All language subtitles for IXPAND

Please don't touch me.

The Keli Lane case is like no other.

NEWSREADER: A murder mystery.

MAN: She's a murderer.

NEWSREADER: The golden girl
who ended up a baby killer.

MAN: There's no way
she'd kill a baby.

REPORTER: Baby Tegan
was never seen again.

MAN: Nothing was found.
Not anything.

It doesn't add up.

REPORTER: Lane told
more than 95 lies...

WOMAN: She hadn't told a single
solitary person in her life.

MAN: There is only really one person

who can tell what happened,

and that's Keli Lane.

WOMAN: You know, dead sure.
Two o'clock, two o'clock.

Lots of things can go wrong
with this call.

And we're at the very beginning.

Waiting.

Wasn't it, like, yesterday,
they said around two?

Half-past.

(SIGHS)

(PHONE BEEPS)

ELECTRONIC VOICE: You are about to
receive a phone call from an inmate

at the Silverwater
Women's Correctional Centre.

Your conversation will be recorded
and may be monitored.

If you do not wish to
receive this call,

please hang up now.

Go ahead, please.

WOMAN: (ON PHONE) Hello, Caro.

Hi, Keli. How are you?
How are you?

I'm...I'm well. Thanks for calling.

Oh, thank you.

I got caught up at work.
I've only just got out.

So, it's a little bit noisy
on the wing, but...

OK.
So good to talk to you, finally.

Yeah.

And I know we've got limited time,
we've got six minutes.

So...
Yeah.

I guess what I'm interested to know

is, you know,
why did you write to ME?

What do you hope will come of this?

KELI: (ON PHONE) Well, obviously,
the biggest hope for me

is that someone comes forward
with my daughter.

She'd be an adult now.

She's, 20, 21, so she obviously
has had a whole life

perhaps not knowing
that she's my child.

I don't want to interrupt her life.

I don't even necessarily
need to meet her.

But, obviously, for my own family,
for myself,

I want to show
that I did not harm her

and I certainly did not kill her.

NEWSREADER: It was a shock verdict.

REPORTER: Keli Lane was found guilty

of murdering newborn daughter Tegan.

REPORTER: She let out
a primal scream,

she threw herself to the floor
of the dock.

A paramedic was rushed
to the courtroom.

REPORTER 2: Her mother, Sandra,
remains sedated.

REPORTER 3: Keli Lane
is one of the state's

most notorious child killers.

She had insisted she gave Tegan
to her natural father -

a man called Andrew Morris
or Andrew Norris.

REPORTER 4: Detectives searched for
a man named Andrew Morris or Norris,

but concluded he never existed.

(SLOW FOOTSTEPS)

WOMAN: She claims
that she gave Tegan

to Andrew Morris...Norris
and his mother

in the hospital.

But those people
have never come forward.

There was also a description
of this man's partner -

a woman...supposedly called Mel,

who was ever so willing
to take on this child.

No, it was Andrew Norris,
or was it Morris,

and his girlfriend, Mel,
and her mother.

Do you know what I mean?
Like, it's just bizarre.

Like, how can you...?

There were so many incredulities

that made it inherently
unbelievable.

Yes. "I gave the baby away."

You know? No.

MAN: There was a big hunt into
where that child was -

big hunt because of
the versions she gave.

And nothing was...
nothing was found.

Not...not...not anything.

Not Norris.

Nothing...nothing worked for her.

Nothing.

"Why don't people believe me?"

'Cause you're full of shit.

KELI: Although it may seem
very unusual to everybody else,

21 years ago,
they're the steps I took,

and I safely gave her to her father.

And I want to show...
I want to clear my name.

I want to show the public that
that's exactly what happened.

CARO: Well, I need to...
I'm gonna lose you very soon,

but I want to ask you, you know,

part of making those choices

and what you've been
harshly criticised for...

Mm-hm.
..was telling lies.

Yeah.
..and telling lots of lies

over many years.

Yeah.
You know, you were lying then.

Will you be truthful with me
through this?

Oh, 100...
(BEEP!)

I wouldn't have sought you out

and I wouldn't have been
pushing for seven years

and have my life dug into
and exposed

and my family and my friends,
my partner.

I...
(BEEP!)

I would never do that to them.
It's such a huge responsibility.

And I could sit here, Caro,
and do my time.

I'm halfway through.
But, nuh. No way.

I'm happy for you to go
to the ends...ends.

I want you to go to the ends.

OK.
I look forward to it.

OK, well, it's gonna take us
to some...to some tough...

(CALL DISCONNECTS)

(SIGHS)

Whoa.

She accepts she lied.

But we're dealing with a serial liar.

(SIGHS)

But we're down the tube.

OK.

Baby Tegan has never been found.

Where is she?

Her mother claims she's alive.

Investigators say she's dead,

but where is the evidence of that?

