True Crime Conversations

It’s a cold winter’s night at Sydney’s Luna Park, nestled in the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. It’s June 9, 1979, and swarms of people ride the roller coaster and play inside Coney Island. The Tagline for the amusement park is “just for fun” - and it’s arguably one of the biggest attractions in Sydney.  But one of the most popular rides is The Ghost Train, which runs along 180 metres of electric track, most of it in total darkness. Dancing skeletons and dragons heads and an imitation fire make the ride spine-tingling, with a haunted voice cackling: “you’ll shiver and quake on the ghost train.” It’s almost closing time and a 12-year-old boy named Jason Holman is with four friends, about to board The Ghost Train.  For 45 years The Ghost Train has been running, without the slightest incident. Once you’re in, it only goes for two and a half minutes, but that’s enough time to deliver a thrill.  There’s nothing out of the ordinary. Two of his friends board the ride on one carriage, and then the next two in the following carriage.  Jason is last.  Just moments later, Jason’s four friends, students at Waverley College in Sydney, would be dead. He will survive, being dubbed the luckiest boy alive. But he doesn’t feel lucky. 42 years later, he still has questions.    CREDITS Guest: Caro Meldrum-Hanna, co-creator of Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri Producer: Gia Moylan   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

True Crime Conversations explores the world's most notorious crimes by speaking to the people who know the most about them. This month we’re focusing on Australia’s most notorious crimes... It’s lunchtime, on a cool Sunday in April, and the Port Arthur historic site is buzzing with visitors.  Located at the southern tip of the Tasman Peninsula, Port Arthur is located about 100 kilometres south-east of Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. The quaint village was once a penal settlement and a main drawcard for tourists visiting Australia’s southernmost state.  At around 1:10pm, a man named Martin Bryant pays his entry fee for the Port Arthur site and parks near the Broad Arrow Cafe. He sits in his car for a few minutes. He is seen walking towards the cafe, with a sports bag and a video camera. He orders lunch, which he eats on the outside deck. To onlookers, he looks slightly nervous, but otherwise like a normal man - likely a tourist visiting Port Arthur.  That morning, Bryant had awoken at 6am, which was unusually early for him. He left his home at 9:47am and drove to Forcett, arriving around 11am. Then, he continued on to Port Arthur, where he stopped at an accommodation site in Seascape. He hated the owners, David and Noelene Martin, who had bought the property before Bryant’s father had been able to. His father, Maurice Bryant, had been devastated and years later had ended his own life. Bryant blamed the Martin’s for his father’s death.  When he arrived at Seaside, he fired several shots, killing Noelene Martin, and then stabbed David Martin.  He then continued to Port Arthur, with a lightweight, semi-automatic rifle.  What followed, was the worst massacre in Australian history committed by a single person. 35 were killed, and 23 wounded.   CREDITS Guest: Anita Bingham Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri Producer: Gia Moylan Get more Mamamamia true crime listening with this The Spill's latest WATCH CLUB here.   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

True Crime Conversations explores the world's most notorious crimes by speaking to the people who know the most about them. This month we’re focusing on Australia’s most notorious crimes... It’s the 20th of May, 1999, an autumn day in South Australia.  For 12 months, there has been an inquiry into the disappearance of a woman named Elizabeth Haydon, a 37-year-old mother of eight. But it isn’t just her. Two other people from a similar area have been reported missing. And there has been no trace of them. But today police will storm a disused bank vault in Snowtown, a disadvantaged bush town about 150 kilometres north of Adelaide.  When they enter, they see six large plastic barrels. Inside are the remains of eight bodies that have been stored in acid. One is believed to be Elizabeth Haydon. The smell from inside the vault is said to be so bad the police need breathing gear. Some will be traumatised from what they see that day.  Following the discovery, police visit the former home of John Bunting. In his backyard, they find two more bodies buried.  That brings the tally to 10 bodies - making the crimes that have taken place the worst serial killings in Australian history.  They will come to be known as the “bodies in barrels murders” or the “Snowtown” murders, making the sadistic crimes perpetrated by a number of men forever synonymous with a small South Australian town.  But the subsequent investigation would determine that while the bodies were found in Snowtown, that’s not where most of the murders had taken place. They’d been executed in suburban homes. And for years, no one had noticed.   CREDITS Guest: Debi Marshall the author of 'Killing For Pleasure' and 'Banquet: The Untold Story of Adelaide's Family Murders' Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri Producer: Gia Moylan   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

True Crime Conversations explores the world's most notorious crimes by speaking to the people who know the most about them. This month we’re focusing in on Australia’s most notorious crimes... It’s a Saturday night in the middle of July, 2001, when Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees travel down the Stuart Highway in their orange Kombi van.  Peter is 28, and in the driver’s seat. His girlfriend, 27-year-old Joanne, is in the passenger seat. They’ve been in Australia for a little over five months, first arriving in Sydney on a working holiday Visa. They’d come from Brighton in England, prepared for the trip of a lifetime.  On June the 25th, the young tourists departed Sydney to embark on a road trip across Australia, starting in Canberra, then on to Melbourne, Adelaide, Darwin and Brisbane.  The couple had been in Alice Springs, and are bound that night for the Devils Marbles, south of Tennant Creek. The road is long, and the drive notoriously remote. You rarely see another car, and the road extends as far as the eye can see, kilometres ahead. It’s eerie. If you stand on the side of the road, it’s so quiet and still you’re able to hear your own heartbeat.  They had stopped at the roadhouse in Barrow Creek, but once they set off again, they start to notice something unusual. A car. They keep expecting the car to overtake them, but it doesn’t. Along the expanse of road, a Toyota 4WD with a large green canopy in the back, approaches them. The driver gestures for them to pull over. Something must be wrong.  There is a twinge of fear. They’re alone. More than 15,000 kilometres from home. News had emerged recently in Australia and internationally of backpacker murders, with tourists like them disappearing in the Australian outback.  They pull the car over. A man approaches them.  And a few hours later, Northern Territory police get a panicked phone call.    CREDITS Guest: Colleen Gwynne Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri Producer: Gia Moylan   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

True Crime Conversations explores the world's most notorious crimes by speaking to the people who know the most about them. This month we’re focusing in on Australia’s most notorious crimes... It’s the morning of February 6, 1986.  Australia as a nation, but more specifically New South Wales, is in a state of shock. Two days prior, the body of 26 year old nurse Anita Cobby had been found in a paddock in Prospect, 32 kilometres west of Sydney’s CBD. The news had broken that Anita had been murdered. But on the 6th of February, a morning radio host named John Laws obtained a leaked copy of the young woman’s autopsy report. All morning, he said, he considered whether or not to broadcast the details. He ultimately decided to. Laws shared explicit details about Anita Cobby’s injuries and the nature of her death, as Sydney siders drove to work or as they dropped their children at school. For a generation, those details would be imprinted on their psyche - a woman murdered in a manner beyond what any of us could ever imagine.  The events of February 2, the night Anita was murdered by strangers, has come to be understood as the most savage murder this state has ever known. When her killers were sentenced Justice Alan Maxwell described their crime as, "One of the most horrifying physical and sexual assaults. This was a calculated killing done in cold blood.” It remains a crime Australia won’t ever forget.   CREDITS Guest: Julia Sheppard Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri Producer: Gia Moylan   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

