Australian True Crime

By Meshel Laurie

Society & Culture

What's Australian True Crime about?

Think nothing ever happens in your town? Australia's suburbs are home to some of the most mysterious and disturbing true crime cases in the world.

Meshel Laurie is a true crime obsessive. Emily Webb is a true crime author. And together with expert interviews with writers, victims, investigators and perpetrators, they probe the underbelly of our towns and suburbs, and uncover the darkness at the heart of Australian life.

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LAST EPISODE

Meet the WAGS - #178

09.20.2020

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 ...

Australian True Crime episodes:

09.20.2020 Meet the WAGS - #178 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 ...
09.13.2020 Can TikTok find Kylee-Anne? - #177 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 ...
09.06.2020 Could You Just Accept It? - #176 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 ...
09.01.2020 Loose Units – Electric Blue - #175 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 ...
08.30.2020 Victorian Rape Survivors Silenced - #174 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 ...
08.30.2020 Repost: #LetHerSpeak Janelle O’Connor’s sexual assault. WARNING – VIOLENT CONTENT - #159 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 ...
08.23.2020 Gary Jubelin on the Matthew Leveson Case - #173 Gary Jubelin didn’t always catch his killer, but he did always give 100% of himself to the job and to the victims. Faye Leveson and her husband Mark joined us in episode 76 to talk about the 10 year search ...
08.16.2020 The Golden Age of Armed Robbery - #172 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 ...
08.09.2020 Patricia Simmons and her baby brother Robert - #171 Patricia Simmons is a child protection worker. Her commitment to helping children find safety is rooted in her own dysfunctional childhood and in her relationship with her baby brother Robert. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show ...
08.02.2020 Simon Fenech is Breaking Good - #170 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 ...
07.26.2020 My Adoption Story is True Crime - #169 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 ...
07.19.2020 The Unsolved Murder of Emma Pawelski - #168 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 ...
07.12.2020 The First Time He Hit Her - #167 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 ...
07.09.2020 Gemini Rules Breathing - Astrologer Maggie Kerr 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, ...
07.05.2020 Undercover Copper Keith Banks - #166 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 ...
06.28.2020 The Jaidyn Leskie Murder - #165 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 ...
06.21.2020 The Childers Backpackers Fire - #164 Journalist Paul Cochrane was learning the ropes in regional news when he found himself covering the biggest story of his life, an arson attack in a remote Queensland fruit-picking town that took the lives of 15 young backpackers. He and ...
06.17.2020 How Lisa Harnum Changed the Conversation - #163 Lisa Harnum’s life and death changed the way we think, talk and report about domestic violence in Australia. Former Daily Telegraph Chief Court Reporter and author of The Fall, Amy Dale joins us to explain. Warning: please be advised this ...
06.10.2020 The Unsolved Disappearance of Revelle Balmain - #162 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. Warning: please be advised this episode contains ...
06.03.2020 Shark Arm - #161 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 ...
05.27.2020 A witness finds his courage and a killer is convicted - #160 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 ...
05.20.2020 #LetHerSpeak Janelle O’Connor’s sexual assault. WARNING – VIOLENT CONTENT - #159 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 ...
05.13.2020 The Sting – Catching Daniel Morcombe’s Killer - #158 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 ...
05.12.2020 The Narelle Fraser Conversations - Kira Olney - #157 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 ...
05.06.2020 The shocking murder of Bride-to-be Stephanie Scott - #156 The rape and murder of country schoolteacher Stephanie Scott by school handyman Vincent Stanford just a week before her wedding shocked Australia. Journalist Monique Patterson was the editor of the local paper The Leeton Irrigator at the time, she talks ...
04.29.2020 The Narelle Fraser Conversations - Patrick Tidmarsh - #155 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 ...
04.22.2020 Missing William Tyrell with Caroline Overington - #154 Our most requested case. Journalist and author Caroline Overington has tirelessly researched the disappearance and search for 3-year-old William Tyrell and gained exclusive interviews with many members of his family. She presents a thorough, fair and moving portrait of all ...
04.15.2020 The Narelle Fraser Conversations – Retired Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Sandra Nicholson - #153 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 ...
04.08.2020 Do Policemen Have a Soul? With Gary Raymond - #152 Gary Raymond worked some of the highest profile and most challenging cases in NSW policing in living memory, including the brutal abduction and murder of Anita Cobby and the drive-by shooting of 5-year-old Tess Debrincat. He was also deployed to ...
04.01.2020 The Narelle Fraser Conversations – Michele Williams QC Senior Crown Prosecutor - #151 Narelle Fraser dusts off her celebrated interviewing skills for a special series of episodes of Australian True Crime to be featured intermittently throughout the year. In this episode the speaks to legendary Senior Crown Prosecutor Michele Williams QC. Warning: please ...
