Motive & Method

He’s sat face-to-face with some of the world’s most dangerous killers. And what they’ve told him is chilling.
From hunting serial predators across American highways to raiding notorious cults and interviewing religiously obsessed killers, veteran investigator and profiler Mike King has spent decades getting inside the minds of some of the world’s most dangerous criminals. 

In this episode, he reveals how geography, victim profiling and behavioural clues can expose a predator’s hunting ground.  Plus, how he became involved in the cold case Brisbane murder of Betty Shanks, and the extraordinary phone call Mike received from a man claiming to know who killed her. 

Tim & Xanthe recorded this episode ahead of Mike King’s Australian tour: ‘The Psychology of Cults’. Get your tickets here: Click this link

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In the second part of our conversation with former High Court Justice Michael Kirby, he takes us beyond Australia’s courtrooms and into some of the biggest challenges facing the world. 

From his work investigating human rights abuses in North Korea to fighting the stigma surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He also explains why AI must never replace human judgement, why Australia needs a national charter of human rights, and why he believes world leaders need to recognise just how precious and fragile our planet is. 

Justice Kirby shares the profound influence of his partner, Johan Van Vloten, and the love and support that’s shaped his life and career. When asked to preserve just one piece of writing from his extraordinary career, Kirby’s answer is surprisingly simple: a one-page message about love.

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Former High Court Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG is one of Australia’s most influential legal minds. During his 13 years on the High Court he stood at the centre of some of the nation’s most significant human rights battles.

In the first part of this very special interview with Tim & Xanthe, Justice Kirby shares how his family, schooling and experience as a gay man shaped his understanding of justice, equality and human rights. 

He reflects on his involvement in several major Australian wrongful conviction cases -  Kathleen Folbigg case and  Andrew Mallard - and explains why Australia desperately needs an independent criminal case review.

Known as the Great Dissenter, Justice Kirby’s career was defined by his willingness to stand alone. This is a remarkable conversation about challenging authority, standing by your convictions and recognising that even the highest courts can get things wrong. 

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A hostile former top cop, stonewalled families and an explosive revelation about Ivan Milat’s crimes.

In this series finale for 2026, Xanthe and Tim sit down with NSW MP Jeremy Buckingham fresh off the fiery climax of the parliamentary inquiry into unsolved homicides and missing persons.

Buckingham pulls no punches as he addresses heated clashes with a former NSW Police Assistant Commissioner who dismissed the hearings. The conversation dives into the inquiry’s most shocking revelation: Police linked a 1962 shooting of a taxi driver to serial killer Ivan Milat - yet never charged him.

Buckingham also takes aim at systemic double standards in missing persons searches highlighted by recent cases like Yvonne Weir. He also confronts the inquiry’s glaring omission: the painful lack of First Nations family testimony and the lasting trauma of the Bowraville murders.
Looking ahead to next year's interim report, Buckingham explains why this fight is far from over and his push to reinstate legal powers to compel key witnesses, top brass, and convicted killers to answer under oath.

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It started with a case of mistaken identity - and led to a global search for answers.
When media outlets falsely reported that a Married at First Sight producer had vanished near Bondi, reality TV commentator Josh Fox planned to make a quick awareness post.

Instead, he wound up unravelling a baffling real-life mystery surrounding the actual missing woman, Katie Walker. The trail plunged Josh into a chilling web of shady spiritual retreats, reports of a terrifying encounter with a stalker from Dubai and confusing witness statements and evidence.

Now, he is pushing back against official theories of suicide in the search for answers for Katie’s family.

Josh sat down with Tim and Xanthe to record this episode after meeting at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Unsolved murders and long-term missing persons cases in New South Wales between 1965 and 2010.

Listen to the podcast ‘Where is Katie Walker’ here

If you,  or anyone else you know, needs support help is available.
You can reach Lifeline Australia 24/7 for free, confidential crisis support by phone, text, or online chat.
Call: 13 11 14 (24/7, anonymous)
Text: 0477 13 11 14 (24/7, confidential SMS support)
Online Chat: Start a session on the Lifeline Crisis Chat page

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Could dark secrets at a games arcade in 1980’s Cronulla hold the key to solving this cold case?

This episode, journalist Kate Kachor joins Tim and Xanthe to discuss her investigation into the 1980 disappearances of Sydney teenagers Elaine Johnson and Kerry Ann Joel. 

Kate’s podcast Out From the Cold: Searching For Elaine, has unearthed vital new leads, including a mysterious white car sighting and harrowing witness testimony regarding a sinister local arcade.
She exposes major flaws in the original police investigation, including mismanaged and allegedly lost missing person files. Plus why two friends who vanished on the very same day were treated as separate investigations.

Despite 46 years having passed, she believes a growing groundswell of public awareness and new witness accounts could finally bring long-overdue answers to the grieving families.

Listen to the podcast Out From the Cold: Searching For Elaine.

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What happens behind the scenes when someone disappears?

In this episode, Tim and Xanthe sit down with AFP Commander Joanne Cameron to discuss how Australia tackles some 49,000 missing persons reports every year. 

The conversation dives deep into high-risk demographics, the impact of ambiguous loss on families and why going missing is often the "canary in the coal mine" for deeper vulnerabilities.

This year marks 20 years of the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre and  Commander Cameron details how modern tools like forensic facial age progression are breathing new life into long-term cold cases. Plus, why every clue matters and how a unified community response is crucial to bringing the missing home.

Find out more about the NMPCC here.

If you have any information about a missing person, or crime, You can contact Crime Stoppers Australia anonymously by calling the national hotline at 1800 333 000 or by submitting a report online via Crime Stoppers Australia. 

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It’s been 46 years since 16-year-old Elaine Johnson vanished alongside her friend Kerry-Ann Joel.

But Elaine’s little sister, Helen Cooper, refuses to let her become a forgotten statistic.

Her relentless search for answers has taken her to local brothels, into confrontations with bikies and chasing down a mysterious 42-page letter claiming to contain a deathbed confession.

In this episode, Helen sits down with Tim and Xanthe after giving evidence at the final 2026 hearing of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved murders and long-term missing persons. She told the committee of decades of baffling police failures - from initially treating the girls as runaways to allegedly failing to link their disappearances for 20 years.

Despite repeated requests for a reward denied, Helen refuses to give up, and has been pursuing answers and leads through the podcast: ‘Out From The Cold: Searching For Elaine’.

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In our first ever Q & A episode Tim and Xanthe are answering your questions about the inside world of true crime, forensics and criminal psychology.

From the top personality traits of psychopaths, to why most serial killers are men, to the psychology behind mothers who murder. In this very special episode learn more about your favourite true crime hosts and the cases that have stuck with them.

GOT A QUESTION FOR US? Drop your questions in the comments below or message us on Instagram for a chance to have them answered on our next Q&A episode! 

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They were on opposite sides of the law -  one robbing banks, the other hunting him. 

In this extraordinary interview, bank robber Steven Meyers and former FBI agent Shawn Johnson sit down with Tim & Xanthe to share their side of the case and the chase.

In 1990s Seattle, Meyers was part of a crew that pulled off 19 bank heists alongside the elusive mastermind known as “Hollywood”. Johnson spent four years tracking them, analysing their every move and eventually setting a trap that would bring the crime spree to a violent end. 

This episode, the two men reveal the inside story of the robberies, the FBI chase and the shocking final heist.

Their high-stakes game of cat and mouse has been retold in the Netflix documentary How to Rob a Bank.

Find Steven Meyers’ book ‘The Treehouse’ here

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