Case 300: Tegan Lane (Part 2)
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It's been four years since I first learned about the disappearance of Nahum May, an 18-year-old who went missing from the small New South Wales town of Batlow back in 2002.

I don't know if it's because Niamh and I finished high school in the same year or we shared a similar taste in music, but I felt instinctively drawn to her story. As I learned more about Niamh's story, the revelations that unfolded left me in shock. The result is Missing Niamh, the latest 12-part series from Casefile Presents.

Researched and hosted by me, the series features exclusive interviews with key players who help us dive into the details of Niamh's case as we go back to Batlow to try and make sense of what really happened. The entire 12-part series is available now. Stay tuned to the end of today's episode to hear the trailer.

For more details on this episode on your app or on our website.

Today's episode involves crimes against children and won't be suitable for all listeners. Spirits were high for the Balmain women's water polo team on the night of Saturday March 18 1995. Despite losing against their rival team during the club's grand final a few hours earlier, the players and their supporters were celebrating the end of an otherwise successful season with drinks at a Balmain pub.

19-year-old Kelly Lane was among them, having played a solid game. Her parents had watched the match, but they couldn't stick around for drinks. Instead, Kelly was joined by her boyfriend Duncan Gillies and his mother Julie, who had also attended the game. At around 9pm, a few of Kelly's teammates noticed that Kelly had left without saying a word.

Duncan and Julie were still there, so her teammates didn't give it too much thought and continued on with their night. Little did any of them know, while playing an impressive grand final in front of a crowd filled with her loved ones, Kelly had been keeping a huge secret. She was nine months pregnant. The reason she'd left the pub was because she'd gone into labour.

Kelly took a taxi alone to the Balmain Hospital about a kilometre away and was subsequently transferred to King George V Memorial Hospital, where she gave birth to her first child, Kayla, the following morning. Staff took pity on the polite and warm-natured 19-year-old.

Not only was it incredibly rare for a young woman to give birth alone and without a single visitor, in the hours following the delivery it was clear that Kelly was incredibly upset. A social worker was assigned to make sure she was okay. Kelly explained that she and the baby's father, Duncan Gillies, had only recently moved to Sydney from their hometown of Perth, which was why she had no support.

Duncan was furthering his rugby career while Kelly was training to play water polo for Australia at the 2000 Olympics. It was the first time that women's water polo would feature at the event and she hoped to make the team. Unable to care for a child and not wanting to have an abortion, Kelly said the couple had agreed to place Kayla for adoption.

On the evening of Tuesday March 21 1995, Kelly requested a pass out so she could discuss the adoption with Duncan in private. Hospital staff granted the request, taking care of baby Kayla so Kelly could get her affairs in order. Kelly returned in the early morning hours, saying Duncan didn't want to be involved in the adoption process.

As per protocol, the adoption agency still tried multiple times to contact Duncan using the details Kelly provided. All attempts were unsuccessful. Kelly explained that Duncan was purposely avoiding them because she'd promised him he didn't need to be involved. Besides, he was about to go overseas to play rugby and would be unreachable for the next two weeks.

Eventually, after weeks of trying to contact the Duncan Gillies without success, the adoption agency had Kelly sign an affidavit confirming Duncan was Kayla's father and had consented to the adoption. She signed a second affidavit a few weeks later saying Duncan had ended their relationship and wanted nothing to do with their child or the adoption. Just months after giving birth, Kelly went on to represent Australia at a water polo tournament in Canada.

Six months later, while Kayla's adoption was still being finalised, Kelly was pregnant again, this time with Tegan. After the 2006 coronial inquest into Tegan Lane's whereabouts, her case was officially handed over to the NSW Homicide Squad to be reinvestigated from scratch.

Detectives reviewed all the evidence uncovered so far and undertook their own searches for Teagan Lane and Andrew Norris. They double-checked nationwide records from registry offices, the immigration department, Australia Post, missing persons reports, and utility companies. Every possible spelling variation of Teagan was considered.

Checks were made for any Tegans born in 1996 with a connection to a woman named Mel or any variation of that, such as Melanie or Melissa. But after two years of intense scrutiny, detectives uncovered nothing. Although Kelly had been caught in countless lies when it came to Tegan's birth, there was one detail in her story that remained unchanged.

In each version, she maintained that after being discharged from Auburn Hospital on Saturday September 14 1996, she went back to Duncan Gilley's house in Gladesville. Although detectives conducted a cursory search of the property during the missing person investigation in 2003, the homicide squad decided it was worth taking a closer look.

In early August 2008, Duncan's former property was cordoned off as an extensive search commenced. The weatherboard home had undergone significant renovations a couple of years prior, yet police remained hopeful they might uncover something of interest.

Over five days, they scoured the property with cadaver dogs, checking the yard, the roof, and inside the walls, while a forensic anthropologist sifted through the soil underneath the house. They identified several small bone fragments which were sent away for further testing. Results concluded that they weren't human.

By this point, Tegan Lane's case had been in the hands of police for more than eight and a half years, and in the public spotlight for three. In all that time, investigators failed to uncover a single piece of evidence indicating what had happened to Tegan. Police had been keeping a close eye on Kelly, with another covert tap placed on her phone. 1,200 phone calls were recorded in 2008, in addition to the 700 intercepted in 2004.

While Kelly said nothing incriminating during any of these calls, there was something about them that investigators found significant. At no point did Kelly Lane make her own attempts to find her missing daughter. It was something they denoted early in the investigation.

If Kelly's story about giving Tegan to Andrew Norris was true, and she'd so desperately wanted to keep the whole ordeal a secret from her family and friends, then why hadn't she tried to find the pair herself? Kelly initially claimed to have old diaries that might have outdated contact details for Andrew and some mutual friends, yet she never attempted to track these down.

One journalist discovered that in 2003, Kelly visited a website that aimed to reconnect long-lost school friends. She posted a brief message which read: "Looking for Andrew Norris, aged approx 38. Went to school, possibly Western Sydney. Went on to university, then entered stockbroking/money markets.

She shared a similar message shortly after, adding that the Andrew Norris she was looking for had a partner named Melanie and they might now be married. No one responded and Kelly didn't appear to make any attempts beyond that. While this wasn't an indicator of guilt, it led some to believe that Kelly wasn't trying to track Tegan down because she already knew Tegan was dead.

But, like everything else in the case, this was just an unsubstantiated theory. After two years of investigations, the homicide squad still had no concrete evidence tying Kelly to Tegan's death, but they remained convinced she had killed the newborn.

The fact of the matter was, there was nothing to suggest anyone had ever seen Tegan Lane after she and Kelly were discharged from Auburn Hospital at around midday on Saturday September 14 1996. By 3pm, Kelly was at her parents' house in Fairlight with no baby in sight. If it took around an hour to make the drive, then what was Kelly doing during the unaccounted for two hour window?

Based on the evidence at hand, investigators started to piece together what they believed to be a likely scenario. By the time 21-year-old Kelly was nearing the end of her pregnancy with Tegan, she was no longer the naive, first-time mother she'd been when Kayla was born almost 18 months earlier. As she'd learned from her experience at the Balmain pub, labor could occur at any time.

