The Controversial "Mr. Big" Police Technique
Australian True Crime
Meshel Laurie
4.6 • 979 Ratings
🗓️ 13 November 2024
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On December 14, 2008, 37-year-old Mary Cook was found murdered in a burned down house on Darling Way, Narre Warren.
Victoria Police launched a months-long covert operation, gaining a confession from 35-year-old Glenn Weaven using the controversial "Mr Big" technique.
Weaven was convicted of Mary’s murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison, with a 16-year non-parole period. But the use of the Mr Big method has sparked intense scrutiny.
Our guest today on Australian True Crime, Professor Michele Ruyters, is here to explain what the Mr Big technique is, and how she believes it may have coerced a confession from Glenn Weaven, thus resulting in his wrongful conviction.
Today's conversation is also conducted by our guest host and resident criminologist, Dr. Xanthé Mallett.
Michele Ruyters is the director of the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative at RMIT University.
Season 6 of the ABC's podcast "Unravel" is available wherever you get your podcasts.
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CREDITS:
Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram
Guest Host: Dr. Xanthé Mallett
Guest: Professor Michele Ruyters
Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Can We Be Real? The first live show is coming up this November and we would love to see you all to wrap up the year. |
| 0:07.1 | Let's call it a Christmas party. Bring your friends, co-workers, whoever you want for a fun night out and possibly to have a few wines afterwards. |
| 0:15.2 | Brisbane and Melbourne are selling out very quickly so you really have to get on to that. |
| 0:18.6 | And you can secure your tickets by going to can we be real.com. |
| 0:22.4 | All right, clean, look, I must inform you that your conversation today was |
| 0:27.5 | monitored by homicides called investigators. |
| 0:30.7 | Now, I'm aware that you confessed to the murder of Mary Cook. |
| 0:34.4 | I was forced to say something. |
| 0:37.1 | Now, once you tell me in your own words |
| 0:38.9 | what happened on that night? |
| 0:41.0 | Well, I can tell you what really happened, |
| 0:43.0 | otherwise I can tell you what I told the truth. |
| 0:48.1 | Well, |
| 0:49.1 | where you've heard of his machine |
| 0:51.9 | isn't what actually happened |
| 0:53.9 | because I said that to get a job. |
| 1:02.3 | What you're listening to there is a member of Victorian police |
| 1:05.6 | breaking the news to Glenn Weaven |
| 1:07.1 | that he has been recorded via a secret recording device |
| 1:10.3 | confessing to the murder |
| 1:11.6 | of Mary Cook the year prior in December 2008. In fact, Glenn was also finding out that he was |
| 1:18.5 | the target of a month's long covert police operation to obtain his confession. The operation |
... |
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