The prime suspect in the 1994 murder of Perth jeweller Pamela Lawrence was in close proximity to at least three suspicious deaths in the UK, prompting local police to investigate, a new ABC documentary reveals. Simon Rochford, who died by suicide in 2006, was already identified as the likely culprit in the Lawrence case after an infamous wrongful conviction.
Colleen Egan, the investigative journalist who spearheaded the campaign that led to Andrew Mallard’s exoneration and is now a Western Australian Labor MP, presents the findings in the documentary Mark of a Murderer. For the documentary, she travelled to Rochford’s hometown of Stroud, Gloucestershire, and worked with a forensics expert and criminologist to uncover circumstances around deaths dating back to 1989, 1992 and 1993.
“We found him in proximity to three suspicious deaths that have not been solved,” Egan said. “A lot of what we collected was information that was very new to the Gloucestershire police.” Egan said police saw the dossier compiled by her team and told her it was almost unheard of to receive a dossier such as theirs and use it to reopen cold cases from decades ago.
The Lawrence murder itself had already been the subject of one of Australia’s worst miscarriages of justice. Local man Andrew Mallard was wrongfully convicted and spent 12 years in prison before being exonerated in 2006. He died in a hit-and-run in Los Angeles in 2019. Rochford’s palm print was found at the jewellery shop.
The documentary is part of a campaign to create a Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in Australia, similar to bodies in the UK, New Zealand and Canada. Egan and former High Court justice Michael Kirby back the idea. "The jury is a wonderful system, but it can make mistakes," Kirby said. "Institutions need to be strengthened, those mistakes need to be minimised."
Egan acknowledged that the UK CCRC has faced criticism for delays but argued it has resulted in hundreds of exonerations. "It really has resulted in hundreds of people in the UK having their cases referred back to the court and being exonerated," she said.
The documentary Mark of a Murderer premieres on ABC TV on Monday 16 November.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The case suggests a possible undetected serial killer linking Australia and the UK, prompting cross-border police review.
- Andrew Mallard's wrongful conviction remains a landmark example of justice system failure; a CCRC could help prevent future miscarriages.
- The documentary may provide answers for families of three UK victims whose deaths have remained unsolved for decades.
Background
Simon Rochford was identified as the likely killer of Pamela Lawrence in Perth in 1994, 12 years after another man, Andrew Mallard, was wrongfully convicted and later exonerated. Rochford died by suicide in 2006. Colleen Egan, the journalist who helped free Mallard, has spent 28 years on the case and now hosts a documentary series examining the evidence.
What to Watch
- Gloucestershire Police's review of the three unsolved deaths and whether Rochford is formally linked.
- Whether the documentary prompts public and political momentum for an Australian Criminal Cases Review Commission.
- Potential further revelations from the Mark of a Murderer series as it airs.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 12 supported.
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- SupportedPolice are probing possible links between Rochford and three unsolved UK deaths.Just In: “In the UK, Ms Egan worked with a forensics expert and criminologist to uncover the circumstances behind a number of unsolved crimes, prompting local police to investigate.”
- SupportedThe police investigation followed new information uncovered by the documentary in Gloucestershire.Just In: “New details, revealed in the documentary Mark of a Murderer, point to Rochford's likely connection to other suspicious deaths.”
- SupportedRochford was in close proximity to at least three suspicious deaths in the UK.Just In: “New information unearthed recently reveals Rochford was in close physical proximity to at least three suspicious deaths in the UK in the years before he moved to Australia.”
- SupportedA cold case review identified Rochford as the likely culprit in Pamela Lawrence's murder.Just In: “A subsequent cold case review identified Simon Rochford as the likely culprit in Ms Lawrence's murder.”
- SupportedRochford died by suicide in 2006.Just In: “Rochford died by suicide in 2006, the night after he was named as a person of interest in an ABC television news story.”
- SupportedEgan said, “We found him in proximity to three suspicious deaths that have not been solved.”Just In: “"We found him in proximity to three suspicious deaths that have not been solved since 1989, 1992 and 1993 when they occurred," Ms Egan said.”
- SupportedEgan said much of the information gathered was very new to Gloucestershire police.Just In: “"A lot of what we collected was information that was very new to the Gloucestershire police," Ms Egan said.”
- SupportedEgan said police told her that receiving a dossier like her team's and using it to reopen decades-old cold cases was almost unheard of.Just In: “"From what the police told us, in the UK it was almost unheard of to receive a dossier such as ours and use that to reopen cold cases from decades ago."”
- SupportedFor the documentary, Egan travelled to Stroud and worked with a forensics expert and criminologist on deaths from 1989, 1992 and 1993.Just In: “Ms Egan travelled to the UK for the documentary, tracking Rochford's movements in his hometown of Shroud, Gloucestershire, where he spent his early adulthood.”
- SupportedMallard was wrongfully convicted, spent 12 years in prison and was exonerated in 2006.Just In: “Sentenced to 20 years, he spent 12 years in jail before being exonerated and freed in 2006, thanks to a painstaking campaign spearheaded by investigative journalist Colleen Egan.”
- SupportedKirby said, “The jury is a wonderful system, but it can make mistakes.”Just In: “"The jury is a wonderful system, but it can make mistakes," he said.”
- SupportedThe documentary premieres on ABC TV on Monday 16 November.Just In: “Mark of a Murderer will premiere on Monday 16 November at 8:30pm on ABC TV, with all episodes available to stream on ABC iview.”