DELVE: Powder Keg

We track down families who lost their homes in 'Chris the Kiwi’ Ashenden’s property dealings. And what happens next is what Powder Keg, the podcast, is all about – Ashenden, his unorthodox billion-dollar business and his magical mystery powder. 

All we know is that his company AG1 is headquartered at an address in Carson City, Nevada. If it comes to the crunch and he doesn’t front, we’ll need to go there to talk with the company’s founder.

What we didn’t know is the story of criminal offending that will emerge – a story that Chris the Kiwi didn’t want told.

Listen to the first 3 episodes now. Episode 4 is available first to subscribers to DELVE+. To listen early and ad-free to this show, to our bonus episodes, and to award-winning podcast The Boy in the Water and Melanie Reid’s latest investigation, Fractured, sign up to DELVE+.

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Our final episode in this season coincides with world headlines about a man facing execution for the same diagnosis that imprisoned Zita. Shaken baby syndrome is being called “junk science” in the US, but it has upended the life Zita had hoped for in New Zealand. Now out of jail, she is battling her impending deportation with Immigration NZ, all while continuing to maintain her innocence. Will she get to see her daughter? Will the international experts come through in time? And why won’t Starship Hospital front up on this case? 

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Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz

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When investigative journalist Jonathan Milne started slugging back an expensive, vivid green AG1 shake every morning to get in shape for his 50th birthday, he knew what the company’s chief science officer said – that the green powder product would make him healthier.

What he didn’t know about were the adverse reports to the Food and Drug Administration of liver damage, nor of the scrutiny by the courts, and now of a national regulator.

Episodes 1 and 2 of Powder Keg are live now, with Episode 3 also available for subscribers to DELVE+.

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Chris Ashenden and Jonathan Milne are both Kiwi blokes in their late 40s. Chris has an unrelenting personal ambition – it’s served him well. The business leader’s quest wasn’t for the Holy Grail, it was for a holy green drink.

Jonathan is an investigative journalist. What’s served him well is his doggedness. And when Chris wouldn’t front for an interview about the success of his green powder shake and his US$1.2 billion company, Jonathan began asking questions. 

At first, Chris’s AG1 supplement had been targeted at sportspeople and gym freaks – but by last year, we reveal he’d rebranded to target the widest possible market of middle-America…desk-bound 30- or 40-something mums and dads, anxious to get back in shape.

Episodes 1 and 2 of Powder Keg are live now, with Episode 3 also available for subscribers to DELVE+.

To listen early and ad-free to this show, to our bonus episodes, and to award-winning podcast The Boy in the Water and Melanie Reid’s latest investigation, Fractured, sign up to DELVE+.

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Things really start to wind up when Melanie and Bonnie have a major breakthrough and track down a UK paediatric pathologist who was at forefront of overturning murder charges in a high profile London case. She throws a whole new light on our case and will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew.

Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz

*Listen to the first eight episodes free. If you want to support our work and hear today’s Episode 9 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free.*

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Some stories grow from a green shoot; some explode like a powder keg. The global supplement market is worth $200 billion a year, and Chris Ashenden is a rock star of the industry. Yet in his home country of New Zealand, nobody had heard of him. Investigative journalist Jonathan Milne wanted to tell his story – but when Chris proved elusive, alarm bells began to ring. In the latest electrifying podcast from DELVE, we investigate the superstar endorsements, the science and the safety of the world’s favourite green powder, AG1. Listen to a story that will entangle the biggest names in audio, from Joe Rogan to Andrew Huberman to Gwyneth Paltrow. We follow the money, dig into the crimes and commission our own lab analysis. From the chill of the Southern Ocean to a record Mexican heatwave, from Colombia to the Caribbean, we chase down AG1’s founder to tell the story he didn’t want told. 

Episodes 1 and 2 launch Thursday, October 31, with Episode 3 also available for subscribers to DELVE+

To listen early and ad-free to this show, to our bonus episodes, and to award-winning podcast The Boy in the Water and Melanie Reid’s latest investigation, Fractured, sign up to DELVE+.

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How did moving to live in the dream country of New Zealand end up like this? Prison, divorce and a baby in the custody of the state.

Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz

*Listen to the first seven episodes free. If you want to support our work and hear today’s Episode 8 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. Sign up to DELVE+ to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free.*

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Zita continues to maintain her innocence as the courtroom drama concludes with the judge delivering a sentence Zita is totally unprepared for. In jail, she is put in an isolation wing after inmates call her a baby killer.

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Did some of Baby K’s fractures occur while on 24 hour watch in the hospital? What about the traumatic birth? “Doctors sometimes can and do get it wrong”…all this and more in the final address of Zita’s lawyer.  

*Listen to the first five episodes free. If you want to support our work and hear today’s Episode 6 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. DELVE+ subscribers get Early Release, Ad Free listening.*

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What is it like to be charged with child abuse in a foreign country? Zita finds out as she faces the might of Starship Hospital at her criminal trial.

*Listen to the first four episodes free. If you want to hear today's Episode 5 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. DELVE+ subscribers get Early Release, Ad Free listening.*

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The NZ police investigation ramps up and, with their child taken, the couple have their house bugged, their phones tapped and just as they think it can’t get any worse…it does.

*Listen to the first three episodes free. If you want to hear today’s Episode 4 right away, become a subscriber to DELVE+. DELVE+ subscribers get Early Release, Ad Free listening.*

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Melanie and Bonnie meet the young couple at the centre of this case and they begin to unravel the complex cascade of events that led to a young mother being accused, convicted and jailed for two and a half years - and the daunting fight that lies ahead.

*If you want to hear Episode 3 as soon as it's released, become a subscriber to DELVE+*

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What happens when the dream country, New Zealand, becomes a living hell? The Boy in the Water creator, multi-award-winning journalist Melanie Reid, is in the middle of another story when she receives an email that causes her to drop everything and get on a plane. After a year of extensive investigations, we now bring you that case.

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On the final day of the coronial inquest into the death of three-year-old Lachie Jones, his mother has a statement read out in court, Lachie’s father addresses the Coroner and throws more shade on the police investigations - and the lawyers play their final cards for and against an accidental drowning.

We also introduce our scorching, brand new podcast investigation on DELVE, coming very soon!

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Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz

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Jonathan appears via videolink from his new home in Australia to respond to allegations he threw his little brother Lachie in the pond, and the young man at the centre of the Facebook messages gets riled up during cross examination.

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Things get heated in court when the young woman at the centre of the messages that allege Lachie’s brother threw him in the pond testifies at the inquest - and she fires back at attempts to question her motive and undermine her evidence.

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A doctor from Starship Children’s Hospital is questioned on all the big mysteries in the case including that Lachie was found face up, had no water in his lungs and had no external injuries.

You can see an image of a cross section of the pond on our Facebook page and our Instagram page. 

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As the line-up of experts continues, we go on a crash course on the inner workings of the Gore sewerage ponds, and we hear yet another opinion on whether Lachie could have made it all the way out there by himself.

You can see an image of a cross section of the pond on our Facebook page and our Instagram page. 

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DELVE presents the new in-depth podcast from Melanie Reid Investigates about a controversial medical diagnosis from a New Zealand hospital and the cascade of events that followed. 

A baby taken, a mother jailed, a couple forced apart and facing deportation without their daughter. 

Crushed by the weight of multiple government departments working in lockstep, what happens when the dream of a new country becomes an unimaginable nightmare? 

In this new investigation, Melanie Reid and her team take the x-rays that were used to convict a young mother and put them before international experts, who tell us this case is just the tip of the iceberg of a factitious medical phenomenon leading to injustice around the globe.

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Fractured is presented by investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz and search for Melanie Reid Investigates on Facebook and Instagram.

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In today’s episode, The Depot, three months after giving evidence in the first phase of the inquest, Michelle Officer presents a new sworn statement that changes her account of her movements at the depot that afternoon, but a contractor who works from the same depot says Lachie and his mother weren’t there.

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Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz and search for Melanie Reid Investigates on Facebook and Instagram.

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Robin Bates, lawyer for the police, goes into full Crown prosecutor mode, as he tries to dent the findings, methodology and conclusion in former forensic detective Karen Smith’s report.