True Crime Conversations explores the world's most notorious crimes by speaking to the people who know the most about them. This March we’re focusing on Australia’s most notorious crimes...from Anita Cobby to Snowtown. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s May 30, 1985, in Burbank, California. Spring is turning to summer, and the wide streets in the San Fernando Valley are lined with their signature palm trees. A 42 year old woman named Carol Kyle is at home with her 11 year old son. She doesn’t know yet that there is a man in her neighbourhood, driving a stolen car.  At some stage during the night, in the shadow of darkness, this man enters her home. At gunpoint, he binds Carol’s son with handcuffs and ransacks their house, demanding she tell him where her most valuable items are hidden.  Once he has collected a number of valuable goods, he rapes Carol, ordering her not to look at him while shouting threats at her. She complies.  When he is finished with Carol, he retrieves the little boy and binds him to her mother with handcuffs.  Then, he flees the scene.  Both Carol and her son survive this attack.  They are lucky.  So far that year, the Night Stalker as he will come to be known, has killed six innocent civilians. The year before, he killed two others. The youngest being a nine year old girl.  He is in the midst of one of the most destructive murder crime sprees in American history. But he isn’t like your text book serial killer. He is a serial rapist, kidnapper, pedophile and burglar, murdering some victims while letting others go.  For those who survive, they will never forget his face. It is the face of a monster.    CREDITS Guest: Detective Gil Carillo Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri Producer: Gia Moylan   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s February 5, 1907, and a short, dark haired man in his late thirties named Corporal O’Halloran is on the doorstep of a house on Edward Street in the city of Perth. He has been called there by the owner, a woman named Alice Mitchell.  Alice Mitchell is known to care for babies. Specifically, babies belonging to single parents, who have no choice but to return to work and earn a living. She has cared for dozens over the last six or so years. But she’s called Corporal O’Halloran there because she’s caring for a baby whose mother has disappeared. She is no longer sending her money.  “I’ve been keeping her baby for months,” she tells the man. “And I’ve received nothing from her. I keep them for a living,” she continues, referring to the babies. “I don’t keep them for the love of the thing. Her child wants nourishment and I’m unable to give it to her unless she pays me.” Corporal O’Halloran asks to see the child.  He watches Alice walk down her lino-covered hallway and collect a baby from one of the bedrooms. The infant is wrapped in a thin blanket, wearing a soiled cloth nappy. He notices the baby is pale, with her eyes inflamed. She is seriously underweight, emaciated, and limp, and the policeman notices a sickly smell coming from her. He grows concerned.  Alice says the baby is suffering from teething. And marasmus, a form of malnutrition.  O’Halloran is aware of the rumours. They’ve been following Alice for some time. But there’s never been a formal complaint, perhaps because of the shame so many single mothers feel.  What happened that day will start an investigation, as authorities look more closely at the home of Alice.  Where are so many of the babies she was meant to be caring for?    CREDITS Guest: Stella Budrikis - Author of 'The Edward St Baby Farm' Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Leah Porges Producer: Gia Moylan   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s August 16, 2002, when a man named Shane Chartres-Abbott meets a client at South Yarra’s Hotel Saville. The 27-year-old is a male prostitute, who specialises in sadomasochistic sex. With him, he carries a black bag full of sex toys, including a whip, ropes, condoms and handcuffs. The woman he is meeting, 30-year-old Penny, is not a stranger. She too works in the sex industry. They’ve met for his services before, but have started to get to know each other, with Penny being one of Shane’s only clients to know his real name. She knows what she wants from him, and so the pair check in to room 307, closing the door behind them. By 11:20am the following morning, hotel management discovers no one has checked out of room 307. One man goes upstairs to check if anyone was still there. What took place in that room in the late hours of August 16, and the early hours of August 17, would set off a series of events that would culminate in murder, and the most expensive police investigation in Victoria’s history.  Did Shane turn into someone else inside room 307? And how can we explain what happened next?   CREDITS Guest: Adam Shand Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri Producer: Gia Moylan   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the first day of Autumn, 1989, in an affluent Sydney suburb. Mosman is on the lower north shore and known for being comfortable and safe, a short distance from Taronga Zoo and Balmoral Beach. An 82 year old woman named Gwendoline Mitchell Hill is walking down military Rd towards her apartment in the late afternoon. She doesn’t know a man has spotted her, concocting a plan of what to do next. She won’t make it inside. And she will be the first known victim of a vicious predator who will ravage the streets of Mosman, Lane Cove and Belrose for the next 12 months.   CREDITS Guest: Former Detective Inspector Mike Hagan Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Leah Porges Producer: Gia Moylan   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The small town of Mylor, buried in the Adelaide Hills, has a population of just over one thousand people. Properties sit on sprawling bushland, between the mountainous terrain, and today people visit to camp or see the native animals.  It was October 1966 when eight year old Wendy Jane Pfeiffer, petite with short hair and rosy cheeks, decided to walk the family dog on a quiet Sunday afternoon. She took Bonnie, a brown and white farm dog, down a dirt track, which has barely changed in 55 years.  Wendy wouldn’t come back that afternoon. Or the next. A search began in the friendly, rural village, where bad things never happened. Pictures were circulated. Still, there was no sign of Wendy.  Where had she gone? Who had taken her?  And by some miracle, was it possible she was still alive?  CREDITS Guest: Kylie Bolton Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri  Producer: Gia Moylan CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon in Spring, 1930. Mena Griffiths is 12 years old and living with her family in suburban Melbourne. There’s a park she often visits with her friends and she asks her parents if she can go out and play. Her parents can’t know that there’s a man sitting at a local hotel bar. He’s about 30 years old. He is known to the community as a family man, with a wife named Bernice and a baby named Joan. At 18 he had been sent to a reformatory prison for theft. Shortly after his release, he was sent back to prison for armed robbery and wounding a station master.  They can’t know that his crimes are on the verge of becoming more extreme. And that as he watches the young girls play in the nearby park, he decides to finish his drink, and approach a little girl. They can’t know that what he does will only be the beginning. He will go on to commit a series of crimes so horrific, that he will be hanged at Pentridge Prison. CREDITS Guest: Katherine Kovacic Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri  Executive Producer: Gia Moylan CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the 1980s, a brochure was printed across the world, for an idyllic holiday resort called Arous. It was a diving resort on the Red Sea, in the Sudanese desert. The brochure featured pictures of chalets on a bright beach, the sea almost the same colour as the sky But what guests of the resort didn’t know was that Arous wasn’t really a holiday resort. At least not primarily. And the staff weren’t really managers, or diving instructors, or waitresses. Once the sun went down, those who worked at the hotel were part of a top secret mission, that not even their own families were aware of. And if the Sudanese government found out, it would cost them their lives. Raffi Berg is the Middle East editor for BBC News Online. He has extensive experience reporting on Israel and the wider region. His book 'Red Sea Spies: The True Story Of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort' was written in collaboration with secret agents involved in the operation and tells the complete story of the case for the first time. This episode was originally published on June 18th, and is part of our 2020 Best Of series. CREDITS: Guest: Raffi Berg Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Red Sea Spies: The True Story Of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort’ by Raffi Berg https://bit.ly/redseaspies-book  ‘Red Sea Diving Resort: The holiday village run by spies’, Raffi Berg for BBC News, Tel Aviv https://bit.ly/redseaspies-bbc  ‘Saving The Forgotten Jews’ BBC News https://bit.ly/forgotten-jews-bbc-news ‘The Daring Rescue of Ethiopian Jews From Sudan’, Israel First TV https://bit.ly/30Q77lR  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au  Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this episode contains the names of people who have passed away. In 1988 the death of Mark Haines just outside of Tamworth in regional NSW was barely investigated by local police. The 17-year-old’s body was found on train tracks outside of town, but law enforcement treated his death as less than suspicious. You have only to pull on the threads of the case to find that the truth could be very far from that. Allan Clarke is a Muruwari man and an award winning investigative journalist, producer and presenter. Allan worked closely with Mark Haines’ family and friends for five years fighting for justice, and answers, culminating in the investigation of the case for the ABC podcast Unravel: Blood On The Tracks. Allan joins this episode to explore the case, the mis-steps by law enforcement, and the racial prejudices that hindered initial, and even ongoing, investigations. This episode was originally published on June 11th and is part of our 2020 Best Of series. CREDITS: Guest: Allan Clarke Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Unravel: Blood On The Tracks, ABC Podcasts https://bit.ly/unravel-podcast  ‘Footsteps On The Tracks’ by Allan Clarke https://bit.ly/footsteps-allan-clarke  State Crime Command will investigate Mark Haines death  ‘Blood on the Tracks Pt 1: Murder or misadventure, who killed Mark Haines?’ Australian Story, ABC TV https://bit.ly/aus-story-part-1  'Blood on the Tracks Pt 2: Unraveling Tamworth's body on the train tracks mystery’ Australian Story, ABC TV https://bit.ly/aus-story-part-2  Mark Haines’ family 2017 petition for the state government to offer a reward for information relating to Mark Haines’ death https://bit.ly/markhaines-family-plea  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s July 2018 when Detective Gary Jubelin stands in front of microphones and news cameras and says the words: “I suggest you come to us before we come to you.”  He is addressing the person who knows what happened to three-year-old William Tyrrell on September 12, 2014. Little did Gary know that this case would be the one to cost him his job, but as he tells host Jessie Stephens on the latest episode of True Crime Conversations, he has no regrets.  Gary Jubelin is one of Australia’s most notable homicide detectives, known for leading the investigation into the deaths of three Aboriginal children in Bowraville, solving the murder case of Terry Falconer, recovering the body of Matthew Leveson and running the crime scene following the Lindt Cafe siege.  In his new book I Catch Killers: The Life and Many Deaths of a Homicide Detective, Gary shares the reality of working on investigations such as the disappearance of William Tyrrell and the toll his work has taken on his personal life. Throughout his career, Gary's focus has cost him friendships, relationships and, in the case of William Tyrrell, his job.  This episode was originally published on August 27th and is part of our 2020 Best Of series. CREDITS Guest: Gary Jubelin Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Hannah Bowman  LINKS You can find Gary’s book HERE - https://bit.ly/2EEM4cA  RESEARCH The Bowraville Murders - 60 Minutes. https://bit.ly/3jdETXT   Mark Leveson speaks after Gary Jubelin's court appearance | 7NEWS. https://bit.ly/3hu3Yh5  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s August, 2005, and Nicola Gobbo’s life is about to go in a direction she never anticipated.  Nicola is a successful defence barrister, best known for defending Melbourne’s most prolific organised crime figures, from Carl Williams to Tony Mokbel. But things have become very messy. She wants to get what she calls the ‘Mokbel monkey’ off her back. She’s become too involved in ways she says she never intended. She’ll later say she’s tired of being stood over by criminals who are manipulating the justice system. She’s scared and distressed, and close to breaking down.  When Nicola Gobbo arrives at the courthouse and finds two detectives standing outside, words spill out of her mouth and tears fall down her face. She tells them things she shouldn’t. The detectives see this as an opportunity, and suggest something that’s never been done before.  Her decision that day would affect thousands of people, and ultimately force her into hiding.  The most resounding question when it comes to Nicola’s behaviour is: why? This episode was originally published on October 22nd and is part of our 2020 Best Of series. CREDITS Guest: Rachael Brown Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson LINKS To listen to the podcast Trace, visit: abc.net.au/trace CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Phillip Island lies just off Australia’s southern coast, about two hours from the city of Melbourne. In 1986, the Cameron family were well known on the island. Fergus Cameron was a founding shareholder of the Phillip Island Grand Prix, but day to day worked on the family farm. He was married to Vivienne Cameron, and the pair had two small children.  One night in September, the body of a 23-year-old woman was found inside her home in what has been described as one of the most horrific crime scenes. And then, another woman went missing. Immediately, police thought they knew what had happened.  But all these years later, there are still unanswered questions. A mysterious phone call. A handbag that was miraculously moved. And blood that revealed something no one was expecting... In 1993, crime writer Vikki Petraitis published her first book The Phillip Island Murder. Twenty-seven years later, she’s working on a podcast with Casefile about the case of Vivienne Cameron’s disappearance and is hoping to finally lay the mystery to rest.   CREDITS Guest: Vikki Petraitis  Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s Australia Day 1963, in the middle of a hot summer in Perth. A couple are sitting in a car, kissing and talking, in the beachside suburb of Cottesloe. They feel safe. It’s a safe neighbourhood in a safe city, and the night is still and empty. That is until the female notices, at around 2:40am, something outside the car window. It’s a man. Watching them. She alerts her male companion to the figure … who they realise is holding a rifle. They spring to action, trying to drive away as fast as they can. The man shoots at them, and she instinctively puts up her hand. She is injured, but the two escape alive. By the next morning, Perth wakes up to the news that five people have been shot, with three dead. It was a killing spree unlike anything Perth had ever seen. But that wouldn’t be the extent of Eric Edgar Cooke’s crimes. And while he killed innocent civilians, there were two men in prison, serving time for murders they had not committed.    CREDITS Guest: Tom Meadmore, Director of the Stan Original Documentary Series ‘After The Night’  Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was 2018 when Saxon Mullins, now 23, came out and said the four words: “I am that girl.” People had heard what had happened to a young woman in a laneway behind the Soho nightclub in Sydney’s King’s Cross.  They heard what a man, Luke Lazarus, son of the nightclub owner, said to her.  The public was also aware of what happened next.  But it took five years for Saxon to say those words, “I am that girl”, and she said them to ABC journalist Louise Milligan.  Saxon did what she was meant to do. She reported alleged assault. She turned up to court. She sat in the witness box and she told her story.  But, Louise Milligan asks, at what cost? Louise Milligan is an investigative journalist, a reporter for the ABC’s Four Corners program, and Walkley Award winning author. Her most recent book is Witness: An investigation into the brutal cost of seeking justice in which she explores Australia's legal system and how it treats witnesses.  She gives us a glimpse into a world so many of us will never see, and explores the stories of various witnesses, including Saxon Mullins and Paris Street.  CREDITS Guest: Louise Milligan, Reporter for ABC Four Corners and author, Witness: An investigation into the brutal cost of seeking justice  Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the second part of a two part episode. If you haven't listened to part one, listen here now. Launceston is one of Australia’s oldest cities. Just south of the city centre stands Launceston General Hospital, one of the main public hospitals in the state of Tasmania. The hospital treats a quarter of a million patients every year, and over 150 years has built trust within the local community.  The children’s ward is known as Ward 4K - filled with doctors and nurses doing their best to make a child’s stay as comfortable as possible.  But for more than 20 years, one nurse - a grandfatherly figure to so many - allegedly preyed on sick children.  It wasn’t until May last year, when a young woman referred to as Alice walked into Launceston police station, that everything would begin to change.  Her story, police would discover, was only the beginning.  This story is told by investigative journalist Camille Bianchi, the creator, host and reporter behind The Nurse podcast. The Nurse is about a former Launceston nurse named James 'Jim' Geoffrey Griffin who lived in a quiet town in Tasmania, and spent his life working with children. He also hid a dark secret.  CREDITS Guest: Camille Bianchi, creator and host of The Nurse podcast   Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Launceston is one of Australia’s oldest cities. Just south of the city centre stands Launceston General Hospital, one of the main public hospitals in the state of Tasmania. The hospital treats a quarter of a million patients every year, and over 150 years has built trust within the local community.  The children’s ward is known as Ward 4K - filled with doctors and nurses doing their best to make a child’s stay as comfortable as possible.  But for more than 20 years, one nurse - a grandfatherly figure to so many - allegedly preyed on sick children.  It wasn’t until May last year, when a young woman referred to as Alice walked into Launceston police station, that everything would begin to change.  Her story, police would discover, was only the beginning.  This story is told by investigative journalist Camille Bianchi, the creator, host and reporter behind The Nurse podcast. The Nurse is about a former Launceston nurse named James 'Jim' Geoffrey Griffin who lived in a quiet town in Tasmania, and spent his life working with children. He also hid a dark secret.  This is part one of a two part episode. CREDITS Guest: Camille Bianchi, creator and host of The Nurse podcast   Host: Jessie Stephens Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the second half of a two-parter. If you haven't heard part one yet, listen here and then come back to listen to part two.  Chris Regan, a 53-year-old war veteran and father of two sons, hadn’t been seen since October 14, 2014. Weeks turned into months, and as the lakes of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula turned to ice, there was still no sign of him.  Inside Chris’ car, police had found one item of interest; a handwritten note that appeared to be directions. At first, it hadn’t made any sense. But once police looked more closely, it became clear they were directions to the home of Kelly Cochran, a colleague who Chris was having a relationship with.  According to Kelly, her husband Jason Cochran was aware of her affair with Chris. Her affairs were simply part of their marriage. She’d seen Chris a few days before he’d disappeared, but she didn’t know where he’d gone, or why he’d left.  But police knew this wasn’t true.  Kelly knew far more than she was letting on. And they were beginning to suspect so did her husband Jason.   CREDITS Guest: Laura Frizzo Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  Audio Producer: Ian Camilleri  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson Dead North is on Investigation Discovery - available to stream via Foxtel On Demand. CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Iron River, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is known for its scenic lakes, hiking trails, exceptionally cold winters and dense forest. It’s sparsely populated, and many who do live there are blue collar workers. Laura Frizzo was the first female Police Chief in Upper Michigan and worked for the city of Iron River for almost 22 years. She knew what sorts of crimes to expect. And then came a woman named Terri O’Donnell. Towards the end of October, 2014, 50 year old Terri arrived at the police station and told authorities that her ex-partner, Chris Reagan, was missing.  What would unfold over the following months, and then years, is a story of extramarital affairs, drug abuse and serial murder. One woman would come to be known as the black widow - capable of crimes far worse than anyone could have imagined. This is part one of a two-part feature.   CREDITS Guest: Laura Frizzo Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  Audio producer: Ian Camilleri  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson LINKS The true story is dramatised in the new docu-series Dead North on Investigation Discovery - available to stream via Foxtel On Demand. CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was mid 2016, when 28-year-old Angela Jay downloaded Tinder. Angela had come out of a long term relationship and had decided it was time to start dating again.  That’s when she came across the profile of a man named Paul Lambert. He had used the ‘Super Like’ feature on her, which meant he was especially interested in striking up a conversation. He was conventionally attractive with dark hair, friendly eyes, and a wide, warm smile with dimples on either side. Angela decided to reply to the 36-year-old, and quickly learned they had a lot in common.  Their first date was everything she wanted it to be. He was kind and interested, unashamed about how much he liked her. She couldn’t have known at that point who he really was, and the behaviours that lay in his past.  Then came the gut feeling that something wasn’t right.  It would end with every woman’s worst nightmare - a story that made national news and an event that Angela will remember for the rest of her life.   CREDITS Guest: Dr Angela Jay Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson LINKS A link to the Ted X event in Sydney… https://tedxsydney.com/ CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s August, 2005, and Nicola Gobbo’s life is about to go in a direction she never anticipated.  Nicola is a successful defence barrister, best known for defending Melbourne’s most prolific organised crime figures, from Carl Williams to Tony Mokbel. But things have become very messy. She wants to get what she calls the ‘Mokbel monkey’ off her back. She’s become too involved in ways she says she never intended. She’ll later say she’s tired of being stood over by criminals who are manipulating the justice system. She’s scared and distressed, and close to breaking down.  When Nicola Gobbo arrives at the courthouse and finds two detectives standing outside, words spill out of her mouth and tears fall down her face. She tells them things she shouldn’t. The detectives see this as an opportunity, and suggest something that’s never been done before.  Her decision that day would affect thousands of people, and ultimately force her into hiding.  The most resounding question when it comes to Nicola’s behaviour is: why? CREDITS Guest: Rachael Brown Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  Executive Producer: Zoe Ferguson LINKS To listen to the podcast Trace, visit: abc.net.au/trace CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was a Thursday night in December, 2001, when a woman named Janine Vaughan attended a nightclub in Bathurst called the Metro Tavern. Janine had lived in the small town, with a population of about 27,000 for the last three years, working as a manager at a local menswear shop. Hers was a face many in the community knew, considered conventionally beautiful with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a big smile.  In the early hours of that Friday morning, 31-year-old Janine walked out onto George Street, a few paces ahead of her friends. She was distressed, having lost her handbag somewhere in the nightclub. A few moments later, a red sedan pulled up. Her friends were unable to see the driver, but assumed it was someone Janine knew. She climbed into the passenger seat, and the car drove away. That was the last anyone has seen of Janine Vaughan - a woman known as fun loving and outgoing. Her mother, Jenny Vaughan, told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2012, “It was raining, she had no money, she had no phone, no key to get into her house. If it was just someone she knew from coming into the shop or who she knew from around town she would have got in. It wouldn’t have been someone she met that night.I think it’s someone that she knew and trusted them enough to get into the car.”  So, who was in the driver’s seat? And what did they do to Janine Vaughan? CREDITS Guest: Hedley Thomas Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  LINKS The Night Driver Podcast by The Australian… thenightdriver.com.au CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matthieu Heimel grew up knowing nothing about his biological parents.  His life in Perth had been enough for him until his two children began asking unanswerable questions about where he came from.  So in late 2018, Mattieu embarked on a DNA search for his mother and father.  He found his father Jerry relatively easily. He was a US serviceman who had been stationed in the Philippines in 1978 when Matthieu had been conceived.  Finding his mother proved far more difficult.  Using social media, he connected with members of his mother’s family. He was told that Nenita, the woman who had given birth to him 42 years ago, was missing. As he asked more questions, he learned that she’d moved to Melbourne in 1985, and then a few years later, she’d vanished.  The closer he looked, the clearer it became that Nenita had likely been murdered.  CREDITS Guest: Simon Illingworth Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  LINKS The SBS on Demand series, Every Family Has a Secret… https://bit.ly/2SzrK0c Simon Illingowrth’s book, Filthy Rat… https://www.booktopia.com.au/filthy-rat-simon-illingworth/book/9780980417043.html CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was a tropical night in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and 45-year-old Luis Navia’s 25-year stint as a narco (a drug trafficker) was coming to an end.  Ever since he’d first tried the stuff as a young man, Luis had dealt large quantities of cocaine.  It was the era of Pablo Escobar, of the Netflix series Narcos, of Miami Vice,  Scar Face and  American Made. So much has been written and explored about the cocaine market of the late 20th Century but until now, none of those stories properly included Luis Navia.  Pursued for more than 12 years, Luis’ time on the run was drawing to a close. Luis would walk out the front doors of Tamanaco InterContinental airport and wait for a taxi. He didn’t know that he was about to be captured by the National Guard of Venezuela. He’d be threatened with a scalpel.  Once arrested, Luis was sent back to Florida where he would finally face justice. It’s where he had studied at university and where his parents lived. He emerged from the airport in a white shirt, khaki pants and brown shoes, looking like he didn’t have a care in the world. If he felt anything, it was relief.  His life for so many years had been one of secrets. He’d watched people be held over pits of crocodiles, tortured and murdered. He’d spent more money than anyone could ever dream of. No one, at that moment at least, knew his full story. Until it was told by Jesse Fink.  CREDITS Guest: Jesse Fink Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  LINKS The book Pure Narco by Jesse Fink and Luis Navia… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51192383-pure-narco CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was a summer night in 1986 when 26-year-old Anita Cobby met friends for dinner in Redfern.  Afterwards, the registered nurse caught the train from Central Station at 8:48pm, and arrived at Blacktown station just before 10pm.  Usually, Anita would call her father at the station and he would pick her up, but this night all the surrounding pay phones happened to be out of order. There were also no taxis available at the taxi rank. It was a beautiful, clear night and Anita decided to walk home. It was 10pm when a gang of five men pulled up beside Anita in a stolen car, grabbed her, and dragged her into the vehicle kicking and screaming. A number of witnesses on Newton Road in Blacktown heard the voice of a distressed young woman and called the police. It was the next day that the naked body of a young woman was found in a paddock at Prospect in Western Sydney. Police identified her as Anita Cobby.  One of the women working at Blacktown police station at the time was Deborah Wallace. She was around the same age as Anita, and similar in appearance. The lead detective would choose to do something unconventional in order to find who was responsible for one of the most horrific murders in NSW history. His approach would work, and ultimately it would change the course of Deborah’s career. CREDITS Guest: Deborah Wallace Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  LINKS The Book ‘A Woman of Force’... https://www.booktopia.com.au/a-woman-of-force-mark-morri/book/9781760787356.html CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

