Few stories in Australian true crime history carry the emotional gravity and heartbreak of the Leveson case and a 10 year ordeal that saw a devoted family strike an unthinkable bargain just to bring their son home. The 60 Minutes Australia documentary A Deal with the Devil to Catch a Killer follows Mark and Faye Leveson, the parents of 20 year-old Matthew Leveson, who vanished without a trace in September 2007. What begins as a missing persons case quickly transforms into a relentless crusade for truth, as Matt’s parents confront years of silence, lies, and manipulation from the one man they believe knows everything his older partner, Michael Atkins.

Atkins and Matt had been in a tumultuous relationship, marred by jealousy and frequent arguments. The night Matt disappeared, the pair had attended a dance party in Sydney’s Darlinghurst. Atkins would later tell police that the two had fought, and that Matt stormed off, a story he repeated in court and to the media, insisting Matt was “probably living somewhere else” and “wanted nothing more to do with him.” But Mark and Faye never believed that. They knew their son wouldn’t just vanish without a word. As the months turned into years, Atkins remained free, having been acquitted of Matt’s murder in 2009. Despite that verdict, the Levesons continued to pressure authorities, convinced that Atkins had buried their son’s body somewhere in the Royal National Park south of Sydney.

In 2016, nearly a decade after Matt disappeared, the unimaginable happened the Levesons were forced to make a deal with the man they despised most. In exchange for immunity from prosecution, Atkins agreed to tell police where he had buried Matt. It was a deal the family called “a pact with the devil,” but they accepted it out of love and exhaustion desperate for closure after ten torturous years. Under police escort, Atkins led detectives to a remote, bush-covered area, stopping to point out the burial site. After several days of careful excavation, human remains were found and later confirmed to be Matthew Leveson’s. Though the discovery brought an end to their physical search, Mark and Faye were left with haunting questions. Atkins’ version of events that Matt had overdosed and that he buried him out of panic was riddled with inconsistencies. The parents called it “another insult,” and many viewers of 60 Minutes agreed that justice had been traded for truth.

Journalist Tara Brown handles the story with sensitivity and precision, highlighting both the procedural triumph and emotional devastation behind this deal. The documentary exposes the moral dilemma facing investigators sometimes, to recover a body and give a family closure, they must let a killer walk free. Through interviews, archival footage, and the Levesons’ raw reflections, 60 Minutes Australia delivers a haunting portrait of love, loss, and the unimaginable choices grief can force upon the living. The episode concludes not with triumph, but with bittersweet relief  and Matt was finally home, but at a price no parent should ever have to pay.