Forgotten Australia

How did Herbert Kopit become the most wanted man in Australia, trying to escape a massive tri-state murder manhunt while dressed as a woman? Part 3 will be released next week. But You can hear it now ad-free as a podcast supporter. Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia First released in 2022, this episode i...

It's just after dawn on 2 April 1936 at Brisbane's Central Railway Station and as a porter enters a sleeping car on the overnight train from Bundaberg he discovers a slaughterhouse. Within minutes Queensland police will begin a desperate hunt for a maniac responsible for multiple murders. Parts 2 & 3 will be released next week. But you can hear them now ad-free as a podcast supporter. Support...

In Victoria in September 1883, moments before he was hanged for murder, Robert Burns made a startling confession, claiming he’d killed not one but eight people. Flash forward 140 years and Bendigo woman Julie di Bella was researching her family history when she made a shocking discovery about her bloodline. Julie joins Forgotten Australia to talk about the thorniest branch in her family tree. Supp...

With ‘The Human Glove’ murder trial just about over, gunshot rings out in Wagga Wagga and another person falls dead. This victim? A witness. Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com or https://www.speakpipe.com/forg...

On release for the first time since 2021, this classic true crime tale is up there with the Shark Arm and Pyjama Girl cases as a Depression-era shocker. On Christmas Day 1933, the discovery of a decayed corpse and a 'human glove' of skin led to incredible forensic work and a murder trial that'd result in a second mysterious murder. Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgotte...

With the survivor of the tragedy tried for murder, the only hope is an insanity defence and mercy from Melbourne’s most powerful men. To get in touch with Ancestry about your military family members: ancestry@webershandwick.com.au Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Check out my books: The Murder Squad ht...

After having their photos taken holding hands and pointing pistols at each other, Ned and Charlie head for the Treasury Gardens. Only one will emerge alive – to face a fate worse than death as their private lives are exposed in the courts and in the press. Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia To get in tou...

In 1871-1872, Ned Feeney and Charlie Marks were more than friends in a Melbourne where acting on homosexual desire might get you hanged. Using their letters to each other, we explore the mysteries of their tortured relationship and how it led to tragedy. Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia Like the show?...

In 1872, Australia was shocked by a shooting in Melbourne’s Treasury Gardens. One man lay dead, the other lay nearby smoking a cigar. What had led these best friends to point their guns at each other? Using original archival records, we explore the circumstances of one of our history’s most tragic crimes, committed during a time of hateful homophobia. To get in touch with Ancestry about your famil...

With the survivors of the bank massacre identifying the axe-wielding maniac, a frantic search is undertaken in western NSW. But if he’s caught, will he escape justice with a plea of insanity? Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia To send me a question for the David Hunt Book Club episode: forgottenaustralia...

In this first episode of the new season devoted to Crimes That Shocked Australia, we look at the 1893 horror that became known across the colonies as ‘The Carcoar Tragedy’. Set against the backdrop of a forgotten economic catastrophe, this is the story of a young bank manager who’d already endured tragedy – only to find himself and his loved ones at the mercy of a bloodthirsty burglar. What made t...

After police opened fire on miners at Rothbury on 16 December 1929, killing one man and seriously wounding several more, the battle for the hearts and minds of the Australian public began in the NSW and federal parliaments and in the conservative and leftist newspapers. We delve into the recriminations, accusations, and basher-gang reign of terror that followed the Rothbury shootings — and explore...

On 16 December 1929, at the Rothbury colliery near Newcastle, thousands of miners protesting against an illegal wage cut were fired on by police with tragic results. But the battle began long before the bullets started flying. For most of that year, these miners had been at the centre of a bitter battle that toppled a federal government, saw the NSW state government use basher gangs of police and...

In San Francisco in February 1897 a trio of Australian police officers await the arrival of Frank Butler, wanted for the murder of three men in the Blue Mountains and beyond. While they’ll capture the fugitive, their problems are only starting as Butler enjoys his newfound American celebrity, with newspapers printing his every word, thousands of people clamouring to meet him and canny defence atto...

With the alarm raised about three missing miners, Sydney police begin a massive search of the Blue Mountains. It’s a hunt that draws large crowds of ghoulish spectators, who get more than they bargained for as gruesome discoveries are made. Yet by then suspected murderer Frank Butler is well on his way to San Francisco, forcing Australian detectives to give chase across the seas as American newspa...

In 1896 a cold-blooded serial killer calling himself Frank Butler advertised for mining partners in Sydney newspapers. Those who went west with him to the Blue Mountains were never seen alive again. Yet one man who escaped Butler’s clutches was to become a police officer — and take part in the manhunt for this monster, a chase that stretched from Sydney to San Francisco and made headlines all...

Nearly a century before cocaine bundles started washing up on the Sydney coast, the city’s citizens clamoured to recover a different sort of illicit bounty from the sea: kegs of beer that’d floated free of Malabar, the happiest shipwreck disaster in Australian history. Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia...

It was the criminal Christmas miracle to warm the hardest heart. During the festive season in 1951, Pentridge prisoners got a surprise visit from Santa, aka the cheeky crook Harold 'Dusty' Sheehan, who could get out of — and into — prisons as easily as Old St Nick down a chimney. This ‘regifted’ episode was originally released in 2021. Another new episode will be out next week. Merry Christmas! Ho...

In December 1950, Australia was under threat from a new menace to society: sex-crazed Bodgies and Widgies. This youth ‘cult’ indulged in wild orgies and violent crime sprees and its ranks teemed with unwanted immigrants and perverted homosexuals. Or so the tabloid newspapers warned. In this episode, we look at the moral panic that went with the Bodgies and Widgies - and the Sydney surfing hero at...

Once upon a time not too long ago, wearing a bikini on Australia’s most famous stretch of sand meant you risked the wrath of veteran Bondi Beach inspector Aub Laidlaw. Show too much skin and he’d kick you off – and even threaten you with arrest. But Aub’s enforcement of prudish regulations caused a massive backlash in 1961 when young Joan Barry donned a gold bikini, pushed back against beach bully...

On the 3rd of January 1931, Sydney suffered one of the worst days in Australian police history — the result of a trauma that had festered since a "White Feather" taunt from the Great War. *This episode was originally released in 2019 and has been archived since May 2022* Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustrali...

To colonial Australia, Betsy Scott had become a ‘female monster’ – all the more dangerous and diabolical for being alluring and attractive. But how much did this image influence her fate? Support Forgotten Australia: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia To send a question to David Hunt for the Book Club episode: Email - forgotten...

With Mansfield police arresting Bob Scott’s murderer, the case looks like it’ll be closed quickly. But revelations before the cops reach Devil’s River will cause a sensation – and leave the Victorian government with a controversial decision to make. Murder at Devil’s River - Part Three: Australia’s First Femme Fatale will go general release on 27 November. Part Three is available early and ad-free...

On 11 November 1863 – 160 years ago this month – history was made in Victoria when the murder of drunkard Bob Scott was avenged on the gallows in Melbourne Gaol. But what had really happened when a midnight shot was fired in the darkness of a Devils River grog shanty? Was justice done at the hands of the hangman? Murder at Devil’s River - Part Two: I’m Innocent But I Know I’ll Hang will go general...

Len’s arrival to RAF Bomber Command makes for morale-boosting news. But more than half the men who serve as air crew will not live to see the end of the war. Len’s luck will need to hold if he’s to return to Australia and marry Thelma. For a free trial: Apple - http://apple.co/forgottenaustralia Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/ForgottenAustralia To send a question to David Hunt for the Book...