Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler by Peter Butt

There is a haunting quality to it that works with the stylised slow-motion re-creations and a narration by Hugo Weaving that leads us on, promising to disclose intimate personal details about the characters and unknown facts about the case. But sex, murder and death sell newspapers (see clip two).įrom the first few bars it is the music, composed by Guy Gross, that sets the scene. There was never any evidence to suggest he was involved other than the fact that he was also having an affair and seemed to condone his wife’s flirtation with Dr Bogle on the night. The interview with him is at the heart of the documentary and shows the human cost of trial by media. Geoffrey Chandler, the dead woman’s husband, was considered the main suspect by police, the media and the public. The media coverage only fuelled the rumours. The discovery of a handsome married CSIRO scientist lying naked with the young beautiful wife of his colleague, both dead, in the early hours of New Year’s Day led to endless gossip and speculation. Detectives, a coronial inquest and forensics have been unable to solve it, however this documentary may have put the mystery to rest (see clip one).īut the film is more than just solving a mystery: it is an investigation into a time of strict moral standards in Australia which gave the atmosphere around the case a sensational edge. Only in this case it is a true crime which has haunted Australia for over four decades. Like all great crime movies it starts with dead bodies. Finally the film presents its own answer to the mystery of who killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler.įrom the pre-title sequence to the end credits Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler is a beautifully crafted documentary in the classic mode of a ‘whodunnit’. Combining interviews with suspects, detectives, toxicologists and journalists with a narration by Hugo Weaving, the documentary recreates the investigation surrounding their deaths. Through painstaking research and dramatic storytelling, Butt follows the twists and turns of the investigation into the deaths, both before the bodies were found and after. A coronial inquest collapsed with no findings.įor 40 years their deaths remained one of the world’s greatest forensic mysteries until filmmaker Peter Butt made this documentary. Suspicion fell on Margaret’s husband Geoffrey Chandler but neither the detectives, nor the forensic team, were ever able to make an arrest. Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler retraces the investigation into the deaths of brilliant CSIRO scientist Dr Bogle and his lover, Mrs Margaret Chandler, whose bodies were found beside the Lane Cove River, NSW in 1963. Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler? ( 2006) Synopsis

Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler by Peter Butt