It’s early 2016 when a description of American woman Amy Allwine is posted to the Dark Web: “She’s about five foot six, she looks about 200 pounds. She should be driving a dark green Toyota Sienna Minivan.This bitch has torn my family apart by sleeping with my husband (who then left me), and is stealing clients from my business. I want her dead.” This post was in fact a call-out for someone to murder Amy Allwine, and be paid 13 Bitcoin (approximately $190,000) in return. But Amy hadn’t slept with anyone’s husband. She wasn’t stealing anyone’s clients. She had no enemies. So who could want her dead?  The police would eventually discover who wanted Amy dead. But they were too late.   In today’s episode Jessie speaks with Eileen Ormsby. Eileen is a lawyer, author and freelance journalist based in Melbourne. Her book, The Darkest Web, attempts to uncover the web's dark underbelly: a place of hitmen for hire, red rooms, hurtcore sites and markets that will sell anything a person is willing to pay for - including another person’s life.  CREDITS Guest: Eileen Ormsby Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  LINKS Eileen Ormsby’s book, Silk Road… https://www.booktopia.com.au/silk-road-eileen-ormsby/ebook/9781743518113.html Eileen Ormsby’s book, Darkest Web… https://www.booktopia.com.au/darkest-web-eileen-ormsby/book/9781760297855.html CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

It’s 1974 in the suburb of Hamilton, which is about four kilometres from the heart of Newcastle. The area is an idyllic backdrop for an Australian childhood, surrounded by incredible natural beauty, with lush bushland and sprawling beaches.   Many of the working class families in the suburbs of Newcastle are Catholic. Catholics belong to a parish, which has a church and a local priest. The Catholic schools in the area promise to propel students into the professional classes. Maybe they’d grow up and become a teacher or a nurse or a journalist or even a priest themselves. The three main schools in this particular diocese are Marist Brothers Hamilton, St Pius X in the nearby suburb of Adamstown and Marist Brothers Maitland. Two of these schools are, as their names suggest, run by Marist Brothers, who are an international religious community of men, dedicated to educating young people.  But on October 8, 1974, something unimaginable happened. A boy named Andrew Nash dies. It will take decades for his family to discover what happened to him.  In this episode, Jessie speaks with Suzanne Smith. Suzanne is a six-time Walkley Award winning investigative reporter, whose 27-year career in journalism has included senior editorial roles at the ABC, including on Foreign Correspondent, Background Briefing, Lateline and ABC News. During her time at the ABC she reported on the cover-up of clerical abuse, which helped to trigger the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Australia.  Suzanne’s new book, Altar Boys, is a powerful expose of widespread and organised clerical abuse of children in one Australian city, and how the cover-up in the Catholic Church extended from parish priests to every echelon of the organisation.  CREDITS Guest: Suzanne Smith Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia  LINKS A link to Suzanne Smith’s book, Altar Boys… https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/QmWv3 CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

It’s 1978 in the Californian city of Stockton. Bob and Gay Hardwick, a couple in their twenties, are asleep in the early hours of the morning. Suddenly, they’re awoken by a bright light shining in their faces. A man is standing at the edge of their bed holding a gun, with a black ski mask covering his face. Over several hours, Gay Hardwick is sexually assaulted by the armed intruder, while Bob is tied up, unable to move. The man behind the mask would come to be known as the East Area Rapist, or the Golden State Killer, and for decades, he would evade police.  In today’s episode, Jessie speaks with Andrew Rule. Andrew’s written about some of the biggest Australian crimes of the last 30 years and is currently acolumnist for  the Herald Sun, as well as host of his own podcast Life and Crimes with Andrew Rule. Andrew’s particularly interested in DNA tracing, which later became one of the most valuable tools to finding the Golden State Killer.  CREDITS Guest: Andrew Rule Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Lem Zakharia and Hannah Bowman  LINKS Watch ‘I’ll be Gone in the Dark’ on BINGE… https://binge.com.au/shows/show-i-ll-be-gone-in-the-dark!7063 Andrew Rule’s book, Cuckoo… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3617067-cuckoo CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

It’s July 2018 when Detective Gary Jubelin stands in front of microphones and news cameras and says the words: “I suggest you come to us before we come to you.”  He is addressing the person who knows what happened to three-year-old William Tyrrell on September 12, 2014. Little did Gary know that this case would be the one to cost him his job, but as he tells host Jessie Stephens on the latest episode of True Crime Conversations, he has no regrets.  Gary Jubelin is one of Australia’s most notable homicide detectives, known for leading the investigation into the deaths of three Aboriginal children in Bowraville, solving the murder case of Terry Falconer, recovering the body of Matthew Leveson and running the crime scene following the Lindt Cafe siege.  In his new book I Catch Killers: The Life and Many Deaths of a Homicide Detective, Gary shares the reality of working on investigations such as the disappearance of William Tyrrell and the toll his work has taken on his personal life. Throughout his career, Gary's focus has cost him friendships, relationships and, in the case of William Tyrrell, his job.  CREDITS Guest: Gary Jubelin Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Hannah Bowman  LINKS You can find Gary’s book HERE - https://bit.ly/2EEM4cA  RESEARCH The Bowraville Murders - 60 Minutes. https://bit.ly/3jdETXT   Mark Leveson speaks after Gary Jubelin's court appearance | 7NEWS. https://bit.ly/3hu3Yh5  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

When it comes to violent crime, can what happened to someone as a child, ever justify their actions as an adult? In today’s episode, Jessie is speaking with a journalist, screenwriter, and author Mark Dapin.  In his book, Public Enemies Mark explores the lives of armed robbers Russell 'Mad Dog' Cox and Ray Denning.  In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, armed robbers were the top of the criminal food chain. And Russell ‘Mad Dog’ Cox and Ray Denning were the best. Cox and Denning were once Australian Public Enemies Number One and Two. Both were handsome, charismatic bandits who refused to bow to authority. Their story as criminals is one of violence and crime, but it has a deeper meaning that may be traced to the horrors they faced as young boys... CREDITS Guest: Mark Dapin  Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Hannah Bowman    LINKS You can find Mark’s book HERE - https://bit.ly/324f5Xx     RESEARCH Tough Nuts | Ray Denning | The Runner. https://bit.ly/3hdbn41 Tough Nuts | Russell Cox | Australia's Most Wanted Man. https://bit.ly/34eYymm  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

It was Saturday morning, when a routine police patrol drove past a mostly empty car park in the remote Queensland town of Mount Isa. When police edged closer, they saw that it was the body of a young woman, who they’d later discovered was named Patricia Carlton. She’d been brutally beaten and sexually assaulted. The woman was rushed to hospital, but later that night Patricia would die of her injuries.  Following Patricia’s murder, the police made an arrest almost immediately. But what happens when the process lets us down and the wrong person ends up in jail?  In today’s episode, Jessie speaks with forensic anthropologist, criminologist and author, Dr. Xanthé Mallet.  In her new book, ‘Reasonable Doubt’ Xanthé explores some of Australia’s worst wrongful convictions - including that of Indigenous man Kelvin Condren who was wrongly convicted of murder in 1984. CREDITS Guest: Dr Xanthé Mallett Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Hannah Bowman  LINKS You can purchase Xanthe’s book HERE - https://bit.ly/30LEc1E  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

In today’s episode of True Crime Conversations Jessie speaks with Julia Robson. Julia is a private investigator, who spent 7 years on the trail of a New Zealand con man, who goes by the name of ‘Charlie’, who was scamming women online, promising them a better life, coercing them into relationships and even having children with them.  In her seven-part podcast ‘Chasing Charlie’ Julia speaks with the women who have been psychologically and financially abused by this man, and explains the trap she managed to set to finally bring him to justice.  CREDITS Guest: Julia Robson Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Hannah Bowman  LINKS You can find Julia’s podcast Chasing Charlie HERE - https://bit.ly/39VuVXX  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

When Jose Martinez’s sister was murdered, he got revenge by murdering her killers. This sparked what would end up being three dozen murders, he completed over more than three decades, many of them on behalf of drug cartels, as a hitman. Despite being a ruthless killer, Jose is described as a soft-spoken doting grandfather and complete family man. In today’s episode, Jessie speaks with Jessica Garrison. Jessica is a senior investigative editor for Buzzfeed News and spent more than a decade as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times. In her book The Devil's Harvest - A Ruthless Killer, a Terrorized Community, and the Search for Justice in California's Central Valley, Jessica traces the life of Jose Martinez, the cops who were investigating him and the families of his victims.  Throughout her research, Jessica has studied decades of case files, Martinez’s handwritten journals, interrogation transcripts, and spoken to the people closest to this case to find the answer to one question. Why do some deaths, and some lives, matter more than others? CREDITS Guest: Jessica Garrison Host: Jessie Stephens ExecutiveProducer: Elise Cooper Producer/Editor: Hannah Bowman  RESEARCH ‘I Killed 36 People’ - Buzzfeed News - https://bit.ly/2CNL7hT  LINKS You can find Jessica’s book HERE - https://bit.ly/305eyES   CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

In December 2017, Larrimah local Paddy Moriarty left his favourite pub and embarked on the two minute ride home, with his kelpie Kellie sitting beside him on his quad bike. And then, he disappeared into thin air. Along with Kellie. Larrimah is a small town in the Northern Territory located 431 kilometers from Darwin and the nearest grocery store is 90 kilometres away. This tiny town only has a population of 10 people, so when Paddy disappeared it was big news.  In this episode Jessie speaks with journalist Kylie Stevenson. Kylie was the co-host of the Walkley award winning podcast Lost in Larrimah, alongside Caroline Graham. Ever since Paddy went missing, Kylie has had a personal and professional interest in the case, having met Paddy by chance a year earlier.  CREDITS Guest: Kylie Stevenson Host: Jessie Stephens ExecutiveProducer: Elise Cooper Producer/Editor: Hannah Bowman  RESEARCH The Disappearance Of Paddy Moriarty - A Dog Act | ABC News - https://bit.ly/2ONn4Sl  Missing Man May Have Been Baked Into Pie | A Current Affair Australia - https://bit.ly/3eRkzt1  LINKS You can find Kylie’s podcast HERE - https://bit.ly/2OMfk3i  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

In this episode, Jessie speaks with one of Queensland’s most highly regarded police officers, Keith Banks, about his experiences as an undercover operative in the 1980’s. At 16 years old Keith traveled from Townsville to study at Brisbane’s Police Academy and by the time he was 21, the young, straight-laced country boy was risking his life to infiltrate some of Australia’s most dangerous drug syndicates.  To hide his identity Keith often became involved in the exact crimes he was hired to uncover. In his new book Drugs, Guns & Lies: My life as an undercover cop, Keith shares his incredible story in an era riddled with corruption.  CREDITS Guest: Keith Banks   Host: Jessie Stephens ExecutiveProducer: Elise Cooper Producer/Editor: Hannah Bowman  RESEARCH Fitzgerald Inquiry - The Corruption (Queensland State Archives) - https://bit.ly/3exKtlc  Retired QPS officer speaks out about Fitzgerald Inquiry. 7 News - https://bit.ly/32krdFs  LINKS You can find Keith’s book HERE - https://bit.ly/2OsmvgC  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

Peter Foster is one of Australia's most prolific career criminals. From diet products to sports betting companies, this con man stops at nothing. His crimes have found him with links to Muhammad Ali and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. And he also appeared on Andrew Denton’s Enough Rope.  In this episode Jessie speaks with Justin Armsden, an award-winning journalist with over 30 years of experience in print and broadcast. He has worked as an anchor for CNN and an investigative reporter for A Current Affair.  Justin has been on the tail of conman Peter Foster for the last 25 years, famously tracking him down in Byron Bay a few years ago when he was on the run. Justin has now teamed up with private investigator Ken Gamble for a new Audible Original podcast King Of Sting, which retraces Peter’s years of fraud and the devastation left in his path.  CREDITS Guest: Justin Armsden Host: Jessie Stephens ExecutiveProducer: Elise Cooper Producer/Editor: Hannah Bowman  RESEARCH 60 Minutes Australia - Peter Foster: Notorious Aussie Playboy and con man. 1988 investigative by Mike Munro. https://bit.ly/peter-foster-60-mins  60 Minutes Australia - Secret recordings expose Australia's most notorious con man Peter Foster. 2020 https://bit.ly/ken-gamble-foster  Today Tonight and the underweight jockey SensaSlim claim is no stunt. https://bit.ly/today-tonight-sensaslim  LINKS Justin Armsden’s podcast King Of Sting - https://adbl.co/2VWKxoq  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