Knowing she was expected to attend the wedding of Duncan's family friends on Saturday September 14 1996, she couldn't risk going into labor in front of the other guests or at any other awkward moment. Time was of the essence. In early September, Duncan was out of town on a rugby trip, giving Kelly an ample window of opportunity to give birth without those close to her finding out.

Medical records showed she visited Wright Hospital on Saturday September 7, Monday September 9, and then again on Tuesday September 10. Each time she claimed her baby was overdue, which had derailed her plan of a home birth with her private midwife, and each time she sought to have an induction. Without any antenatal records to prove the baby's gestation, hospital staff denied each of her requests.

On Wednesday September 11 1996, Kelly went to Auburn Hospital on the other side of town, giving the same story she'd given at Ryde. There, her request to be induced was granted. Teagan was born on Thursday September 12. Investigators believed it was at this point that Kelly started to panic.

The unexpected complications with her retained placenta meant she required post-op care and she'd be pushing it to be discharged in time to attend the wedding on Saturday. Knowing she couldn't take Tegan home but unwilling to go through what she now knew to be a lengthy, complicated, and emotionally grueling adoption process, Kelly lied to hospital staff and said she'd be receiving at-home care from her private midwife.

On Saturday September 14, she was granted permission to leave as long as she completed some paperwork, including the Guthrie Test Consent Form and the registration form to submit to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. An appointment was also made for a midwife to visit her at home in a few days' time.

With just hours to spare before the wedding, Kelly left at around midday without completing any of the paperwork or signing the discharge papers. No hospital staff or the other patient Kelly was sharing a room with recalled seeing Kelly and Tegan leave that day. However, there was an unalarmed fire escape directly opposite their room which Kelly could have exited from without passing the nurse's station.

There was no CCTV footage to prove what happened after Kelly left the hospital, but she claimed that was when she met up with Andrew Norris, Andrew's mother, and his partner Mel to hand Teagan over. Kelly initially claimed to have taken a taxi home, but later said she'd driven herself.

Homicide detectives ran checks with every taxi company in Sydney and found no records of any passengers being picked up from Auburn Hospital on Saturday September 14 1996. They therefore believed that Kelly had driven herself home, and at some point during that journey, she killed her two-day-old baby and disposed of her body,

She then went about life as though nothing had happened, attending the wedding that evening where she was observed socialising, drinking and dancing. On Monday September 16, Kelly called the midwife program and cancelled the appointment they'd made for her, saying her private midwife had everything under control. In the following days and weeks, there was nothing to suggest Kelly was suffering from post-natal depression or any other mental disturbance.

Therefore, investigators believed Tegan's murder was motivated by Kelly's desire to move on without anyone discovering she'd given birth. Getting rid of Tegan would not only conceal her infidelity and remove the responsibility of parenthood, it would enable her to pursue her dream of playing water polo in the upcoming Sydney 2000 Olympics.

In late 1997, Kelly asked the Australian College of Physical Education if she could defer her tertiary studies to concentrate on making the Australian Olympic team. For three years she successfully lived her life as though Tegan had never existed, and those close to her were none the wiser.

It was only when Tegan's birth was exposed through the adoption of baby Jacob in 1999 that Kelly's guilt became obvious due to her multitude of lies. Not only had she told eight different stories to hospital staff, adoption agencies, social workers, and police, there were other inconsistencies that also raised suspicion.

Namely, why had Kelly initially said she wouldn't be able to find Andrew Norris' apartment, then located it with ease when police drove her through his neighbourhood? Why did she tell detectives she'd gone to Duncan's old house to search for Andrew's phone number when she hadn't?

Kelly also said her circle of friends had changed since 1996 and she no longer knew people from back then, when in reality she'd maintained close friendships from childhood and beyond. There were holes in her claims about Tegan's father too. If Kelly really did arrange for Andrew to take Tegan, then why register her on her own Medicare card rather than his?

And if Andrew was willing to raise Tegan, why didn't he do something as simple as register her birth with the registry office? As far as investigators were concerned, the only explanation for these inconsistencies was that the hospital staff had urged Kelly to fill out the Medicare form and she couldn't see a way around it.

Andrew never registered Tegan's birth or sought a separate Medicare card because Andrew never existed in the first place. The problem for the homicide squad was that it didn't matter how convinced they were of this scenario, they had no physical evidence to prove it. They presented their case to the Director of Public Prosecutions who reviewed the case for 12 months while the investigation continued.

During that time, no sign of Tegan or Andrew surfaced, adding weight to the theory that Tegan was dead and Andrew was a fictional character created by Kelly. In November 2009, the DPP made their decision. Kelly Lane was charged with Tegan's murder. While the prosecution felt they had a strong case, they were fully aware of the challenges they faced by going to court with only circumstantial evidence.

Without Tegan's body, they couldn't be certain that a murder had even occurred. Even if the jury believed Kelly was lying about giving Tegan to her biological father, it still didn't prove that she'd done anything to harm the child or that the child was even dead.

While Kelly's history of secret pregnancies, adoptions, and lies was certainly compelling, from a legal standpoint, these details had no relevance to Tegan's case and would therefore likely be deemed inadmissible in court. However, when Kelly's other children, Kayla and Jacob, were born and adopted, Kelly had signed affidavits that featured various false statements, including that Duncan Gillies was the father of both babies.

In Jacob's case, Kelly later signed another affidavit claiming the father was really a man named Aaron Williams whom she'd met in London. DNA tests conducted as part of the homicide investigation confirmed that Duncan wasn't the father of either child, while Aaron Williams was deemed to be a product of Kelly's imagination. The other false statements related to addresses Kelly had given and the father's knowledge of the adoptions.

But the lies didn't stop there. It turned out that when Kelly requested a pass out from the hospital after Kayla's birth, she wasn't going to speak to Kayla's father as she told the staff. That day had been Kelly's 20th birthday. She had gone out to celebrate with friends.

Based on the lies on these sworn affidavits, the DPP made the decision to charge Kelly with three counts of perjury to be tried at the same time as the murder charge. This was viewed in legal circles as an incredibly clever move. Not only did it mean the prosecution could strengthen their case by using Kelly's history of secret pregnancies and adoptions, it would also cast doubt on her credibility before a jury.

But selecting an unbiased jury was proving to be a challenge in and of itself. When Samantha Clark, not her real name, heard about the investigation into Tegan Lane, she recognized Kelly Lane. Samantha worked at a clinic in Queensland that specialized in late-term abortions. In February 1999, Kelly contacted the clinic seeking the termination of what she claimed to be her 24-week pregnancy with Jacob.

The latest the clinic would perform a termination was 25 weeks. With the clock ticking, Kelly travelled to Brisbane alone to have the procedure. When she arrived at the clinic, an examination revealed she was already beyond the cut-off point at around six and a half months pregnant. The doctor was therefore unable to proceed and Kelly returned to Sydney, where she gave birth to Jacob two and a half months later.