And, really, too,
I mean, growing up, for me,

the Keli Lane case here in Sydney,
it was massive.

REPORTER: The New South Wales
Coroner...

CARO: What this woman had done,
all these secret pregnancies,

how promiscuous she was,
the lies she told...

REPORTER: ..to charge a known person
with her homicide...

But through all of that,

I didn't then,
and I still don't now,

have a picture and a full
understanding of who Keli Lane is,

and there is always a story
behind the story.

I guess looking at the next
kind of six months or so

is just completely daunting
and overwhelming

because there's so much to do

and there's so many challenges
with this story.

Getting people to talk to us,

it's something that happened
20 years ago, so long ago,

that even finding original documents
and things from the time

is going to be really difficult.

It's not like you can just
google it and get things to come up.

Um, so it's going to be
really challenging.

Caro can be a very exacting person
to work with.

But she's wonderful at getting
to the bottom of things

and she will not let things go.

CARO: Right, so, where do we begin?

We need to retrace
and rebuild her life.

Who knew what, who saw what and when.

(WHISTLE BLOWS)
(PLAYFUL SHOUTING)

MAN: Keli was, like,
more Manly than anyone.

She epitomised what Manly was.

WOMAN: When I was growing up,
it was like a little country town.

Everyone knew each other.

CARO: Upsides to that,
everyone knows each other.

Mmm.
Downsides?

Everyone knows each other. (LAUGHS)

Yeah, I mean,
there's lots of gossiping.

It's a very ins...like, the
'Insular Peninsula' as they call it.

(CHILDREN SCREAM)

CARO: If you were all growing up

in a close-knit
but gossipy sort of a community...

Mm.

..what do you learn from that,
growing up?

You learn to keep secrets.

Absolutely. You absolutely
learn to keep secrets.

Manly's quite a small place, really.

And you've got a lot of...

..you had a lot of profiled people
there at the time.

You know you've got
Olympic swimmers.

COMMENTATOR: A very happy
Johanna Griggs there.

COMMENTATOR 2: Scott Miller here.

And you had kayak paddlers
and you had ironmen

and you had rugby league players.

COMMENTATOR: Chance for Manly!

WOMAN: She had
a big group of friends.

She was very popular.
She knew everyone in Manly.

She was a really sporty girl.

Keli was...she was cool.
She was a star.

Here I am, doing cartwheels
in a regional athletics carnival,

she's in fourth grade,

running with sixth graders
and whipping our pants,

back then, you know?

She just had gifted natural talent.

CORY HUTCHINGS: She was
a real strong, robust competitor

and I think that's probably
what helped her in water polo.

NATALIE MCCAULEY: Mr. and Mrs. Lane
had very high expectations

and they had very high expectations
of their kids,

and that sort of pressure
can be a good and bad thing.

So, Keli would have done
what she was told to do.

Oh, everyone knew the Lanes.
I mean, everyone knew who they were.

I mean, I'd heard about them
before I knew them.

Very well respected.
Very well respected.

So, they were involved in
Manly Surf Lifesaving

and he was a really good surfer.

At the rugby club,
Robert used to coach

and they were there all the time,
supporting, helping,

whatever it was.

(CHEERING)

CARO: How did Robert see Keli?

She was the apple of his eye.

Yeah. They were close.
They had a great relationship.

She had a great relationship
with her mum as well.

I think
she wanted to impress them

and wanted to...
to represent them well.

Yeah.

And a little bit scared,
too, of her parents.

In terms of dating Keli Lane,

is that something
that guys would aspire to?

Yeah, probably.
I mean, she was a hottie.

VIRGINIA TIMMINS: There wouldn't
have been a bar that she was in

without someone talking to her.

People were attracted to her.
She was fun.

Keli was out to have a good time.

You know, she came out,
she had a good time,

and...I don't know if that
just goes along with sport.

There was definitely a lot
of sexual energy everywhere.

NATALIE MCCAULEY: Mostly
she was a serial monogamist.

Like, she would go
in relationship after relationship.

She was someone
that liked being in a relationship.

When it came to dating, say,
Keli Lane, what was that like?

The daughter of the local copper.
(CHUCKLES)

It was funny because...

Yeah, a couple of the boys,
you know, they said to me...

"..If you go out on a date with her,
be careful.

"Don't... You know,
her old man might get you."

Were you scared of Mr. Lane,
the policeman?

I was more scared of Mrs. Lane.

(CHUCKLES) Sorry, Sandy.

It's true.

Mrs. Lane can be a bit tough
and can come across that way.

Yeah. Tread lightly.

So, the communication skills
within the family unit

were probably a little bit behind.

So if... Where did talking come,
then, in the list of...?

Yeah, yeah. Way down. Way down.

The talking was not, you know,

at any level beyond
the first layer of the onion.

How did her parents strike you?
Sandy and Robert.

They were protective of Keli.

Obviously it's their daughter.