Tara Costigan was a hard working mum, friend, close with her family and liked by those who she met. She was also killed by her partner one week after giving birth to their daughter. In this episode we speak with Heidi Lemon, that author of The First Time He Hit Her: the shocking true story of the murder of Tara Costigan, the woman next door. Heidi spent the past few years devoted to writing the book, and worked closely with the Costigan family during the project.  Tara’s story is devastating. It is also not an anomaly. Heidi has worked to share Tara’s story in the hopes that more public conversations will continue to be had about Australia’s problem with domestic violence.  CREDITS Guest: Heidi Lemon author of The First Time He Hit Her Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘The First Time He Hit Her: the shocking true story of the murder of Tara Costigan, the woman next door’ book by Heidi Lemon https://bit.ly/tara-costigan-book  ‘Tara Costigan: The Life and Death of a Victim of Domestic Violence’, 7:30 Report, ABC TV https://bit.ly/tara-730-report ‘A man, who murdered his ex-girlfriend with an axe while she was cradling their baby daughter, has been sentenced to at least 26 years in jail.’ Nine News https://bit.ly/3ePTo2h  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 If any parts of this episode raise issues for you please seek help via the resources below Family Violence 1800 RESPECT - that’s 1800 737 732 Safe Steps in Victoria - 24 hour response line- safesteps.org.au National services https://www.dvrcv.org.au/support-services/national-services

Kathleen Folbigg is thought to be one of the most infamous serial killing women in Australia. She was found guilty of the murder of her three infant children, Patrick aged eight months, Sarah aged 10 months and Laura aged 19 months, between 1989 and 1999. She was also convicted of the manslaughter of her first child Caleb in 1989. The main evidence used against Kathleen were her personal diary entries, however there was very little physical forensic evidence to support the prosecution's case against her. Dr Xanthe Mallett is a trained forensic scientist and criminologist who has met Kathleen, and covered her case for her book Mothers Who Murder: And Infamous Miscarriages of Justice. Xanthe joins this episode to explore Kathleen’s upbringing, the death of her children, and the court cases and inquiry that followed. CREDITS Guest: Dr Xanthe Mallett https://bit.ly/motherswhomurder  Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Mothers Who Murder: And Infamous Miscarriages of Justice‘ by Xanthe Mallett https://bit.ly/motherswhomurder  Justice NSW Kathleen Folbigg Report Published 2019 Media Release https://bit.ly/justice-nsw-folbigg  ‘Guilty Of Killing Her Own Children? Has Kathleen Folbigg Been Wrongly Convicted? Australian Story, ABC TV https://bit.ly/aus-story-kathleen-folbigg  LINKS The Tragic Story Of Dean Shillingsworth And Rachel Pfitzner https://bit.ly/dean-shillingsworth  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

In the 1980s, a brochure was printed across the world, for an idyllic holiday resort called Arous. It was a diving resort on the Red Sea, in the Sudanese desert. The brochure featured pictures of chalets on a bright beach, the sea almost the same colour as the sky But what guests of the resort didn’t know was that Arous wasn’t really a holiday resort. At least not primarily. And the staff weren’t really managers, or diving instructors, or waitresses. Once the sun went down, those who worked at the hotel were part of a top secret mission, that not even their own families were aware of. And if the Sudanese government found out, it would cost them their lives. Raffi Berg is the Middle East editor for BBC News. He has extensive experience reporting on Israel and the wider region. His book 'Red Sea Spies: The True Story Of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort' was written in collaboration with secret agents involved in the operation and tells the complete story of the case for the first time. CREDITS: Guest: Raffi Berg Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Red Sea Spies: The True Story Of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort’ by Raffi Berg https://bit.ly/redseaspies-book  ‘Red Sea Diving Resort: The holiday village run by spies’, Raffi Berg for BBC News, Tel Aviv https://bit.ly/redseaspies-bbc  ‘Saving The Forgotten Jews’ BBC News https://bit.ly/forgotten-jews-bbc-news ‘The Daring Rescue of Ethiopian Jews From Sudan’, Israel First TV https://bit.ly/30Q77lR  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au  Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this episode contains the names of people who have passed away. In 1988 the death of Mark Haines just outside of Tamworth in regional NSW was barely investigated by local police. The 17-year-old’s body was found on train tracks outside of town, but law enforcement treated his death as less than suspicious. You have only to pull on the threads of the case to find that the truth could be very far from that. Allan Clarke is a Muruwari man and an award winning investigative journalist, producer and presenter. Allan worked closely with Mark Haines’ family and friends for five years fighting for justice, and answers, culminating in the investigation of the case for the ABC podcast Unravel: Blood On The Tracks. Allan joins this episode to explore the case, the mis-steps by law enforcement, and the racial prejudices that hindered initial, and even ongoing, investigations. CREDITS: Guest: Allan Clarke Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Unravel: Blood On The Tracks, ABC Podcasts https://bit.ly/unravel-podcast  ‘Footsteps On The Tracks’ by Allan Clarke https://bit.ly/footsteps-allan-clarke  State Crime Command will investigate Mark Haines death  ‘Blood on the Tracks Pt 1: Murder or misadventure, who killed Mark Haines?’ Australian Story, ABC TV https://bit.ly/aus-story-part-1  'Blood on the Tracks Pt 2: Unraveling Tamworth's body on the train tracks mystery’ Australian Story, ABC TV https://bit.ly/aus-story-part-2  Mark Haines’ family 2017 petition for the state government to offer a reward for information relating to Mark Haines’ death https://bit.ly/markhaines-family-plea  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/tcc-group  If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

Jeffrey Epstein was a financier of global influence and moved in powerful social circles. He was also an alleged child sex trafficker, a convicted criminal who served time for soliciting a prostitute; an underage child in 2008. Epstein was arrested again in July of 2019 on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking. While he awaited trial he was found dead in his jail cell on August 10th 2019.  Diane Dimond is an award winning investigative journalist, author and syndicated columnist who writes about the ever-evolving and fascinating world of crime and justice. She speaks to us about the case of Epstein and her work for the Investigation Discovery documentary examining the crimes and suspicious death of Epstein. CREDITS Guest: Diane Dimond Host: Jessie Stephens Producer: Elise Cooper The following episode includes discussion of child sex trafficking, sexual assault, and alleged suicide. Listener discretion is advised. If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 RESEARCH ‘Who Killed Jeffrey Epstein’, Investigation Discovery, FOXTEL Australia FBI opens investigation into Epstein's long-time friend | Nine News Australia https://bit.ly/ghislaine-maxwell  Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal: The Newsnight Interview - BBC News https://bit.ly/princeandrew-bbc  Special Report: Jeffrey Epstein Found Dead In Jail Cell | NBC News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DiXSAPFbHE ‘How Miami Herald's investigation & Jeffrey Epstein survivors helped blow up a sweetheart deal’ Miami Herald, https://bit.ly/miamiherald-epstein  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P

Jim Jones was a charismatic pastor, preaching of salvation and a bountiful life for all those who followed him. He also was the man responsible for one of the largest incidences of loss of human life in modern American history. Author and podcaster Jo Thornely has researched Jim Jones and his cult of followers for her book Zealot. She joins us for this episode to explain Jones’ psychology, the power of his charisma, and the terrible chain of events that lead to the deaths of more than 900 people. This episode contains discussion of suicide. Please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 if the contents of this episode raises any issues for you. CREDITS   Guest: Jo Thornely, author of ‘Zealot’ Host: Jessie Stephens ExecutiveProducerandEditor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Zealot: A Book About Cults’ by Jo Thornely https://bit.ly/zealot-jo-thornely  Jo Thornely’s interview about Anne Hamilton Byrne and the cult The Family, https://bit.ly/thefamily-jothornely  ‘Guyana/USA: Jonestown Massacre 20 Years On’, AP Archive https://bit.ly/ap-jonestown  ‘The Jonestown Massacre: Paradise Lost’, Real Stories https://bit.ly/paradiselost-jonestown  ‘Escaping Jonestown’, CNN https://bit.ly/cnn-jonestown ‘Return To Jonestown’, Sunday Night, Channel 7 Network https://bit.ly/sundaynight-onestown

In the second episode of our two part series on the life and crimes of serial killers David and Catherine Birnie, we examine the crimes the pair carried out. Journalist and author Andrew Byrne explores further the motivations and machinations of the Birnie’s utterly maniacal and evil crimes. As Andrew is still working on his book he asks that if you or anyone you know has any information on the Birnies to contact him via his LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkbyrne/  CREDITS Guest: Andrew Bryne Host: Jessie Stephens Technical Producer: Luca Lavigne Executive Producer and Editor: Elise Cooper CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

In November 1986, police visited a quiet residence on a suburban Perth street. The occupants of that house, lifelong lovers David and Catherine Birnie were arrested soon after. That house will be forever synonymous with five unimaginable crimes, known to history as the Moorhouse Murders. Catherine will never be released from jail. She is only the third woman in Australian history to be given this sentence Andrew Byrne is an acclaimed journalist and author. He reported on the Birnies for a television documentary series, and is currently working on a book about the serial killing husband and wife. In this episode we delve deep into the upbringings of David and Catherine; how their traumatic and violent childhoods could have led to their depraved actions in adulthood. As Andrew is still working on his book he asks that if you or anyone you know has any information on the Birnies to contact him via his LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewkbyrne/  CREDITS Guest: Andrew Bryne Host: Jessie Stephens Technical Producer: Luca Lavigne Executive Producer and Editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Beyond The Darklands’, Episode 1 Seven Network ‘The Moorhouse Horrors’, Crime Investigation Australia, Season 1 Episode 6, Seven Network CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

Dr Henry Howard Holmes was America’s first serial killer. The charismatic criminal lured his victims to his hotel dubbed “the murder castle” during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. The building was riddled with trap doors and booby traps, a crematorium and gas chambers. The rumours of his depravity were far reaching and propelled H. H. Holmes to infamy. However the man dubbed America’s first serial killer may not have been responsible for the murders of as many people as he claimed. As director and author John Borowski explains,  Holmes derived pleasure from the planning of his crimes, not necessarily carrying them out. Borowski has written a book about Holmes, and directed a true crime documentary following his life and crimes. Once arrested, Holmes was prolific in claiming murders to have been by his hand, though some alleged victims came forward to attest that they were very much alive and unharmed.  Fuelled by desire for fame, or bloodlust, the case of H. H. Holmes and the murder hotel has as many twists and turns as the hotel in which they were carried out. CREDITS Guest: John Borowski http://johnborowski.com/  Host: Jessie Stephens TechnicalProducer: Luca Lavigne Executive Producer and Editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Borowski, John (November 2005). Estrada, Dimas (ed.). The Strange Case of Dr. H. H. Holmes. West Hollywood, California: Waterfront Productions https://bit.ly/hhholmesdoco  ‘Holmes Cool To The End; Under the Noose He Says He Only Killed Two Women. New York Times Archive https://bit.ly/hhholmes  ‘Murders By Doctors; The Great Tragedies of the Century Have Medical Men as Their Central Figure.’  The Anaconda standard. May 01, 1896, p. 12. via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. https://bit.ly/murderbydoctors  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available viaLifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

When Kirra McLoughlin died on a property on Beenham Valley Road near Gympie, Queensland, law enforcement and medical examiners were baffled. Kirra’s former partner would claim she went to sleep after a fight and simply didn’t wake up. Family said there had been a party at the property the night before, but neighbours disputed that. Kirra’s body had 105 signs of bruising, and there was a 12 hour period where emergency services weren’t contacted about her rapidly declining state. Former police officer Jamie Pultz met Kirra McLoughlin before her death. His podcast Beenham Valley Road investigates the case, talking to Kirra’s friends and family, and looking into the events leading up to and following her death. CREDITS Guest: Jamie Pultz Host: Jessie Stephens Technical Producer: Luca Lavigne Executive Producer and Editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Beenham Valley Road: The Kirra McLoughlin Story podcast https://www.six10mediagroup.com/beenhamvalleyroad  ‘Kirra McLoughlin, 27, may have lain up to 12 hours in house after being critically injured in fight’ Courier Mail ‘Young mum allegedly died after hitting her head, so why was she covered in bruises?’ Courier Mail  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au. Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

On 17 April 2005, nine young Australians were arrested in Bali on charges of drug trafficking. Known as the 'Bali 9', some members received the death penalty for their crimes, while others are serving lengthy jail sentences.  It seemed like a case burnt into the Australian consciousness. However, more than 15 years later the same crimes are being carried out, with just as devastating effects. Journalists Cindy Wockner and Madonna King were present at the trials and sentencing of The Bali 9. They used their investigative skills to piece together the whole story, from arrest to jail to the harrowing final journey for their book, Bali 9: The Untold Story. Madonna King joins Jessie Stephens to take us through the case of the Bali 9, the lives of those involved, why they took on such a huge risk, and the now controversial role of the Australian Federal Police. CREDITS Guest: Madonna King, co-author of ‘Bali 9: The Untold Story’ http://bit.ly/bali-nine  Host: Jessie Stephens TechnicalProducer: Luca Lavigne ExecutiveProducerandeditor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Nine Australians arrested in Bali on suspicion of smuggling heroin’ AP ARCHIVE  https://bit.ly/aparchivebali9  ‘AFP Unapologetic Over Bali Nine’ Studio 10, Channel 10 https://bit.ly/studio10bali9  ‘Final appeal for Chan and Sukumaran’ ABC News Australia , ABC 2010 https://bit.ly/2XQ9hjW  ‘Renae Lawrence pleads for reduced sentences for remaining Bali 9 prisoners’ 7:30 ABC News Australia, https://bit.ly/abcnews-renae ‘Final goodbye for Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran’ Nine News Perth, Nine Nework, https://bit.ly/finalgoodbye-ninenews

The rise and fall of Keith Raniere and the now defunct NXIVM cult is one of the most disturbing scandals of our age. What began as a purported self-help group spiralled into a dark, secretive world of illicit sex, money laundering, and exploitation, all at the hands of founder Keith Raniere and his accomplices. Additionally, several women involved with the NXIVM founder died or disappeared under suspicious circumstances. A former NXIVM publicist turned investigative journalist Frank Parlato explores the case in this episode. Frank’s documentary The Lost Women Of NXIVM, takes a deep dive to answer the questions surrounding the tragic deaths and mysterious disappearances of four women who all had connections to NXIVM and its founder Keith Raniere. CREDITS Guest: Frank Parlato Host: Jessie Stephens TechnicalProducer: Luca Lavigne ExecutiveProducerandEditor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Lost Women Of NXIVM, Frank Parlato, Investigation Discovery, FOXTEL https://bit.ly/lostwomen  Allison Mack Pleads Guilty In Alleged NXIVM 'Sex Cult' Case, CBS New York https://bit.ly/2Vagt8x NXIVM Sex Cult Conviction News Conference, CBS New York https://bit.ly/lostwomen2

