Forgotten Australia

In March 1936, a young Italian woman testifies against her seven rapists in open court, speaking bravely against their claims she’d consented to their violent group assault. To support the show: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Check out my books: (there’s a new one…) They’ll Never Hold Me @ Dymocks https://www.dymocks.com.au/book...

In the lazy days between Christmas and New Year in Wagga Wagga in 1935, a 17-year-old boy spends the festive season indulging in romantic fakery, prepared to defend his deception with cold-blooded murder. To support the show: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Check out my books: (there’s a new one…) They’ll Never Hold Me @ Dymocks...

Another young criminal faces the ultimate penalty after being convicted of shooting a man during a Sydney railway robbery. But is the Hooded Bandit about to be hanged because the government is making a ghastly legal mistake? To support the show: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Check out my books: (there’s a new one…) They’ll Neve...

With Monty Henwood’s 17-year-old alleged killer in custody, police are amazed by the youth’s calm confessions… even though they might see him sentenced to death. *Part two of The Boys of Death Row. The whole miniseries is available ad-free and early to supporters. Parts three to six on general release over the next three weeks.* To support the show: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia...

On a Monday morning in November 1935, a battered man is found dead beside railway tracks in the Blue Mountains. The victim is revered and his death is a mystery. But Sydney police, led by murder expert Detective-Sergeant Tom McRae, are soon on the trail of a young killer. *Part one of The Boys of Death Row. The whole miniseries is available ad-free and early to supporters. Parts two to six on...

Originally released in 2019, this episode tells the story of a Saturday night stick-up in Sydney that went very, very wrong – leaving a mystery that has endured for nearly a century. My upcoming miniseries will include the similar case of “The Hooded Bandit”, along with other crimes that shocked Australia in 1935-1936. It'll be with you very soon! To support the show: Apple - http://apple.co/...

One of Australia’s most respected journalists tells us about his early career on Sydney tabloid The Sun and how he got an exclusive interview with The Forgotten Man to ask the question: ‘Did you do it?’ To support the show: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com Check out my books: Hanging Ned...

The man accused of John Smillie’s murder finally has his day in court. But the verdict won’t settle the haunting question of his guilt or innocence. To support the show: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com Check out my books: Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/hangin...

Following new information, received six months after the murder of John Smillie, detectives from Sydney’s CIB swoop on their suspect. What happens next is decried as a travesty of justice. To support the show: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com Check out my books: Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymock...

In September 1935, John Smillie was shot dead in his taxi in western Sydney. Who had murdered this war veteran, loving husband and doting father? Was it a robbery gone wrong? A maniac with a grudge against cabbies? Or was he the victim of mistaken identity in a vicious gangland war? The Forgotten Man is an incredible tale of murder and mystery, fact and fantasy, insanity and injustice, which unfol...

From 1946, Sydney’s Leonard Lawson was a hero to kids for creating the comic book The Lone Avenger. But in reality the young artist was a psychopathic villain responsible for crimes far more terrible than anything in his stories. For five decades, Lawson would outrage the nation by destroying innocent lives and making a mockery of the law’s ability to control violent offenders. I’ve re-released Th...

A year after he's 'disappeared' into a solitary cage at Pentridge, Weachurch makes a last stab at freedom... and leaves behind a haunting legacy of resistance to injustice. Email: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com Check out my books: Hanging Ned Kelly @ Dymocks https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/hanging-ned-kelly-by-michael-adams-9781922992185 The Murder Squad @ Dymocks https://www.dymocks.com.au/b...

With Weachurch’s pleas for justice ignored and obstructed as he has punishments piled upon him illegally, he takes desperate action against him enemies again... and again... and again. This never-before-told story is based on extensive research in archival files. It’s made possible by Ancestry’s sponsorship and by supporter contributions. Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - h...

With Weachurch’s pleas for justice ignored and obstructed as he has punishments piled upon him illegally, he takes desperate action against him enemies again... and again... and again. This never-before-told story is based on extensive research in archival files. It’s made possible by Ancestry’s sponsorship and by supporter contributions. Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - h...

A century before Mark ‘Chopper’ Read became infamous in Pentridge, a convict named Weachurch struck terror into that prison’s warders and from behind its bluestone walls he loomed large as an Australian boogeyman. Weachurch’s attacks were so bloodthirsty that he was dubbed a ‘human tiger’ – a ‘wehrwolf’ – and he was kept in a cage in between court trials for attempted murder. If convicted, he face...

The 1931 murder of young Adelaide wife and mother Mary Edson shocked Australia. But despite this crime’s gruesome details, it was even then a depressingly familiar sort of outrage committed by a depressingly familiar sort of offender. Nearly 100 years later, not enough has changed. 1800RESPECT is the national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling, information and support service. If you...

With Kingsgrove people reeling from the outrage committed on Paterson Avenue, Sydney detectives swarm the streets to piece together what happened, who was responsible and why the madman struck at beloved citizens. Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...

In 1956, Sydney’s usually sedate southern suburbs were stalked by not one but two bloodthirsty men. While the Kingsgrove Slasher’s reign of terror would last years but result in no deaths, the Meticulous Maniac’s outrage was far shorter and far more deadly. Yet in the wake of his violence, victims were to react with extraordinary grace. Part Two will be released soon. It’s available now early and...

Jack Brown — murderer of three people, supposedly inspired by reading Deadwood Dick pulp novels — went to trial in October 1906. But could a boy who reckoned he’d slaughtered his best friends in the name of a genocidal revolution for White Australia actually be sane, be convicted and be hanged? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following the supposedly Deadwood Dick-inspired murders committed by Jimmy and Joe Governor, Jack Underwood and Thomas Quinlan, in July 1906 Australia was rocked by a new outrage attributed to “pernicious literature”: the brutal killing and mutilation of three people at German Creek on the NSW north coast. The perpetrator was young Jack Brown. But he said his motivation wasn’t to be a pulp novel h...

Deadwood Dick was the first pop culture superhero – 50 years before Batman — and he was the first such character to spark widespread moral condemnation as a "cause" of crime. In Australia from the 1890s, Deadwood Dick was blamed for everything, from truancy to... mass murder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Having escaped prison, fled interstate and joined the army under yet another new name, George Blunderfield seeks reinvention and redemption on the Western Front — but his true nature compels him to commit his most atrocious crimes yet. First released in 2021, this episode is re-released as part of Season 8’s ‘Crimes That Shocked Australia’ Brand-new episodes coming in May. Hosted on Acast. See aca...

After committing a sickening outrage in the first weeks of 1900, George Blunderfield serves a relatively short jail sentence. When he's set free he sheds his identity but can’t help but follow the nature that causes him to hurt those who only want to help him. Part 3 will be released next week. But you can hear it now ad-free as a podcast supporter. First released in 2021, this episode is re-relea...

Forgotten fiend George Blunderfield left a trail of violence and murder across Australia from the late 19th century until near the end of the First World War. Parts 2 & 3 will be released next week. But you can hear them now ad-free as a podcast supporter. First released in 2021, this episode is re-released as part of Season 8’s ‘Crimes That Shocked Australia’ Brand-new episodes coming in May....

Trapped in Melbourne in bizarre circumstances, Herbert Kopit's last chance is to talk his way out of an arrest and flee the country. First released in 2022, this episode is re-released as part of Season 8’s ‘Crimes That Shocked Australia’ Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia The Murder Squad https://www.bo...