Mapping Evil with Mike King

Touching down in Los Angeles after a fairly uneventful 14-hour flight from Australia, criminal profiler Mike King is tired but happy to be home after a gruelling fortnight of back-to-back meetings, events, and media engagements.

As he makes his way through LAX, his phone rings. On the other end the caller says: "I listened to your interview on the news. My father killed Betty Shanks".

In the explosive final episode of Mapping Evil, Mike and Tory introduce listeners to Ken and his story. It’s a story Ken has waited seven decades to tell and it’s difficult to hear.  

Is Ken a witness to a murderer’s confession, or the victim of an unspeakably cruel father who used the savage murder of Betty Shanks to terrorise his young son?

And does an old, weathered briefcase, full of photos, notes, letters and other seemingly innocuous artefacts hold the secret to ‘Who killed Betty Shanks?’

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King. Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice.

MappingEvil.com

The first time Desche Birtles took her story to police she was a 16-year-old runaway. It was a harrowing account of a childhood trauma – one that tied Desche’s father to the brutal murder of Betty Shanks – and one that police would repeatedly dismiss.

For historian and author Ted Duhs, Desche’s tale was so compelling that he would dedicate decades of his life to investigating her claim that Betty Shanks died at the hands of her father.

Mike King and Tory Shepherd explore Ted Duhs’ investigation into the Betty Shanks murder, speaking with the author himself about his research and theory of who committed the crime and more importantly ‘why’.

Mike looks at Duhs’ proposed motive for the killing along with the crime scene evidence, victimology, and likely profile of Betty’s murderer. What he discovers amongst the crime scene’s landscape – leaves the seasoned investigator uneasy.

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King. Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice.

MappingEvil.com

In the cold hard light of day, police investigating the murder of Betty Shanks are confronted with a sickening scene of unbridled savagery and punishment.

Reports of the gruesome crime leads the evening news, while theories as to who could possibly commit such a monstrous act start to circulate.

Among the lineup of potential suspects was a soldier, a police officer, a handyman, a respected doctor – and the mysterious man in a brown suit.

Mike King steps into the role of chief investigator – examining the crime scene, wild theories, and suspects. He pitches science against speculation – with some alarming discoveries.

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King. Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice.

MappingEvil.com

It’s September 1952 on the night of the new moon and 22-year-old university student Betty Shanks is making her way home from evening classes. The journey from her tram stop to the home she shares with her loving parents is a mere 400 yards along a path Betty has strode countless times before. On this night, Betty would not survive the walk.

With the help of award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, world renowned cold case investigator Mike King unpacks the 70-year-old mystery of the brutal murder of Betty Shanks.

King delves deep into the life of Betty Shanks, discovering fascinating new insights about the woman behind the headline.

He explores the geography of Queensland’s oldest cold case murder, meticulously mapping Betty’s terrifying last movements.

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King. Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice.

MappingEvil.com

On a moonless spring night in 1952, a bright young woman – only metres from her home – screams out in terror as she is overpowered, brutally beaten and left to die on an otherwise safe suburban street.

The savage murder of 22-year-old Betty Shanks sent shock waves through the tight-knit community of Wilston and came to be known as the crime that stole Brisbane’s innocence.

World renowned criminal profiler and cold case investigator Mike King returns with award winning journalist Tory Shepherd, to retrace the final tragic steps of Betty Shanks. His investigation unearths new leads, a new suspect, and fresh insights into Betty Shanks herself.

Will Mike’s investigation bring police closer to solving Queensland’s longest standing murder mystery and finally answer the question: “Who killed Betty Shanks?”.

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King. Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice.

MappingEvil.com

In a special case update from Mapping Evil, Mike and Tory investigate how the sad story of a missing Colorado mum morphed into a high-stakes, circumstantial murder trial – plagued by rumour and innuendo.

Suzanne Morphew – a vibrant mother-of-two – disappeared from her home on Mother’s Day 2020. One year later, her high school sweetheart and husband of 32 years was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder.

The case has gripped the entire world and captured the unrelenting attention of internet sleuths desperate to know what happened. Mike employs criminal profiling tactics to separate the clues from the conspiracies and shares how he rallied community support in the tireless search for Suzanne.

“We used high-tech GIS tracking software to monitor the search... And in the end, we provided tracking and analysis for nearly 700 citizen volunteers and all of that information was immediately made available to law enforcement.” – Mike King

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King. Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice.

MappingEvil.com

In a special bonus episode of Mapping Evil, Mike and Tory revisit the macabre case of the Lafferty brothers (Episode 8) – a truly disturbing story of religious fanaticism and ritualistic murder.