When 26-year-old school teacher Stephanie Scott disappeared days before her wedding, her fiance immediately knew something was wrong. She wasn’t the type of person to vanish without a trace, or get cold feet. An immense manhunt was swiftly organised with locals of the small town of Leeton, where Stephanie lived. It would be a devastating four days until Stephanie’s fiance and family were given the worst possible news. In this episode, we speak with Leeton local Monique Patterson who was one of the journalists who covered Stephanie’s disappearance.  She has since written a book on the case of Stephanie Scott, titled; ‘United In Grief: The Tragic Story of Stephanie Scott's Murder and the Effect it had on the Small Town of Leeton NSW’.  CREDITS Guest: Monique Patterson, author of United In Grief Host: Jessie Stephens Producerandeditor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH United In Grief: The Tragic Story of Stephanie Scott's Murder and the Effect it had on the Small Town of Leeton NSW, book by Monique Patterson, https://bit.ly/34klKNJ  Stephanie Scott Missing, 7 News Sydney https://bit.ly/2VaEbjN  Man charged with murder of missing NSW teacher, SBS world News, https://bit.ly/2XjFkZi  Stephanie Scott Murder Arrest, 9 News Adelaide  https://bit.ly/3e5Rgna Stephanie Scott Murder timeline, SBS News https://bit.ly/3e3PDGy CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au. Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P If any of the contents in this episode have cause distress know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636

It was November 1994 and Jan Balmain was confused. She was waiting for her 22-year-old daughter Revelle to get off the train from Sydney to Newcastle. Revelle was supposed to be visiting before heading off to Japan for a career changing modelling gig.  But Revelle never got off the train. Instead, hours earlier Revelle, who was working as a sex worker as well as a model, allegedly finished her shift at a client’s house, was dropped at a nearby bar, and was never heard from again. Her possessions littered the streets of Bellevue Hill where she lived.  In this episode we speak with award winning journalist and author Caroline Overington.  Caroline investigated the disappearance of Revelle in the late 1990s for the Good Weekend Magazine. She has also covered high profile missing person’s cases such as the disappearance of William Tyrell for The Australian podcast ‘Nowhere Child’. Her work as a journalist has made her a revered fixture in the Australian media landscape. CREDITS Guests: Caroline Overington https://www.carolineoverington.com/  Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘The Secret Life Of Revelle Balmain’ Caroline Overington for Good Weekend Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1999 https://www.carolineoverington.com/revelle-balmain ‘Revelle Balmain murder: The night the 22-year-old model went missing’ Mamamia https://www.mamamia.com.au/revelle-balmain-murder/ ‘A double bombshell’: Final hours of missing Sydney model Revelle Balmain’, Daniela Elsa for News.com.au https://bit.ly/2WZM9ig  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.  Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P

It was the afternoon of April 15, 2003, when residents of Lorne, a seaside town on the shoreline of the Great Ocean Road, noticed something they’d never seen before.  It was a cargo ship. Of course, they saw big ships everyday but this was something different. The 106 metre long vessel came to within 500 metres of the rocks scattered along the coastline. What no one knew at the time, was that the ship knew precisely where it was going. And that the following day, a search of the beach at Boggaley Creek would show up the lifeless body of a man, alongside a small dinghy. Who was he? And where had he come from?  The Australian Federal Police already had an idea. But they could not have known how far, and how deep, this case was about to run.  Richard Baker is a journalist and host of the podcast The Last Voyage of Pong Su. He joins this episode to take us through the case of the Pong Su, after exploring it for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.  CREDITS Guests: Richard Baker, host of The Last Voyage Of Pong Su Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Last Voyage of the Pong Su https://www.theage.com.au/pong-su Forensic Investigators: Operation Sorbet https://bit.ly/2wA3zY5  ‘Heroin Trail Leads to North Korea’. Washington Post https://wapo.st/2xqki0c  ‘That pong in the bay is from a ship under a cloud’ - The Sydney Morning Herald https://bit.ly/2UhN2RN  ‘Korean freighter Pong Su to be scuttled’ - The Sydney Morning Herald https://bit.ly/3blPnAL  ‘Pong Su crew members deported’- The Age https://bit.ly/3atOeqw

When a shark vomited up a tattooed arm in the Coogee Aquarium in 1935, onlookers were horrified. This arm would be the catalyst for exposing the seedy underbelly of Sydney’s grimy and cut throat crime scene. Phillip Roope and Kevin Meagher sit down with Jessie Stephens to explore the shark arm case. Together, the former high school history and english teachers collaborated on the book Shark Arm; A Shark, A Tattooed Arm, and Two Unsolved Murders, exposing one of the most baffling and fascinating cases in the history of Australia’s early 20th century crimes.  CREDITS Guests: Phillip Roope and Kevin Meagher, authors of Shark Arm; A Shark, A Tattooed Arm, and Two Unsolved Murders https://bit.ly/39XvgIN  Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Shark Arm’ book by Phillip Roope and Kevin Meagher https://bit.ly/2UjhJ7J  Shark Arm murders: Jimmy Smith death a Sydney mystery, News.com.au  Shark Arm murder 1935   - Dictionary Of Sydney photo archives https://bit.ly/33u1iJW  The ‘shark arm murder’ mystery that shocked Australia Dolly Stolze and Strange Remains  https://bit.ly/3de4uxG  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P

Qandeel Baloch was dubbed Pakistan’s answer to Kim Kardashian but her story is very different. Her older brother murdered her for bringing dishonour to her family. Journalist and author Sanam Maher pieced together Qandeel’s life from her birth in rural Pakistan to her incarnation as a social media sensation; and she documents the public response to Qandeel’s shocking death, for her book, A Woman Like Her. In her research she spoke to Qandeel’s parents, family, friends and work colleagues.  Sanam takes us through Qandeel’s life, her rise to fame, and the impact her murder had on Pakistan and the global community more broadly. CREDITS Guest: Sanam Maher, author of A Woman Like Her, The Short Life of Qandeel Baloch Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH A Woman Like Her; The Short Life of Qandeel Baloch by Sanam Maher https://bit.ly/3cL3xg6  Qandeel Baloch: Pakistan's social media celebrity - BBC News https://bit.ly/39PpkkQ  ‘She feared no one': the life and death of Qandeel Baloch, The Guardian https://bit.ly/3aSBdXJ  Qandeel Baloch’s Murder: One Year On, BBC Stories https://bit.ly/2xk4pYU  Qandeel Baloch: Brother of murdered social media star jailed BBC  Brother of Qandeel Baloch, Pakistani Internet Star, Gets Life Term for Her Murder The New York Times Pakistan: Brother sentenced to life for Qandeel Baloch's killing Al Jazeera

The Van Breda family appeared to be the perfect picture of success. So how did three of the five family members end up murdered in their family home on the De Zalze estate in South Africa?  Martin Van Breda was an entrepreneurial, hardworking and kind man. His wife Teresa was a loving mother, heavily invested in the lives of her three children; Marli, Henri and Rudi.   In 2014, the family sold their home in Buderim, on the Australian Sunshine Coast, for 2.5 million dollars and returned to their native South Africa, where they moved into a home in a gated community.  The golf estate in Stellenbosch where they resided, was said to be one of the safest places in the country.  But one night in January 2015, everything went terribly wrong.  Paramedics would respond to an emergency call in the early hours of January 27 to find a crime scene they would describe as the worst of their careers.  Three people were dead. One was clutching to life. And another had sustained serious injuries.  The emergency operator was told there had been a home invasion but there was so much more to this story.  In this episode we speak to South African journalist and author Julian Jansen, about the case that has become known as the De Zalze, Van Breda Murders.  Julian has written about the attack in his book The De Zalze Murders, The Story Behind The Brutal Axe Attack, and covered the case as it was unfolding in South Africa’s high courts. CREDITS Guest: Julian Jansen author of The De Zalze Murders, The Story Behind The Brutal Axe Attack Host: Jessie Stephens Executive Producer and editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Unpacking The de Zalze Murders by Julian Jansen SABC Digital News https://bit.ly/2TzRyt8  Who is the real Henri van Breda: baby-faced innocent or monster? - Sunday Times by Julian Jansen  https://bit.ly/2TDpq8t  Western Cape: Judge Desai says Van Breda case is of 'innate cruelty' - SABC Digital News  https://bit.ly/3cC3YJV  'It was a cold blooded murder': Watch the moment Henri van Breda is sentenced - NEWS 24 https://bit.ly/2ImUHHD  Henri Van Breda murder judgment - Interview with Julian Jansen, SABC Digital News https://bit.ly/2vExopY  Why did Henri van Breda murder his family? | 60 Minutes Australia  - 60 Minutes Australia, https://bit.ly/3czgqK4    LISTEN: Van Breda's chilling emergency call, Times LIVE https://bit.ly/2POiAfh  Blood spatter expert gives evidence in South Africa axe murder trial AP Archive https://bit.ly/2PLEcsC  'It was a cold blooded murder': Watch the moment Henri van Breda is sentenced, News 24 https://bit.ly/2VKNyIR  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P

It was February 2016, dry and uncomfortably warm, when 23-year-old Brazilian backpacker Beatriz meets a German backpacker of the same age named Lena. The two travellers strike up a friendship and decide to head to Melbourne from Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road.  They put an ad on Gumtree asking for a lift and 59-year-old Roman Heinze replied. Little did the women know they had just accepted a lift with a man who was planning a vile and terrifying attack. Jessie speaks with Sean Fewster, chief court reporter for the Adelaide Advertiser and best selling author of City Of Evil. Sean covered the case of the Salt Creek attacks at the time the case was brought before the South Australian courts.  CREDITS Guest: Sean Fewster @seanfewster, Chief Court Reporter for The Adelaide Advertiser and best selling author of City Of Evil Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and Editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH “Salt Creek monster: Lifting the veil off the secret life of Roman Heinze” Sean Fewster for The Adelaide Advertiser https://bit.ly/3a6HP4k  “Salt Creek kidnapper sentencing: Roman Heinze jailed for 22 years” Sean Fewster for The Adelaide Advertiser https://bit.ly/2PqlUNm  “Family of Salt Creek kidnapper Roman Heinze say he is harassing them from prison to raise money for new High Court appeal” Sean Fewster for The Adelaide Advertiser https://bit.ly/2HXYs5X  A Current Affair Australia’s Real Life Wolf Creek Horror Story, Channel 9, https://bit.ly/2TeWgwn  9 News Adelaide: Salt Creek Update, Channel 9, https://bit.ly/2VysAgz  7NEWS Melbourne: Salt Creek Attacker Identity Revealed, Channel 7 https://bit.ly/2TsY8Sn  CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.   Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P

Erie, Pennsylvania is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie, halfway between New York and Ohio. It was August the 28th, 2003, when a man named Brian Welles arrived at a local pizzeria where he worked as a pizza delivery driver. For 10 years he had been one of their most loyal employees, only ever missing one day of work, following the death of his beloved cat. But this day, an order placed from a payphone to 8631 Peach Street, only a few kilometres from the pizzeria, would change the course of multiple lives.  Once he arrived at the address, a collar bomb would be placed around his neck, fitted with a timer. He would also be handed a seven page letter, outlining a bizarre scavenger hunt he was ordered to complete. The words, “Act now, think later or you will die” were scrawled at the bottom of the instructions.  Was the collar bomb even real? How did it end up around Brian Welles’ neck? And what was this really all about? What took place over the next few hours has been described by CNN as the only crime of its kind, and "one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI". We speak to investigative reporter Rich Schapiro, author of a long form piece on the Collar Bomb Heist for WIRED and researched the case extensively in the process. He is also an investigative journalist for NBC news in the United States. CREDITS Guest: Rich Schapiro @richschapiro Host: Jessie Stephens Producer/Editor: Elise Cooper CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.  Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P  RESEARCH The Incredible True Story of the Collar Bomb Heist by Rich Schapiro https://www.wired.com/2010/12/ff-collarbomb/  Unsolved Crimes USA - The Exploding Pizzaman https://bit.ly/2SULcnQ  ‘Pizza Bomber’ Case Is Subject Of New Netflix Docuseries ‘Evil Genius’ | Megyn Kelly TODAY https://bit.ly/2vK5I2L  Sentencing Day in Bizarre Bank Robbery Case, Fox News Insider https://bit.ly/39Mlk4d

In December 1932, a woman named Iris Marriott prepared dinner in a small flat in Sydney’s East.  It was the peak of the Great Depression and the Australian economy had collapsed. The unemployment rate had hit an unbearable 32 per cent.  While she cooked a lamb shank and vegetables, her partner sat at the kitchen table, looking through job ads.  It was Iris who financially supported them both. And so, she applied her make up with a firm powder puff and after sitting down for dinner, she threw on a forest green dress and pinned back her hair. Just after 9pm, she said goodbye and left for work.  The 33-year-old walked out her front door on Renny Street in Paddington, and headed towards Oxford Street. That would be the last time her partner would ever see her alive.  Less than 12 hours later, her body would be found within view of a row of houses, in Queens Park, Sydney. A popular park with families, Iris had somehow been murdered without anyone noticing.  But Iris wasn’t the first body to be found in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs. And she wouldn’t be the last. Before long, Sydney’s serial killer would be on the front pages of newspapers all over the state.  We speak to Dr Tanya Bretherton author of The Killing Streets; Uncovering Australia’s First Serial Murderer about a series of crimes that plagued Sydney for decades. CREDITS Guest: Tanya Bretherton author of The Killing Streets; Uncovering Australia’s First Serial Murderer Host: Jessie Stephens Producer/Editor: Elise Cooper CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.  Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P  RESEARCH The Killing Streets: Uncovering Australia’s First Serial Murderer by Tanya Bretherton https://bit.ly/2HkqhoU  Shocking Murder in Sydney, The Recorder, Port Pirie Newspaper, Mon 12th December 1932 https://bit.ly/31OOkFO  Eric Craig Third Trial on Murder Charge, The Sydney Morning Herald, Wed 7th June 1933 https://bit.ly/2uwXtXC Eric Craig taken to Bathurst Gaol, The Sydney Morning Herald, Sat 20th January 1934 https://bit.ly/2tTEx4X

Rebecca Zahau was in the bathroom when she heard a bang.  It was July 11, 2011, and the 32-year-old was caring for six-year-old Max Shacknai, the son of her 54-year-old boyfriend, Jonah Shacknai.  Jonah was a millionaire and the CEO of a successful pharmaceutical group and Rebecca had been dating him for two years. At first she thought the bang was a dog barking but when she ran towards it, she set off an unthinkable chain of events that would eventually lead to the loss of two innocent lives. In this episode Jessie sits down with Derrick Levasseur, a retired police sergeant and licensed private investigator from Rhode Island in the United States.  Over the course of his career, Derrick has received multiple awards, including the Medal of Valor, which is the highest honour a police officer can receive.  Derrick also researched the case of Rebecca Zahau, who was found hanging naked from the balcony of her boyfriend, Jonah’s, mansion in California 2011. Her death would divide investigators and law enforcement. CREDITS Guest: Derrick Levasseur Hotst: Jessie Stephens Producer/Editor: Elise Cooper CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.  Join our closed Facebook community to discuss this episode. Just search True Crime Conversations on Facebook or follow this link https://bit.ly/3982S5P  RESEARCH Breaking Homicide, hosted by Derrick Levasseur, Investigation Channel, Foxtel Australia https://bit.ly/2RWW5pY ABC 10 NEWS USA Rebecca Zahau's boyfriend testifieshttps://bit.ly/2RY3ULT NBC 7 San Diego “Adam Shacknai Answers "Did You Kill Rebecca Zahau?"  https://bit.ly/397e2YE ABC 10 NEWS USA Coronado Mansion Deaths Ruled Accident & Suicide, https://bit.ly/2v6yUjQ

It was 6am on March 1, 2000, when John Price’s neighbour noticed his car was still in the driveway. It struck him as unusual.  John’s supervisor noticed his absence at work too. An off-handed comment he’d made the day before made his co-workers feel uneasy. At 8:10am, Officer Matthews and Officer Furlonger arrived at John’s home.  His front door was locked. The two police men decided to walk around the side of the house, and break in through the back door. What they saw has been described as one of the worst scenes in Australian criminal history. A judge would later refer to what happened as “beyond contemplation in a civilised society”. The horrific actions of Katherine Knight resulted in her being one of the few women in Australia’s criminal history to be handed a sentence that will see her imprisoned for the term of her natural life. Jessie Stephens sits down with journalist and author Sandra Lee to look into the mind of Katherine Knight, to find out what lead her to murder her ex-partner in such a horrific manner.  You can find Sandra’s writing on Katherine Knight, Beyond Bad: The Life and Times of Katherine Knight at all good bookstores. RESEARCH Beyond Bad: The Life And Times Of Katherine Knight by Sandra Lee https://bit.ly/3176Usn  Inside Story: Twisted Minds, Season 1 Episode 8, 9 Network https://bit.ly/2ta6YLy  Crimes That Shook Australia: Katherine May Knight https://imdb.to/2O7qDDg  R v Knight[2001] NSWSC 1011 (8 November 2001), Supreme Court (NSW, Australia). https://bit.ly/36CQN6W  CREDITS Guest: Sandra Lee Hotst: Jessie Stephens Producer/Editor: Elise Cooper CONTACT US Tell us what you think of the show via email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or on the PodPhone 02 8999 9386.