03.30.2020 Welcome To Hell: Yvie Jones We caught up with Yvie Jones from Gogglebox and I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here for a YouTube Livestream on Friday night. Here are some highlights. We’ll be doing it again this Friday from 6pm and we’d love ...
03.25.2020 Where did Elmer Crawford go? (After murdering his wife and children) - #150 Elmer Crawford committed the ultimate crime of family violence in a callous and calculated way, but what he did next remains a fascinating mystery. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for Episode 150: Your hosts ...
03.21.2020 Welcome to Hell Trailer Meshel is locked inside with her children and her mother. It's only been a week and it's hell. Her friend comedian Nelly Thomas has a bit of practice but she still loses it sometimes. They have some interesting, unexpected guests ...
03.18.2020 Tara Schultz and the Price of Survival - #149 Tara Schultz is a survivor of many crimes perpetrated against her in childhood. She joins us to share some uncomfortable truths about the difficulties of meeting the ongoing financial costs of her survival. Warning: please be advised this episode contains ...
03.11.2020 Narelle Fraser meets Victor Peirce at the shops - #148 Narelle Fraser thought her number was up when she ran into the notorious armed robber Victor Peirce at the shops. She also gives us an update on an unsolved case from her days in the sex crimes squad. Warning: please ...
03.11.2020 Journalist Anthony Dowsley on Paul Dale, Lawyer X et al. A Different Perspective - #147 Anthony Dowsley’s dogged reporting over several years unmasked lawyer Nicola Gobbo as a police informant and has played a significant role in exposing some of the unorthodox methods employed by Victoria Police in their desperate war against the underworld in ...
03.04.2020 Paul Dale Pt 2. The Crimes in Question #146 “Disgraced former Drug Squad Detective” Paul Dale was charged with robbery, and then with murder. Some find it hard to believe he’s not in jail or dead, he says he’s an innocent victim of the Lawyer X scandal. You be ...
02.26.2020 “Disgraced” Paul Dale. Victim or Villain? - #145 “Disgraced former Drug Squad Detective” Paul Dale has seen his reputation so destroyed that his lawyer says he’s virtually beyond defamation. As his biographer Vikki Petraitis puts it, he’s been accused of everything, and yet, he’s never been convicted of ...
02.19.2020 Missing No More – the Gruesome Truth of the barrel at the barbecues - #144 Two “missing” women are found to have suffered similar gruesome fates. Author and journalist Liz Porter returns to tell us the truth about Sylvia Cave and Edwina Boyle. Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content. Show notes for ...
02.12.2020 Defending the Indefensible - #143 Tim Marsh defends people we call monsters. He’s Chief Counsel at Victoria Legal Aid, and in the last year alone he’s represented 2 men charged with crimes that rocked the nation. Tim joins us to tell us why he does ...
02.05.2020 105 signs of Recent Injury - #142 Jamie Pultz is a former Queensland police officer who’ll soon be launching a podcast investigation into the murder of Leanne Holland. He talks to us about that and about his last podcast project, Beenham Valley Road. We also check up ...
01.29.2020 Special Extra: Clunes Cluedo Episode One This is the first episode of Alice Mitchell’s podcast about Nina Nicholson’s unsolved murder, Clunes Cluedo. You’ll find it sometimes overlaps with this week’s episode of ATC, but it’s well worth listening to both because there are some really special ...
01.29.2020 Justice for Nina - Clunes Unsolved - #141 Alice Mitchell is the second cousin of a young woman called Nina Nicholson who was murdered in 1991 on the porch of her home in Clunes, Ballarat (VIC). Nina was a paediatric nurse who was heading out to work when ...
01.22.2020 Ram Tiwary: The miscarriage of justice you’ve probably never heard of - #140 Author Liz Porter, Author of Crime Scene Asia, tells us the unbelievable and disturbing case of Sydney-based Singaporean student Ram Tiwary who spent eight years in a NSW jail for a double murder that he didn't commit. Warning: please be ...
01.15.2020 Arson. - #139 “Two things can be true at once,” and arson is part in Australia’s bushfire story. Dr Troy McEwan is an associate professor in clinical and forensic psychology at Monash university. Her research is focussed on the assessment and treatment of ...
01.08.2020 Fiona’s fight to find her husband Bruce’s body - #138 Fiona Splitt started an intense advocacy campaign in Queensland to have the "no body, no parole" legislation introduced after the murder of her partner Bruce Schuler in 2012. Bruce was gold fossicking in the remote Palmerville Station area in Cape ...
12.04.2019 Who Killed Leanne Holland Pt 2 - Graham Stafford Interview #137 Graham Stafford served 15 years for the brutal rape and murder of his girlfriend's 12-year-old sister Leanne. The conviction was overturned in 2009, but Stafford is still locked in a legal battle with the QLD Police Service to have a ...
11.27.2019 Who Killed Leanne Holland? Part 1 - #136 12-year-old Leanne Holland was brutally raped and murdered in Ipswich, QLD in 1991. Her sister's boyfriend, Graham Stafford was convicted of the crime, but he maintains his innocence, and the investigation has been found wanting.Robin Bowles included his story in ...
11.20.2019 Shirley Finn, Dirty Girl - #135 Perth Brothel owner Shirley Finn's 1975 unsolved murder looms large over the city, with men at the highest levels of government and policing suspected of involvement. Journalist Juliet Wills, author of Dirty Girl: The State Sanctioned Murder of Brothel Madam ...
11.13.2019 Crime and Sport: Australia's Great Passions - #134 From bank robbing football players to drug-dealing football players and stand-over men, (who used to be football players). Ok, they're not all football players. In their new book "Gangland, this Unsporting Life" Susanna Lobez and James Morton have applied their ...

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