meeting with Trump appointees who defend the January 6 riots is not to meet them in the first place." While opening the FBI's new permanent office in New Zealand, Mr Patel said he was looking forward to working closely with New Zealand to counter the Chinese Communist Party and other threats in the region. New Zealand is a member of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, alongside Australia, the United States, Britain and Canada. "Some of the most important global issues of our times are the ones that New Zealand and America work on together," he said. "The FBI cannot do it alone. The FBI, in my opinion, is the greatest law enforcement agency in the world, and our partners in the Five Eyes are our greatest partners around the world. But we need all of them ... to get after the fight and put the mission first."
News.com.au
26 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘Coin toss': Zak Brown opens up on McLaren championship battle
McLaren boss Zak Brown has insisted the team won't be playing favourites and that the championship race will be a 'coin toss' between his two drivers. Australian Oscar Piastri has had the upper hand on teammate Lando Norris for the majority of the season having won six of the first 13 races. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The 24-year-old from Melbourne holds a 16-point advantage over his 25-year-old British teammate ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. With McLaren on track to secure their first drivers' championship since 2008, Brown is leaving the championship door open and refusing to back just one of the two. 'I think Oscar was a little disappointed with qualifying in Belgium. Lando was very happy. I'm sure he'll be a little bummed that he didn't win today, but it's coming off two wins. I think it's going to be a coin toss every weekend,' he told Sky Sport following the Belgian Grand Prix. 'Oscar is a machine. And what's impressive is how aggressive he is, and yet he always brings the car home. That's quite a talent.' With four-time world champion Max Verstappen sitting in third place, 81 points behind, Brown isn't ruling the Red Bull driver out of the equation. 'I think it's too early. It's looking good, but Max … there's a lot of racing left to go. We've got a nice gap, but I wouldn't say we're there,' he said. 'We've all been around this sport too long. To start dancing before you're in the end zone is a very dangerous thing to do.' The Formula 1 grid will descended into Hungary, the place where last season Piastri claimed his maiden victory. Fast forward 12 months and the rising star has equalled Daniel Ricciardo's tally of career wins with eight. But with two drivers in the one garage fighting it out for the right to be crowned the world champion, McLaren could face an ugly fight in the second half of the season. Team principal Andrea Stella believes that driver ability will decide the world championship rather than team orders. 'We saw in Silverstone that a sporting issue for Oscar during the safety car restart and [the resulting] penalty cost him the race,' he said. 'In Spa, it was always going to be very difficult for Lando to keep the position [from Piastri], starting first at the safety car restart. At the same time, I think Lando didn't help himself by not having a great gap on the finish line. 'So, I think the execution is what is going to make the main difference.'
