Photo: Supplied / Louie Eroglu
It's been labelled the "trial of the century" in Australia. Ben Roberts-Smith was the country's most decorated living soldier, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, and even named Father of the Year.
But in 2018 he was accused of murdering multiple unarmed civilians while on deployment with the SAS in Afghanistan.
Veteran investigative journalist Chris Masters, together with colleagues Nick McKenzie and David Wroe, broke the story in 2018.
Ben Roberts-Smith sued the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times for defamation.
But in June this year, after a lengthy and expensive trial, a federal court judge ruled that on the balance of probabilities, Roberts-Smith was complicit in four murders.
The judgement is being celebrated as a win for investigative journalism and for the soldiers who stood up and gave evidence against their former colleague.
Journalist Chris Masters has now released a book about his investigation, Flawed Hero: Truth, Lies and War Crimes. The story is not over though.
Last week Ben Roberts-Smith said he will appeal the federal court decision, alleging the judge "cherry-picked" evidence in his judgement.