Which makes it so bizarre that Keli
would be living under their roof

and not be aware
that she was pregnant.

Her body was changing.

MAN: Here's a perfectly educated
woman from a very good family

who for reasons
that are hard to understand

has got pregnant five times
in the course of about seven years.

Now, in the first two cases

she successfully had
those pregnancies terminated.

There were then three
live births - one before Tegan

who was the alleged victim,
and one after.

The first live birth
and the third live birth

resulted in adoptions.

Her parents seemed oblivious

or tried to appear
that they were oblivious

to all of this
occurring under their roof.

(CAR HORNS BLARE)

How are you feeling?
MAN: A bit toey as usual, you know?

A bit toey.
Yeah.

We just want to do
the best we can for our daughter.

Mmm. Yeah.
Yeah.

Sandy's OK...

How are you feeling? I asked...

Well, I get the coughs
every now and then, so...

If that's too tight...

Is that alright?

And we wouldn't do it,

only that we hope we can give Keli
a chance to get out before her time.

You wouldn't put yourself under
this sort of pressure otherwise.

But it's solely to help her
get out of the place.

Well, I've said this before
and I'll say it again,

I'm not here to make any promises.

I'm not making promises. I can't.

No-one can.

What I'm here for and what
we're here for is to understand.

To try and understand her.

(COUGHS)

What sort of values
did you instill for Keli, say?

Oh, well, I think respect
for others for a start.

Yeah. Honesty.
Honesty.

And the people would probably say,

"How didn't they know
that Keli was pregnant three times?"

Well, we didn't know.

No-one knew.

She was able
to disguise, hide, whatever.

But she played water polo
in her condition.

And, so...

..you know, we feel dopey
that we didn't pick it up, but...

Well, I don't feel dopey because...
I do.

..I would say just about
everybody who knew her didn't know.

You don't feel dopey?

I don't feel dopey at all.

All I know is...
(PHONE RINGS)

Excuse me.

The fashion at the time,
nobody wore tight clothing.

Nobody. It was all baggy.

She was in a tracksuit
most of the bloody time

because of, you know,
different training sessions

and the lifestyle that she led.

It happens.
And life is stranger than fiction.

When she was growing up, brought
a lot of prestige to our family.

Besides the...other things.

But she was great, you know?

She's got boxfuls of medals
and so forth,

and we...never took them out,
we always kept them...

We never never hung them up
anywhere or anything.

They're all in there.

There's that much stuff
that's... It's all in there.

So, she never hung these up?

BOTH: No.
Never wore them.

Just popped them in a box.

Primary school.

So, there's your murderer.

Why do you say that, Rob?

It's an unusual scenario, isn't it?

Yes.

Last question.
Where do you think Tegan is?

I don't know.

I don't know.
I don't know.

She could be overseas.

She could be anywhere.
I don't know. Don't know.

What do you remember of the day,
then,

when you found out
Keli was in trouble?

I felt very sorry for her.

She carried the load on herself.
She could have shared it with us.

And I do remember saying,
"Why didn't you tell us?

"We could have helped you."

And she said, "But I wanted..."

She wanted to protect us.

Alright?

Yeah, well, just settle down, darl.

You've got to go and
get another Kleenex.

Go on, you can go.

Oh, dear.

I told myself not to get upset.

But it is upsetting.
It's still upsetting.

Alright, let's wrap it up, guys.

He's had enough. He's had enough.
Wrap it up.

So, we're on the way to see
Keli Lane's first serious boyfriend.

His name's Aaron Tyack.

And they dated for quite some time
back in the early '90s.

And Aaron has a really interesting
and a unique perspective

into Keli Lane

because she fell pregnant with Aaron

when they were together -
she was a schoolgirl.

We're here. Here he is.

There's Aaron Tyack.

Hi, Aaron.
How are you going?

I'm good. Hey, nice to meet you.
You too.

How are you feeling?
A bit nervous.

What are you nervous about?

I don't know. I just don't want to
create any more dramas, I suppose.

Let's go inside.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We'll go inside. At least
there's a fan going in there.

This is a world away out here
from Manly,

from the insular peninsula.
(CHUCKLES)

Yeah, it is. It's good.

Do you remember the first time
you ever saw Keli Lane?

Pretty much from the day I saw her,
I'm like, "Oh, who's that?"

You know, she had
the golden-blond hair

and the nice brown skin
and she was fit.

And, you know.

Like, Keli could have...

She could have had
anyone she wanted, really.

Do you think she was
your first true love?

Yeah. I'd had girlfriends
in the past, but...

Yeah. Yeah, she definitely was.

Yeah.

It was young love.

But it was definitely something
that I hadn't sort of felt before.

I loved hanging out with her.

I loved who she was
and what she stood for.

And I reckon she loved me too.

Now, something significant happened

during your relationship with Keli.

Mmm.

Oh... Yeah. God.