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Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz and search for Melanie Reid Investigates on Facebook and Instagram.

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Robin Bates, the lawyer representing the police, goes head to head with former forensic detective Karen Smith.

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Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz and search for Melanie Reid Investigates on Facebook and Instagram.

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In today’s episode, Staged As An Accident, Karen Smith details timelines, distances, witness statements and the 111 call, and explains how she reached her conclusion that Lachie’s death was staged to look like an accident. 

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Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz and search for Melanie Reid Investigates on Facebook and Instagram.

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Karen Smith lays out the system failures, biases and exactly what went wrong with the investigation into Lachie’s death - and questions why the NZ police are so obstinate in this case.

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A forensic pathologist and a retired forensic detective, both Americans, give evidence in the Invercargill courtroom and fiercely defend their views – one emphatic Lachie drowned, the other who says his death was staged.

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The controversy steps up a notch when a Wellington based forensic pathologist enters the frame and is intractable on Lachie’s cause of death.

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Speculation and hypothetical scenarios are thrown around the courtroom, as the absence of a forensic autopsy limits options.

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Dr Martin Sage, the man who says he could have and should have done the forensic autopsy on Lachie, takes the stand. He gives a rare window into the reality of forensic autopsies and we find out what he believes may or may not have happened to Lachie.

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Melanie Reid and her team make their way south for the second phase of the inquest, and on the first day a police dog expert is asked that if Lachie walked out to the ponds, why did the police dog not pick up his scent until 30 metres out?

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Following a tip-off, Melanie Reid heads south and gets the Facebook messages, the phone and the explosive interview.

The Boy in the Water is now part of our new investigative podcast channel, DELVE. 

Melanie Reid Investigates will be releasing gripping, in-depth podcasts on DELVE throughout the year.

If you would like to support our work:

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US-based Andrea Zaferes, who has investigated thousands of ‘body found in water’ cases, tells Melanie Reid what stacks up and what doesn’t when investigating suspected drownings. 

You can also watch a short video of Andrea explaining the positions bodies are commonly found in when they are in water, on our Facebook page and our Instagram page. 

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On the last day of phase one of the inquest, Detective Inspector Stu Harvey is cross examined about witness statements that weren’t taken, the reliability of eyewitness identifications, and any lessons he gleaned from the reinvestigation. Coroner Ho then wraps up the inquest for now. 

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The final witness to appear for this first phase of the inquest is the man who was in charge of the reinvestigation into Lachie’s death, Detective Inspector Stu Harvey.

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The police dog handler who found Lachie with his dog Gee gives his evidence in closed court.

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Bill Little, who’s been in the job for more than 30 years, sets the record straight about process, protocol and who is responsible for what. 

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The pathologist who conducted the post mortem on Lachie tells the inquest they didn’t even have the right equipment to do pediatric autopsies in Southland. 

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A former police officer who worked under Senior Sergeant Cynthia Fairley refutes her assertion that he was in charge of the investigation into Lachie’s death.

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The pressure is on to find out who was responsible, who was in charge, and who turned around the autopsy. 

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Senior Sergeant Cynthia Fairley, the police officer at the centre of the case, is in the witness box. 

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The first of the police officers scheduled to appear at the inquest takes to the witness stand, and we begin to hear about the confusion over who was in charge of the investigation into Lachie's death.

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The sighting of a mysterious shirtless man, what one of Lachie's preschool teachers remembers about him, and the two paramedics who worked on the little boy's lifeless body all feature in this collection of shorter witness testimonies.

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The police’s lawyer tackles Paul about making claims that Michelle and her sons had something to do with Lachie’s death.

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Paul is questioned about his relationship with Michelle and the events on the day and night leading up to Lachie’s death.

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You could have heard a pin drop in courtroom four when a new witness was asked why he thought something he saw could relate to the death of Lachie Jones.

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Kimberley Rogers, who says she was friends with Michelle Officer for 17 years, tells the inquest Michelle kept changing her story about Lachie running away. 

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The neighbours from the street who searched for Lachie, and the friends who were there that night, all take the stand. 

