By Chloe Brice.
It took six days to catch Jill Meagher’s killer, about six hours for him to confess, and six minutes for a judge to remand him in custody.
But before notorious rapist and murderer Adrian Bayley was locked up, Jill’s husband Tom Meagher, while coming to terms with the highly publicised disappearance of his wife, became suspect number one.
In a new ABC documentary which delves inside the 2012 murder case, detectives admit to the “awful” treatment of Mr Meagher in the early stages of their investigation.
In the week following the Melbourne ABC staffer’s disappearance, police conducted a swift investigation that removed a potential serial killer from Melbourne’s streets and reunited Jill’s family with her body.
But initially detectives zeroed in on Mr Meagher — a “necessary” move but one which still troubles homicide detective David Butler.
"When you think about it down the track, you're left thinking 'Jeez, we were pretty awful, for the way we've treated this poor guy'," said Sergeant Butler, who led the investigation.
"Not only has he lost his wife, but now he's been treated pretty badly by us in some respects."
Mr Meagher routinely fronted the media, appealing for information on Jill and at one stage thanked investigators, despite their handling of him.
"I just wanted to say very briefly that despite the fact that this is the worst thing we'll ever go through in our lives, I've been really humbled by the support of the Australian public, the tireless efforts of the police and all the friends and family who've put their lives on hold to help us out," Mr Meagher said after Bayley's arrest.