Fuckin' hell. Um...

Yeah, well, one day
we were sitting in her room

and she mentioned
that we needed to have a chat.

And, yeah,
she said she was pregnant.

Pretty much matter-of-fact,
just like that.

And my first thing was,
"Well, you're on the pill.

"How did this happen?"

Oh, instantly it's like, whoa.

This...

Yeah. We were...we were too young.

Neither of us could really
offer a baby anything.

So I had my view.
And what was that?

Oh, well, to have...have...

..you know, have a termination,
have an abortion,

which wasn't ideal either,
you know, but...

What was Keli's view?

Yeah, she didn't want to.

But what choice did we have?

I remember driving her to the ferry
at Manly...

..knowing what was, you know,
going to happen that day.

And I just waited
for her to come back.

I remember being there, though,
when she got off.

And, yeah...it was pretty sad.

She was devoed.

And she didn't even say anything.

And she walked up and she just
grabbed me and started crying.

It was, it was horrible.

Who was that girl?

What did you see, that girl
getting off that ferry?

A shattered girl.

Yep.

Now, something happened in that year,

in that final year of high school
for Keli.

She fell pregnant.

Oh...

Yeah. Well, I didn't know.

Are we hashing over
every single, little detail?

I thought I'd ask because

in terms of the forces
that shaped her

and where it led to with this case...

..this may be a starting point.

Oh, I would say obviously now.

But I didn't know.

Um...so I haven't then gone back
and gone, "Oh, what about 1992?"

No, I haven't.

Keli Lane had a second termination,

around the time
you would have broken up.

Did you know about that?

No. I didn't know.

You know, we were breaking up.

Why would she tell me?

Yeah.

Hmm.

Yeah, it's... Mate.

Fuckin' just...

..shocking.

Horrible.

So, these medical records,

they speak to a turning point
here from Keli Lane

because this time around, with
this pregnancy, she tells no-one.

And this is a very
different procedure

to the last one she had.

This is a late-term abortion.
She was 20 weeks pregnant.

It was a two-stage procedure.

So, she's written here
in her handwriting

she doesn't remember having
any counselling...

..after the procedure.
No counselling.

(BEEP! BEEP!)

ELECTRONIC VOICE:
Go ahead, please.

Hi, Caro. It's Kel.
Hi, Keli. Hello.

How are you?
Hello. How are you?

It's been a long time
since we've spoken.

I know. I know.

What happened, then, in '94?

Yeah. I...

It was a very late termination
and I was quite sick.

Physically I was quite sick.

It was quite a traumatic event.

They didn't really offer me
any counselling.

You know, there was the usual
questions, "Are you sure?"

But there was no
follow-up counselling

and I didn't seek
any follow-up counselling.

I just got on with things.

And I think that was really I guess
part of the start of that secrecy

around, you know,

being in a position where I really
should have asked for help.

Is it something that you
wanted to avoid doing again?

Oh, of course. Of course.

I'm not sure
what the psychology is behind it,

but I guess
being an adult now looking back

perhaps that's why, you know, the
going right to full term occurred.

Were you very focused on water polo?
What was your life situation then?

Oh, of course, in 1994,

I didn't know what was ahead for me
with water polo.

You know,
I was just sort of starting out

and had a few...
(BEEP!)

I'd been on a few trips
and it was fun

and I'd made all these new friends.

So, I wasn't as...
You know, I loved it.

(BEEP!)
(CALL DISCONNECTS)

(WATER SPLASHES, SHOUTING)

(CHEERING)

STACEY GAYLARD: Water polo
is a rough sport.

Above the water,
yeah, it looks fine.

Underneath the water - kicking,

pulling past each other,
swimming over each other.

Yeah, it's rough.

Keli talked me into playing once.

And I went through
three pairs of swimmers,

four pairs of swimmers, in two games

because they would rip them off you.

I had scratches across this breast

right down here to my hip.

And they went, "Yeah, it's nothing."

I went, "Uh, hello. That is a lot.
I'm not playing that.

"No, thank you."

What was Keli like as a player?

She wasn't the most skillful player,
alright -

far from it, actually -
but she had grit and determination.

(MAN CHUCKLES)

Well, that depicts Keli pretty well.

Mischievous smile.

I was fortunate enough
to coach the Balmain girls,

and Keli was in the girls' team.

Played her heart out.

Yeah, she loved that team.
The team loved her.

The girls could do no wrong.

VIRGINIA TIMMINS: The water polo
girls were very good-looking,

very blonde, very attractive.

Tough, strong.

One of them was dating a Wallaby.

That's the kind of relationships
they had.

CARO: What was that world like?
The water polo world?

Look, I think it can be
very cliquey,

you're either in or you're out.

And I think they're an interesting
organism in of themselves,

you know?

They have their own
little world going on.

Did you used to play water polo?
WOMAN: Yes.

