Beyond The Darklands

Starts April 12, Wednesdays at 9.30pm on Crime & Investigation Network

How do people become murderers? Are they born with some kind of rogue gene for evil? Or, has the life they’ve lead bought them down the wrong path and tipped them over the edge? What is it that makes a man a murderer? In this gritty and engrossing documentary series, Forensic Psychologist Nigel Latta examines the lives of six of New Zealand’s worst murderers to answer these questions. This is an extraordinary series that takes you behind the headlines to the real stories. People who grew up with these murderers along with victims who have survived and the families of those who have not given highly emotional accounts of the kind of people these men were and what they were capable of. All have been forever scarred by their association and their stories make for a gut wrenching journey into the darklands.

9:30pm – Monday, September 14 on Seven

Tonight on BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, we take a look into the mind of drug king and killer Terry Clark.

Terry Clark, aka the real Mr Asia, wanted to be a gangster and by the end of his short career he had caused dozens of deaths and amassed a major fortune from drug dealing.

His story is one of a bad boy gone worse – as a boy he was cruel and manipulative and, as a man, he extended his repertoire to include torture and murder.

In 1980 he was convicted of the murder of his former partner, Martyn Johnstone, and sentenced to life imprisonment in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight.

Arguably New Zealand’s biggest crime boss, he mysteriously died two years later.

In this episode from the New Zealand series of Beyond the Darklands, clinical psychologist Nigel Latta investigates how Terry Clark became an international drug trafficker and killer.

Nigel Latta has spent the last 17 years working with child sex offenders, rapists, murderers and violent offenders. His career has taken him throughout New Zealand over that time and he has worked with offenders both in the community and in prisons.

In 2003 he published a nonfiction account of his work in the field of forensic psychology, Into the Darklands: Unveiling the Predators Among Us, which would ultimately serve as the inspiration for this compelling documentary series.

BEYOND THE DARKLANDS is narrated by SAMUEL JOHNSON.

9:30pm – Monday, September 7 on Seven

Tonight on BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, meet the woman who committed a crime so barbaric it shocked the world.

Katherine Knight committed a murder that’s almost incomprehensible. In February 2000, the former abattoir worker stabbed her de facto husband to death, skinned him and then cooked his body parts in a pot on the stove. She then proceeded to set the table for his children’s arrival, complete with vindictive letters.

This appalling murder shows the darkest reaches of the human mind. Katherine Knight is Australia’s first and only women to be jailed for the remainder of her life without parole.

Tonight clinical psychologist Dr Leah Giarratano takes us inside the mind of Australia’s most vicious female killer and explains why she comes from Beyond the Darklands.

Could it be possible that Katherine Knight was sane when she committed this murder? How could someone in their right mind commit an act so completely deranged?

In BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, interviews with those who knew them best as well as the police who investigated their crimes allows Dr Giarratano to dissect their personalities and ultimately offer some insight into why they committed these horrific crimes.

How did these fearsome criminals come to be – was it their upbringing, their influences or were they born evil?

BEYOND THE DARKLANDS is narrated by SAMUEL JOHNSON.

9:30pm – Monday, August 31 on Seven

Tonight on BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, we take a look into the mind of one of Australia’s worst serial killers, Peter Dupas.

When Peter Dupas attacked his next door neighbour with a knife at the young age of 15, no-one suspected he might go on to be one of Australia’s worst serial killers. He had always been described as a tubby, shy boy, one who simply looked too weak to even stick up for himself at school.

But it was under that unassuming, baby-faced guise that Peter Dupas got away with brutal sexual crimes against women throughout Melbourne for more than 30 years until he was finally apprehended in 1999. He proved anyone can be a Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde.

Clinical psychologist Dr Leah Giarratano explains how Peter Dupas went from a normal childhood to a monster capable of some of the most barbaric acts of violence against women.

What drove this baby-faced killer? How did he end up as one of Australia’s worst serial rapists and murderers?

In Beyond the Darklands, interviews with those who knew them best as well as the police who investigated their crimes allows Dr Giarratano to dissect their personalities and ultimately offer some insight into why they committed these horrific crimes.

How did these fearsome criminals come to be – was it their upbringing, their influences or were they born evil?

BEYOND THE DARKLANDS is narrated by SAMUEL JOHNSON.

9:30pm – Monday, August 24 on Seven

Tonight on BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, we delve into the mind of the teenager who led a gang of savage rapists on a rampage that shocked Australia.

Bilal Skaf orchestrated attacks that would shake public confidence in the justice system, ignite racial tension and leave behind scores of women whose lives are damaged forever.

In 2000, a series of brutal gang rapes took place in Sydney. The gang leader was 18-year-old Bilal Skaf, who with his brother Mohammed, organised the abduction and rape of four girls in three separate attacks, one of them lasting more than six hours. Up to 14 men were involved, with the youngest just 13.

Even after they were caught, the rapists continued to harass the victims, knowing that without key testimony from a victim, police wouldn’t have a case.

According to police these were the worst rapes they had ever investigated. The judge agreed, giving Bilal Skaf the longest jail term for an offence that wasn’t murder.

At no stage did Skaf show any remorse or compassion for the girls whose lives he had ruined. Eight years later, one of the victims reveals in Beyond the Darklands that she still has trouble coping.

Clinical psychologist Dr Leah Giarratano will reveal what drove Bilal Skaf Beyond the Darklands…

How can an ordinary young man transform himself to become the leader of a pack of violent sexual predators? And how can he fail to see what he is doing is wrong?

In BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, interviews with those who knew them best as well as the police who investigated their crimes allows Dr Giarratano to dissect their personalities and ultimately offer some insight into why they committed these horrific crimes.

How did these fearsome criminals come to be – was it their upbringing, their influences or were they born evil?

BEYOND THE DARKLANDS is narrated by actor SAMUEL JOHNSON.

9:30pm – Monday, August 17 on Seven

In the series return of BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, we take a look into the mind of Australia’s most notorious gangster, Arthur Neddy Smith.

As a career criminal, Neddy Smith enjoyed the protection of corrupt NSW police during the 1970s and 80s, most notably from disgraced former detective Roger Rogerson. He was given the “greenlight” to commit any crimes he wanted in return for giving favourable evidence about a police shooting.

He rode a wave of criminal success organising armed robberies and dealing heroin that earned him millions of dollars and a lifestyle that matched.

When the police protection deal fell apart, Neddy blew the whistle on a decade of police corruption, sparking a Royal Commission.

Clinical psychologist Dr Leah Giarratano explains why Neddy Smith embarked on the life path he did. Now 64 years old, he is serving a life sentence in prison for murder, never to be released.

Was Neddy Smith simply a product of the poisonous environment he was raised in? If he’d had a better upbringing, would he still have become a killer?

In BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, interviews with those who knew them best as well as the police who investigated their crimes allows Dr Giarratano to dissect their personalities and ultimately offer some insight into why they committed these horrific crimes.

How did these fearsome criminals come to be – was it their upbringing, their influences or were they born evil?

BEYOND THE DARKLANDS is narrated by actor SAMUEL JOHNSON.

In this week’s episode of BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, meet the woman who committed a crime so barbaric it shocked the world.

Katherine Knight committed a murder that’s almost incomprehensible. In February 2000, the former abattoir worker stabbed her de facto husband to death, skinned him and then cooked his body parts in a pot on the stove. She then proceeded to set the table for his children’s arrival, complete with vindictive letters.

This appalling murder shows the darkest reaches of the human mind. Katherine Knight is Australia’s first and only women to be jailed for the remainder of her life without parole.

Tonight clinical psychologist Dr Leah Giarratano takes us inside the mind of Australia’s most vicious female killer and explains why she comes from Beyond the Darklands.

Could it be possible that Katherine Knight was sane when she committed this murder? How could someone in their right mind commit an act so completely deranged?

In Beyond The Darklands, interviews with those who knew them best as well as the police who investigated their crimes allows Dr Giarratano to dissect their personalities and ultimately offer some insight into why they committed these horrific crimes.

How did these fearsome criminals come to be – was it their upbringing, their influences or were they born evil?

BEYOND THE DARKLANDS is narrated by actor SAMUEL JOHNSON.

Sunday April 26 9:30pm

In this week’s episode of BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, we delve into the mind of the teenager who led a gang of savage rapists on a rampage that shocked Australia.

Bilal Skaf orchestrated attacks that would shake public confidence in the justice system, ignite racial tension and leave behind scores of women whose lives are damaged forever.

In 2000, a series of brutal gang rapes took place in Sydney. The gang leader was 18-year-old Bilal Skaf, who with his brother Mohammed, organised the abduction and rape of four girls in three separate attacks, one of them lasting more than six hours. Up to 14 men were involved, with the youngest just 13.

Even after they were caught, the rapists continued to harass the victims, knowing that without key testimony from a victim, police wouldn’t have a case.  

According to police these were the worst rapes they had ever investigated. The judge agreed, giving Bilal Skaf the longest jail term for an offence that wasn’t murder. 

At no stage did Skaf show any remorse or compassion for the girls whose lives he had ruined. Eight years later, one of the victims reveals in Beyond the Darklands that she still has trouble coping. 

Clinical psychologist Dr Leah Giarratano will reveal what drove Bilal Skaf Beyond the Darklands…

How can an ordinary young man transform himself to become the leader of a pack of violent sexual predators? And how can he fail to see what he is doing is wrong?

In BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, interviews with those who knew them best as well as the police who investigated their crimes allows Dr Giarratano to dissect their personalities and ultimately offer some insight into why they committed these horrific crimes.

How did these fearsome criminals come to be – was it their upbringing, their influences or were they born evil?

BEYOND THE DARKLANDS is narrated by actor Samuel Johnson.

Wednesday April 1 9:30pm

This week on BEYOND THE DARKLANDS, we take a look into the obsessed mind of violent girlfriend killer William Matheson.

In late 2003, William Matheson brutally murdered his ex-girlfriend, Lyndsay Van Blanken. He strangled the pretty 18-year-old with cable ties before dumping her body in an abandoned storeroom.

That same night he calmly played the cello in front of an audience of thousands. He showed no emotion.

Known for his bizarre behaviour, Matheson would spend nights wandering city streets scavenging for dead animals or sifting through rubbish.

Clinical psychologist Dr Leah Giarratano tells us what led this loner to turn from obsessed ex-boyfriend into a vicious killer. Did Lyndsay’s rejection of him turn him into a killer? Or was he always destined to inflict such unspeakable acts?

In Beyond The Darklands, interviews with those who knew them best – their family, friends, neighbours and teachers – as well as the police who investigated their crimes allows Dr Giarratano to dissect their personalities and ultimately offer some insight into why they committed these horrific crimes.

How did these fearsome criminals come to be – was it their upbringing, their influences or were they natural born killers?