Justice, according to the well-known axiom, has nothing to do with the legal system. This book, by an Adelaide-based TV current affairs producer and journalist, shows just how life-changing court decisions can be.

Graham Archer became interested in the murder conviction of Henry Keogh, who was found guilty in 1995 of killing his fiancée, young Adelaide lawyer Anna-Jane Cheney. Keogh found Cheney dead in her bath just six weeks before their wedding day.

Archer went to Adelaide only to establish the local version of the Today Tonight program for Channel 7 after Keogh was sent to jail for life, but he became fascinated by the case. For him it was not so much a matter of Keogh’s guilt or innocence, but that he had been jailed for life probably without having received a fair trial. This TV producer has lifted the lid on a system in South Australia that prevailed from 1994 (the year of Cheney’s death) to 2016, in which politicians and the judiciary made decisions aimed at maintaining the reputation of the institutions of law, even if it meant rejecting or refuting allegations of incompetence, errors and conflicts of interest.

Archer made sure that, in his 13 years of interest in the case, he made no personal contact with Keogh, meeting him only when his conviction was overturned in December 2014.

At the heart of the campaign to free Keogh was the belief of his supporters, many of whom were highly skilled members of the legal profession, that the forensic evidence was questionable. Archer does not hold back, alleging political hostility, the shortcomings of South Australia’s Medical Board and Medical Tribunal, and belligerence in the courts, as well as petitions rejected without good reason.

It’s quite a tome to read, but it’s fascinating to see a legal process revealed.

Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville

Unmaking a Murder by Graham Archer