After seeing Tegan's case on the news, Samantha remembered Kelly's visit and called the homicide squad to report it. After all, one of the resounding questions raised by the inquest was why Kelly had gone to such great lengths to conceal her pregnancies instead of having them terminated. Kelly's mother Sandra had testified at the inquest that she didn't particularly believe in abortion and said it was possible that Kelly knew of her view.

Kelly's father, Robert, testified that he'd asked Kelly why she didn't terminate the pregnancies and she said something along the lines of "I couldn't hurt a baby." But the truth was, Kelly's visit to Queensland in 1999 was actually the third time she'd been inside an abortion clinic. Through the course of the investigation, it was revealed that Kayla wasn't Kelly's first pregnancy. She became pregnant for the first time at age 17.

It was 1992 and the father was her first boyfriend, a surf lifesaver named Aaron Tyak. Kelly told Aaron about the pregnancy but kept it a secret from everyone else. The couple ultimately decided to terminate the pregnancy. Kelly chose to go to the appointment alone and when she met up with Aaron afterwards, she was devastated. He described her to the ABC as being a "shattered girl".

What Aaron didn't know was that Kelly became pregnant again the following year in November 1993 as their relationship was coming to an end. This time, she didn't tell anybody. She went to a clinic by herself at five months pregnant and had an abortion.

Kelly had been pregnant five times between the ages of 17 and 24 despite being on the contraceptive pill, and not a single friend or family member ever knew about it. Prosecutors knew that Kelly's history of terminating pregnancies and placing babies for adoption would elicit a strong response from some prospective jury members.

They'd have to take extra caution to ensure that Kelly was being tried for Tegan's murder and not for her sexuality or her perceived morals. Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. With Robinhood Gold, you don't need a silver spoon to eat up the financial favours of the 1%.

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Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. The news that Kelly Lane had been charged with Teagan's murder propelled the case back into the headlines, with the rumour mill swinging into overdrive. With Kelly's private life exposed, the public had their own salacious questions about her string of pregnancies.

The results of Kayla and Jacob's DNA tests hadn't yet been made public, leading some to wonder if Kelly had lied about their paternity to cover up the fact that she was being sexually abused. There were whispers that she might have been impregnated by her tormentor and had kept the pregnancy secret because she was so deeply in denial about them herself.

Others gossiped about Kelly's perceived promiscuity, with some speculating that her children were all the result of random, anonymous sexual encounters. Police obtained DNA from the man Kelly was known to have had sexual relations with during the 1990s. It turned out that Kayla's father was a rugby player she'd been seeing around the time she started dating Duncan.

Jacob's father was a friend of her brother's whom she'd dated casually after her relationship with the Duncan ended. Neither of the men had any idea that Kelly had been pregnant and were completely shocked to learn that they had fathered her children. While their identities were withheld from the public to protect Kayla and Jacob's privacy, word got out amongst the manly community.

Close friends of Kelly started to distance themselves from her, unable to comprehend just how much she had kept from them over the years. The rumours took their toll and by the time Kelly was charged with Tegan's murder, her life looked markedly different than it did at the time of the inquest. She'd lost the job she loved at Ravenswood School for Girls and was working as a receptionist at a physiotherapist office.

Her marriage had disintegrated and ended in divorce. But there was one thing that remained unchanged: Kelly's staunch insistence that she was innocent. As far as Kelly's defense team was concerned, the chances of their client being convicted were relatively slim. After all, there wasn't any concrete evidence that Teagan was dead, let alone how she died or that Kelly had harmed her.

Kelly had absolutely no history of violence and had character references from more than 40 people who knew her well, all attesting she would never hurt a child. By all accounts, Kelly was a wonderful mother and teacher who had a special rapport with young children. Many spoke of the deep loving bond she shared with her daughter Emily.

They commended Kelly's strength and courage as she was vilified by the media and the details of her private life were splashed across the news. If anything, the defense believed that Kelly placing her other two children for adoption proved she was a responsible young woman. She'd gone through with the process twice despite the emotional toll which showed how much she cared about the well-being of her babies.

Handing Tegan over to her biological father was just another act of kindness. Yes, Kelly had told many lies and wasted the efforts of people like adoption agent Virginia Fung, but that didn't make her a murderer. At the time of her secret pregnancies, she was simply a young person who didn't have the maturity or experience to deal with the difficult and emotional events, especially without support from her loved ones.

Kelly's defence team also believed that investigators had failed to establish a convincing motive. There had been lots of talk about Kelly's Olympic ambitions and her desire to make the team at any cost. As far as the defence was concerned, Kelly had never even been a serious contender for the Olympic team.

None of Kelly's friends or former coaches record her ever speaking about wanting to compete at the Olympics, and the coach didn't think she had what it took to make the team anyway. Even if that had been her goal and Andrew wasn't able to take the baby, then it made sense to assume she would have proceeded with adoption, just as she had with Kayla and Jacob.

Kelly's lawyers also scoffed at the suggestion that Kelly was motivated to kill Tegan so she could attend the wedding later that day. Kelly barely knew the couple who were getting married. She was only there as Duncan Gilly's guest, and he wasn't particularly close to them either.

And if Kelly really did want to attend the wedding, then why wouldn't she just request a hospital pass out for the night and leave Tegan in the staff's care, as she'd done when Kayla was born the year before? As far as Kelly's defense team was concerned, she wasn't someone who would even think of murdering a baby, let alone go through with it.

Along with the question of motive was the question of whether Kelly was suffering from any form of mental illness that could have contributed to her actions. Throughout the investigation into Teagan's whereabouts, Kelly had refused to attend counselling or undergo a psychological evaluation. The closest she came was during the 2004 coronial inquest when her parents summoned a general practitioner to their home because Kelly was in a state of distress.

Kelly told the doctor that she was confused and scared and didn't know how to handle the situation she was in. She regretted not telling her parents about the pregnancies, but there had been a lot of expectations on her in regards to her sporting career. Kelly said she'd gotten caught up in the expectations when deep down she wasn't happy and wanted something different from her life. The GP formed the view that Kelly's pregnancies were a cry for love,

Instead of talking about how she was feeling, he thought the pregnancies were a dysfunctional way of trying to manage the situation. The doctor stated: "I think she was just scared, and it was a nebulous kind of fear." Keen to further understand Kelly's motivations, prosecutors hired a renowned psychiatrist to review Kelly's entire file, including her medical records and police interviews.

While he never interviewed Kelly himself, based on the information at hand, the psychiatrist concluded that there was nothing in Kelly's behaviour that indicated any kind of psychiatric or mental illness. She was well aware of her actions and knew the difference between right and wrong. However, he believed that Kelly likely did have some kind of personality disorder. The psychiatrist suspected the two abortions Kelly had as a teenager were formative.

He believed that after terminating those pregnancies, Kelly developed a desire to be pregnant in order to have the baby she could not have. Each of the babies she subsequently carried to full term were the result of what the psychiatrist labelled a repetition compulsion.

He believed that by putting herself back in an unresolved state of conflict, Kelly hoped to correct the previous emotionally distressing experience by managing each subsequent pregnancy more successfully. While he acknowledged that such behaviour defied rational explanation and was extremely destructive, he said the compulsion to repeat behaviour was powerful.

