FORENSICS | The Weeping Woman

Document examiner Neil Holland has worked on documents related to investigations into alleged Nazi war criminals, accused killers and dodgy bookies, and resurrected the writing on a document found inside a corpse’s stomach.

In 1985, when Neil was the head of the Victoria Police document examination branch, the National Gallery of Victoria made history - acquiring Pablo Picasso's The Weeping Woman. At $2 million, it was the most expensive artwork ever purchased by a gallery in Australia.

Less than a year later, it was gone. Stolen in a daring heist that left police, the art world, and the media stunned.

Eighteen days after the theft, Neil found himself in the back of a police van in the dead of night - cradling a brown paper package. 

Inside? The missing Picasso, taken hostage by a group calling themselves the Australian Cultural Terrorists.

In this episode, he’s here to tell host Liz Porter the story.

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