Oh, great. OK.
My name's Caro Meldrum-Hanna.

I'm ringing from the ABC

and I'm hoping that I can have
a bit of a chat with you

on, I think
a particular person really.

We're looking at the incredible...

(RINGING TONE)

I've had a couple of chats with some
girls who were keen to talk to me

and they say now they don't want to

and that other people
have told them not to.

Why are you sorry? I don't...

OK, bye.

We're having a lot of trouble

speaking to New South Wales
water polo players from this period.

They're closing ranks.

That surprise you?
WOMAN: No.

GPS: The destination
is on your right.

They're protecting themselves.

Obviously there's things that
they don't want you to find out.

Christmas Creek Road.

Goes back to that culture.

What was going on there
in New South Wales?

It was, you know,
play hard, drink hard.

That was the way it went.

They were a team
a lot of girls feared.

They played hard,
but they also played dirty.

Not everyone, but there
was a majority of girls

and probably the posse,

they took delight
in being able to...

..scare the opposition.

Whether it came from the coaching,
I don't know.

So, it was, um...

..yeah, it was an interesting
culture, I guess.

REPORTER: But New South Wales began
to overpower WA.

I want you to take me to Perth,
in January, 1995.

Mm-hm.
Paint me a picture.

I was the team manager
for the Australian squad

and they were having
a practice session

and I was just observing,

watching play,
just watching them...the girls play,

and Keli came onto deck.

Which, when I thought back,

I thought, "Yeah, I'd seen her with
a towel around her a few times."

And the girls had said to me they
thought Keli Lane was pregnant.

What, girls from your team?

Yes, and other teams.

And other coaches had said
they thought she was pregnant.

Talk was everywhere. "Keli Lane's
pregnant. Keli Lane's pregnant."

Normally she would sit down
on the side of the pool

with a towel around her.

She stood up, took the towel off
and she was side-on to me.

And I'm...I'm a mum,

I said, "She's pregnant.
She's definitely pregnant."

And...
No doubt about it.

Nup. My estimation,
maybe six months.

This girl should not be playing.

As soon as training had finished

I went straight up to Bruce Falson,
who was the coach,

and I just said to him,
"Keli Lane is pregnant."

And he said to me,

"I've spoken to Keli about this
and she said no, she wasn't."

I just sort of shook my head,
and nothing...nothing was done.

If there was so much talk,

is there any way that, say, a team
manager could not have heard?

No. Unless you were deaf.

(LAUGHS) No.

Well, at that time, Sandy Lane,
Keli's mother,

was the team manager.

For New South Wales. Yeah, yep.

Look at this.

Oh, my goodness me.

Did you ever get an inkling, Sandy,
because you were the team manager,

did you ever notice
Keli's body changing?

No.

And once again,
people will go, "How could you not?"

Well, I didn't stand talking to her
while she was in the shower,

for instance,
so I wouldn't see her in the nude.

Um...

And at other times, she'd have
clothes on that didn't cling,

so I wouldn't notice
anything there.

But Keli was in a swimming costume.

Mm.

How could you not see that a girl
in a swimming costume is pregnant?

Because she didn't look differently.

Like, she's one that carried
a pregnancy extremely well.

She was never one of those
tummy out here jobs.

That pregnancy you saw
in January 1995,

Keli Lane was playing
the grand final in March.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's... Yeah.

Gosh. Yeah.

I mean, as a mother, that really...
It does, it hits home.

Yeah.

What's upsetting you?
I don't know. (SNIFFLES)

I just can't imagine anyone
doing that. I really can't.

If someone had stepped in
and done something back then...

..would she be where she is today?

There's a lot of people
have got a lot to answer for.

Um...

It's terrible.

(CHEERING)

She was playing in the water polo

competition finals

where her team Balmain was playing
I think Sydney University.

I mean, you talk reckless,
so she goes and plays water polo,

which we know
is a violent, well, not violent,

it's a very physical game.

How stressful
was that 1995 grand final?

Were you worried playing?
KELI: Of course.

Of course. I was worried
all the time about different things.

Highly stressed, worried about
my health, about the baby's health,

about what I was doing,
"Is this OK?

"Should I stop?
What am I going to do?"

I mean, I wasn't feeling very well.

Obviously I didn't know at the time
that that's what happens before...

You know,
I obviously knew I was pregnant.

It was going to happen
at some stage,

but I didn't know really
what the lead-up would be like.

And I was very tired and, yeah,
of course I had huge concerns.

But I didn't know how to manage
my relationships with people,

I didn't know how to ask for help
because people had never shown me

that they were open
to me coming to them.

MARK TEDESCHI: That night
after the game, which they lost,

they went to a pub at Balmain
to have a drink.

At about 9pm they noticed
that Keli had disappeared.

But in fact what had happened is
she'd gone into labour at the pub.

She then presented
to the Balmain Hospital.