Kelly Lane's trial for the murder of her newborn baby, Tegan Lane, commenced in August 2010. By this point, Kelly was 35 years old and her daughter Emily was 9. If convicted, Kelly faced a minimum of 10 years in prison, meaning that in the best case scenario, Emily would be 19 by the time she got out. Worst case scenario, Kelly faced life behind bars.

To safeguard against any possible delays, the potential jury pool was four times the usual amount, with each prospective member carefully handpicked to ensure they held no moral opinions about abortion or adoption that could impact Kelly's right to a fair trial. The judge firmly told the prospective jurors,

The fact that this trial will raise highly emotional issues relating to a mother's dealing with newborn children must not interfere with the presumption of innocence, to which Kelly Lane is emphatically entitled. People of all ages, genders, and backgrounds asked to be excused until there were just 12 individuals left, with two serving as backup.

The prosecution was led by Mark Tedeschi, a formidable senior Crown prosecutor who'd secured convictions in some of the nation's most high-profile trials, including the Belanglo Backpacker murders as covered in episode 109 of Casefile, and the Gonzalez family murders as covered in episode 103 of Casefile.

Over three days, Tedeschi presented a highly detailed account of Kelly Lane's secret pregnancies and the subsequent lies she told. As for how she managed to become pregnant so many times while taking the contraceptive pill, Tedeschi theorized that the pill had been rendered ineffective because of Kelly's frequent binge drinking in her younger years, which often resulted in her vomiting.

She would regularly go out to the pub and she used to keep up with the boys in her drinking, he explained. Tedeschi submitted to the jury that it was clear from the get-go that Kelly never had any intention of bringing Tegan home. The jury could therefore rule out any other possible reasons for the newborn's death, such as accident or misadventure.

Instead, Tedeschi presented that Kelly didn't want to go through with the emotionally grueling and time-consuming adoption process again, so either shortly before or after leaving the hospital with Tegan, she formed the intention to kill her. Tedeschi told the jury: "We don't know how or where the accused killed Tegan or how she disposed of the body.

However, the Auburn Hospital was just a couple of kilometres away from what was then the Holmbusch Olympics site, which at that time in 1996 was surrounded by vast swathes of vacant land, a few building sites, and deserted roads, particularly at the weekend.

So, there was an opportunity nearby for the accused to find somewhere that was entirely private, which would have given her an opportunity to kill Tegan and dispose of the body. He said the fact that Kelly attended a wedding straight after and was able to move on like nothing ever happened showed, quote, "...either a callous disregard for human life or a complete ability to block out the terrible act she had just committed."

However, the prosecution did think that Kelly's actions took an emotional toll. Tedeschi told the jury that when Kelly gave birth to Jacob the following year, quote, "...the experience of killing Tegan had been so awful that even the practical difficulties involved in an adoption were preferable to killing another child." The defense objected to Tedeschi's scenario involving the Homebush Olympic site.

At no point was this location ever searched by police and there was nothing to suggest Kelly had gone there after leaving Auburn Hospital. The judge agreed to the objection and Tedeschi was ordered to withdraw this remark. He told the jury to disregard that specific scenario, stating:

There is no evidence at all as to what happened to Tegan or the accused during those three plus hours between when she left the hospital before midday, to use her own words, and when she arrived at her parents' house at Fairlight at 3pm. I think it is fair to say, ladies and gentlemen, that it would not be appropriate for you to speculate about what might have happened during that time."

Kelly's defense lawyer reminded the jury that there was nothing out of the ordinary about Kelly's sexual behavior during her youth. He said the only difference between her and the young men she slept with was her ability to become pregnant. The defense maintained that it wasn't up to them to prove that Tegan was still alive.

Instead, their argument was that the prosecution had failed to provide any evidence to confirm that Tegan was even dead, let alone how she died. And even if Tegan was dead, there was no evidence to suggest that Kelly had killed her. If Tegan had indeed died while under Kelly's care, there was nothing to prove that Kelly had committed any act that demonstrated an intention to seriously harm her.

It was entirely possible that Tegan had died by accident. The defense acknowledged it was possible that Kelly was lying about giving Tegan to a man named Andrew Norris or Morris, but even if she was, that didn't mean she had murdered the child. Perhaps she was lying to protect the real identity of the person or people she'd given Tegan to. It was possible the only reason those people hadn't come forward was due to shame.

The trial dragged on for three months, during which the prosecution called 75 witnesses, including former friends of Kelly's, her parents, two ex-boyfriends, hospital staff, social workers, and employees from the adoption agencies Kelly had worked with. Despite all the lies she'd told, witnesses described her as a well-raised, polite, and upstanding member of the community,

Those who knew her, including those who'd since distanced themselves from her, were adamant that she would never hurt a child. While Kelly's conduct during her younger years certainly raised eyebrows amongst some in the courtroom, it was also observed that many seemed to take pity on her and the way in which her private life was being so openly discussed.

As time went by, media interest began to dwindle as many journalists formed the opinion that a murder conviction was unlikely. Meanwhile, birth certificates continued to trickle in as a result of the nationwide school inquiries, prompting criticism from the judge about the prosecution's handling. Multiple times the trial was put on hold while leads were followed up and evidence was debated for admissibility.

The defense called no witnesses and Kelly didn't take the stand. By the time closing arguments commenced, the defense had argued that the case should be thrown out completely. Mark Tedeschi for the prosecution told the jury: "There is only one person in the world who really knows what happened to baby Tegan, and that is Kelly Lane. She has given many different versions to the authorities and all of them can be shown to be lies.

There is only one reason why she has told all those lies, and that is because she was responsible for Tegan's death and she had no other information that could result in Tegan being found alive. The truth was, and still is, dreadful. The jury was dismissed to begin deliberations on Monday December 6 2010.

As days passed by with no verdict reached, Kelly's legal team felt optimistic. This meant the jury was still deliberating which could be favourable for Kelly. It was a whole week before the court was reassembled. For the three perjury charges, they had no doubt: Kelly was guilty. However, when it came to the murder charge, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.

Kelly wept as the judge told the jury that if they were willing, he would accept a majority verdict. Again, the jury was dismissed for further deliberation. Tension was high in the packed courtroom when they reassembled two hours later, with many wondering if there would be a hung jury and therefore a possible retrial. The visibly nervous foreman stood and quietly delivered the verdict. Guilty.

The courtroom's silence was shattered by the screams of Kelly's mother, Sandra, while Kelly herself let out a low moan before collapsing hard onto the floor, banging her head on the way down. It took paramedics 15 minutes to get her back into her seat, at which point the judge denied bail. Kelly was taken into custody to await sentencing, which was scheduled to take place in three months' time.

The unexpected guilty verdict propelled the case back into the headlines. After years of avoiding interviews and declining to testify in both the coronial inquest and the trial, Kelly went to the media to share her story once and for all. Kelly's new boyfriend Patrick began recording the couple's phone calls with her permission and handed the audio over to Channel 7's Sunday Night program.

