Casefile True Crime

The Italian town of Brembate di Sopra is home to a quiet, close-knit community, and like the other local youths, 13-year-old Yara Gambirasio felt safe navigating the streets alone. On November 26 2010, Yara left the town’s sports centre and didn’t hesitate to walk the 700-metre journey home by herself. However, when she failed to arrive, it turned out the streets of Brembate di Sopra weren’t as sa...

In the 18 month period between May 1980 and October 1981, six women went missing from the Frankston and Tynong North areas in Melbourne’s south-east. The victims – Bertha Miller, Catherine Headland, Ann-Marie Sargent, Narumol Stephenson, Allison Rooke and Joy Summers – were later found murdered and dumped in remote scrubland. Obvious efforts had been made by the offender to prevent the victims fro...

On April 28 1996, a lone gunman entered the Broad Arrow Café in Tasmania’s historic Port Arthur site and opened fire. By the end of his shooting spree, 35 lives had been lost and 24 others were injured, including two young children... ---  Researched and co-written by Anna Priestland For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-45-port-arthur Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

The desert roads of the Northern Territory are as long as they are desolate. If you stand still, the loudest sound you’ll hear is your own heartbeat. For British tourists Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees, the prospect of driving from Adelaide to Darwin along the expansive, open road was the thrill of a lifetime and unlike anything, they’d ever experienced before. --- Episode researched and co-writte...

The summer of 1986 was a busy one for 19-year-old Silver Spring resident, Keith Warren. Having recently graduated from John F. Kennedy High School, Keith worked two jobs to save money for college. Popular and sociable, he spent his spare time hanging out with friends and was excited about what the future held. --- For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-43-keith-warren Ho...

When 29-year-old Sherri Rasmussen married the love of her life, John Ruetten, the future looked promising. But just three months after their wedding, Sherri was found shot to death in the couples Van Nuys apartment. One thing was clear – Sherri had fought for her life until the very end... --- Assisted in research and co-written by Anna Priestland For all credits and sources please visit casefilep...

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Melbourne was gripped by fear when a masked assailant began breaking into suburban family homes and abducting young children. The attacks were particularly callous, earning the assailant the title of Mr Cruel. ---  For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-41-mr-cruel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is an update on the Lisa Marie Young case in Case 26. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-26-lisa-marie-young Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Sydney suburb of Cabramatta was a hotbed for criminal activity. Heroin use was rife and users flocked to the area looking for their next fix. As was to be expected, the drug epidemic resulted in an increase in violent crime, including gangs, home invasions, robberies, extortions, kidnappings, and worse. --- Research for this episode by Victoria Dieffenbacher. Co-written...

After a string of failed relationships and other disappointments, Janelle Patton made the decision to relocate from Australia to Norfolk Island in search of a fresh start. With a population of around 2000 people, the small South Pacific island was considered a safe and friendly place, with no major crimes having occurred there in over a century. ---  Victoria Dieffenbacher researched and co-wrote...

Indiana born Diane Whitmore always dreamed of making it big in New York City. When she met Wall Street securities analyst Joseph Pikul, she thought she was on the way to the perfect life. But her marriage to Joseph Pikul wasn’t perfect. In fact, it was far from it... --- Victoria Dieffenbacher researched and co-wrote this episode. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/the-pi...

[Part 3 of 3] With the West Yorkshire Police no closer to identifying The Yorkshire Ripper, the department came under intense scrutiny. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher offered to take over the investigation, while the media and public demanded that Scotland Yard be called in to find the killer.  --- Research for this episode by Victoria Dieffenbacher. Co-written by Victoria Dieffenbacher and the...

[Part 2 of 3] With the Yorkshire Ripper showing no sign of slowing down, police appealed directly to the killer himself in the hopes of putting an end to the crime spree. --- Research for this episode by Victoria Dieffenbacher. Co-written by Victoria Dieffenbacher and the Anonymous Host. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/yorkshire-ripper-part-2 Hosted on Acast. See acast...

[Part 1 of 3] West Yorkshire is a county in England that has a population of over 2 million people. It covers an area of over 2,000 km² and is formed by five cities: Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale. Each one of these cities has its own history, its own identity, and its own voice. But during the 1970’s, they were all united. The residents of each city were looking over their s...

In late 2000, the owner of a Polish advertising company, Dariusz Janiszewski, went missing after going to meet a client. His body was later found floating in a lake, but police had no idea who could be responsible and the Polish press ultimately dubbed the case “the perfect murder.”   --- For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-36-amok Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

On the evening of March 18 2001, 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan enjoyed a night out with friends in the Old Town of Swindon in South West England. The flat she shared with her boyfriend Kevin Reape was less than a kilometre away, making it an easy walk home. ---  For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-35-operation-mayan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...

[WARNING – This episode deals with child sex abuse. It will not be suitable for all listeners.] In the early 1960s, Victorian Detective Denis Ryan was transferred from Melbourne to the regional town of Mildura where he soon ran into a familiar face – local priest, Father John Day. The two had encountered one another before during a less than savoury incident in St Kilda several years prior.  --- F...

In the early 1990s, South Lake Tahoe was considered a safe and sheltered place to live. All that changed on June 10 1991, when 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard was abducted in broad daylight while walking to her school bus stop. Almost two decades later, convicted sex offender Phillip Garrido visited the University of California’s Berkeley campus, where a staff member noticed something suspicious abo...

After migrating from England to Australia after World War II, the Holmes family were looking forward to embracing a safer and higher quality of life. They’d experienced trauma and hardship during the war years and were ready to start afresh.  That dream was shattered on August 29, 1950, just weeks after their arrival, when 18-year-old Grace Holmes and her 11-year-old sister Kathleen went for a wal...

Over a five-week period in 1986, four young women went missing from around Perth in Western Australia. 22-year-old Mary Neilson, 15-year-old Susannah Candy, 31-year-old Noelene Patterson and 21-year-old Denise Brown all disappeared without a trace, but police were sceptical that some were runaways and no links were drawn between the missing women. That was until November 10 1986, when a man standi...

This episode of Casefile was released in 2016 when the case was still unresolved. Major developments have since occurred and as a result, we have elected to remove the episode, with a view to releasing an updated version in the future. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-30-claremont-serial-killer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 80-year-old retired publisher Joseph Clever lived with his wife Hilda at Burgate House, a secluded mansion on the edge of New Forest in Hampshire, England. On the evening of September 1 1986, they invited their son Tom and his wife Wendy over for dinner. The following morning, two maintenance workers arrived to find the property engulfed in smoke.   Investigators rushed to the scene soon reali...

The eastern side of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is closed in by mountains. On the city’s west side, a mesa rises out of the Rio Grande Valley. In 2005, subdivisions and new housing were being built along the West Mesa. The construction pressed up against the vast desert that stretches beyond where you will find tumbleweeds, high tension wires and trash. It is a desolate isolated spot. For...

Vancouver Island. Known for its breathtaking scenery, astonishing postcard beauty and amazing wildlife. Heaven on earth. But on certain parts of the island, beneath the beauty, some will tell you there lies a dark underbelly. And in the early hours of the morning, June 30th, 2002, that underbelly came to the surface. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-26-lisa-marie-y...

“If any bastard ever thought about going to the cops about us, they’ll be killed and so will their fucking families. And if we don’t get them, our mates will. It would be a shame if anything happened to your sweet little Prue, wouldn’t it”. Those words were allegedly said by one of the men convicted for the Russell Street Bombing that we covered the last episode. The person he said those words to?...