Claremont was a buzzing, wealthy suburb, about 20 minutes from Perth, Western Australia. With pubs and bars along wide, safe streets.  It was known for its nightlife, with patrons often spilling out onto the footpath in the early hours of the morning.  But that all changed in 1996 when the disappearance of three young women made national headlines.  Claremont would become the backdrop for one of Western Australia’s biggest, longest-running and expensive investigations, which as of yet, has not been solved. But more than 23 years later, as this episode is published, a man is sitting on trial, facing eight charges for the murders of Sarah Jane Spiers, Jane Louise Rimmer, and Ciara Eilish Glennon.  Journalist Natalie Bonjolo speaks to Jessie about the case of the Claremont Serial Killer. Natalie is an executive producer on the Claremont Serial Killings podcast for the West Australian where she has been following the trial as it unfolds and working alongside journalists who've been reporting on the case since the first woman, Sarah Spiers, went missing on a January night in 1996. CREDITS Guest: Natalie Bonjolo Host: Jessie Stephens Producer and Editor: Elise Cooper RESEARCH CLAREMONT: The Claremont Serial Killings podcast from The West Australian https://bit.ly/2sLouFD  7 News Perth, Accused Claremont serial killer Bradley Edwards has pleaded guilty to five of eight charges against him 7 Network https://bit.ly/2G9XimX  7 News Perth, Victim statement in court about the night she was raped by Bradley Robert Edwards, 7 Network https://bit.ly/2unFIt2 CONTACT US If you have a case you'd like to hear on True Crime Conversations send us an email at truecrime@mamamia.com.au Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversations herehttps://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ

This episode of True Crime Conversations is part of our 2019/2020 Holiday series. We've handpicked episodes from throughout the year that we though deserved another listen. In 2014 Simon Gittany was found guilty of throwing his 30 year old fiancé Lisa Harnum from the balcony of their shared 15th floor apartment. Simon maintained his innocence, saying that Lisa climbed over the railing of the balcony and fell to her death.  Amy Dale was a court reporter at the time of this case and has subsequently written a book titled The Fall about Lisa’s murder. Jessie Stephens sits down with Amy to take us through the case, from the infamous CCTV footage of Simon in the apartment building lift moments after Lisa was killed, the images of Simon dragging Lisa back into their apartment, the couples abusive relationship, and Simon’s insistence of his innocence.  This episode contains discussions of domestic violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing an abusive relationship please seek help via Lifeline and the Domestic Violence Alert portal on their website. https://www.dvalert.org.au/  The Lisa Harnum foundation is a resource giving a voice to women experiencing domestic violence. You can visit them at their website https://www.lisahf.org.au/ Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversations here https://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ  CREDITS GUEST: Amy Dale HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Fall by Amy Dale https://bit.ly/2ksg6GZ  Court Documents; R v Gittany, Trial by judge alone https://bit.ly/2ktnkuk  Joan Harnum Exclusive Interview A Current Affair Nine Network https://bit.ly/2lD5KnI  Ex Detectives Speak About Simon Gittany’s Explosive Temper Sunrise 7 Network https://bit.ly/2lUwgJr Simon Gittany’s Secret Life, Sunday Night 7 Network https://yhoo.it/2lEPaDZ  Simon Gittany Found Guilty Of Murdering Fianceé Lisa Harnum 10 Eyewitness News Channel 10 https://bit.ly/2ksg2ad  Simon Gittany Loses Appeal 7 News Sydney Channel 7 https://bit.ly/2lwUIka  Balcony Killer Simon Gittany Loses Appeal Against Conviction For Murdering Lisa Harnum, The Daily Telegraph, Amy Dale Simon Gittany’s Violent Past Revealed  ABC NEWS Joan Harnum Hopes Daughter’s Case Will Be A “Powerful Wake-Up Call” ABC NEWS  https://bit.ly/2lxdt72  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows herehttps://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

This episode of True Crime Conversations is part of our 2019/2020 Holiday series. We've handpicked episodes from throughout the year that we though deserved another listen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners should be advised that this episode contains the naming of deceased people, and the recounting of the circumstances leading to their deaths. Colleen Walker, Evelyn Greenup and Clinton Speedy-Duroux. These are the names of three children from the town of Bowraville who were murdered over five months across 1990 and 1991. There has only ever been one suspect in their murders but to this day they’ve never stood trial for those crimes. Author Dan Box covered the case and he joins us to explore what could have happened to these three kids. And why Australia still doesn’t care enough about the lives of these Indigenous children to bring justice to the families and the Bowraville community. Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversations here https://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ  CREDITS GUEST: Dan Box HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Bowraville’ by Dan Box - https://bit.ly/2LczKCK  ABC News ‘Unsolved Bowraville Murders to be Reconsidered’ - https://bit.ly/2XDgPaM  NITV ‘Justice, Just Us’ Bowraville Special Forum https://bit.ly/2Xzc8i0  NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Council Bowraville protest  https://bit.ly/2G4VbBj  NITV News ‘Failed By The System: The Bowraville Children’s Murders’ https://bit.ly/2SeSfHr  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

This episode of True Crime Conversations is part of our 2019 Holiday series. We've handpicked episodes from throughout the year that we though deserved another listen. Christopher Wilder is the Australian serial killer responsible for the biggest man hunt in US history. Wilder lured his victims by posing as a talent agent and model scout and beauty pageants across America. His modus operandi of kidnapping, torture, sexual assault and ultimately murder, spoke so deeply of his utter hatred of women. In recent years it’s been speculated that Wilder is also responsible for one of the biggest cold cases in NSW criminal history; the Wanda Beach murders. Author Andrew Byrne has researched and documented the crimes of Wilder in his latest book The Pretty Girl Killer. He joins host Jessie Stephens to explore the pure evil that was Christopher Wilder You can buy Andrew Byrne’s book The Pretty Girl Killer online and at all good book stores. CREDITS GUEST: Andrew Byrne HOST: Jessie Stephens SENIOR PRODUCER/EDITOR: Elise Cooper Research The Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne https://bit.ly/2OW7vLh  Serial Killers; Christopher Wilder, The Beauty Queen Killer FBI: The Untold Stories - The Kidnapping of Tina Risico Mystery and a Spree Killer. Law and Ordnance. July 22, 2009 New York Daily News “Beauty Queen Killer” 1984 GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.

15 hostages remain. For some, 10 hours of terror still awaits them.  On the afternoon of December 15, 2014, offices were evacuated and rumours spread of bombs planted all around Sydney city, while hostages remained trapped inside the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place.  One of Sydney’s most bustling pedestrian thoroughfares, which sat on the doorstep of the Lindt Cafe, was empty and deathly silent. Terrified men and women could be seen inside the large windows, a stark contrast to the festive Christmas decorations that hung beside them.  Even though Man Monis, a radicalised terrorist, had forced hostages to turn in their mobile phones, some had hidden theirs within the cafe, meaning messages were slowly trickling out.  Monis’ demands were not being met by police, radio stations or the Prime Minister at the time, Tony Abbott, and he was becoming increasingly agitated.  But it was when three men escaped, that Monis’ temper reached a crescendo. With a gun to hostage Louisa Hope’s back, he threatened to shoot.  These wouldn’t be the last hostages to escape over the course of the 16 hour siege, and it wouldn’t be the last time Monis threatened to shoot.  In part two, we begin with the second escape, and the response of Monis, who was becoming more agitated by the minute. Listen to part one of our Sydney Siege series here  https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts/true-crime-conversations/the-sydney-siege/  Click through to our website for photos and maps to accompany this episode. https://www.mamamia.com.au/lindt-cafe-sydney-siege/ Mia Freedman has also interviewed siege survivor Louisa Hope on the No Filter podcast. You can listen to that full interview here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts/no-filter/louisa-hope-sydney-siege/. Be part of our big annual podcast survey -  https://surveys.globaltestmarket.com/survey/selfserve/1aab/13100768/13100768_CS   Join our closed Facebook group where episodes are discussed by searching True Crime Conversations on Facebook. GUEST: Deborah Snow HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper ADDITIONAL AUDIO AND RESEARCH “Siege: The powerful and uncompromising story of what happened inside the Lindt Cafe and why the police response went so tragically wrong” by Deborah Snow https://bit.ly/38n1tJ9  4 Corners “The Siege: Part Two - A Four Corners special two-part investigation” ABC Television https://bit.ly/2LZDIxl  60 Minutes Australia “The Siege Survivors” Channel 9 Network https://bit.ly/2M1PS8S  Sky News Australia “Two more hostages escape Sydney cafe siege” Sky Network Television https://bit.ly/2S99k7F  Euronews “Sydney siege: Five hostages flee cafe” Euro News Network

It was looking to be a warm, busy day when Tori Johnson arrived at work just after 6am on a Monday morning in December 2014. The 34-year-old was in charge at the Lindt cafe in Martin Place, and the lead up to Christmas was always chaotic, with customers purchasing gifts, like the iconic chocolate Lindt balls, for friends and family. At 7:30am, the doors opened, with customers flooding in. Among them were 38-year-old barrister Katrina Dawson, with colleagues Julie Taylor and Stefan Balafoutis. They were seated next to a mother and daughter, Robin and Louisa Hope, who even remarked on Katrina’s beautiful shoes.  But just after 8:30am, a broad shouldered man with a baseball cap and backpack walked in, at first completely unnoticed. It was only when we he demanded some time afterwards that every door be immediately locked, that the 18 people inside the cafe realised something was seriously wrong. Click through to our website for photos and maps to accompany this episode. https://www.mamamia.com.au/lindt-cafe-sydney-siege/ Join our closed Facebook group where episodes are discussed by searching True Crime Conversations on Facebook. GUEST: Deborah Snow HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH “Siege: The powerful and uncompromising story of what happened inside the Lindt Cafe and why the police response went so tragically wrong” by Deborah Snow https://bit.ly/38n1tJ9  7:30 Report “Sydney siege inquest builds picture of Man Haron Monis' 'bizarre, delusional' world” Australian Broadcasting Corporation  https://ab.co/35hMXRb Arirang News “Australian PM says gunman was known to authorities, but not on watch list” https://bit.ly/2LG1Vs7  10 Eyewitness News, Amirah Droudis Found Guilty Of Murdering Man Haron Monis’ Ex Wife, Channel 10 https://bit.ly/2YyyE7V The Telegraph Sydney Siege: 'Islamist gunman' holds hostages inside cafe https://bit.ly/3456aUK  60 Minutes Australia: “The Siege Survivors” Channel 9 Network  “'Spiritual healer' Man Haron Monis charged with an extra 40 sexual offences”, October 13th  2014, Nick Ralston for The Sydney Morning Herald

On a winter evening in July, 2018, West Pennant Hills sounded different. Usually quiet, the Thursday evening was polluted by blasting police sirens, all headed towards Hull Rd. When emergency personnel arrived, they came across a scene they wouldn’t ever forget.  An hour later, 36-year-old Olga Edwards arrived home from work to find her house surrounded by police and paramedics. When she was told what had happened inside, she collapsed from “severe shock”. Her children, 15-year-old Jack Edwards, and 13-year-old Jennifer Edwards, had been murdered.  The family murder which took place in West Pennant Hills shook Australia. And six months later, the story became ever more tragic.  We speak to Crime Reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald, Sally Rawsthorne, who covered the case as it unfolded.  Please contact Lifeline is the contents of this episode bring up any issues for you on 13 11 14 https://www.lifeline.org.au/ GUEST: Sally Rawsthorne https://twitter.com/sallyrawsthorne  HOST:Jessie Stephens PRODUCER:Elise Cooper RESEARCH “Killer John Edwards’ Secret Family”, Sally Rawsthorne and Angus Thompson for Sydney Morning Herald https://bit.ly/35SdrIK  “How A Father Planned The Execution Of His Two Children” Lucy Cormack and Sally Rawsthorne for Sydney Morning Herald https://bit.ly/2YcQ5Lj  7 News Sydney “West Pennant Hills father John Edwards shot dead his children Jack and Jennifer in July before taking his own life” 7 Network https://bit.ly/2OLX3DJ “When John Edwards murdered his children, schoolmates couldn’t believe it — but his sister could” Jane Fife-Yeomans & Danielle Gusmaroli for The Daily Telegraph https://bit.ly/34PpBSG  9 News Sydney “The shooting murder of two West Pennant Hills teenagers by their father has brought the issue of gun control firmly to the table.” Channel 9 https://bit.ly/2DOsruZ  INTERNATIONAL COUNSELLING AND SUPPORT SERVICES USA - https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/  UK - https://www.supportline.org.uk/  NZ - https://www.lifeline.org.nz/

