PRESENTS — Unravel: Blood on the Tracks

This is an ABC podcast.

Hey there, K-Sov listeners.

Stocky here with a little heads up about a new podcast release.

You're going to be really interested in this.

The ABC's true crime podcast, Unravel, is returning this week with a re-release of its huge first season.

featuring new reporting and some really fresh developments.

The first season of Unravel was called Blood on the Tracks, and after the podcast was released, it won awards, and eventually a fresh inquest was announced into the case.

Now, the podcast is back to report on the new revelations that have come from that inquest and tell you all about what has happened in that courtroom.

And there wouldn't be something happening in a courtroom without us pushing our nose into it.

So we brought the reporter, Alan Clark, in here to tell us all about it.

Alan, thank you so much for joining us on the case of.

Well, thanks for having me.

I'd love to start by just getting, you know, a quick refresh on Blood on the Tracks.

Tell me a bit about this case and how this story starts, because the setting is kind of incredible.

Yeah, this mystery starts way back in 1988, just outside of Australia's country music capital, Tamworth.

In the early hours of the morning, a young man's body was found on the train tracks.

There were a lot of shattered Christmas presents spread around the area and discarded wrapping paper.

and it was quite a bizarre scene.

So for decades, there has been mystery around this death and how did Mark Haynes die.

Mark was a

17-year-old Gomeroy boy.

Ever since then, his family have been fighting for answers and trying to get justice for Mark.

This happened in 1988.

So this was a long time ago.

How long have you been following this case and looking into this story?

The first time I met Mark's uncle, Duck, was way back,

well, 12 years ago.

So I spent my entire, well, my late 20s and all of my 30s covering this case and spending time with Mark's family in Tamworth, trying to get answers for them.

You've turned up new information since the podcast was released in 2018.

You know, you've had a huge amount of recognition for it.

You won a Walkley Award for it, which one of the Australian Journalism Awards.

What else has happened since then?

What else has the story helped achieve?

Look, I remember when I first met Uncle Duck and asked him what does he kind of want to achieve, I guess, with the reporting.

And I remember in the beginning,

he said, look, a reward would be great to encourage people to come forward with information, a fresh police investigation into the death, and a inquest into Mark's death.

We were able to get that reward.

We were able to get some of Mark's remains returned from the coroner's office.

And we were able to push for an inquest, which was then announced after Blood on the Tracks dropped.

You know, the rules of an inquest are slightly different to what we would see during, you know, a jury trial, for example.

So you end up with often a lot more information and a lot more context, a lot more sort of detail from around the edges presented at something like this.

Without giving too much away, obviously, we don't want to spoil what's coming up in the

extra episodes of Blood on the Tracks.

But what's that process been like?

What have you heard?

There have been some major bombshells through this process.

There have been people who've revealed alleged confessions that have completely taken us by surprise.

Also, there has been

a closer look at the police handling of the case and some of those

inner machinations of how Mark's case was handled was also eye-opening.

And there are some people who've stepped forward who've never spoken before.

To be honest, I thought I knew everything about this case.

It felt like I've been down all of the millions of rabbit holes, spoken with hundreds of people, you know, looked at all of the documents and the, you know, police reports related to this case.

And I really felt like there was nothing new going to come up in this inquest.

So yes, it absolutely took me by surprise.

Yeah, it sounds incredible.

And you can hear this full story right from the start.

Now on Unravel, just search for Unravel in the ABC Listener or or wherever else it is that you listen to your podcasts.

They're re-releasing the entire first series, Blot on the Tracks, and adding these huge new developments in brand new episodes on the end.

So search for the Unravel podcast now.

Alan, thank you so much for telling us about all of this.

Thanks for having me.

And I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who's supported us because I don't think we would have got to this point if we didn't have incredible listeners who've pushed for justice all of these years later.

Yeah, absolutely.

Here is a taste of what is in store for you when you jump back into the full series from Unravel, Blood on the Tracks.

This is a story that started decades ago and now we might be closer to the truth than ever.

They said there's been an accident.

Mark's been found on railway tracks.

Just outside Tamworth, a 17-year-old Aboriginal boy is dead.

I just said, oh Mark,

it just broke me.

I cried,

not Mark.

My Mark, not Mark.

He was gone.

Is it suicide?

Misadventure?

Or something more sinister?

Well, what we didn't see was any blood.

And under his head, there was a a towel.

It was a white towel.

And we picked up a comb

and a pink cigarette lighter.

And that's why I said, no, I'm sorry.

You could not drive a car.

No way.

The cheese or puzzles didn't fit.

A million questions, why, how, who, what.

A country police investigation overshadowed by the politics of race.

You know how it is?

Young Aboriginal men, they just walk away, lie down on railway tracks and wait to get hit by a freight train.

That's actually their answer.

That was their story, you know what I mean?

But it wasn't our story.

Her family on a 30-year fight for justice.

So, I just done what any

family would do for their loved ones.

Question what has happened.

I'm Alan Clark, and eight years ago, I created the Walkley Award-winning podcast, Blood on the Tracks, the first ever series from Unravel.

It's about the suspicious death of Aboriginal teenager Mark Haynes in Tamworth back in 1988.

After this podcast was first released, the coroner agreed to launch a fresh inquest.

It's currently underway and there's been some big revelations.

We're closer than ever to finally getting some answers and getting an end to this story.

So now we're going to update this series and re-release it.

We're retelling the whole story right from the start.

It was foul play and it was a cover-up right from the word go.

I said, Well, where was you?

Where were you when my nephew was found dead?

I'll fight every one of you fools, one at a time, or all at once, I don't care.

We don't call ourselves vigilantes.

We're here in search of the truth, and still are.

He hasn't given up.

30 years later.

I just wish,

I just wish he'd fight, he'd get his answers.

I just want him to have peace.

I want Mark to have peace.

So I'll just ask you one last time.

Did you have anything to do with Mark's death?

To find out what happens, listen to my updated podcast.

Blood on the Tracks is the latest season of the ABC's true crime podcast, Unravel.

Search for Unravel now on the ABC ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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