Newshub launches crime podcast
NEWSHUB LAUNCHES ‘GROVE
ROAD’
EIGHT-PART INVESTIGATIVE CRIME
PODCAST
Newshub launches its very first
podcast series today, Grove Road, which investigates the
controversial conviction of Alan Hall. Hall was convicted of
the 1985 murder of Arthur Easton but has always maintained
his innocence.
Hosted by Newshub
journalist Mike Wesley-Smith, Grove Road is a
live case with recent developments and consists of eight
episodes. For Newshub, this is a fresh move into the
world of investigative podcasts broadening its
multi-platform reach, promising to immerse listeners in a
case that is both tragic and hauntingly
questionable.
The podcast investigates the murder of
South Auckland resident Arthur Easton in 1985 and the arrest
of Alan Hall, a man who did not match original witness
descriptions of the killer. It's also a story about our
system of justice - the power and trust we give to police
and prosecutors, and their ability to find the
truth.
Grove Road will look
at many aspects of the case, both old and recent, and ask
questions about Hall’s conviction. What was there to
connect him to the crime? Did he receive a fair trial? And
how can the police be sure they got the right
man?
Mike Wesley-Smith has been
working on the case for two years and says, “Ultimately
our criminal justice system is about trust. The trust the
accused places in the courts to ensure their jury hears all
relevant evidence. The trust victims of crime place in
police and prosecutors to ensure the right individual is
held responsible. Finally, it is about the trust all New
Zealanders place in the legal process to guarantee that
citizens get a fair trial. The focus of this podcast is to
see whether that trust was honoured in the conviction of
Alan Hall for murder.”
SYNOPSIS
At 8pm on Sunday, 13th
October, 1985, Arthur Easton and his sons Kim and Brendan
were spending a quiet night in their Papakura home on Grove
Road, when they were disturbed by an intruder.
During a fight involving all four men in the hallway, Arthur Easton was fatally stabbed by the intruder who escaped down an alleyway next to the house. Kim and Brendan were taken to hospital with multiple stab wounds.
The boys initially
described their attacker as a strong six-foot Maori man, and
other motorists said they saw a ‘dark-skinned’ man
running suspiciously from the area. Police searched for this
suspect for months, but in the end the man arrested, charged
and incarcerated for Arthur's murder was Alan Hall - a slim
five-foot-seven Pakeha with learning difficulties, but no
alibi. As of 2018, Hall is still behind bars, and maintains
he was wrongfully convicted.
The
first episode of Grove Road is available now, with
the remaining seven episodes being released daily from
Sunday, 30th September - Saturday, 6th October.
You can subscribe to Grove
Road on iTunes, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Spreaker, and all other major podcast
apps. It is also available on
Newshub.
-ENDS-