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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-09-03 Daily Xml
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Motions

Cold Cases

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (16:09): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes that there are numerous cold cases involving Australians who have gone missing or have been murdered here and overseas, that remain unsolved.

2. Notes there are reported to be over 111 cold cases in Australia alone and many overseas cases involving South Australians.

3. Recognises the psychological impact, ongoing trauma and grief suffered by family members of victims.

4. Acknowledges that the family of South Australian Anthea Lily Bradshaw-Hall, murdered in Brunei on 21 July 1994, have been thwarted in their attempts to seek justice by law enforcement authorities in Brunei, the Australian Federal Police and South Australia Police; and

(a) calls on the Australian Federal Police to give SAPOL jurisdiction to conduct a fresh investigation and pursue prosecution, noting that an inquest in Brunei in 1998 found Anthea was murdered; there was no motive and that her husband Jefferey Hall remains the only suspect;

(b) calls on the South Australian government to post a reward of $1 million for information which leads to a successful prosecution.

I rise to speak on my motion relating to Australians who have gone missing or have been murdered here and overseas yet their cases remain unsolved. Through the passage of time they become known as cold cases and authorities pay less attention to them unless there are startling breakthroughs.

In my time in this place, I have raised the tragic case of Adelaide grandmother and loving mother, Anna Jenkins, murdered in Malaysia in 2017. Nobody in government there or here even cared about her. An ordinary citizen of this country killed abroad, and our Department of Foreign Affairs, federal ministers, attorneys-general, SA Police and the Australian Federal Police hardly lifted a finger to get justice for Anna and her still grieving family. It was left to Anna's son, Greg, and daughter, Jen, to do their work to investigate what happened to their mum, eventually even finding her remains on a building site.

This is rough justice and it is still being played out as Greg continues his tireless quest in Malaysia to make the authorities there pay for their incompetence and corruption. He will not stop. For the families, the hurt will never be erased. They live with this every single moment of their lives, hoping for justice, hoping someone will listen to them, hoping someone will act and just do something to right the appalling wrongs that were served on them, hoping that those responsible are held accountable and brought to justice. If there is one thing they still cling to, despite all the setbacks, it is hope.

The case I want to raise here now is 31 years old. Somewhere, the killer of Anthea Lily Bradshaw-Hall is still at large. Somewhere overseas, her husband, Jefferey Hall, is still denying any involvement, even though there was enough to make him the prime suspect and only person of interest. Anthea, affectionately known to family and friends as Annie, married Hall in April 1994 in the Adelaide church she and her family attended. Tragically, 96 days later in July that year, she was being farewelled at the same church by family, friends and Hall at her funeral.

Hall went to the Sultanate of Brunei in June 1994. Anthea went to visit him on 12 July and was due to return to Australia 10 days later. On 21 July, Anthea was found deceased in a pool of blood in Hall's apartment. She had been strangled and stabbed several times. Hall found Anthea lifeless. He was interviewed by Brunei police and provided them with alibis that he was at work around the time of the murder. There was blood on his shirt, but Hall claimed it was as a result of trying to see if there was any sign of life.

There were reports from one witness of hearing a large fight and seeing a stranger outside the apartment block and Anthea standing on the balcony, but these statements were never verified or fully investigated. The police investigation went nowhere. An inquest in Brunei in 1998 found that Anthea had been murdered. The police could find no motive and the only apparent suspect was Hall, but police could not find any evidence to justify a charge.

Incredibly, not one person was called to give evidence to the coroner. You have to ask why. As you can imagine, Anthea's family—mum, Ros, dad, Martin, brothers Craig and Paul and extended members of that family—were devastated that it came to such an abrupt end, and shattered because despite all their efforts and pleas for justice from their own government and state and federal police for a fresh investigation, justice has been cruelly denied them and their daughter and sister, Anthea (Annie). The Australian Federal Police have failed this family, so, too, South Australia Police and the South Australian and commonwealth governments. There has been no will shown to do more.

A review of the case by the Australian Federal Police found there was insufficient evidence to substantiate charging Hall or anyone else, and that the likelihood of finding new, fresh and compelling evidence was remote—case closed. The authorities here would not even consider posting a reward for more information, on the grounds that should anyone be charged for the murder by Brunei police they would face the death penalty and Australia opposes capital punishment. They have applied this reasoning even to the murder of Anna Jenkins, because Malaysia also has the death penalty.

But the Bradshaw family has refused to give up. Their determination and resilience are powerful, inspiring and quite moving. I have met Anthea's family. They are here tonight, and I welcome them to the Legislative Council. I cannot say how much I admire their resolve and perseverance to ensure Anthea's short life is not forgotten, even if they have been abandoned by their own country.

I would recommend members and this government to listen to the absorbing podcast, 'Just married: the Anthea Bradshaw mystery', produced by an excellent investigative journalist, Ben Avery from Channel 9, who has followed the case for over a decade. The episodes cover every conceivable angle to this crime, painting a compelling scenario of why there must be a fresh investigation. The interviews with Anthea's family are particularly touching and harrowing, giving us a glimpse of the ongoing trauma and grief that will never end, and how it has impacted on their lives, relationships and careers.

