Australian True Crime

The Wives and Girlfriends of some of Australia’s most feared men. Author and journalist Rochelle Jackson tells their stories in her book Partners and Crime, going behind the headlines and hype to reveal what it is really like to live with men who are outside the law, like the infamous Chopper Read, the organised crime boss Bob Trimbole and armed robber Fred Cako. Show notes for Episode 178: Your h...

Kaz Schaffer is using TikTok to demand answers from the small group of people she believes know what happened to her little sister Kylee who’s been missing since 2004.  Show notes for Episode 177: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Kaz Schaffer Follow Kaz on TikTok Help Find Kylee-Ann Schaffer on Facebook Like us on Facebook ​ Follow us on Instagram or Twitter Support...

Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content and reference to suicide. Listener discretion is advised. Lyn Cecil believes her son Adam was murdered. At what point would you “just accept” he’d died of suicide and stop fighting?  Show notes for Episode 176: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Lyn Cecil Like us on Facebook ​ Follow us on Instagram or Tw...

Paul Verhoeven’s second book about his father John’s time in NSW police is another fantastic, action-packed and funny read. This time it’s John’s time in the Forensics Unit under Paul’s microscope.  Electric Blue also covers some interesting father-son territory including a very difficult period in both their lives during which Paul was brutally bullied. You can hear more about that in a comp...

Warning: please be advised this episode contains accounts of sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised. Journalists Nina Funnel and Sherelle Moody discovered a very big problem with a new piece of legislation passed in Victoria in February 2020. They’ve been helping rape survivors lobby the Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessey for several months demanding a fix for the problem without me...

This episode is a repost of episode #159, originally published on May 21st 2020. Janelle O’Connor was the first person in the State of Tasmania to exercise her right to be named as a rape survivor, on the 24th of April 2020. Up until then it was illegal for rape survivors to self-identify. Janelle and NinaFunnel, the founder of the #LetHerSpeak campaign join us to explain the legal changes, a...

Bank robbers like Russell ‘Mad Dog’ Cox and Ray Denning were household names in Australia in the 1980s, when they brazenly escaped prison and taunted police for years. Author Mark Dapin joins us to talk about this period in Australian history. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 172: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Mar...

Simon Fenech’s ice addiction transformed him from an athlete, husband and father with a 5 bedroom house and a Harley to a former inmate lining up for food parcels at inner city churches. How did he lose so much and how has he found so much more? He joins us to explain. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 170: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emi...

Liz Colenso discovered as an adult that she was adopted. Her search for her biological mother uncovered a tragic and frightening story.  Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 169: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Liz Colenso Like us on Facebook ​ Follow us on Instagram or Twitter Support us on Patreon Visit our Books...

There are people in Adelaide who know who murdered Emma Pawelski and why. Her mother and her sister are desperate for them to come forward and tell them.  Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 168: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Sharon McKell More about Emma's case here Like us on Facebook ​ Follow us on Instagram...

Canberra mum Tara Costigan was holding her newborn baby when her ex-partner murdered her in front of her other small children. Although he’d been verbally abusive, it was the first time he hit her.  Heidi Lemon has written a book with Tara’s family and she and Tara’s Aunt Maria join us to talk it. BUY THE FIRST TIME HE HIT HER by Heidi Lemon. Source audio: 7.30 Report https://www.abc.net.au/7...

Old School Nitty Gritty Committee is back! Maggie Kerr is an astrologer of over 30 years’ experience. She says everything that’s happening right now is just down to patterns and it’s all linked to things that’ have happened before. Today, Maggie’s telling us what patterns are playing out right now and in our immediate future. Show notes for Episode 721: Your host is Meshel Laurie With thanks to gu...

Keith Banks was a clean living country boy when he joined QLD Police in the 70s but it took him to some very dark places. He joins us to talk about it. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 166: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Keith Banks Like us on Facebook ​ Follow us on Instagram or Twitter Support us on Patreon Visit...

The murder of 14-month-old Jaidyn Leskie is officially unsolved. Journalist and author Michael Gleeson explains the prosecution’s theory as to how he died and the many distractions that prevented his killer seeing justice. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 165: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Michael Gleeson from The...

Journalist Paul Cochrane joins us to talk about the fire in the Queensland fruit-picking town of Childers that took the lives of 15 people. He hosts the excellent podcast 'Childers The Full Story' and he joins us to tell us about it.  Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 164: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Paul Co...

Lisa Harnum’s life and death changed the way we think, talk and report about domestic violence in Australia. Former Daily Telegraph Chief Court Amy Dale, reporter and author of THE FALL : How Simon Gittany killed Lisa Harnum joins us to explain. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 163: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to A...

Stunning young model and dancer Revelle Balmain disappeared in November 1994, just days before realising her dream off moving to Japan to perform. When the police got involved, they discovered her secret life.  Guest John Dale wrote a crime fiction loosly based on Revelle's disappearance called DETECTIVE WORK . Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for E...

Two wealthy Sydney-siders get more than they bargain for when they team up with 2 small-time criminals in this extraordinary depression-era story of two unsolved murders and one nauseous shark. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 161: Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb With thanks to Kevin Meagher and Phillip Roope Like us on Facebook ​...

Paul Bellia was just 16, hanging out with his friend Ricky Balcombe in the local shopping mall on a Friday afternoon when an older man walked up to them and stabbed Ricky to death in 1995. Paul spent the following 23 years caught between police asking him to testify against their main suspect and the many intimidating people in his community warning him not to. Some of whom had once been his frien...

Janelle O’Connor was the first person in the State of Tasmania to exercise her right to be named as a rape survivor, on the 24th of April 2020. Up until then it was illegal for rape survivors to self-identify.  Janelle and Nina Funnel, the founder of the #LetHerSpeak campaign join us to explain the legal changes, and Janelle tells us her story.  WARNING – This is an extremely disturbing...

Although Queensland police visited Brett Peter Cowan just days after Daniel Morcombe first disappeared in 2003, it took 8 years, an inquest and an incredibly intricate covert operation for them to find a way to convict him of Daniel’s abduction and murder. Journalist Kate Kyriacou covered the case and wrote a book about the covert operation THE STING: The Undercover Operation That Caught Daniel Mo...

To celebrate our first Australian True Crime online livestream this Saturday Night, starring Narelle Fraser and Ron Iddles, we’re releasing an extra episode this week. It’s another in the series of Narelle Fraser Conversations. Join us for our very first video live stream event, this Saturday May 16th at 8pm, Narelle Fraser and Ron Iddles, and some other surprises. Purchase your tickets here >&...

The rape and murder of country schoolteacher Stephanie Scott just a week before her wedding shocked Australia. Journalist Monique Patterson was the editor of the local paper The Leeton Irrigator at the time, and her reflections are detailed in her book UNITED IN GRIEF. BUY Monique's book UNITED IN GRIEF Plus we catch up with Jamie Pultz from “ Beenham Valley Road ” about his latest podcast, “ Who...

Patrick Tidmarsh is a leading authority on sexual offending, and the investigation of sexual crime. He trains and lectures investigators all over the world on how to improve their response to both offenders and victims.  Narelle Fraser is a former Rape Squad and the Homicide Squad Detective with a focus on victims. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes f...

Retired Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Sandra Nicholson isn’t the kind of person who seeks attention. Fortunately Narelle knows what an impressive copper lurks beneath the mild-mannered exterior of this quietly spoken lady. She’s even sent other coppers to jail. Sandra Nicholson is a hands-on, supportive leader, but she’s no pushover. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphi...