Australian True Crime

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Founded in 1972, "The 12 Tribes" presents itself as a welcoming religious sect. However, the accounts from those who have managed to escape tell a very different story.   The group maintains global locations and communities, including...

Founded in 1972, "The 12 Tribes" presents itself as a welcoming religious sect. However, the accounts from those who have managed to escape tell a very different story.   The group maintains global locations and communities, including two communities in NSW: Katoomba and Picton.   Our guest for this episode is Tim Elliiott. Tim is Walkley nominated journalist who has been investigating a...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    This is the second part of a two part series with our guest, Arthur Bolkas.   In his late teens and early twenties, Arthur was pulling double duty as a promising young law student and an armed robber.   We discovered at the end of...

This is the second part of a two part series with our guest, Arthur Bolkas.   In his late teens and early twenties, Arthur was pulling double duty as a promising young law student and an armed robber.   We discovered at the end of part one that Arthur was eventually captured after a very dramatic car chase through the streets of a busy inner Melbourne suburb.   We now pick up our co...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    We're going back to the "stick ups" this week with Arthur Bolkas.   He's a Criminologist, actor, public speaker and proud father of two.   However, before he was all of these things, he was a very promising young law student, and...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    We're going back to the "stick ups" this week with Arthur Bolkas.   He's a Criminologist, actor, public speaker and proud father of two.   However, before he was all of these things, he was a very promising young law student, and...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Over the past eight months, more than 30 tobacco stores in Victoria have fallen victim to a series of fire bombings due to a burgeoning turf war.   Marta Pascual Juanola is a crime reporter for The Age, and has written a series of stor...

Over the past eight months, more than 30 tobacco stores in Victoria have fallen victim to a series of fire bombings due to a burgeoning turf war.   Marta Pascual Juanola is a crime reporter for The Age, and has written a series of stories on Victoria's illegal tobacco industry.   She joins us on this episode of Australian True Crime to talk about the increasing violence in this industry,...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Ashleigh (not her real name) is a kind of woman we've all heard about many times, but don't often get to hear from.   A couple of years ago, Ashleigh received a letter from an inmate who is serving a life imprisonment conviction for hi...

Ashleigh (not her real name) is a kind of woman we've all heard about many times, but don't often get to hear from.   A couple of years ago, Ashleigh received a letter from an inmate who is serving a life imprisonment conviction for his involvement in a double murder. They soon fell in love with each other.   Ashleigh joins us today to talk about their relationship, about the realities o...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    In 2011, A young indigenous man by the name of Zak Grieve was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he didn't commit.   The murder of Ray Niceforo was commissioned by his former partner Bronwyn Malyschko, and carried out by her son...

In 2011, A young indigenous man by the name of Zak Grieve was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he didn't commit.   The murder of Ray Niceforo was commissioned by his former partner Bronwyn Malyschko, and carried out by her son Chris Malyschko and accomplice Darren Halfpenny.   Grieve was originally supposed to be an accomplice to the murder too, but changed his mind on the night....

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Australia tops almost every other country when it comes to our consumption of meth, with billions of dollars of it arriving at our shores each year.   Investigative journalist Conor Woodman joins us on this episode to detail exactly wh...

Australia tops almost every other country when it comes to our consumption of meth, with billions of dollars of it arriving at our shores each year.   Investigative journalist Conor Woodman joins us on this episode to detail exactly where all of this methamphetamine is coming from, the destructive path it takes to get into Australia, and the steps we can take for harm minimisation.  &nbs...

November 2023 marks the 34th anniversary of the brutal murder of Toowoomba teenager, Annette Mason.   For today's episode, we revisit one of our earliest episodes of Australian True Crime which featured an interview with Annette's sister, Linda Mason.   For Support:    Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torre...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Even though Biannca Edmunds didn't pull the trigger, Victorian homicide detectives pursued her for years with the belief that she was responsible for the death of her ex partner, Michael Caposiena.   In 2016, Caposiena was murdered by...

Even though Biannca Edmunds didn't pull the trigger, Victorian homicide detectives pursued her for years with the belief that she was responsible for the death of her ex partner, Michael Caposiena.   In 2016, Caposiena was murdered by Edmunds' then-husband, Glen Cassidy. Cassidy himself died that night, due to the self-defence efforts of Caposiena.   Court Reporter for ABC News Melbourne...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Gwenda McCallum was young, single and determined to squeeze every drop out of life when she arrived in Sydney in 1949.   Mere weeks later, she found herself in the company of some extremely unsuitable men.   After one night of par...

Gwenda McCallum was young, single and determined to squeeze every drop out of life when she arrived in Sydney in 1949.   Mere weeks later, she found herself in the company of some extremely unsuitable men.   After one night of partying, Gwenda awoke on board an ocean liner. 24 hours later, she vanished.   Our guest today, Gideon Haigh, puts an inspiring amount of work and care into...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    The current rise of Antisemitism and “White Power” groups in Australia is not unprecedented.   In fact, as recently as 1992, Russell Crowe’s career was launched by his role as a brutal skinhead in the seminal Australi...

The current rise of Antisemitism and “White Power” groups in Australia is not unprecedented.   In fact, as recently as 1992, Russell Crowe’s career was launched by his role as a brutal skinhead in the seminal Australian film Romper Stomper.   Andrew Kirby is one of the men that movie was about and he joins us to talk about Neo Nazism in Australia, and his subsequent int...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Lauren Humby brings a perspective on the criminal justice system that many of us may struggle with.   However, she is anything but misinformed. Not only is Lauren an academic with decades of research in the field, she is also victim of...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Lauren Humby brings a perspective on the criminal justice system that many of us may struggle with.   However, she is anything but misinformed. Not only is Lauren an academic with decades of research in the field, she is also victim of...

This is an unlocked episode of Australian True Crime Plus. To access all ATC Plus episodes, plus ad free and early listening of all Australian True Crime episodes, you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts.   The story of Robert Berchtold's double kidnapping of Jan Broberg is so bizarre and tragic, that you may find it unbelievable.   In the 1970s, Jan Broberg was kidnapped twice by family fri...

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Susan grew up in the UK, enduring years of highly abusive relationships at the hands of her mother and her pimp husband.    In her thirties, she moved to Australia and begun working at Brisbane's infamous Boggo Road prison. ...