Mapping nature or nurture

When does a faith built on love and compassion transform into the darkest of beliefs? What is the catalyst that takes a devoted parishioner on a journey to become a prophet, and then a predator?

In this episode, Tory Shepherd and Mike King take a closer look at crimes committed in the name of God.

They explore the malevolence of Utah’s Lafferty Brothers and the appalling deeds that had many questioning whether their crimes were the acts of diseased minds or the product of a cruel upbringing. 

Mike discusses the tactics used by modern-day law enforcement agencies to now track and combat the spread of religious teachings that show the same characteristics as an insidious killer virus.

Tory then challenges Mike to use those same investigative tactics to shed new light on the Australian cold case murder of beloved mother Maria James, whose brutal slaying remains shrouded in mystery.

Mike jumps into the details of the crime and, as is always the case with this seasoned investigator, nothing is off limits – including a scandal involving Maria’s local clergy.

Join Tory and Mike for another compelling journey into the dark side of humanity.

“He said, ‘I'm going to just go in and slit their throats. In the Bible that's the way they got rid of people – by the sword. And that's what we need to do. I'm only doing what God told me to do.’ ”

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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

Mapping precious last steps

Oliver Ben Gerrish is every parent’s worst nightmare – charismatic and cunning, he represents the most dangerous of serial predators.

By the end of his reign of terror, ‘Big Ben’ as he came to be known, had irreparably damaged the lives of more than 550 children and their families. 

In this episode, Mike and Tory discuss the key learnings from studying Gerrish’s modus operandi. Mike walks through the boldest of Gerrish’s crimes, painting a terrifying picture of how easily a skilled predator can gain the trust of otherwise protective parents.

Tory and Mike then explore the cold case disappearance of 13-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl Bung Siriboon – who simply vanished on the short ten-minute walk from her house to her school.  

Mike challenges the rumour suggesting contacts close to home were responsible for Bung’s disappearance, instead exploring the theory that at some point between 8.00am and 8.30am on 2 June, 2011 – along Harcourt Road, Boronia – Bung came face-to-face with a monster like Gerrish.

"He was really a… patient predatory paedophile. Once he selected his preferred targets, he would spend weeks, literally weeks grooming not only the child, but the child's parents.”

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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

Exploring where cruelty blooms

Join Mike King and Tory Shepherd as they unpack the crimes of two of the most malevolent human beings to ever draw breath: Utah’s Blaine Hogge Nelson – suspected of 70 to 80 rapes across 11 states – and Australia’s own Boogieman, Mr Cruel.

Walk with King as he dramatically retraces the steps of both Nelson and Cruel – exploring what the geography of their crimes truly reveals about these sadistic serial predators.

Understand the difference today’s crime analytics techniques and cutting-edge technology could have made to investigators during the predators’ reign of terror.

And be completely creeped out when Mike shares the super-helpful tips given to him by Blaine Hogge Nelson himself on how to limit your chance of becoming a victim.

Don’t miss this episode of Mapping Evil with Mike King…

“…there's this weird psychology in prisoners or in inmates, specifically in serial predators. They want a legacy. Some of those people, the legacy is to be the most prolific serial predator known to man.”

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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.  

Exploring where all is lost.

When married mother of two Suzanne Morphew went missing from her Colorado home on Mother’s Day 2020, it appeared as if she had simply vanished off the face of the earth.

Together with her anxious family, Mike King mobilised an army of 700 volunteers, all equipped with cutting-edge tracking technology, to scour and map more than 6,500 linear miles of remote and rugged terrain surrounding the Morphew’s Salida property.

In this episode, Mike and Tory take a closer look at the mysterious disappearance of Suzanne Morphew. They explore the four theories of her fate – as offered by her husband – and examine whether this loving mother of two young girls fell afoul of one of nature’s wildest and most merciless predators… or one closer to home.

Tory then invites Mike to consider how he would approach the enduring mystery surrounding the disappearance of Adelaide’s Beaumont children, who – like Suzanne Morphew – simply vanished on Australia Day, 55 years earlier.

Listen as the ever-so-cool King holds true to his training, to push aside the notoriety of the Beaumont children case, and the decades of supposition, innuendo and rumour – to offer investigators a technology-led lifeline to better understand the 1966 crime scene.

“…sometimes that's all we have in these kinds of investigations – the victimology and what a normal day was like for them, what they would have generally done. We have to build our theories upon evidence."

Hunting the hunters

Even for seasoned investigators like Mike King, crimes against the most vulnerable members of society – such as those in their twilight years – are amongst the most difficult to comprehend.

In a jailhouse interview with serial killer Daniel Ray Troyer – a man who is suspected of brutally murdering at least 13 elderly women – Troyer posed this very question to Mike, asking: “You’re having a hard time understanding this aren’t you?”

In this episode of Mapping Evil, Mike King and Tory Shepherd look at the crimes of America’s Daniel Ray Troyer and Australia’s own ‘Granny Killer’ – John Wayne Glover. Mike looks closely at the circles the men moved in, their bizarre rituals, and the eerily similar geographies of their favourite hunting grounds.

Join Mike and Tory for another no-holds-barred journey into the dark side of humanity.

When location becomes a liability

For veteran law enforcement specialist Mike King, the element of ‘location’ is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle when it comes to investigating serial crimes.  

Taking down the Zion Society

“I've been involved in a cult that's sexually abusing children. Do you have a moment to talk to me?”

These were the words that turned what was otherwise a normal day for Mike King into the most pivotal moment of his law enforcement career.

What soon followed was a coordinated response of a magnitude rarely seen in US law enforcement. One that would eventually bring Arvin Shreeve – the self-anointed leader of polygamist doomsday cult the Zion Society – to justice.

Join Mike King and Tory Shepherd as they take a close look at how the small community of Ogden became the perfect breeding ground for one of America’s fastest growing and most sadistic cults. 

Hear Mike’s first-hand account of how he and his fellow investigators used cutting-edge technology to map the cult’s complex operation. Learn more about how the same technology unearthed the true scale of the cult and the location of its hunting grounds.  

Mike and Tory also delve deep into the cunning tactics used to recruit new sect members and the frightening similarities between the Zion Society and other notorious cults, including NXVIM – with its Hollywood links – and Australia’s own The Family.

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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.  

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.

When profiling evil, what lessons can we learn? How can exploring the macabre crimes of Robert Ben Rhoades - the infamous Truck Stop Killer - help law enforcement officials half a world away? Join Mike King and Tory Shepherd as they peel back the layers of the investigation into one of the USA's most prolific serial sexual sadists.

Peek into the workings of a truly evil mind and learn more about the police tactics that eventually brought Rhoades to justice. Hear how the same science used to build a profile of a predator could unravel one of the most enduring mysteries behind Australia's own highway of death - the Flinders Highway.

Mike King brings an answer to the question of whether this long strip of road is indeed the killing fields of a serial predator or something even more frightening.

"It was like reading a very familiar novel. And I remember we said, if she was shot in the head with a .25 calibre gun, we know who your killer is. And the deputy's jaw dropped."

To find out more about the geography of crime, visit mappingevil.com

Next episode: The cartography of cults

Navigate the complex terrain between victim and predator

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. 

Find out more about the geography of crime by visiting mappingevil.com