overview

On a remote desert island, forensic scientists hunt for clues to a 400-year-old mass murder. In 1629, off the Western Australian coast, the Dutch ship, Batavia, was wrecked on a coral reef, leaving its 360 crew and passengers stranded. But the shipwreck was the least of their worries. A real-life Lord of the Flies scenario soon unfolded, led by one man: the apothecary Jeronmius Cornelius. A cult-like, all-powerful leader, he created a world of anarchy and violence where power games, sexual slaves, hedonism and madness prevailed. Survivor turned against survivor and over three blood-soaked months, 120 were brutally slaughtered. Now, a team of forensic scientists is on a mission to learn more about what happened and, more importantly, why, unearthing skeletons of victims in the hunt for clues. Their journey takes them to the Netherlands, where it all began, to get inside the mind of the murderer and ask the question: was he really a psychopath?