Kelly said she felt like she was being punished for being pregnant or placing babies for adoption, telling Patrick, "'It's hard to understand why I'm still being raked over the coals for it.' As for the prosecution's case that Andrew Norris never existed, Kelly scoffed, "'Well, I don't know how Teagan came about if he didn't exist. I didn't make her by myself.'

She criticised the police investigation, saying not enough was done to find Andrew Ortegan, and was scathing about the fact that searches were still being held during her trial. To put Kelly's word to the test, Sunday night announced they would fund a $500,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Tegan Lane or Andrew Norris. Kelly was hopeful that this would provide the breakthrough she needed, telling Patrick…

Someone might ring in now that hasn't seen the news before or didn't put two and two together and have some information that either leads straight to Andrew or to Tegan now that she's old enough to have her own connections to people. It wasn't just Kelly who was critical of the investigation.

Prominent criminal defense lawyer Chris Murphy told Sunday Night that Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi poisoned the case when he wrongly speculated to the jury that Kelly killed Tegan and dumped her body at the Homebush Olympic site. Even though this statement was withdrawn, Chris Murphy said it planted an idea in the minds of the jury that the prosecution knew more than they were letting on.

"I find the Kelly Lane case the most disturbing case I've ever come across," Chris said. "This woman has no history of violence. There's absolutely no evidence whatsoever that she killed that baby or that that baby died. I could not in a million years under any circumstance safely conclude that she killed the baby deliberately to the high degree of proof required for murder."

"Kelly hasn't wanted to say what has happened to the baby. That doesn't mean she is guilty of murder." Nothing came of the reward offer and Kelly's sentencing went ahead in April 2011. While the judge didn't believe Kelly's actions were the highest or lowest form of criminal culpability, he acknowledged there were two serious aggravating factors to take into consideration.

Namely, the life taken was that of a defenceless baby, and that baby met her end at the hands of her mother, quote, a person from whom she could ordinarily expect protection, sustenance, and care. He stated that even without knowing how Tegan met her death, he was, quote,

Satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that sometime after Kelly left the hospital, she formed the intention to take the child's life, and did so very soon after forming that intention. The judge clarified: "It suggests a relatively, although not completely, spontaneous act. Putting it bluntly, Kelly must have found herself in a desperate situation and could see no way out.

From her perspective, irrational though it was, there was simply no way out. I find that the offence was premeditated, but only for a short time. It was committed in a situation of desperation arising from a sense of entrapment and isolation and a perceived inability to communicate with the very people who would have eased her burden and helped her out of the desperate situation in which she found herself.

Irrational though these feelings were, I accept that they were likely to have been experienced by Kelly. New laws introduced in 2003 put the standard non-parole period for murder at 25 years if the victim was under 18.

Taking into account Kelly's immaturity at the time of the killing, the unlikeliness that she'd ever re-offend, and the law that applied when the offence occurred in 1996, the judge stated: "I am satisfied that Kelly Lane is now a very different person to the troubled personage that lay beneath the Golden Girl exterior.

The maturity has probably been cemented, ironically enough, because of the love and devotion that has grown between her and her daughter, Emily. It is a further tragic irony that, despite Kelly's maturity, her rehabilitation, and the apparent resolution of the difficulties that beset her in her youth, she must now face a lengthy period in prison. With that, he sentenced Kelly Lane to 18 years.

As Kelly was led from the court, a man's voice rang out from amongst the spectators. "I'll help you," he called. Days after Kelly's sentencing, Chris Murphy, the criminal lawyer who appeared on Channel 7's Sunday Night program to discuss Teagan's case, was contacted by a man named Maurice who claimed to have some important information. According to Maurice, in 1996, he was working in Sydney as a taxi driver,

On Saturday September 14, he picked Kelly and her newborn baby up from Auburn Hospital and began driving them to Manly. As they headed down River Road in Lane Cove, a somewhat isolated stretch of bushland, Kelly asked Maurice to pull over. She got out, bringing the baby with her. When she returned a few minutes later, she was alone. Kelly allegedly told Maurice she'd given the newborn to a babysitter.

Not thinking much of it, Maurice continued the drive to Manly. When Kelly got out of the car, he noticed that she'd left a baby bag full of nappies on the back seat. Maurice called out to Kelly, but she responded, "I don't need it." Suspicious about this comment, Maurice claimed he returned to the spot on River Road where Kelly exited with the baby.

In a patch of nearby bushland, he found the baby and a bottle wrapped up in a blanket next to a tree. A woman passed by and Maurice spoke to her. He said he was going to contact the police, but the woman offered to take care of it. Maurice handed the baby over and didn't give it much more thought. It was only when he saw Kelly Lane's murder trial in the news that he recognized her face and realized the significance of this moment.

Chris Murphy encouraged Maurice to go to the police with this information and then went public with the claims. Kelly's legal team rejected this scenario, saying: "We are aware of the taxi driver's claims but have no interest in pursuing that line of inquiry." The police warned that if Maurice was lying he'd be charged with creating public mischief. Maurice's background was looked into,

Not only did he admit to having mental health issues, it turned out that in 1996 he was banned from driving and couldn't possibly have been working as a taxi driver. While Marisa's claims were ruled out, Kelly appealed her conviction on eight grounds. Although she maintained her innocence, she argued that the judge had erred by failing to leave an alternative count of manslaughter or infanticide to the jury.

She also argued that a new jury should have been sworn in after Mark Tedeschi's prejudicial comments and that her lawyer should have applied for a separate trial in respect to her perjury charges. Overall, Kelly said the verdict was unreasonable and couldn't be supported by the evidence.

The Court of Appeal rejected the application on all eight grounds, with the panel of judges concluding they were satisfied that the evidence established Kelly's guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Kelly sought special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia. Her request was denied, meaning she'd officially exhausted all her avenues of appeal.

The only option she had left was to apply to the New South Wales Governor for a pardon, and the only way that could happen was if fresh and compelling evidence was presented. As one specialist in wrongful convictions told the Australian Women's Weekly: "In Kelly's case, that means either Andrew Norris coming forward or Tegan suddenly appearing, or, if Kelly changes her story."

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In 2016, award-winning investigative journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna opened a letter addressed to her at the Australian Broadcasting Commission offices in Sydney. Dear Ms Meldrum-Hanna, the letter read, My name is Kelly Lane and I have been wrongfully convicted of murdering my baby in 1996.

"I believe if the public knew the real facts, had all the information and saw the errors and questions that still remain in my case, they may be able to help, perhaps come forward with where Andrew Norris, our child, or his family are. Ultimately, we are trying to locate Andrew, our daughter, or a family member." Caro wasn't sure what to make of the letter.

She was well known for her work on the ABC's popular current affairs program, Four Corners, but she'd never covered Tegan Lane's case before, so her first thought was that the letter must be a prank. Caro contacted Kelly in prison and confirmed the letter was legitimate. When asked if there was any way she could have harmed Tegan, Kelly responded firmly, "'There is no way. There is no way.'