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The police hat, the yellow vest, who saw what, and what was accurate?

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Lachie's other brother tells the inquest about his family relationships, and his movements on January 29, 2019. You can also click here to see photos of the gate and fence to the sewage oxidation ponds on our Instagram.

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Hearing but not seeing Lachie, and the surprise on the 111 call.

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We hear from Lachie's brother for the first time as he is cross-examined about what happened that day and night.

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In this special bonus epsiode, Melanie Reid discusses the first days of the inquest with colleague Bonnie Sumner.

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Timings, layouts and lines of sight are all explored – and questions are raised about dope smoking.

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On day two of the inquest, Lachie’s mother goes head to head with Paul Jones’ lawyer as he puts it to her that she covered up her son’s death.

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The questioning of Lachie’s mother continues with a forensic examination of the day her son died.  

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Emotional scenes play out in the Invercargill courthouse on day one of the coronial inquest, when Lachie’s mother is cross examined by Paul Jones’ lawyer.

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Presented by award-winning investigations editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz

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From Melanie Reid Investigates comes the brand new season of The Boy in the Water. Listen as we follow the coronial inquest into the death of three-and-a-half year old Lachlan Jones, whose lifeless body was found face up in a sewage oxidation pond in the small town of Gore in January 2019.

We have been covering this case for more than four years now. In Season One we revealed multiple flaws in the police investigation and uncovered new evidence that cast serious doubt about the circumstances surrounding Lachie’s death. Then, in August 2023, the coroner announced he would be holding an inquest into Lachie’s death.

In Season Two, we take you directly inside the courtroom during the inquest to hear the voices and evidence of the key people involved in this gripping case.

Melanie and her team will be travelling to Invercargill at the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island to cover the three-week inquest in May 2024, followed by another two weeks in August. 

Season Two of The Boy In The Water is coming soon to newsroom.co.nz and wherever you get your podcasts.

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We reveal an important update from the coroner’s office, plus a radio interview with Melanie Reid on The Detail.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch the video version of The American Detective, read about the police review into the case, and listen to our award-winning podcast Peter Ellis, the Creche Case & Me.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the astonishing season finale, a ‘big gun’ US retired forensic detective is on the case - and she’s not going to stop until she finds the truth.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

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Lachie’s graveside birthday celebration, and an ex-police officer reveals the culture of bullying and burnout at the Gore police station.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

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Inside the small town Gore courtroom - the disappointment, the heartache and Paul Jones tells it like it is.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

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The twists and turns continue when we hear the police statements of Lachie’s mother, brother and a teenager who lived on the street.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mysterious and tragic circumstances surround the night Lachie’s body was found.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

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Volatile relationships and police call-outs - what was going on leading up to Lachie’s death?

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

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The whole town gets drawn into the case as the local council is charged in relation to Lachie's death.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The mystery surrounding the death of Lachie Jones deepens after our team sends lung tissue samples to an international forensic pathologist.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

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Officials jump to an early and dubious conclusion when a three-year-old boy's body is found floating in a town's sewage ponds.

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Presented by award-winning Newsroom Investigates editor Melanie Reid. Discover more at Newsroom.co.nz.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Newsroom’s electrifying new podcast takes you inside a small town harbouring a big mystery. After the lifeless body of three-year-old Lachie Jones is found floating in an oxidation pond in the Southland town of Gore, police rule his death a tragic accident. But nothing is what it seems. Newsroom’s investigations editor Melanie Reid has spent three years covering this case, revealing multiple flaws in the police investigation and uncovering new evidence that casts serious doubt about the circumstances surrounding Lachie’s death. In The Boy in the Water, Reid unravels the case – and the secrets – in an attempt to find out what really happened to little Lachie Jones. The Boy In The Water is coming soon to newsroom.co.nz and wherever you get your podcasts.

Sign up to DELVE+ here for Android and Spotify listeners to get early access to new episodes and receive exclusive bonus material, all ad-free.

For Apple Podcasts listeners, sign up to DELVE+ by simply clicking the subscribe banner on the DELVE page and follow the prompts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.