Island of horror

As far as gripping, real-life crime thrillers go, this one has everything. A mutiny, a psychopath and a brutal mass murder. It’s a 388-year-old cold case mystery that dates back to 1629 when the Dutch sailing ship, Batavia, struck a tiny atoll off the West Australian coast near Geraldton. Almost 300 passengers and crew survived the shipwreck but over the next few months, as they waited to be rescued, more than 100 were slaughtered. For centuries their bodies lay buried, the story forgotten. But now the search for the truth about Australia’s greatest mass murder is underway as archaeologists from Australia and the Netherlands dig up new clues – and victims.

Reporter: Liam Bartlett

Producer: Nick Greenaway