"If Andrew didn't turn up, I would have just left her there, or I would have gone down the exact same path as before. I would have asked for some help. I would have asked to see an adoption agency, and I would have done the exact same thing I did 18 months earlier. I remember that day clear as. I know a lot of people think I'm cold and callous, but those children were very important to me and I loved them.

I thought I was doing the right thing by them." Caro agreed to make a documentary about the case which would be titled " The Case of Kelly Lane" but only under the condition that no topic was off-limits and she would follow the truth wherever it led. Kelly agreed and in turn, she handed over her entire case file and court records, including private correspondence sent between herself and her defense team.

Caro and a small team fully immersed themselves in the case. They tracked down and interviewed anyone and everyone from Kelly's past who was willing to speak with them, including former water polo coaches, teammates, boyfriends, and even her parents.

They spoke to the coroner, prosecutors and homicide squad detectives who worked on Kelly's case and were handed a USB containing exclusive confidential police files from a secret informant. After nine months of intense research, the exposed team identified several holes in the investigation as well as questionable legal tactics that had them asking: Was Kelly Lane wrongfully convicted?

During Kelly's trial, police claimed that exhaustive efforts had been made to interview all the former tenants of the apartment building on Wisbech Street where Kelly said Andrew Norris had lived. None of the tenants recalled ever seeing Kelly there, nor did they have any knowledge of a resident called Andrew Norris.

One former tenant did testify to seeing mail addressed to Andrew Norris as well as Andrew Morris, but his claims were discounted as he'd given various inconsistent statements over the years. However, the exposed team discovered that there was at least one tenant who had never been questioned - a man named Darrell Hansen. The team tracked Darrell down on Facebook and organised a video meeting.

When Caro Meldrum-Hanna showed Darrell a photo of Kelly Lane taken in about 1996, he claimed he remembered seeing her around the building. Darrell said he used to spend a lot of time in the downstairs car park working on his car late at night. He remembered seeing Kelly exit the building through the car park several times, sometimes as late as 1am. Darrell claimed he saw Kelly so many times that he thought she must have lived in the building.

When pressed by Caro as to whether he could be misremembering in hindsight, Darrell insisted Kelly Lane was the person he had seen. He was so sure that he said he'd happily testify that in a court of law. The exposed team also interviewed a childhood friend of Kelly's named Natalie McCauley, who had recently appeared on 60 Minutes in Kelly's defense.

Natalie claimed that she remembered the summer of 1996 very clearly, as it was the year that she and all her friends had turned 21. Early in the year, Kelly allegedly confided in Natalie that she was having a fling with another man. She mentioned it at least three times over a one-month period. Natalie said she remembered the name of Kelly's secret lover clearly, as he had the same first name as Natalie's brother, Andrew.

Natalie claimed that she'd provided police with this information during the investigation and she'd also been willing to testify in Kelly's defense at trial. However, she believed the police weren't interested because they were already convinced of Kelly's guilt. Adamant that she wouldn't lie about such a thing, especially given her profession in child protection, Natalie told Exposed, "'I am passionate about children's rights. I love children.'

During the search for Teagan's father, police had also spoken to a man named Andrew Morris who recalled visiting Sydney's northern beaches for a surf life-saving competition in the mid-1990s.

When shown a photo line-up of several young women, Andrew Morris recognised Kelly Lane but couldn't be sure how or why. He told the exposed team that the police then began drip feeding him information about Kelly until he put two and two together and realised that they once had a random one-off sexual encounter at the North Narrabeen Surf Club. It had happened around the same time that Tegan would have been conceived.

Andrew had been scheduled to testify for the prosecution at Kelly's trial, not to suggest he was Tegan's father, but to explain how Kelly came up with the Andrew Morris or Norris persona in the first place. Then at the last minute, a deal was made between both legal teams. Andrew wouldn't testify and neither would Natalie McCauley.

This was just one of several factors that led Kelly's case to being taken on by the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative, an organisation dedicated to examining possible wrongful convictions. A spokesperson for the initiative told Exposed about the deal relating to Natalie McCauley and Andrew Morris:

For Kelly's supporters, these allegations of witness coaching, witness swapping, and deals struck between the prosecution and defense were further evidence that Kelly hadn't received a fair trial. Exposed also unearthed records from Auburn Hospital that cast doubt on the timing of Kelly's departure with baby Teagan. Notes made by a registered nurse had Kelly leaving at 2pm.

That same nurse later provided a statement saying Kelly was discharged between 11am and 12 midday. If the hospital records were correct and Kelly really had left the hospital at 2pm and was home in Fairlight by 3pm, then exposed posited that Kelly wouldn't have had time to kill Tegan and dispose of her body. Even investigators who worked on the case were critical of the way things were handled.

Various individuals involved expressed their discomfort with Kelly's conviction. The detective who led the investigation into Tegan's murder had since retired from the force. She told Exposed that police had no evidence against Kelly and weren't ready when the DPP decided to proceed with the murder charge. "I used every trick in the book," the former detective explained.

an undercover strategy, covert DNA samples, every resource that was available. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing. We didn't have anything." The exposed team also highlighted the fact that for all the digging police did to find Teagan's biological father, they never organised for a composite sketch to be made. They questioned why such an image wasn't broadcast around Australia, asking anyone who had seen such a man to come forward.

The exposed team organised for a former police officer turned forensic artist to visit Kelly in prison. Kelly recalled Andrew's physical features in detail and a clear composite sketch of Andrew Norris was created for the first time. The forensic artist, who had 18 years experience creating sketches, believed Kelly was truthful in her description. "She was consistent throughout," he said. "She didn't sway at all."

In a phone call from prison, Kelly told Caro Meldrum Hanna that from a very young age her athletic training taught her to hide her emotions. She was excellent at filing feelings away and being a different person for different people. She also revealed that her first sexual experience was being date raped while intoxicated at the age of 15. Kelly explained:

"I don't think I valued my body and my choices and my boundaries because everybody just seemed to be so frivolous with it." She struggled upon learning that several people in her life had indeed suspected she was pregnant at times but never reached out. While Kelly made it clear she didn't want to shift the responsibility onto others, she asked Caro: "Wasn't I worth asking? Why were people afraid or why did they not want to ask me?"

It's kind of sad to think that no one reached out and said, "You seem different" or "You look different" or "Are you okay?" As part of the documentary, Kelly agreed to meet face-to-face with Dr Anne Buist, a forensic psychiatrist who specialises in women's mental health and the relationship between mother and babies.

Throughout her career, Dr Buist had worked with hundreds of women who'd been accused of abusing their children. But she said that Kelly was her hardest, most difficult case. Dr Buist told Exposed that she didn't find Kelly to be a pathological liar, a narcissist, or mentally ill. She thought the secret pregnancies could be explained by Kelly's upbringing, during which she'd received the message that her family didn't like dealing with negative emotions.

