Returning: Crime Investigation Australia

The first episode of Crime Investigation Australia for 2009 wil be “CIA: The Girls Who Knew Too Much”

One of 10 newly-commissioned episodes it investigates two separate cases: the 1975 disappearance of Sydney heiress Juanita Nielsen and the infamous murder of prostitute Sallie-Anne Huckstepp, who was linked to the New South Wales’ criminal underworld during the 1980s.

Sallie-Anne Huckstepp was a heroin addict and prostitute who in 1981 was on a mission to uncover police corruption. She secretly recorded her dealings with police and handed the tapes over to her solicitor and appeared on 60 Minutes revealing her theories as to why she believed NSW detective Roger Rogerson had shot her former lover Warren Lanfranchi. In 1986, Sallie-Anne’s body was found face down in a pond in Sydney’s Centennial Park but it wasn’t until thirteen years later that Arthur ‘Neddy’ Smith, a drug dealer, bank robber and standover man, was put on trial for her murder.

Juanita Nielsen, the granddaughter of department store tycoon Mark Foy, became a central figure in the showdown between residents and developers in Kings Cross. In 1975, following a meeting with a local nightclub manager, she suddenly disappeared.

Hosted by Steve Liebmann it returns on Thursday, February 26 at 7:30pm AEDT on the Crime & Investigation Channel.