MAN: From the notes
that I have in front of me

from Balmain Hospital casualty,

in March, at 9:40 in the evening,

I read that a 19-year-old woman,
Keli Lane,

was brought into casualty
by her boyfriend

who then turned around and left.

Wasn't seen again.

She told me she'd had no problems
up to date with the pregnancy.

She had an obstetrician in Perth

and she'd been in Sydney
just for three weeks.

To me this presentation for
the patient coming in, Keli Lane,

had a basic story
that was not outlandish,

was taken on face value
and we acted accordingly.

MARK TEDESCHI: On that night
that she went into labour

she was transferred
to the King George V Hospital

where she gave birth to a fully
formed, perfectly healthy baby.

And then the rumours came back
that she went missing

and the girls from water polo
were ringing around the hospitals

to see if Keli Lane had had a baby,

and one of them said yes.

By this stage,

Keli Lane has been missing now
from her life, from her parents,

her water polo team,

just gone, vanished.

Now, surely that would raise
some suspicions.

To add even more unbelievable
on top of unbelievable...

..it's Keli Lane's birthday.

She's 20.

So, where do her parents
think she is, their daughter,

on her 20th birthday?

Two days after Keli gave birth,
this first time, to a little girl,

it was Keli's birthday.

Mm.
Her 20th birthday.

Yeah, it would have been. Yeah.

I'm just trying
to get it all in my head. Yep.

Do you remember her 20th birthday?
No.

Nup.

What Keli had done
is she'd ducked out of hospital.

She was still in hospital, obviously,

she'd only had a baby
48 hours or less earlier.

Got a day visitation
sort of pass out, a pass out...

..had a birthday...

..and then the next morning, early,
went back to the hospital.

To me, it kind of shows
a strength in a lot of ways

that, um...
that she kept it to herself

and dealt with it how she saw fit
to deal with it

without letting, you know,
us know, for instance.

Um...all of this is news to me.

Even now?
Yeah, I've never knew that.

Really?
Nup.

I didn't know that she
came out of hospital, came home,

had dinner
and went back the next morning.

No.

I wasn't privy
to any of that sort of stuff.

I'm sorry, Sandy, I didn't know
you were in the dark

about lots of details,
I really didn't.

That's alright.

I was shattered
a very long time ago.

Oh, Sandy, I'm sorry.

KELI: I do remember at the hospital
they had a cake for me.

And I remember I just burst
into tears and just thought,

"What am I happy about? I can't
be happy about anything."

She tells the hospital staff
she had antenatal care in Perth,

that both of her parents
are in Perth,

she's got no social support
in Sydney

and that she's living
at the wrong address.

And that's just the start
of the lies.

And she's gone to great effort
to do that, being so elaborate.

Because there's no way
they can contact anyone.

I've been studying
the medical records.

KELI: Uh-huh.

And you tell a story about Perth...

KELI: Perth.
Perth. Yeah.

Right. That I was from Perth?

Exactly.

Do you remember that story you told?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Why did you...
Why did you tell that story?

I think I picked Perth,

I'm thinking
because I'd been there recently.

I'd been to Perth a few times
in the early '90s

and it was the furthest place away.

So, it was just being young and
frightened and telling these lies

to put distance between myself
and my family finding out,

all my friends finding out.

MARK TEDESCHI: It had taken months
to organise the adoption.

During that time she'd seen
the child a number of times

and she'd met
with the adoptive parents

and she'd found it
very emotionally traumatic.

She had no-one to confide in,
no-one to trust in,

no-one that she could talk to.

As a human being,
carrying that burden

and having to go through
an adoption process...

..it just...

From a human perspective,
it's astounding.

INGE JONES: She's young,
she's on her own.

That to me straightaway
would go, "Hang on a minute."

How the fuck does a girl leave...

Sorry, take the swear word back.

How does society
let a girl feel so alone?

Or how do we not
pick up the signals?

How do we just miss them?

I was really interested to know...
KELI: Yeah.

..what happens for you in your heart,
I guess, and your head

after you give your first girl up?

Because to me if I try
and place myself in your shoes,

I'm thinking I'd be doing anything to
avoid being in that scenario again,

because it was just so hard.

Yeah, it was so hard.

I certainly didn't think, "I'm
going to go out and do that again."

That would be, you know...
I'd be crazy, literally.

But I just think it was carelessness

and a lack of self-protection

and then, you know, drinking a lot,

drinking and not using the pill
correctly

or not asking my partner
to use protection.

And not having control
I think is the biggest thing -

is not having control
of the situations I was in.

When it was done, it was done
and she was safe

and she was happy,
and they let me know,

you know, everything is good
and so I could just move on.

You know, I could just
put it out of my mind.

(BEEP!)
(CALL DISCONNECTS)

Life went on.

Hmm.

Now, do you not remember
what party this was?

It would be...

That's the 21st.

'Cause I recognise the clothes.

