Motive & Method

A twin brother's 47-year fight for answers, suspicious letters and a new witness who may hold the key to where Kay Docherty is buried. In this episode, Kevin Docherty shares the heartbreaking story of his sister Kay Docherty, who vanished alongside her friend Toni Cavanagh in 1979. Nearly five decades on, Kevin recalls the night they disappeared, the suspicious letters sent to their families days...

Families demand answers - police under scrutiny - and a revelation that could reshape the Milat case. At the first hearing into dozens of Australia’s unsolved murders and missing persons cases, police revealed a previously unheard list of potential additional victims linked to Ivan Milat. In this episode, forensic scientist and criminologist Dr Xanthe Weston and criminal psychologist Tim Wat...

What if the full story behind Australia's most notorious serial killer Ivan Milat has never been told? In episode one of this special series of Motive&Method, forensic scientist Dr Xanthe Weston and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro break down the unsolved missing & murdered cases being re-examined in a landmark parliamentary inquiry. Tim & Xanthe have been working for years, alon...

What if the full story behind Australia's most notorious serial killer Ivan Milat has never been told? And what if more recent cases point to a copycat killer - or worse? In this special series of Motive&Method, forensic scientist Dr Xanthe Weston and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro take you inside a landmark parliamentary inquiry examining dozens of unsolved murders and disappearances....

Mysterious disappearances, unsolved deaths & terrifying stories - Is a killer stalking Byron Bay? And could there be more than one? In 2019, 18-year-old Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez vanished after a night out in Byron Bay and was never seen again. Since then, the disturbing death of Jackson Stacker and the mysterious cases of Hugo Palmer and Erwan Ferrieux, among others, have become part of a...

A mother & two young boys killed allegedly at the hands of their father - This tradegy has once again left an entire country asking how this keeps happening.  The alleged murders in Campbelltown, Sydney have been described as among the most confronting domestic violence scenes seasoned investigators have encountered. Police allege the accused may have been inspired by another shocking fam...

Crimes for clicks, shares and online status - In this episode, Tim and Xanthe unpack the  dangerous new phenomenon “crimefluencing”. Australia’s top cop recently highlighted this “new and disturbing front in traditional gender-based violence” - with young people being drawn into online networks that encourage everything from petty offending to serious violence an...

In December 2017, two young men took off on a drug-fuelled roadtrip to spend New Year's Eve in Cairns. One made it to the party - the other was never seen again. Now a shocking development could see this case finally solved. In the final episode of this special series for  Outback Murder Highway, investigative journalist Amelia Oberhardt dissects the mysterious disappearance of 22-year-old Ja...

More than three decades after 12-year-old Leanne Holland was murdered in Ipswich, her case remains one of Australia’s most controversial unsolved killings. In this episode, Tim and Xanthe speak with former police officer turned private investigator Graeme Crowley, whose relentless investigation helped trigger a new coronial inquiry into the case. They unpack the disappearance and murder of L...

Mark Jones’ little brother Tony was hitchhiking to meet their other brother in 1982 when he made a final phone call back home & was never heard from again. In this extended interview from the documentary series Outback Murder Highway , Mark shares his disappointment in the police investigation. He is confident someone has more information about what happened to his brother, and is hopefu...

In the early '80s a young hitchhiker vanished off the Flinders Highway - despite a mysterious tip-off in the mail, a killer’s confession, and growing rumours around one outback town, the truth remains hidden.  In this third episode for Outback Murder Highway, Tim, Xanthe and investigative journalist Amelia Oberhardt unpack the unsolved disappearance of 20-year-old Tony Jones who was on...

John Twaddle thought he knew who murdered his brother Gordon, but the person he had suspected has been ruled out by police on multiple occasions.  Almost 50 years after Gordon was found dead off Queensland’s Flinders Highway, alongside his girlfriend Karen and mate Tim, their families are no closer to the truth.  In this extended interview from the documentary series Outback Murder...

In October 1978 three bodies are found at Spear Creek in remote outback Queensland - each has a single rifle shot to the head. Decades later a prime suspect is ruled out but did witnesses identify another man? In this special episode for Outback Murder Highway, Tim and Xanthe are joined again by investigative journalist Amelia Oberhardt to unpack the documentary investigation into the unsolved mur...