In late Spring, 1987, 17-year-old Ursula Barwick, stepped off the platform, and boarded a train from Tuggerah on the Central Coast, bound for Sydney. The journey would take a little more than two hours and land her in Kings Cross. She’d told her parents she had work and accommodation lined up, and would call them as soon as she arrived. Her father, Peter, planned to come down that weekend to help get her settled in. It would be her first time living properly out of home. But that phone call from Ursula, saying she’d arrived safe and sound, never arrived. And it would be 30 years before they would finally learn why. An episode of Australian Story titled ‘Forever Young’, which aired on November 25, 2019, explores the case of Ursula Barwick. We speak to the producer of Australian Story, award-winning journalist Winsome Denyer, about what happened to Ursula back in October, 1987. GUEST: Winsome Denyerhttps://www.abc.net.au/news/winsome-denyer/7991864  HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Forever Young’ for Australian Story, ABC https://www.abc.net.au/austory/forever-young/11724732  Lost Then Found: The disappearance of Ursula Barwick, Winsome Denyer for abc.net.auhttps://ab.co/2OrTId6  'For 30 years, Ursula's family thought she was missing. She had been buried under the wrong name' Jessica Staveley for Mamamia https://www.mamamia.com.au/ursula-barwick/

It was mid-October, 1976, when Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28 moved in to number 147, Easey St. The three-bedroom house was perfect for the two of them, as well as Armstrong’s 16-month-old son, Gregory.  Then, in early 1977, neighbours would watch emergency workers and police swarm the property, after the bodies of the two women were found three days after they’d been killed.   Helen Thomas is a journalist and author who was a cub reporter at Melbourne newspaper The Age at the time of the double homicide.  She has since researched the case and profiled it in her book ‘Murder On Easey Street: Melbourne’s Most Notorious Cold Case.’ Jessie sits down with Helen to walk us through the case, and find out if there’s any potential for justice for the families of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett. If this episode brings up any issues for you please reach out to the National Sexual Assault and Family Violence Hotline on 1800 RESPECT, that’s 1800 737 732. GUEST: Helen Thomas HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Murder On Easey Street: Melbourne’s Most Notorious Cold Case’ book by Helen Thomas https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/murder-easey-street  ‘Original Easey St murders article that triggered call from possible murderer’ from Independent Australia https://bit.ly/2CUcDXt

Anne Hamilton-Byrne is a name that Australians won’t soon forget. What started out as a series of yoga teachings by the woman who believed she was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, would end up becoming one of our country’s most sinister cults.  The Family, as it would come to be known, included a number of children with dyed blonde hair, who believed Anne Hamilton-Byrne was their mother. For all but one of them, she was not.  Jessie Stephens sits down with journalist and author Jo Thornely to take a look into the mind of Anne Hamilton-Byrne, the founder of ‘The Family’, who kidnapped children and drugged her followers. If this episode brings up any issues for you please reach out to the National Sexual Assault and Family Violence Hotline on 1800 RESPECT, that’s 1800 737 732. GUEST: Jo Thornely HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Zealot’ by Jo Thornely https://www.hachette.com.au/jo-thornely/zealot-a-book-about-cults   GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

It was May 20, 2005, when a retiree named Jerry Jackson cast his fishing line from a bridge over the Grand Marais Canal, located on the fringe of Jennings, Louisiana. The temperature was rising when Jackson noticed something below him, floating in the canal. Jackson had discovered the body of a 28-year-old woman named Loretta Lynn Lewis Chaisson. She would be the first of what would come to be known as the Jeff Davis eight.  In this bonus episode of True Crime Conversations Jessie talks to the executive producer of Murder In The Bayou; the 5 part docu-drama looking into the unsolved murders of eight women in and around the town of Jennings in Louisiana, USA. Portions of this bonus episode may be a little hard to understand due to audio quality and so we have made the episode transcript available herehttps://bit.ly/34R3Wsy . You can watch Murder In The Bayou on Stan in Australia and via Showcase in other regions. GUEST: Matthew Galkin HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Murder In The Bayou TV Docu-drama available on Stan https://www.stan.com.au/watch/murder-in-the-bayou  Murder In The Bayoubook Ethan Brown https://bit.ly/34MNDwV  'Murder in the Bayou’: A docuseries about eight unsolved murders aims to expose police corruption Deanna Paul for the Washington Post https://wapo.st/34YahCX  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

On Friday March 9, 2011, a suitcase was found in a canal next to Meadowbank Park, located about 30 minutes from Sydney’s central business district. Inside it, was the body of Tosha Thakkar, a 24-year-old student, who had been living in a boarding house in Croydon for six months.  Her boyfriend, Ali Syed had reported her missing two days prior, after she failed to meet him for lunch. When he went to her Elvin St address, her room was in disarray, and he noticed that her nightdress was missing.  Author and Associate Editor of the Good Weekend, Greg Callaghan, talks us through the day Tosha Thakkar lost her life at the hands of the man who lived beside her; Daniel Stani-Reginald. His feature ‘My Neighbour My Killer’ was published in 2014 in the Good Weekend as well as The Sydney Morning Herald.  If this episode brings up any issues for you please reach out to the National Sexual Assault and Family Violence Hotline on 1800 RESPECT, that’s 1800 737 732. GUEST: Greg Callaghan HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH 'My Neighbour My Killer', Greg Callaghan for Fairfax Press https://bit.ly/2Cn6bIc  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

11-year-old Gerard Ross went missing in October 1997 while on a family holiday in the WA town of Rockhampton. Two weeks later a horse trainer was out exercising his horses when he discovered Gerard’s body dumped in a pine plantation 20 kms from town. While police have always had suspects in the case, no one has ever been convicted of the 11-year-old’s abduction and murder. Award winning investigative journalist Kristin Shorten has spent her career covering the case. Ahead of a new documentary series for The West Australian, Kristin speaks to host Jessie Stephens about what we know about the boy in the blue cap, and how confident she is that his killer will be brought to justice. You can watch The Boy In The Blue Cap: The Gerard Ross Story on The West Australian website. If this episode brings up any issues for you please reach out to the National Sexual Assault and Family Violence Hotline on 1800 RESPECT, that’s 1800 737 732 GUEST: Kristin Shorten HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Boy In The Blue Cap: The Gerard Ross Story,The West Australian GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

Leonard Fraser was the very embodiment of a monster. He was sentenced to life on the 7th of September 2000 for the abduction rape and murder of 9-year-old Keyra Steinhardt in the Queensland town of Rockhampton. Prior to that Fraser had spent almost two decades behind bars for the rape of other women, including his defacto partner who was terminally ill with cancer. Fraser kept trophies from his victims. Police found the ponytails of three different women in Fraser’s flat but were not able to link them to any of the rapists known victims. Journalist and author Paula Doneman covered the case as Fraser’s crimes were brought before the courts. She profiled him extensively in her reporting for The Courier Mail and subsequently compiled a book covering his extensive and heinous crimes, titled Things A Killer Would Know: The True Story Of Leonard Fraser. Is He Australia’s Worst Serial Killer? Jessie speaks with Paula to walk through the case and crimes of Leonard Fraser, his utterly heinous acts of violence upon both “random” victims and those he lured into his orbit. For pictures and maps from today’s episode on Leonard Fraser,, visit the Mamamia website, right here.  https://www.mamamia.com.au/the-rockhampton-rapist/  If this episode brings up any issues for you please reach out to the National Sexual Assault and Family Violence Hotline on 1800 RESPECT, that’s 1800 737 732 GUEST: Paula Doneman HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Things A Killer Would Know: The True Story Of Leonard Fraser. Is He Australia’s Worst Serial Killer? By Paula Doneman The Predator: Leonard John Fraser, Crime Investigation Australia,  Channel 7  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

It was a warm spring day when two young boys were playing at Mandurama reserve in the Sydney suburb of Ambarvale. It was a place where families and friends could have a picnic, or cycle on bike paths. As the boys rode their bikes, something caught their eye. It looked like a suitcase, floating near the edge of a nearby duck pond. What they discovered was the body of two-year-old Dean Shillingsworth. Dr Xanthe Mallett is a forensic anthropologist and criminologist at the University of Newcastle, Australia, who is internationally renowned for her work. She has written about and researched the case of Dean’s mother, Rachel Pfitzner, who pled guilty to the manslaughter of her son. She profiled the story for her book and TV series, Mothers Who Murder.  Xanthe speaks to Jessie about the case, how the public bodies responsible for ensuring Dean’s safety were scrutinised during the trial, and how something so utterly tragic could ever have happened. For photos, maps and further detail on the case you can join our closed Facebook group dedicated to the podcast. Just search for True Crime Conversations on Facebook. GUEST: Dr Xanthe Mallett HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Mothers Who Murder the book by Xanthe Mallett Mothers Who Murder, Channel 10, hosted by Xanthe Mallett GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

The case of the Somerton Man is one of the most baffling cases in modern criminal history. In 1948 the body of a man was found on Somerton Park Beach just south of Adelaide in South Australia. Despite a global effort to identify the remains, we still do not know who the man was, why he was there, and how he died. Fiona Ellis-Jones is a reporter and producer for the ABC. She speaks to Jessie Stephens about the case which is currently explored on her podcast, The Somerton Man Mystery and will be the subject of Monday’s episode of Australian Story.  For photos, maps and further detail on the case you can join our closed Facebook group dedicated to the podcast. Just search for True Crime Conversations on Facebook. GUEST: Fiona Ellis-Jones HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Somerton Man - Australian Story ABC air date Monday 14th October 2019 The Somerton Man Mystery - ABC Radio National https://ab.co/313IJcC  Inside Story "The Somerton Beach Mystery" for ABC August 1978 https://bit.ly/2orZa5i  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

Levi Bellfield has been charged and found guilty of the murder of Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell, Amelie Delagrange and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy. Women who were linked by nothing other than the man who chose to kill them. Bellfield’s murders were baffling in their lack of motive, hindering law enforcement from figuring out who was responsible. Geoffrey Wansell is a London based journalist and author who has written and researched extensively the crimes of Levi Bellfield - who the public would come to know as the Bus Stop Killer. When writing the book The Bus Stop KillerGeoffrey undertook a full year of research and spent every day of Levi Bellfield’s trial in court, piecing together the details of the killer’s life and crimes. Speaking with Jessie from his home in London, Geoffrey takes us through the case of one of the UK’s most violent serial killers in modern times.  For photos, maps and further detail on the case you can join our closed Facebook group dedicated to the podcast. Just search for True Crime Conversations on Facebook. GUEST: Geoffrey Wansell HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Bus Stop Killer: Milly Dowler, Her Murder and the Full Story of the Sadistic Serial Killer Levi Bellfield. https://amzn.to/2oDXKEE  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

The disappearance of The Beaumont Children is burned into the collective conscious of Australia. It’s one of the longest running cases in the nation’s history and has baffled law enforcement for more than half a century. Stuart Mullins grew up down the road from the Beaumont children in Adelaide. Over the years he has researched and co authored investigative writing into their disappearance. He walks us through the case, and why he believes he knows just who is responsible for the disappearance of Jane, Arnna and Grant on Australia Day in 1966. For photos, maps and further detail on the case you can join our closed Facebook group dedicated to the podcast. Just search for True Crime Conversations on Facebook. GUEST: Stuart Mullins HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Satin Man: Uncovering the mystery of the Beaumont Children, Alan Whiticker and Stuart Mullins https://bit.ly/2leQGNx  Mother of missing Beaumont children, Nancy Beaumont, dies aged 92 - ABC News https://ab.co/2lfjDsE  The Beaumont Children: What Really Happened, Channel 7  https://bit.ly/2lNMVyE  The Beaumont Children Mystery: Crime Investigation Australia, Channel 7 https://bit.ly/2mIlwyu  Beaumont children search: Police end today’s dig, having found no human remains, The Adelaide Advertiserhttps://bit.ly/2lbGUvr  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

As the sun set over Uluru on August 17th, 1980, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain put their two month old baby Azaria to bed.  What happened next is burnt into the collective consciousness of not just Australia but the world. This won’t be like most episodes of True Crime Conversations, mostly, because in this case there was no crime.  Instead, it was one of the most significant and devastating miscarriages of justice Australia has ever seen. So impactful was the handling of this case that forensic science in Australia was completely overhauled and as a result we’re now one of the leading countries in the field.  Host Jessie Stephens speaks to legal scholar, criminologist and historian Katherine Biber about the case of Lindy Chamberlain and the death of her daughter Azaria. Katherine co-authored the book The Lindy Chamberlain Case: Nation, Law, Memory. CREDITS GUEST: Katherine Biber HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper Research  Staines, D., Arrow, M., & Biber, K. (Eds.) (2009). The Chamberlain case: nation, law, memory. Melbourne, Vic.: Australian Scholarly Publishing. Dingo’s Got My Baby: Trial By Media, Retro Report; The New York Times Confronting Lindy Chamberlain: A Dingo Stole My Baby; 60 Minutes Australia Nine Network The Azaria Chamberlain Story, This Fabulous Century, Prime Network Azaria Chamberlain 4th Inquest Findings Live Broadcast ABC News 24, ABC TV 4th Coronial Inquest into the death of Azaria Chamberlain Alternative Law Journal (2012) 37(3) AltLJ 207 GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

It is speculated that Ivan Milat's days are numbered. Australia’s most notorious serial killer is. Milat is serving 7 concurrent life sentences for his horrific crimes. In this episode we take a look at the life of Ivan, to get inside the mind of one of our country’s worst serial killers. Mark Whittaker co-authored ‘Sins Of The Brother’, the most definitive work on the life and crimes of Ivan Milat.  He joins Jessie Stephens to take us into the mind of one of the worst murderers in Australian criminal history. Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversations herehttps://bit.ly/2NgL9mQ  CREDITS GUEST: Mark Whittaker HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER & EDITOR: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Sins Of The Brother: Mark Whittaker and Les Kennedy https://amzn.to/2FzMVt4 Blood Territory podcast I Survived A Serial Killer - 60 Minutes Australia https://bit.ly/2NgmPRO  Australian Families Of Crime: Ivan Milat: Backpacker Bloodshed  https://bit.ly/2ZPc76o  Photo of Ivan’s girlfriend Chalinder Hughes wearing the same jersey jumper as Carolyn Clarke https://www.mamamia.com.au/ivan-milat-murders/  Caroline Overington on The Latest Panel - 7 News Australia https://bit.ly/2FxyCoQ  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here. AUSTRALIA: Lifeline Crisis Support: 13 11 14 Beyond Blue: Depression and anxiety support: 1300 22 46 36 Rape & Domestic Violence Services: 1800 737 732 Men's Line: 1300 78 99 78 Headspace: Youth Mental Health Foundation: see headspace.org.au for your local centre