Good party?
Terrific party.

Now, that girl standing in
those photos there, your daughter...

Mm.

..at this time here
she's pregnant with Tegan.

Oh, well, how could you tell?

About four months pregnant.

Amazing.

You said "amazing". What did you mean
when you said, "Amazing"?

Well, I mean, look how thin she is.

And we see women these days...

..because their dresses
are too tight, for a start.

(LAUGHS) I'm a bitch.

No. It's just...it's society.
It's how things have changed.

Mm.

But, I mean, you can see,

you know, the clothes weren't
particularly tight on anybody.

Like, it was just...

REBBECCA BECROFT:
She was living her life...

..as someone who wasn't pregnant -

drinking, partying, going out,

socialising,
playing representative water polo.

It's just like this was one part

and then there's this totally
other part of her actual life.

A double life.
Yeah. Absolutely.

It has to be.

KELI: I was excellent at putting
things into boxes and parking them

because I had been,
from a very young age,

able to be different things
for different people

and trying to please people.

And, you know,
I trained from a very young age,

and so I was under coaches
from a very young age

and taking direction

and being able to put my emotions
aside when things hurt.

When you're training
at 8, 9, 10 years old

and physically you're hurting,
you put that aside

and your emotions
really don't come into it.

So I was excellent at hiding how
I felt and what was hurting me.

STACEY GAYLARD: So, we were training
at the Olympic Park pool.

Normally we would just walk over
to the pool, cap and goggles,

togs on, dive in and away we go.

Kel walked over and,
very, very unusually,

she walked over to the edge
of the pool and slid into the water.

What did it look like to you
when you watched that?

That she was pregnant.

What did you do next?
What did you think to do?

Um...

Well, when we were swimming...

..as we were swimming past
each other, we had goggles on,

and it was just a look at her tummy
under the water just to confirm...

..what we thought we had seen.

What did you see?

She was pregnant - heavily pregnant.

Yeah.

KELI: Like, wasn't I worth asking?

Like, why were people afraid?
Or why did they not want to ask me?

Or I guess that's pushing
the responsibility onto them.

But it's kind of sad
to think that no-one reached out

and said, "You seem different,"

or, "You look different,"
or, "Are you OK?"

If you had your time over again...

I would ask. Absolutely.

Yeah.

Even though that wall was up...

..and Keli made it very clear

that...that it was
her private business

and she didn't want anyone to know,

but in hindsight
I would have asked, "Are you OK?"

You regret not asking?

Yes.

Yeah, I do.

You know, simple words,

simple words that could have made
a huge difference to her life.

Yeah.

What about coaching staff?

How could they not have noticed?

The coaches,

the managers,

and all the adults involved...

..at that time in water polo
should have done something.

They should have gone to Keli
and said, "Are you OK?"

I don't believe for a second

that they didn't notice changes

like the girls did.

PHILLIP BOWER: I'm 100% sure

when she was in the state team
she was not pregnant, OK?

That I would have noticed, alright?

Because they're probably training
four times a week. You'd see them.

Have a look at this.

Now, what year is that?

1996 national championships.

Now, Keli Lane, in that team,
state team you were coaching there,

she's pregnant.

Yep. And, well, OK,
I'll take your word for that.

I mean, you just said before,
"100% she wasn't pregnant

"when I was coaching her."

No. And I'm...

Can I look at that again
just to see who is in that team?

Have a look at that date there.

Wasn't she supposed to...? When was
she supposed to have had the baby?

September 1996.

(GASPS) My God, again?

That was Tegan.
She's pregnant with Tegan.

Wow.

Do you know which baby

that Keli Lane was pregnant with
here when you were coaching her?

I've got no idea.

It was Tegan.
Right.

Yeah, I'm starting to feel
a bit guilty that I didn't realise.

Maybe I was very naive.

After that day, I can't recall

Keli being...

..at a game pregnant.

It makes me think, you know, maybe
that was very close to giving birth.

Yes. I think so too.

And it was probably two or three
weeks later I saw her again.

And she was clearly not pregnant.

Where is this baby?

What happened to this baby?

And then to do it again
the third time.

Who, what and why?

And that's how
the whole thing started.

That is how it all unravelled.

How did Keli Lane come undone?

MARK TEDESCHI: During
the adoption process

for the third child, a little boy...

..she repeatedly denied that
she'd had any previous children.

She made it almost impossible
for the adoption agency Anglicare

to make contact with her.

REBBECCA BECROFT: Extreme.
It was lie here, deception there,

lie here, trying to cover her tracks
continuously.

The amount of lies that she told,
half-truths she told,

it was massive.

Absolutely massive.

MARK TEDESCHI: As a result,
the initial fostering agreement

which she signed, lapsed.

And the agency was not able to get
in touch with her to renew it.

So the adoption agency was obliged
to hand the child over

into the care of DoCS,
Department of Community Services.