Mum Ros remains haunted by the way Annie's life was ended and describes how every night she goes to bed and curls up in the foetal position. The nightmares are never-ending for her dad, Martin, with his feelings of guilt as to why he was not there to protect his beautiful daughter. Her brothers are Craig and Paul. Paul, the youngest, says he cries every day for his big sister. Craig is their rock, but he too gets emotional each time Anthea's memory is discussed.

They speak fondly of her love of teaching and her last school, Fraser Park in Murray Bridge, where she taught underprivileged kids. 'There wasn't a bad bone in her body,' says Craig. They recall how she met Hall, a water polo player, while they were at Pembroke College and that they seemed to have a normal relationship, travelling the world together and with no obvious tensions. After their wedding, Hall found a job as a radiographer at a medical clinic operated by the Sultan of Brunei's family. Anthea would join him once she finished her teaching commitments in South Australia, hoping to find teaching work there.

Ninety-six days after her fairytale wedding, Anthea—Annie—was dead. The family and Hall tried to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. It was the beginning of a search for the truth that would lead the Bradshaws to some dark places and heartbreaking roadblocks. What I know from meeting them is that they will not give up, and nor should they. The AFP can easily do something right now in passing the matter over to South Australia Police. The South Australian government can and should post a $1 million reward. The State Coroner can conduct, and should have conducted, an inquest and do it properly, because in Brunei not one witness was called.

Annie was failed again here. It was the same for the Jenkins family. The Coroner can conduct, and should be conducting, a separate inquest here, which would be more thorough and unbiased, like the one in Malaysia in 2023 for the Jenkins family. Is there any hope of bringing anyone to justice? Former Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Pallaras KC, a prosecutor I admired, said that there is and that a motive could be established for Hall, in that his homosexuality may have been discovered and he was acting to protect himself. Around that time, Brunei was planning to introduce the penalty of death by stoning for various offences, including sodomy.

As Mr Pallaras points out in his analysis, regardless of the strength of the motive, in criminal trials the prosecution does not have to prove any motive for the commission of a crime. He writes:

So the question remains, is there sufficient evidence to charge and prosecute Hall for murder? In my judgement the answer is clearly yes.

I would back Mr Pallaras' judgement, any day, over views provided by the AFP or SAPOL. Why are they not moving on this? At this point, I would like to seek leave to table Mr Pallaras' email to the Bradshaw family, with his analysis that I have just referred to.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: What of Mr Hall? Where is he and how does he react to the suspicions cast upon him? My understanding is that he still lives and works overseas in Japan and occasionally visits his family in South Australia. He attended Annie's funeral but, later, tensions arose within the family. He of course denies any responsibility and rejects being labelled the only suspect. He wrote to the family in 2012, expressing his painful personal experience and how Annie's murder affected him. Some of the things he says in that letter certainly raise eyebrows. He says, and I quote:

No matter who I have become and what I have done in my life since that day, I loved Annie with all my heart and could have never hurt her in any way. You must remember who I was and how close we were together. Is this true that you believe I am responsible? If so what has made you believe this after so many years?

He invites them to share any questions with him and then states:

I am afraid that the answers we truly seek, of who killed Annie, your daughter, your sister and my wife will never be found?

He seems quite sure of that. He goes on to say that he had contacted Brunei police but gave up hope. Hope of what? They were not doing anything. If Mr Hall is so concerned about finding the killer, why has he not joined the Bradshaws in seeking answers and a fresh investigation? Why has he not made calls for authorities to act, or written to the Sultan of Brunei, asking him to direct his police and coroner to conduct a more thorough investigation? In 2017, Hall's lawyer, Michael Sykes, wrote to The Advertiser, pointing out that his client was, and I quote:

…not a fugitive from justice and always maintained his innocence and co-operated with SA Police and Royal Brunei Police, who formed the view that he had a strong alibi defence which was supported by several witnesses who placed him at work around the time of the murder.

I seek leave to table Mr Sykes' letter and Mr Hall's letter to the Bradshaw family, along with a letter Craig Bradshaw wrote to Police Commissioner Stevens, asking that the case be reviewed and reopened.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: Is there any hope of that happening—the case being reviewed and being reopened? I hope so. I will be writing to Commissioner Stevens and the Australian Federal Police here, urging them to work together on this. It will only take the AFP to agree to assign the matter to SAPOL. I will also ask the Treasurer and the Attorney-General to consider posting a $1 million reward. Thirty-one years is a long time. Any further delays make a prosecution more difficult to mount.

But, in the interest of justice for the Bradshaws and their beloved daughter Annie, it must be seen to be done and not put in the too-hard basket by our authorities. Until it is, the pain, mental anguish and grief of the victims in all of this, the Bradshaw family, will continue. I seek leave to conclude my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

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