In 2014 Simon Gittany was found guilty of throwing his 30 year old fiancé Lisa Harnum from the balcony of their shared 15th floor apartment. Simon maintained his innocence, saying that Lisa climbed over the railing of the balcony and fell to her death.  Amy Dale was a court reporter at the time of this case and has subsequently written a book titled The Fallabout Lisa’s murder. Jessie Stephens sits down with Amy to take us through the case, from the infamous CCTV footage of Simon in the apartment building lift moments after Lisa was killed, the images of Simon dragging Lisa back into their apartment, the couples abusive relationship, and Simon’s insistence of his innocence.  This episode contains discussions of domestic violence. If you or someone you know is experiencing an abusive relationship please seek help via Lifeline and the Domestic Violence Alert portal on their website. https://www.dvalert.org.au/  The Lisa Harnum foundation is a resource giving a voice to women experiencing domestic violence. You can visit them at their website https://www.lisahf.org.au/ Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversations herehttps://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ  CREDITS GUEST: Amy Dale HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Fall by Amy Dale https://bit.ly/2ksg6GZ  Court Documents; R v Gittany, Trial by judge alonehttps://bit.ly/2ktnkuk  Joan Harnum Exclusive Interview A Current Affair Nine Network https://bit.ly/2lD5KnI  Ex Detectives Speak About Simon Gittany’s Explosive Temper Sunrise 7 Network https://bit.ly/2lUwgJr Simon Gittany’s Secret Life, Sunday Night 7 Network https://yhoo.it/2lEPaDZ  Simon Gittany Found Guilty Of Murdering Fianceé Lisa Harnum 10 Eyewitness News Channel 10 https://bit.ly/2ksg2ad  Simon Gittany Loses Appeal 7 News Sydney Channel 7 https://bit.ly/2lwUIka  Balcony Killer Simon Gittany Loses Appeal Against Conviction For Murdering Lisa Harnum, The Daily Telegraph, Amy Dale Simon Gittany’s Violent Past Revealed  ABC NEWS Joan Harnum Hopes Daughter’s Case Will Be A “Powerful Wake-Up Call” ABC NEWS  https://bit.ly/2lxdt72  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows herehttps://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

When Tess Knight got home on a winter’s night in August of 1986 her nine-year-old daughter Samantha was nowhere to be found.  It wasn’t until 14 years later in February 2001 that a man named Michael Guider pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the young Bondi school girl. Guider, who was serving a sentence at the time for 60 child sex offences, told law enforcement that he had abducted and assaulted Samantha and in the process accidentally killed her. Her body has never been found. Journalist Mark Morri was a reporter at the time of Samantha’s disappearance, and developed a close relationship with the young girl’s mother, Tess. He joins Jessie for this episode to take us through the case, and the emotional toll it has taken on a mother who has never been able to know what happened to her daughter. Michael Guider has almost served his full sentence for the charges laid against him, and unless a judge intervenes, he could walk free in the coming days and weeks. CREDITS GUEST: Mark Morri https://bit.ly/2ZyrPWY  HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Samantha Knight: Never Forgotten60 Minutes Nine Network Tess Knight speaking to reporters appealing for Guider to remain behind bars The Australian June 4th 2019 https://bit.ly/30GLPnD  Samantha Knight: A New Twist A Current Affair Nine Network https://bit.ly/2NCQOlQ  When The Spider Bites Sydney Morning Herald August 2002 https://bit.ly/2HuC7gq  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

Kathleen Pettingill had ten children. All of them are either incarcerated, in witness protection, or dead. So, how did Kathleen become the head of one of the most prolific and violent crime families in modern Australian history? Jessie speaks with author Adrian Tame about the life and crimes of Kathleen Pettingill - a woman who throughout his years profiling her he has come to count as a friend. You can buy Adrian Tame’s book The Matriarch online and at all good book stores. CREDITS GUEST: Adrian Tame HOST: Jessie Stephens RESEARCH The Matriarch by Adrian Tame Australian Families Of Crime | Mother of Evil: Kath Pettingill  National Nine News, 12 October 1998. National Film Sound Archive title: 51653. Courtesy: Nine Network. Suburban Gangsters: Stewart Regan and Dennis Allen - The Psychos, Nine Network Police Under Fire: The Walsh Street Killings Seven Network GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

Christopher Wilder is the Australian serial killer responsible for the biggest man hunt in US history. Wilder lured his victims by posing as a talent agent and model scout and beauty pageants across America. His modus operandi of kidnapping, torture, sexual assault and ultimately murder, spoke so deeply of his utter hatred of women. In recent years it’s been speculated that Wilder is also responsible for one of the biggest cold cases in NSW criminal history; the Wanda Beach murders. Author Andrew Byrne has researched and documented the crimes of Wilder in his latest book The Pretty Girl Killer. He joins host Jessie Stephens to explore the pure evil that was Christopher Wilder You can buy Andrew Byrne’s book The Pretty Girl Killeronline and at all good book stores. CREDITS GUEST: Andrew Byrne HOST: Jessie Stephens SENIOR PRODUCER/EDITOR: Elise Cooper Research The Pretty Girl Killer by Andrew Byrne https://bit.ly/2OW7vLh  Serial Killers; Christopher Wilder, The Beauty Queen Killer FBI: The Untold Stories - The Kidnapping of Tina Risico Mystery and a Spree Killer. Law and Ordnance. July 22, 2009 New York Daily News “Beauty Queen Killer” 1984 GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au    True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.

Roger Rogerson is one of the only Australian killers with a badge. A fraudster, drug dealer, and killer, he was finally stopped in a murder plot now known as one of the most recorded murder cases in Australian history. How did a celebrated detective not check where CCTV cameras were before murdering Jamie Gao? Why did those who stood in his way start to “disappear”? Duncan McNab is a former police person turned author and journalist who quite literally wrote the book on Roger Rogerson. He joins Jessie for this episode to take us through the life and crimes of Rogerson, and why McNab believes Rogerson to be a truly evil man. You can buy Duncan McNab’s book Roger Rogerson; From Decorated Policeman to Convicted Criminal at all good bookstores and online. CREDITS GUEST: Duncan McNab HOST: Jessie Stephens SENIOR PRODUCER/EDITOR: Elise Cooper Research Roger Rogerson; From Decorated Policeman To Convicted Criminal by Duncan McNab NSW Police Force Press Conference Channel 10 Eyewitness News Police escort Roger Rogerson from Sydney home 2011 The Life and Times of Roger Rogerson: Beyond Blue Murder 60 Minutes Australia: Bad Cop Good Cop 1986 National Channel 9 News GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at truecrime@mamamia.com.au   True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.

When two-year old Khandalyce Pearce went missing police couldn’t understand why her mother wasn’t looking for her. But Khandalyce’s mother Karlie would never know her daughter was missing; Karlie's body was found in Belanglo State Forest eight years before her daughter’s name made national headlines. Author Ava Benny Morrison joins Jessie to step through the case of Karlie and Khandalyce and explain how law enforcement agencies around the country managed to solve the case of The Lost Girls. Join our Facebook group herehttps://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ  CREDITS GUEST: Ava Benny Morrison HOST: Jessie Stephens SENIOR PRODUCER/EDITOR: Elise Cooper RESEARCH The Lost Girls by Ava Benny Morrison https://bit.ly/2V5K68F  Sentencing remarks from Supreme Court NSW South Australia Police Youtube Channelhttps://bit.ly/2YscRRZ  9 News Adelaide Karlie and Khandalyce Laid To Resthttps://bit.ly/2SRhC29  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au.  True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.

Danny Rolling would become one of the most violent serial killers in modern America’s history. His crimes, spree-like in nature, inspired the 1996 horror film Scream. Rolling’s hatred of women, violent and abusive upbringing, and idolatry of Ted Bundy were all just elements that would contribute to his horrific crimes. Author and pop-culture journalist Maria Lewis takes us through the case of Danny Rolling - who would be dubbed The Gainesville Ripper - and just how truly violent and despicable his crimes were. See images and information relating to this case in our Facebook group True Crime Conversations here https://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ  CREDITS GUEST: Maria Lewishttps://www.marialewis.com.au/  HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper ADDITIONAL RESEARCH: Madeleine Boucherie RESEARCH Oxygen “The Twisted Tale Of 'Gainesville Ripper' Killer Danny Rolling, Who Murdered And Mutilated College Kids”https://oxygen.tv/2JMXlI1  Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorneyhttps://bit.ly/2Z5rZBS  Forensic Factor: Killing Spreehttps://imdb.to/2M9HzJ6  Discovery HD - The Gainesville Ripper : Danny Rolling  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386 Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au  True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

How did Marion Barter’s overseas holiday in 1997 become her last? Reporter Bryan Seymour, host of The Lady Vanishes podcast, takes Jessie through the case of missing person, Marion Barter. A beloved teacher and mum, Marion was living a happy and fulfilling life before she disappeared.  So why did she sell her house and change her name before travelling overseas? And why did she return three weeks later only to drain her bank account of all savings? Or did she? Marion’s children, Sally and Owen, haven’t heard from their mother since she left the country the first time.  So what happened? Did she meet with foul play? Or did she choose to vanish and start a new life without the family she loved so much. See images and information relating to this case in our Facebook group True Crime Conversations herehttps://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ  CREDITS GUEST: Bryan Seymour HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper If you have information about the disappearance of Marion Barter you can email theladyvanishes@seven.com.au alternatively you can leave an anonymous tip at theladyvanishes.org RESEARCH The Lady Vanishes podcast https://apple.co/32vNT3e  2GB The Chris Smith Show “Possible Breakthrough in the case of Missing Qld Teacher” https://bit.ly/2JB4TNV  7 News Sydney “Missing mum Marion Barter linked to northern NSW cult” https://bit.ly/2LrSmyC  7 News Sydney “The Lady Vanishes Trip To Luxembourg”https://bit.ly/2YX8N9d  Le Courier Australian personal advertisementhttps://bit.ly/2SjsLbI  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386 Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners should be advised that this episode contains the naming of deceased people, and the recounting of the circumstances leading to their deaths. Colleen Walker, Evelyn Greenup and Clinton Speedy-Duroux. These are the names of three children from the town of Bowraville who were murdered over five months across 1990 and 1991. There has only ever been one suspect in their murders but to this day they’ve never stood trial for those crimes. Author Dan Box covered the case and he joins us to explore what could have happened to these three kids. And why Australia still doesn’t care enough about the lives of these Indigenous children to bring justice to the families and the Bowraville community. Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversations here https://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ  CREDITS GUEST: Dan Box HOST: Jessie Stephens PRODUCER: Elise Cooper RESEARCH ‘Bowraville’ by Dan Box - https://bit.ly/2LczKCK  ABC News ‘Unsolved Bowraville Murders to be Reconsidered’ - https://bit.ly/2XDgPaM  NITV ‘Justice, Just Us’ Bowraville Special Forum https://bit.ly/2Xzc8i0  NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Council Bowraville protest  https://bit.ly/2G4VbBj  NITV News ‘Failed By The System: The Bowraville Children’s Murders’ https://bit.ly/2SeSfHr  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

Dulcie Markham, better known as The Angel Of Death, has been called Australia’s most beautiful bad woman. A key figure in the underworld gangs of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, Dulcie used her Hollywood good looks, rosy pink lips and whip smart mind to manipulate the most evil of mobsters. Author and historian Leigh Straw joins Jessie for this episode where she takes us through the life of Dulcie; how the 15-year-old started out in sex work in 1920s Wooloomooloo, rose to become one of the most influential female crime figures in Australia’s history only to wind up disappearing into suburban obscurity in her old age. Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversations herehttps://bit.ly/2xrjAMZ  CREDITS GUEST: Leigh Strawhttps://bit.ly/2LxjQCn  HOST: Jessie Stephens SENIOR PRODUCER/EDITOR: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Angel of Death: Dulcie Markham, Australia’s Most Beautiful Bad Woman - Leigh Straw https://bit.ly/2LxjQCn  The March of Time, Time Inc Cecil “Scotty” McCormack Fatal Stabbing notice in The Canberra Times IMAGES Dulcie Markham - https://bit.ly/2YfDNkv  Guido Calletti - https://bit.ly/2KGNNQs  GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows herehttps://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts

On Monday 9th February 2004 Maura Murray vanished. She had crashed her car on a winding stretch of road in Woodsville New Hampshire USA. A local man named Butch Atwood witnessed the crash and called out to Maura asking if she needed him to call the police. She told him she’d already called car towing services and not to worry about it. But the problem was there was no phone service. Maura hadn’t called for help. Instead, in the 19 minutes it took for law enforcement to arrive, Maura’s car was locked, and she was nowhere to be seen. James Renner is an author who has spent his professional life wrapped up in this mystery, desperate to find out just what happened to Maura Murray. Was she murdered? Kidnapped? Or did Maura want to vanish and start another life? James explores all these options, the people of interest, what happened in the days leading up to her disappearance, and whether he thinks we’ll ever know what really happened to Maura Murray. You can see a map of Maura’s proposed drive from UMASS to Bethlehem herehttp://tiny.cc/50iv8y  The UMASS outing club and cabin listing can be found on the university website https://www.umass.edu/umoc/cabin/ Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversation herehttp://tiny.cc/51iv8y  CREDITS GUEST: James Renner HOST: Jessie Stephens SENIOR PRODUCER/EDITOR: Elise Cooper RESEARCH True Crime Addict: How I Lost Myself In The Case Of Maura Murray by James Renner - http://tiny.cc/v2iv8y 107 Degrees podcast episode with Fred Murray Disappeared: 'Miles To Nowhere' WBZ TV CBS Boston ‘No New Evidence Found In Maura Murray Case’ WMUR NEWS 'Search Suspended for Maura Murray' WMUR NEWS 'Local Missing Woman Maura Murray' GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows on our website https://www.mamamia.com.au/podcasts/true-crime-conversations/

When 24-year-old Belgian backpacker Davine Arckens reached out to a man on Gumtree about working on his farm she was excited.  The 88 days of labour would mean she could stay in Australia on a tourist visa for an extra year. She couldn’t wait to spend more time in a country she thought was safe and full of nice people. When Davine met the man it didn’t take long for her to realise she’d made a terrible mistake. Driven to what felt like the middle of nowhere, Davine was convinced she was hours from the nearest town.  What followed was two harrowing days where she was held against her will and an escape that made national headlines. Walkley award winning journalist Richard Guilliatt reported on the story and he joins Jessie Stephens to walk us through it. Join our Facebook group True Crime Conversations here. CREDITS GUEST: Richard Guilliatt HOST: Jessie Stephens SENIOR PRODUCER/EDITOR: Elise Cooper RESEARCH Richard Guilliatt for The Weekend Australian "I’ve Been Kidnapped. No Joke" Sentencing remarks from South Australian District Court 9 News Adelaide Nightly News 7 News Adelaide Farmer who chained and raped backpacker in Meningie pig shed sentenced 60 minutes Backpacker kidnapped and shackled in abandoned pig shed by madman GET IN TOUCH: Call the PodPhone on 02 8999 9386. Email the show at podcast@mamamia.com.au True Crime Conversations is a podcast by Mamamia. Find more shows here.