Gone Fishing: New true crime podcast launches

A woman sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 murder of a man says she is innocent, and she's fighting to clear her name.

The new crime podcast Gone Fishing - a joint production between Stuff and RNZ - examines the case against Gail Maney and her co-accused Stephen Stone. They were arrested for the murder of 21-year-old Deane Fuller-Sandys in 1997 - nine years after he disappeared.

In Gone Fishing, Maney speaks extensively about the case against her, the events that led to her arrest - and the consequences.

The podcast raises several red flags about the evidence used to convict Maney during her trial in 1999. It will also explain in detail the doubts about her conviction raised by the former police officer who headed the investigation - Mark Franklin.

Maney was convicted for ordering a hit on Fuller-Sandys after he was said to have burgled her home in Henderson, West Auckland, nine years earlier. The court heard that Stone carried out the murder, and that two men got rid of Fuller-Sandys' body. His body has never been found.

Maney has maintained her innocence since her arrest. She has spent 15 years in prison, and is currently serving out that sentence on parole.

Stone remains in prison serving out his life sentence, and was declined parole in December 2017.

TOM YOUNG/STUFF

Gone Fishing is an eight part podcast from Stuff and Radio NZ.

In Gone Fishing, Maney tells of her shock at being arrested in 1997. She said she never met Fuller-Sandys and had nothing to do with his disappearance, or murder.

"I thought police were just running around on some fantasy story that happened. It was crazy," she said.

At the time of her arrest, Maney gave a statement to police, but maintained she did not know what they were talking about - so, she kept quiet during the investigation.

"I never thought that by not talking to them, or telling them to p... off, that I was jeopardising my own freedom."

Gail Maney, photographed in her wild Westie days, years before she was convicted for the murder of Deane Fuller-Sandys.

The former detective who led the investigation, Mark Franklin, explains in the podcast how he built the case against Maney and Stone.

"If someone asks me what was your most interesting case or the most fascinating, well this is it. This is the first story I tell - only because it's so fascinating, it's not a run of the mill homicide, it's quite unique in a lot of ways," said Franklin.

Franklin, who left the New Zealand Police more than a decade ago, is adamant his investigation was thorough. But, he admitted, he sometimes asks himself whether he got it right.

To find out more, you can subscribe to the full eight-part Gone Fishing series at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or any other podcast app. Or, you can go to stuff.co.nz/gone-fishing.

JASON DORDAY/STUFF

Former detective Mark Franklin was the lead on the investigation into the death of Deane Fuller-Sandys.

HOW TO LISTEN

All you really need to know is what kind of device you're on: Is it an Apple? Or an Android? Or are you on a desktop or laptop computer?

Podcasts are played through an app on your device. Those are the little icons scattered all over your screen. Which app to use depends on which device.

If it's an Apple, you're best to listen via iTunes. Just press or click on these highlighted words and the iTunes app will open on the Gone Fishing podcast. If it doesn't, you will probably need to download iTunes - it's easy to follow the prompts if you need to do that.

If you're on some other mobile device, it's likely to be an Android. You can listen via the Stitcher app. Just press or click on these highlighted words and you'll be delivered to the Gone Fishing feed on Stitcher. 

There are other mobile apps that play podcasts. You can copy this URL https://rss.whooshkaa.com/rss/podcast/ and paste it into the app to get the podcast via an RSS feed.