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A previously unseen photo of the arrest of Perth’s most notorious serial killer has come to light, revealing a key insight into the arrest of Claremont serial killer Bradley Edwards in 2016.
9News Perth has unearthed a photograph from the day a WA Tactical Response Group arrested Edwards at his home, the first step that led to a mammoth trial and, ultimately, Edwards’ conviction.
The scene of Edwards lying face-down in the cluttered hallway of his Kewdale home in December 2016 was previously referred to in his 2020 trial, with members of the jury shown footage of the arrest. However, this is the first time a picture of Edwards’ arrest has been revealed to the public.
Two members of the TRG team are visible in the background as the man who would later be confirmed as the Claremont serial killer is put in handcuffs.
In December 2020, Edwards was found guilty of murdering Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon and sentenced to a minimum 40-year prison term.
Rimmer, 23, and Glennon, 27, were snatched off the streets of Claremont in June 1996 and March 1997, respectively, on both occasions after enjoying a night out with friends at the Continental Hotel (now the Claremont Hotel).
Edwards was also sentenced for two earlier crimes; a 1995 abduction and rape of a 17-year-old girl from Claremont, and a 1988 Huntingdale sex attack.
He was ultimately found not guilty of the murder of Sarah Spiers, who disappeared in January 1996, but whose body has never been found.
In an interview with 9News Perth last week, former team leader at the WA Tactical Response Group, Todd Bowler, revealed how Edwards’ arrest was carried out.
“We had to plan a TRG job that was foolproof, so that he wouldn’t get away,” Bowler said.
“We wouldn’t raid a house, and he would know we’re after him without us being able to arrest him, because we wanted all the evidence to be secured.
“All that 20-plus years of evidence, and all the hard work that the detectives had done, we wanted that to be put to good use in court later on.”
On the day the raid happened, Bowler said the response squad had to make sure the home actually belonged to Edwards.
“He had his stepdaughter living with him at the time, but he hadn’t appeared,” Bowler said.
“So we got someone just in plain clothes to just come up to his house and knock on the door and give him a bit of a story that he’d seen some kids mucking around with his car at the front, which happened to be a Telstra car still.
“And Bradley Edwards answered the door and said, ‘Oh, thanks very much for letting me know’.”
Once the TRG had confirmed Edwards was in the house, Bowler said he was the one who broke down the front door, which was opened after a couple of hits.
“We went straight in the front corridor, got him down the ground, all strapped up, facing the carpet, and kept him quiet there for a while,” Bowler said.
“I was very curious to see how he would react, and he was strapped down, face down on the ground, and for a guy who’d very rarely dealt with police, he stayed quiet for about four or five minutes.
“Then he stuck his head up, looked at us, and said, ‘Oh, what’s this all about?’
“I told him to just keep quiet. Detectives are going to come and talk to you very shortly, as we normally do. But, yeah, he was very, very calm, put his head back down, and carried on.”
Edwards was arrested after police investigating the Claremont killings made a forensic breakthrough, linking him to the murders through his DNA.
He will be eligible for parole when he is 88 years old.
Michael Thomson presents 9News Perth’s weeknight 6pm bulletin. He joined Channel Nine in 1987, after seven years as a journalist with the Daily News.From our partners
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