For over fifty years, David Cunningham has been searching for the truth about his sister Anita, who vanished while hitchhiking Queensland’s notorious Flinders Highway in 1972. While her friend Robin was tragically found murdered, Anita’s fate remains one of the Outback's most enduring and haunting mysteries.  In this powerful, extended interview from the documentary series Outback...

Two 18-year-old girls disappeared on the Flinders Highway in 1972. One was found murdered, the other has never been found. In this first episode of our special series for Outback Murder Highway, Tim & Xanthe are joined by investigative journalist Amelia Oberhardt to dissect the unsolved case of Anita Cunningham and Robin Hoinville-Bartram. Could police have missed crucial evidence all those ye...

One Australian highway - 11 people dead or missing In this special series, criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro and forensic criminologist, Dr Xanthe Weston are unpacking four major cases under investigation in the exclusive new television documentary series  Outback Murder Highway. In each episode, Tim & Xanthe are joined by investigative journalist Amelia Oberhardt to dissect the hist...

Breaking news on notorious serial killer Ted Bundy decades after his execution -  A DNA breakthrough has linked Ted Bundy to another cold case murder, proving his story may not be as closed as once believed. In this bonus episode, Xanthe and Tim unpack the breakthrough and what it reveals about the enduring power of forensic science. Also, how rapid advances in DNA technology are cracking lon...

A dramatic arrest on a Queensland beach and a years-long search for a missing baby - it’s not all cybercrime for private investigator Ken Gamble! In part two of our conversation, Ken takes us inside his pursuit of Australia’s most notorious conman, Peter Foster.  Plus, how he got dragged into a major case of a missing baby in the United States  - and unravelled the mother's c...

He’s helped bring down international fraud rings, recover millions for victims and hunt some of the world’s most notorious con artists - including serial swindler Peter Foster. In part 1 of Tim & Xanthe’s conversation with private investigator Ken Gamble, Ken talks overnight mafia stakeouts, unmasking one of the world’s first major online ticket scammers and busting &ls...

Her husband died. She wrote a book about grief. Then she was charged with his murder. The Kouri Richins case is one of the most talked about recent criminal trials. While she was giving interviews spruiking the book she wrote to help her children cope with the loss of their father,  investigators were uncovering drug deals, secret debts, an affair and a sinister murder plot. In this episode,...

He was one of Australia's most feared predators - and he was never caught. In this episode, Tim & Xanthe revisit the terrifying crimes of Mr Cruel, the masked offender who stalked Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, targeting young girls, in the late 1980s. Tim worked alongside Victoria Police at the time, profiling the serial rapist as the attacks grew more brazen, escalating from calculated h...

Six deaths, multiple states and a high-IQ cult at the centre of it all. In this episode Xanthe and Tim unravel the bizarre and deeply unsettling case of 'The Zizians', whose alleged victims include a border patrol agent and one member's own parents. So how and why did a group of highly intelligent Silicon Valley overachievers spiral into violence? It's a twisted web authorities are still trying to...

She killed three babies and tried to murder two others. How is Australia's worst female serial killer now living in anonymity within close proximity to young children? An investigation by A Current Affair reporter Erin Ramsay has thrust the case of Helen Patricia Moore, the so-called killer babysitter, back into the spotlight. Despite serving less than fourteen years for murdering babies in her ca...

Is this another case of wrongful conviction like Kathleen Folbigg? In this episode, we revisit the case of Lucy Letby, as fresh legal developments continue to reshape how the evidence is being examined. With new inquests announced and ongoing legal processes underway, questions are being raised about expert testimony, systemic failures and whether earlier conclusions still stand. Tim & Xa...

The disappearance of four-year-old Gus Lamont has become one of the most troubling and fast-moving investigations in the country. The case that began as a desperate search in remote South Australia has since shifted into a major crime investigation. This episode, Tim & Xanthe discuss the key developments and turning points, and what detectives are saying now about their direction and their sus...