Laura McConnell grew up in a fundamentalist sect with no name.
Along with no official title, the group also claims to have no registration around the world, no formal hierarchy, and no official places of worship.
According to Laura, it's this secrecy and denial that has allowed abuse to flourish within the community. She joins us today to expose what she witnessed and experienced inside the group she calls The Truth.
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CREDITS
Guest: Laura McConnell
Host: Gemma Bath
Executive Producer: Gia Moylan
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
GET IN TOUCH:
Feedback? We’re listening! Call the pod phone on 02 8999 9386 or email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au  
If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Escaping One Of Australia's Most Secretive Cults

True Crime Conversations explores the world's most notorious crimes by speaking to the people who know the most about them.

True crime

In 2014, 11-year-old Luke Batty was murdered by his father at Tyabb cricket ground on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. 
The following year a coroner ruled that no one could have predicted that Luke would be killed by his father, but the inquest did point out several gaps in the family violence system in the lead-up to his death. 
Ten years on, Luke's mother Rosie remains on the frontline campaigning for change.
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And if this episode has brought up anything for you or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).
CREDITS
Guest: Rosie Batty
Host: Gemma Bath
Executive Producer: Gia Moylan
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
GET IN TOUCH:
Feedback? We’re listening! Email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or send us a voice note, and one of our Podcast Producers will come back to you ASAP.
If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s Been 10 Years Since The Murder Of Luke Batty

This month, we’re doing things differently. Over the next few weeks well be revisiting stories from our archives to highlight crimes involving male violence against women in Australia because right now the rate at which we are losing women is alarming and terrifying. 
But first, we wanted to talk to someone who lives and breathes violence against women every single day. 
Sherele Moody is a journalist and the founder of The Red Heart Campaign and the Australian Femicide Watch. She has created a moving and chilling memorial online, that tracks every known Australian woman and child killed as a result of murder, manslaughter or neglect from white settlement to now. 
Sherele joins us to discuss her work and what we can actually do to see change.
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Keep this conversation going: Over on our daily news podcast The Quicky we're exploring the next steps to stopping gendered-based violence. Hear what happens after the national rallies here.
CREDITS
Guest: Sherele Moody
Host: Gemma Bath
Executive Producer: Gia Moylan
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
GET IN TOUCH:
Feedback? We’re listening! Email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or send us a voice note, and one of our Podcast Producers will come back to you ASAP.
If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Woman Counting Australia’s Murdered Women

In May 1999, two detectives followed a trail of suspicious missing persons cases to an old, red-brick bank in Snowtown, South Australia. 
As they head inside, they head straight for the bank’s vault where they find six large plastic barrels containing human remains. They also find handcuffs, knives, a saw, boxes of disposable gloves and bottles of hydrochloric acid. 
They’d come to realise they'd found the dumping grounds of Australia’s worst serial killings, crimes that would see four men sent to prison with lengthy sentences. 
But now, 2 years later, two of these men could soon be eligible for release.
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CREDITS
Guest: Jeremy Pudney
You can find more info about his book Snowtown: The Bodies in Barrels Murders here.
Host: Gemma Bath
Executive Producer: Gia Moylan
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
The story is not the first time we've covered the Snowtown Murders. Hear our past episode with Debi Marshall here.
GET IN TOUCH:
Feedback? We’re listening! Email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or send us a voice note, and one of our Podcast Producers will come back to you ASAP.
Tell us what you really think so we can give you more of what you really want. Fill out this survey and you’ll go in the running to win one of five $100 gift vouchers.
If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The News Snowtown Victims Families Have Been Dreading

In May 2016, police arrived at a farmhouse in Hillier, north of Adelaide. The scene that awaited them was horrifying beyond words. 
Stephen Graham Peet had just murdered three people. The bodies of his girlfriend, Adeline Yvette Rigney-Wilson, and her two young children were inside. 
But as his crimes unravelled in court, something became clear. Those two little kids shouldn’t have died. Their deaths, at least, were preventable. It was a series of failures from government agencies designed to protect them that actually, left them in the path of a killer.
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CREDITS
Guest: Sean Fewster
You can listen to his podcast Just Lawful here.
Host: Gemma Bath
Executive Producer: Gia Moylan
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
The story is not the first time we've covered systemic failures within domestic violence cases. If you found this episode interesting you might like to listen to one of these next:

The System That Failed Hannah Clarke
Six Deaths. One Uncomfortable Truth

GET IN TOUCH:
Feedback? We’re listening! Email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or send us a voice note, and one of our Podcast Producers will come back to you ASAP.
Tell us what you really think so we can give you more of what you really want. Fill out this survey and you’ll go in the running to win one of five $100 gift vouchers.
If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Triple Murder And A Broken System

On September 12, 1996, Keli Lane gave birth to a baby girl at Auburn Hospital in western Sydney. Two days later that baby seemingly disappeared. 
After years of investigation, Keli was convicted of her daughter's murder in 2010 and sentenced to 18 years behind bars. But did they get it wrong?
Keli Lane’s story has been compared to the wrongful conviction of Lindy Chamberlain. It’s been pulled apart and analysed for years.  
So is she a baby killer? Or is she a woman, misunderstood.
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CREDITS
Guest: Xanthe Mallett
You can listen to her podcast Motive And Method here.
Host: Gemma Bath
Executive Producer: Gia Moylan
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
GET IN TOUCH:
Feedback? We’re listening! Email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au  
Tell us what you really think so we can give you more of what you really want. Fill out this survey and you’ll go in the running to win one of five $100 gift vouchers.
If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Escaping One Of Australia's Most Secretive Cults

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