The case eventually went
to a Mr. John Borovnik,

who worked for DoCS.

In my view,
if it wasn't for John Borovnik,

the disappearance of Tegan Lane

would never have been noticed.

Who's Keli Lane to you? What is she?

JOHN BOROVNIK: She's a dangerous
person. She's a psychopath.

In my opinion.

Narcissistic.

Everything revolves around her,
plays the victim really well.

She's just a pathological liar
and she believes those lies.

Like... Yeah.

Hello, John.
Hi, Caro. How are you doing?

It was 1999 and I was on leave.

And I came back and they said,

"Oh, you know, Johno,
here's an easy case for you."

Yeah, right. Um...

"We've got this child,

"its mum has put it up for adoption
and she just took off."

He started to make inquiries
about this mystery woman

who was so difficult to contact.

The first thing I had to do
was ring Ryde Hospital.

I said, "I'm ringing up
in relation to Keli Lane

"and trying to find
her whereabouts."

She said, "Oh, John," she said
"Did you know that she was here

"back in 1996,

"40 weeks pregnant?"

And I said, "No."

REBBECCA BECROFT: So,
he's looked at the records

and went, "Hang on, you've told us
that you've never had a baby before.

"So what happened to the baby that
you were pregnant with in '96?"

I rang up our branch of adoptions

and I asked to speak to a caseworker

if they had any information
regarding a baby back in 1996.

So, another bombshell comes along.

REBBECCA BECROFT: It was lucky
that whoever was on the phone

went, "Oh, by the way..."

She said, "Are you talking
about the baby in 1995?"

And I looked at my phone
and I said...

..I said, "What baby in 1995?"

I said, "I'm talking about
the baby in 1996."

And she said, "What baby in 1996?"

What is going on here?
Like, what...?

Who? What? Where?

Her birth was never registered
with the Registrar General's Office.

It had been some years
that had gone by...

..without anybody realising
that there was a baby missing.

Is she alive?

Is she with the father?

Is she in an illegal adoption
with...through Keli?

Like, who knew? No-one knew.

So, had to keep plodding away.

And then got the information back
from the Department of Health -

the fax, in letter form,

saying the baby girl
by the name Tegan Lee Lane

was born at Auburn Hospital on
12 September 1996 by Keli Lane.

Wow. You know, like...

MARK TEDESCHI: She left the hospital
with a perfectly healthy young baby

and arrived later at her home
without the baby.

REBBECCA BECROFT: Keli was in
an absolute conundrum

when she left the hospital.

She's got a wedding to go to.

The child was never seen again,
has never been located.

And the mother went to a wedding
on the peninsula, from memory.

REBBECCA BECROFT: I watched
most of the wedding,

like, what was on the video.

I looked at her...

..at that wedding and went,
"How could you?"

She appears happy and in the moment

and celebrating
her friend's wedding,

yet a very short period before

she'd just discharged from hospital
with a baby.

And...and she was in white.

Any woman that's given birth
would understand

how unique...strange it would be

that you would wear
an all-white outfit

two days after giving birth.

John Borovnik
became quite determined

to find out what had happened
to this child,

so he made contact with her.

He rang her at the school

where she was employed
as a sports teacher.

That was one of the most bizarre
phone calls I've ever had.

And I asked her, I said, "Look,
I've got to ask you a few questions

"in regards to some information
that I have."

And she said, "OK."

KELI: It was like I'd picked up
the phone to my greatest nightmare.

And he just started
peppering questions at me.

I said, "OK,
Did you have a live-born baby girl

"on 12 September at Auburn
Hospital?" And she says no.

I looked... You know, I looked
at my phone and went, "What?"

KELI: I felt like
I was being attacked.

"Attack" is probably a bit strong
in that way,

but I felt like
I was being made accountable.

And she says, "Nope.

"Don't know
what you're talking about."

I went, "Well, I know
what I'm talking about.

"I know what the truth is.

"I have it in front of me."

Then that was it,

that was the end of the phone call.

It was, like, bringing it
all back to me in one hit.

It was, it was being exposed.

And I just put the phone down
and said, "Gotcha."

"Yes. Got YOU for this."

Yeah.

Did you kill the child?
No, I did not.

She said, "Oh, Mum,
something's happened.

"The police are going
to come and see you."

You have your faith in the police,
that they're going to investigate it

and it didn't happen.

It was amazing how many records
had been destroyed.

A parlously bad investigation.

I understand you've got
something for me.

What type of files do we want
to recover? All file types.

I mean, you told me that this young
guy's taken the baby to raise it,

which is really unusual.

The gloves will be off and she'll
have to suffer the consequences.

We needed to identify
the fathers of Keli's children.

Have you ever spoken publicly
about Keli Lane?

No.

Hi. I'm making a film

and I'm trying to understand
the layout of the building.

KELI: I really realised, wow...

..you should have just been honest
from the start.