A deal with the devil to catch a killer | 60 Minutes Australia

quite simplistic, almost childish, the one he had or the version he had of the events. New South Wales Police Senior Forensic Psychologist Dr. Sarah, you will profile Atkins. She observed a man so bound by his lies that she warned that even immunity may not be enough to get to the truth if you think of it as the carrot or stick approach. I felt very strongly that they needed to be the carrot and the stick the carrot was immunity the stick was the threat of ten years in prison if he lied in the investigation even then Atkins continued to maintain that he knew nothing about Matt's disappearance and then about Wednesday and that was when the situation began to turn at that moment.

So he was dying to have his answers questioned in terms of that, well, you said this today, but on Monday you said that today you told the truth under the heat of Under interrogation, Atkins had no choice but to admit his contradictions, so you have attracted the work saying "Oh, I guess so" and you say that's in doubt, yes, yes, Michel Atkins admits in the investigation that he has lied if he could. To be honest it was a gotcha moment, yeah now we could have a breakthrough, well if I could be honest that excited me. I'm sitting there and I saw that and I saw, okay, he's an opportunity, the opportunity was to scare Atkins into action.

Atkins was now offered a second

deal

but this time he had to comply or he would go to jail, so what was the

deal

basically to give Michael Atkins compensation for the perjury prosecution and in exchange for him telling us exactly what happened? so this was the deal: we

catch

you lying, tell us where matt's body is and we won't prosecute you for perjury, yeah if you don't you'll go to jail for potentially 10 years, yeah that's right and the deal. It was very important that yours was not in yes it was in the result very good uncle saying oh I think he is here whether it is five or thirty years if not if there is no body recovered and now it remains recovered no deal it was a bet It was a big gamble and Fay often says it's a deal with the

devil

, we'll do it again in the blink of an eye, that's a deal with the

devil

because while he gives you the best gift, just the most want in the world, your son also denies you justice, yes, but he had done it.

Mary returns for justice any moment. Michael Atkins reveals his terrible secret, he found the place to bury Matt's body, then he dug the grave and the final twist that could change everything. He may be cold and uncaring, but that necessarily makes him a

killer

next. In 60 Minutes, I guess it was about narrowing down every area we could think of to try to find that spot or narrowing down the areas that it could possibly be. Police Detective Scott Craddock has driven this isolated road too many times and he's been sent on a search. Odyssey, according to the confessions of Michael Atkins, did you feel that he was communicative, that he was trying to point out, yes, on the night he was on, he was quite lively and it is difficult for this path to change at night and it is also quite different from day to night night in the wee hours of the morning? hours last November Michael Adkins traced this terrible journey for the police using his own mud map to try to remember exactly where in this thicket he buried his young boyfriend Matt Leverson.

So what did Michael Atkins tell you about how he knocked Matt down where Matt put the map in the trunk and if you can see it, it was actually a stereo system in the back of the car and he removed it to have enough room to put the body of Matt in the trunk that he had wrapped? They met in a blanket or sheet, it was a dark and tragic secret that Atkins had kept for a decade. It was only when he was threatened with prison for lying to the coroner's court that he finally admitted that he disposed of the young man's body, so Gary, this is actually Matt's. car, yes, that's right, Chief Inspector Gary Deublin had Atkins relive the night many times, even taking out cans to drive Matt's car, as he did the night he dropped him off, so that this man at that moment, potential murderer, retraced his steps in such a macabre manner. by the way, what was that like it was macabre, that's probably a good way to describe it because it's a tragic thing, a set of events that have happened and here we're trying to recreate it and bring it back into the mindset so you can accurately recreate it.

The police even used hypnosis and, on the advice of forensic psychologist dr. Sarah, you will have a mannequin to replicate Matt's body and help activate Atkins' memory. We had discussions about how to keep the atmosphere reasonably relaxed and non-intimidating and also about the importance of making it as close as possible to the reality of that event, not just for you. What I know is that daylight was during the night the visual sensations but also the physical sensations and having to move the body can help obtain additional information. How those traditional methods were well accepted in this research.

There was nothing traditional about this case for me. It seemed like it was a person who was trying to help us locate the body. He seemed genuine in that sense, so we created an environment where he felt comfortable and relaxed to try to remember what had happened in November of last year. Adkins said this. It was the place where he buried Matt's body, starting an extensive police search that turned up nothing. The mark and Faye was just a major torment. So did you think at the time that my Clapton might go to jail for perjury? Did you expect him to? came up with another search sighs yes, he hoped that state that lot yes, it looked like he could get a job and they probably killed him in prison that's what you wanted was that what you wanted, yes, you wanted it, he did it, yes, slowly, painfully, but in my hand, but it turns out that's their job, yes, when another search was launched elsewhere, the police tried to find an even bigger truth, how did Matt die?

Atkins tells the police that he believes it could have been an accidental drug overdose and for the first time admits to having done it. What he did next, he provided a version of events that he was at the nightclub with Matt, there was a bit of an argument on the way home. Matt didn't want to want to come home and then when they got home they were still. We are not talking and Atkins's account is that when he woke up in the morning he had slept in the living room and that Matt had died in the bedroom, then he gave us an account of what happened that day.