Dr Buist couldn't find a coherent narrative that Kelly could have killed Tegan, aside from the fact that she had demonstrated the capacity to detach from her other children. For Dr Buist, one thing in particular stood out during her interviews with Kelly. When Kelly started talking about Andrew Norris, her body language changed. The way she spoke about him seemed superficial. Dr Buist told Exposed…

There was something there that didn't ring true. Exposed was released by the ABC in 2018 to rave reviews, propelling Kelly's case back into the spotlight. Members of the public hotly debated Kelly's guilty verdict and shared outrage over what many now viewed as a wrongful conviction. Thousands turned to social media to accuse the prosecution of misconduct and Kelly's defence team of negligence.

Calls were made for Kelly to be exonerated, or at the very least, retried. But the documentary wasn't without its critics. Many were quick to point out that crucial information was withheld from the viewers, with some accusing the ABC of provoking public excitement at the expense of accurate reporting. Retired Australian barrister Simon Davis was one such critic.

Simon hadn't been involved in Kelly's trial in any capacity, but after watching Exposed, he was shocked by the trial's flaws and felt compelled to look into the case in detail. Simon essentially fact-checked the claims made by Exposed, then published a book titled On Trial, The Case of Kelly Lane and the ABC, in which he debunked each one.

Casting doubt on the claims made by former Wisbeach Street tenant Darrell Hanson, Simon said it was hard to believe a witness could so confidently recognise a stranger two decades after the fact, especially when the alleged interactions occurred in the dark of night.

Furthermore, while Darrell claimed Kelly usually left in the middle of the night, Kelly had told police that when she'd stayed at Andrew Norris' place, she left in the morning and went straight to water polo training. Simon Davis concluded, "...ultimately, Henson's evidence was of such low probative value that it is questionable whether it would even be admissible at a trial."

Simon Davis rejected the claims about witness swapping and game playing between the opposing legal teams. He pointed out that Exposed had failed to tell their audience several important details regarding Natalie McCauley's claims. Firstly, in Natalie's original police statement, she made no mention of Andrew, despite later stating Kelly told her about Andrew at the time of their affair.

Secondly, Natalie was cross-examined by the prosecution at Kelly's pre-trial hearing before the jury was sworn in. Some of the responses she gave led to doubts about her credibility. She was therefore deemed unreliable and not called to testify during the trial. Thirdly, and to Simon Davis most importantly, police had asked Kelly if any of her friends knew about her affair with Andrew.

At no point did she mention Natalie's name. Fourthly, if Kelly really did think Natalie's testimony would have been crucial, then why did she make no mention of it when appealing her conviction? According to Simon Davis' research, the Andrew Morris who appeared on Exposed wasn't prevented from giving evidence due to some kind of witness swapping deal.

He was stopped because shortly before the trial commenced, it emerged that the random sexual encounter Andrew had at the beach couldn't possibly have been with Kelly. Thus, his testimony was irrelevant. As for the claim that Kelly left Auburn Hospital with Tegan at 2pm, Kelly herself told the police she'd left the hospital, quote, "...before 12 o'clock sometime."

The patient sharing her room also testified that Kelly and Tegan left by 11am. The nurse had listed eight other matters on Kelly's file at 2pm, not just Kelly's departure. Simon Davis pointed out that all these matters hadn't taken place simultaneously. Many likely occurred before 2pm, and the nurse simply recorded the time she was making the notes.

Taking these factors and several others into account, Simon Davis concluded that exposed was inaccurate and misleading. He stated: "Legitimate questioning of a jury's verdict is one thing. However, questioning of a verdict which has twice been the subject of appellate review without real reference to the appeal judgments, and by apparently suppressing many of the relevant facts, is quite another.

Ultimately, exposed was little more than a recycling of old arguments long since rejected by the courts or disavowed by Kelly herself, and placing them in 2018 and presumably hoping no one noticed their antiquity or knew they had been rejected."

Regardless of its criticisms, exposed raised some thought-provoking questions and led many to wonder if the prosecution really had met the standard of proof required to reach a conviction. The Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative petitioned the Attorney General of New South Wales to open a full inquiry into the investigation, prosecution and conviction of Kelly Lane.

They also called for an urgent review into the policing and prosecutorial practices that led to Kelly being charged in the first place. Dr Michelle Reuters, a lawyer and spokesperson for the group, told 60 Minutes,

"One of the things I've found the most extraordinary about Kelly Lane's case is that people find it easier to believe that a young mother would kill her child than they would believe her father would accept responsibility for that child and disappear." Forensic criminologist Dr Xanthi Mallat spent two years looking into Kelly's case and agreed that an urgent review was needed.

She believed that just because Kelly was a liar, it didn't make her a murderer. Dr Mallet told 60 Minutes, "'I'm not saying Kelly is innocent. I'm not saying she is guilty. All I'm saying is if she is going to be in prison, let there be evidence for that or let her out.'"

For the Australian public, one of the most scandalous details about the case was the fact that Kelly had become pregnant five times in seven years despite being on the contraceptive pill. The fact that she'd terminated two pregnancies in the past, one of which was considered a late term, left people wondering why she didn't just do so again instead of proceeding with three secret pregnancies.

Others questioned why Kelly didn't abstain from sex entirely if she kept finding herself in an undesirable predicament. But the ongoing interest also prompted conversations about whether Kelly Lane was unfairly judged based on her sex life, which ultimately had nothing to do with whether or not she was capable of murder.

Many argue that she was subject to trial by media and the prosecution used slut-shaming as a strategic device at her trial. Even the DPP who charged Kelly with murder admitted that her case was prosecuted because it raised all sorts of values. The same DPP came under fire from the public when he told ABC's Exposed that he didn't think Kelly presented a risk to other people's babies, but, quote,

She seemed to be a bit of a risk to the virile young male portion of the community. But the judge who oversaw the trial said it was necessary to lay the facts of Kelly's personal life bare. While he acknowledged this would have been a humiliating and intrusive experience for Kelly and her family, and that the media excitement led to Kelly's life being examined at a prurient level, quote,

The fact remains that there is a need to gain insight into the offender's behaviour in an endeavour to gain an understanding of the level of culpability involved in the murder itself. Some of these matters might, at first blush, seem peripheral to the ascertainment of culpability and the assessment of the objective criminality involved, but in truth, I think that the answers to these troublesome questions are highly relevant in that regard.

Dr. Xanthe Mallet is one of many who believe Kelly Lane was a victim of trial by media. She has compared Kelly's situation to that of Lindy Chamberlain, whose wrongful conviction for the murder of her baby Azaria was covered in episode 136 of Casefile. Dr. Mallet believes that, like Lindy, Kelly was scrutinised for not being emotional enough or responding in the way people thought a mother should. She told Women's Weekly,

Clearly, Kelly was never in line to win a Mother of the Year award and she disgraced herself by lying so often and so flagrantly. But it's still a big leap to say she killed her baby. Caro Meldrum-Hanna told Mamma Mia that judgment of Kelly's sex life remained one of the prominent discussions when it came to this case. "There was a lot of slut-shaming back then," she said. "And it's clear there's a lot of slut-shaming now."

Nevertheless, Caro told the ABC, "'I can understand why people are haunted by this case. There's a two-day-old baby at the center of it. Where is Tegan and what happened to her? There's nothing more vulnerable than a newborn baby.'"