Nearly 40 years on from the gruesome slayings of new mum, Brenda Lafferty and her daughter Erica, Mike shares candid interviews with convicted killer, Dan Lafferty and his brother, Ron – a self-professed prophet.

Hear from the killer himself as he casually steps through that fateful day on July 24, 1984. Listen as the brothers describe in chilling detail how the full horror of Ron Lafferty’s sadistic doctrine came to be unleashed on an unsuspecting mother and her 14-month-old child.

Though unsettling, these interviews provided vital information on religious fanaticism and cult activities that improved investigative techniques across the United States.

Through Mike’s involvement in the case, more than 1,500 violent crime investigators heard firsthand how these vicious groups are developed, cultivated, and mobilised.

“I’m not ashamed of it, I’m not embarrassed by it, and I may speak of it so calmly that it might unnerve you a little bit but, to me there was no emotional involvement in it.”

Dan Lafferty

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King. Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice.

MappingEvil.com

From the team who brought you Mapping Evil, join legendary Australian journalist and ‘gentlemen interrogator’ Stan Grant as he goes toe-to-toe with everyday people faced with extraordinary responsibilities.

In this special preview episode of Directions, Mapping Evil’s own Mike King shares his leadership lessons – from teaching top cops the art of criminal profiling, to being one of the first to bring cutting-edge technology into investigation war rooms.

If you enjoy this preview episode, make sure you follow the Directions with Stan Grant series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

“You get tough immediately when you realise that you have an obligation to the men and women under your command and to the community that you serve. There's a point where you step up and say, what is the right thing to do? But you've got to have the integrity to step forward, even when you're standing alone.”

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Directions is a podcast hosted by award-winning journalist Stan Grant about how leaders use technology and innovation to solve problems and to shape our increasingly complex world. 

This is a BGT Production created in partnership with Esri Australia.

Esri Australia is the nation's leading GIS technology and services provider and part of the BGT group.

Exploring the terrain of where innocence is lost

Across the course of his career, Mike has found that a skilled predator will almost always leverage the element of ‘geography’ to turn the tables in their favour.

Whether a victim’s risk level is inherently high or low, and regardless of whether the victim is known or a stranger to a perpetrator – geography inevitably plays a key role in giving evil the upper-hand.

In this episode, Mike and Tory walk through the investigation into the brutal slaying of seven-week-old Ian Wing.

Mike discusses the disturbing patterns of behaviour shown by Ian’s murderer in the lead up to the little boy’s death, while Tory poses the question of whether modern day technology could potentially map such behaviours to prevent others falling victim to a similar fate.

Tory then challenges Mike to show how the element of ‘geography’ could be used to unravel the coldest of Queensland’s cold cases; the 1952 murder of Betty Shanks.

With a crime scene full of contradictions, Mike shows just why he’s one of the best in the business – suggesting all is not as it may first seem.

Join Mike and Tory as they unpack the crimes where all innocence was lost – and learn more of the explosive revelations from Mike’s investigation into the Betty Shanks murder.

“…Well, when he became angry, he would go into the yard and he'd pick up one of the pets. Then when he was sure they were watching him, he'd kill the animal in front of them. Just to send a clear message of who's in charge.”

Stay tuned for season two of Mapping Evil with Mike King.

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King.  Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice. 

The man behind the map

In this special bonus episode of Mapping Evil with Mike King, award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd takes a closer look at the man behind the map. With a little encouragement from Tory, Mike delves deep into his past, sharing intimate details of the stories that have shaped his life and career.

From a near fatal accident during the earliest days of his time on the force, to his encounters with a sitting president and some of America’s most malevolent serial killers – Mike reveals the twists and turns of a career that reads more like a Hollywood script than a resume. His walk down memory lane takes Mike back over the most defining cold cases of his career, venturing deep into the heart of America’s ‘Wild Wild West’ and all the way back to the time of Tutankhamen.

Join Tory as she shares some of the more candid moments captured with Mike throughout Season One of Mapping Evil.

“And we should not make any mistakes about this. These people that kill people – it's hard to kill someone and yet they will continue to do it. And when they fail or fall short or the victim lives, they have to return back to their confines and work out in their mind, that fantasy, figure out what they did wrong and solve it the next time.”

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Mapping Evil is hosted by award-winning journalist Tory Shepherd, featuring renowned criminal profiler, cold case specialist, and crime mapping master – Mike King. Offering listeners a look at real crimes through an experienced investigator’s eye, Mapping Evil takes you on a journey into the minds of predators and the lives of those tasked with bringing them to justice.