He went to a Bunnings hardware store and bought a hoe and duct tape for the express purpose of using that equipment to dispose of Matt's body, then stayed in the apartment the rest of the afternoon until it got quite late at night, then used Matt's car and found the place he thought of. that was suitable to bury Matt's body, then he dug the grave and put Matt's body in the grave before burying Matt while he waited for it to get dark. It is believed Atkins was already online looking for new sexual partners. What does that tell you about this person?

It confirms everything. We believe that this is an individual who we consider a psychopath has no guilt in his remorse, he does not use moves to get his way, but false emotions that he controls in a dominant way and that is the way he knows it would go. jail if he didn't hand over Matt's body. Atkins insisted that the grave was in the first location he had selected even though it had been searched once before a jubilant Gary agreed to try again this time. Mitch Loam was behind the controls. How did you feel about it? Doing the job oh, the boss just told me that parents need closure, so whatever you find it, did you think you could?

We hoped we could survive while he was here, we were going to find him after spending so much time away. Hours of duty here were already in place when Police Detective Scott Craddock was overseeing this latest effort. It was the last hour of the last day of searching and Scott made the fateful decision to have Mitch take down a small palm tree. That time I looked down and I got a closer look and I look back at Mitch and I kind of said, I think we found him. There's a look at Scott at this particular moment where I thought this was serious and then he took me to the site and what I could see. what was obvious to me were human remains and it gives me chills just talking about it now.

I certainly got chills at that point and I looked at Scott and he looked at me and we said, well, we better get going. telling them that walking up to them felt like a lifetime to say I think we found Matt and seeing his reaction, yeah, it was hard at the time to know what to do to see the emotion in Fae and you're just telling us. base, long fall, but that money is something that also has a horrible ending, very full of pain, yes, exactly, yes, they found your son hmm and Scott and Mitch, my heroes, the most humble people they found, get married for me, the tenacity of the police during this part. of the case, how would you describe that incredible inmate?

He couldn't get a more dedicated professional team than the one we have right now. They are simply amazing and wouldn't take no for an answer either. They are like you, yes, yes. He said it was just the one who encouraged us, so it was mutual, it seems inconceivable that having led the police to Matt's body, Atkins can now simply abandon his agreements, meaning he cannot be prosecuted. . The coroner is yet to give his findings on the manner and cause of Matt's death, but in an incredible twist, police say it's not just the agreements that protect Michael Atkins.

His new opinion is that his story that he did not murder Matt cannot be discounted. His story was that he believed Matt had died. of a drug overdose after being questioned, do you believe his story? We presented the evidence to a coroner and it is more appropriate for the coroner to talk about whether he told the truth. What I can say is that the information you provided is consistent with the facts we know and also led to the recovery of Matt's body if the truth is that Matthew Leverson died of an accidental drug overdose which makes Michel Atkins many things but It doesn't make you a murderer, it's a mark of truth and faith never will.

We accept that he may be cold and callous, completely heartless, incapable of crying for his child, but does that necessarily make him a murderer? No, he's not, but the circumstances don't prove that he's an idiot who made the wrong decision. We do not. I think so, why would we accept someone who has lied for nine and a half years and suddenly he is going to tell the truth? Maybe one reason is because the police you trust and seem to admire so much seem to believe it, but don't. I mean, that's right, the police tend to have blinders on, they're set in their ways and stuff, and it's a nice, neat package, isn't it as a law enforcement officer?

How hard is it to see the man who caused all that pain and did nothing to resolve this? terrible mystery walk away I think punishment comes in many forms and yes, let's look at it. This was the person he claimed to love. He simply threw her into the bush in an unmarked grave and let her family go through this suffering to deal with. With that, the family believes he did more. The family believes he is responsible for Matt's death. Is there any way he could have lied again? That he has somehow convinced you that his lies are the truth, yes, look, it is a matter for the coroner to determine.

Yes, the veracity of his story, but I'm not naive, yes, we interviewed this person and we interviewed him in order to surprise him with inconsistencies and the information that he has provided is not contradicted by any facts that we have. available, but Chief Inspector Jugglen also says there is no evidence to corroborate Atkins' version and says it is up to the coroner to make the final judgement. I miss digging a hole against Mark and Faye now tends the palm tree that marked her children's grave. He is a doctor. for nine years and eight months, rescued from the National Park and now growing up in their backyard and then we have two children, their mission is to nurture him just as they do when it comes to all of Matt's memories, Leveson's legacy can be one unimaginable loss, but it is also one of great strength born of immeasurable love.

Whatever Michel Atkins' involvement in the death of his son, certain disposal of his son's body, how does he cope knowing that he will never face charges for it? Now in those days I have an evil thought. towards him I'm not going to act on it, but I still enjoy my bad thoughts towards him about how I got there, I mean, you, you do, I guess I always hope this happens to him, I hope that happens to him, but like a fantasy and we are. We are not going to reach his level no, we are not like him we have hearts we care people don't care about him we have our son back we know in whose hands but we have our Sunday. and that's All That Matters Hi, I'm Tara Brown, thanks for watching to stay up to date with the latest news from 60 Minutes Australia.

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