These factors aside, one of the biggest criticisms about Kelly Lane's case is the police handling of the investigation and why it took them so long to commence a search for Teagan or question Kelly in the first place. Those who believe Kelly was unfairly convicted don't think enough was done to find Andrew Norris and are critical of the fact that investigators were still searching for Andrew and Teagan while both the coronial inquest and murder trial were underway.

But, as the prosecution argued, Kelly essentially sent police on a wild goose chase when she told them Teagan was taken by her father, and any delays were therefore Kelly's fault. Others commended the police's intensive search efforts, attesting they did the most thorough job possible given they were searching for a needle in a haystack.

While Kelly's case is polarising, even many who believe in her innocence have serious doubts that Andrew Norris ever existed. As Simon Davis stated in his book: "One is driven to conclude that if Andrew and his mum and Mel do exist, they must be huddled together under a proverbial rock."

Never in the annals of crime in Australia, or perhaps anywhere, would there have been so much reaching out, searching for, or imploring of a human being to come forward as there has been for Andrew Morris/Norris. The case would arguably be the most publicised murder conviction in Australian history, and yet, still no sign of Andrew Morris/Norris.

In a phone call to Kelly in prison, Caro Mildrem Hanna said that something didn't add up about the Andrew Norris story. "I'm not convinced on this name," Caro told Kelly, "and I need you to help me." Kelly became somewhat defensive, insisting that the name of Tegan's father was Andrew Norris, emphasizing it was spelt with an N. Caro pressed on, asking if it was possible that Andrew Norris might not be his real name.

For the first time in over two decades, Kelly said: "Absolutely. Absolutely. I don't know 100% if his name was Andrew Norris because I don't know if what he was telling me at the time was the truth or if I've made a mistake. Of course that's a possibility." If Teagan's biological father was really out there, he never came forward. By March 2024, Kelly Lane was 48 years old.

She had served her minimum period of 13 and a half years and was eligible to apply for parole. But just two years earlier, New South Wales passed the No Body No Parole legislation, which prevented any prisoners convicted of murder from receiving parole if they hadn't cooperated by identifying their victim's location. A statement released by Kelly's Parole Board read…

With that, Kelly's bid for release was denied. Public debate followed, with one NSW politician describing Kelly Lane as a political prisoner. She told The Guardian:

The No Body No Parole law undermines the fundamental objective of parole to support community safety with a focus on the rehabilitation of the offender. At their core, they further punish the person who has served their time. The fact is, Kelly Lane has done her time and she has been an exemplary prisoner, and she should not remain in prison any longer.

Justice Anthony Whealey, the former Supreme Court judge who oversaw Kelly's trial, agreed. In the years since Kelly's conviction, he'd publicly admitted that Kelly's case affected him emotionally. While he accepted the jury's verdict, Justice Whealey said he wasn't convinced that the Crown had proved its case, and he voiced his misgivings about aspects of how the trial was conducted.

Since the "No Body, No Parole" legislation was passed, Justice Whealey joined many others in calling for changes to this new law. After Kelly's parole was denied, Justice Whealey told A Current Affair that the law shouldn't be applied to Kelly's case. Not only did he call the case enigmatic and say there was a question mark surrounding her guilt, he pointed out that the law wasn't intended to apply to people like her, stating:

Because of the way it was worded, it slammed her back inside for four more years. I believe that had this law not been passed, then she would be back in the community where she belongs." He told the ABC that this law was particularly problematic in cases where the offender maintained their innocence. "What is the point of judges making the sentences if the legislation extends the time they spend in prison?" Justice Whealy asked.

One of Kelly's most vocal supporters, Dr Xanthe Mallet, told the ABC that the point of the no-body, no-parole law was to provide closure for victims' families. Dr Mallet said that didn't apply in Kelly's case because, quote,

The family of Tegan is also Kelly's family and they believe in her innocence. You have to wonder, if we keep Kelly in prison, who is that serving? Kelly Lane is due to be released in 2028. She continues to maintain her innocence. While Kelly's critics often point out that she has never shown any remorse, her supporters rebut that Kelly didn't kill Tegan so she has nothing to be remorseful about.

If Tegan Lane is still alive, as Kelly claims, she would be 28 years old at the time this episode goes to air. To this day, no evidence of Tegan's existence beyond the day she left hospital with Kelly has ever surfaced. Over the years, many have discussed the significance of the mother-daughter relationships highlighted by this case.

By Kelly keeping her pregnancy secret from her own mother, she severed any potential relationship with Teagan, and the choices she made in that regard then impacted her relationship with her daughter Emily. During her incarceration, Kelly has only been allowed to speak to Emily for 10 minutes a day. When Kelly was sentenced, Justice Whealey remarked: "It is a tragedy at three levels.

This case reflects the most profound tragedy of the relationship between mother and daughter. Kelly's parents continue to support her. When asked by 60 Minutes if they believed Kelly's story about what happened to Tegan, her mother Sandra responded: "Yes I do. It sounds improbable, but a lot of improbable things happen in life." Kelly's father Robert agreed, adding: "The truth is stranger than fiction.

isn't it? When 18-year-old Neem May went missing in 2002, her family did everything they could to help the police find her.

But, like so many missing persons cases, there comes a time when the leads dry up and there's nowhere left to look. At no point have we just got on with our lives. I heard something recently that really resonated. It was a woman from America who said that you never get over grief, you learn to move forward with it. And I was like, that's the best anyone's ever described it. Niamh's sister, Fanula, realised that a podcast might help find the answers the family was looking for.

So, for the past four years, I've been working with Niamh's family to take a closer look at the case. And what we found took us to places we never anticipated. Here's everything we've done. We've obviously got serious concerns about her welfare. I've just spoken to the last person to see her alive that we knew about. And he's giving me a bullshit story. When I first started looking into this case in 2020, it was originally intended to be a single case file episode.

But the more I looked, the more I found. So Steve, he is adamant that she never made it to Go Cup Road. Stan is adamant that there's a credible sighting there. Niamh set out for a gap year after finishing high school to test her independence, but she never made it home. What happened in those final days? And when the black hearse arrived, these two men got out and as soon as I saw them and I saw that black hearse, I thought...

They're baddies, stay away from them. Mum called me and she said, look, the police are investigating now and somebody claims that he dropped her off and she was hitchhiking. What started out as a potential case file episode turned into a 12-part series that took over four years to research. He didn't smile or anything, he just kind of looked empty and just, like, get in the car.

It was just kind of like aggressively like getting in the car. Join me as we uncover what happened in Missing Niamh, the new 12-part podcast series from Casefile Presents. Something had obviously worked in me suddenly because I was disorientated.

That's when I realised that there was just a cold, rough hand holding my hand because I had my hand over the edge of the bed and I could see the outline of somebody leaning over the bed. Evil, I guess, has to be somewhat attractive, doesn't it? Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to sneak into every corner. So I whispered to my sister, asked her if she was awake and she said yes. I said, there's someone in the room and she said, I know. Missing Niamh is available now.

Be sure to download and follow MissingNiamh wherever you get your podcasts.

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