Deal with the Devil: The Death of Matthew Leveson and the Ten-Year Search for the Truth

by Grace Tobin

Overview

What Mark and Faye Leveson have endured to find the truth about the mysterious death of their son Matt is unfathomable. For 10 years, they tirelessly searched bushland for his body and doggedly pursued justice in a fruitless attempt to catch the man they believed responsible. That man, Michael Atkins, always denied having any involvement with their son’s disappearance despite the compelling evidence stacked against him. Atkins was, in fact, a pathological liar. But to expose his deceit and achieve their main objective—to find Matt’s body—the Levesons agreed to deal with the devil. In an unprecedented move, Atkins received immunity from prosecution in exchange for revealing where he buried Matt. He also sensationally claimed that Matt wasn’t murdered but instead died of a drug overdose. For Mark and Faye, it’s an unlikely story and one they'll never accept.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143790211
Publisher:	Penguin Random House Australia
Publication date:	12/01/2018
Edition description:	None
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Grace Tobin joined 60 Minutes as a researcher in 2013. She moved to Sydney from her previous roles as a reporter for the Win Network and Seven News across Queensland. She has been a finalist in the 2014 Walkley Awards and a finalist in the 2015 and 2016 Kennedy Awards. She is a now Producer at 60 Minutes and this year won a Walkley for her story on Matthew Levenson’s death.

Table of Contents

Map ix

Prologue 1

Part I The Disappearance 3

1 One last day 5

2 Meet the Levesons 22

3 'Please don't hate me' 26

4 The beginning 33

5 'Where's Matty?' 40

6 Not again 45

7 How old is he? 48

8 The missing person report 52

9 A good Catholic boy 57

10 Sensei Atkins 60

11 Young love 65

12 Sex in Newcastle 74

13 Strike Force Bowditch 85

14 On his tail 93

15 'I want to tell you, but I'm scared' 102

16 The drug den 121

17 Right to silence 133

18 'We're looking for a body' 136

19 Off the case 143

Part II Gotcha 151

20 Digging for Matt 153

21 Closing in 161

22 The arrest 165

23 The trial of Michael Atkins 167

24 What the jury didn't know 171

25 Sex, lies and reasonable doubt 177

26 A free man 186

Part III Unprecedented Territory 191

27 Detective Chief Inspector Jubelin 193

28 'Pool party for poem stars' 198

29 Going undercover 200

30 Funeral envy 209

31 Tick, tick, tick 217

32 The inquest 223

33 The first deal 229

34 Lies, ridiculous lies 236

35 The second deal 246

36 The confession 253

37 The chase 265

38 Searching for Matt 273

39 Mannequins, hypnotists and the gaps 277

40 Finding Matt 288

41 A bitter pill 298

42 The Coroner's findings 306

43 The funeral 314

Acknowledgements 319