It details the still-shocking Niceforo murder and the unjust sentence handed to Indigenous man, Zak Grieve, which has captured audiences across Australia following closely as the case unfolds.

The author is ABC senior reporter Steven Schubert, who was working as a rural reporter in Katherine at the time of the tragic killing in 2011.

Before the small crowd that had gathered for the launch, Zak Grieve's mother thanked Mr Schubert for handling the story with compassion and care, and acting as a voice for her son, still locked away.

"You've become a part of the family," she said.

Mr Schubert says his book is a compelling true story of homicide and injustice in an outback town.

At first it looked like a swag, said the grader driver - as Mr Schubert writes.

The driver had found the body just off Gorge Road outside Katherine in October 2011.

Police quickly identified the dead man as Ray Niceforo.

A few days later, three young local suspects were arrested, including nineteen-year-old Indigenous man Zak Grieve.

Christopher Malyschko and Darren Halfpenny were convicted of the actual killing.

More reading: A murder timeline

A month later, Mr Niceforo's former partner was also arrested.

But when the accused faced court in the "rough justice" system of the Territory, it quickly became apparent that there were few provable facts to be had.

Depending on who was talking, a loving friend could be an abusive monster, a battered wife a conniving temptress.

And a joke between mates about the best way to dispose of a body could be a conspiracy to murder.

The outcome of the case was no less murky, thanks to the Northern Territory's mandatory sentencing laws, which, the judge said, 'brings about injustice'.

Grieve's 20 year sentence was last year reduced to 12 years by NT Administrator Vicki O'Halloran, meaning he will be eligible for release in 2023.

Grieve maintained he was not there when two of his friends murdered Niceforo, as he got cold feet.

The judge, at his trial, ultimately accepted his versions of events, but was forced to sentence Grieve to life in prison with a 20-year non-parole period due to the Territory's mandatory sentencing laws.

Mr Schubert's publishers say his book raises several important questions, including how an Indigenous man who didn't attend a murder can be sentenced to jail for 20 years.

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