The Saints

For decades, families in Australia and overseas, have been accused of one of the worst crimes imaginable. Diagnosing Murder is an investigative podcast about parents who've had their children taken away, sat in the dock and even done time in prison. All for something they insist they didn't do – shake their baby. Can we trust the science behind shaken baby syndrome? Or are innocent people being locked up for a crime they never committed? 

Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/diagnosing-murder/id1843555473
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LqYqSCZHW4vtA0yhiaJKB?si=f8c56f4b638b4a24
Listen on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrLulycax358g-04ndbBaBg3ED4Dnyv0S&si=CVXIqoUI6AJ6DD5x

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One tragic night in 2018, what began as an NRL grand final party in a quiet town on the Queensland coast spiralled into a storm of lies, drunken embellishment and a bungled emergency response. By dawn, two men - Tom Davy & Corey Christensen - were dead, killed by a teenager they’d never met. 

Seven years on, 60 Minutes’ Adam Hegarty has travelled to Alva Beach to uncover the truth behind one of Australia's most baffling legal cases that raises the burning question: How do two family men lose their lives, and no-one be held accountable?

Through new interviews and hours of unheard recordings, this investigation digs deep into a case that still haunts families, confounds lawyers and raises troubling questions about justice in Australia.

Listen on Spotify - Alva Beach: Death At The Door
Listen on Apple Podcasts - Alva Beach: Death At The Door 

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The cult is now locked behind bars, but is anyone else to blame for Elizabeth’s death? In this episode, host Pippa Bradshaw is joined by legal experts to examine allegations of multiple failures by the Child Safety Department and the many lingering questions in this case. Why were warnings from medical experts ignored? Why was Elizabeth's case closed? And why was Elizabeth left in the care of two parents convicted over allowing her to almost die the first time, especially after her mother confessed that she would continue to withhold vital medication.

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Estranged loved ones of ‘The Saints’ share surreal and heartbreaking accounts of losing family to a cult. This episode reveals that The Saints isn't an outlier, but a textbook example of how cults take hold. Pippa Bradshaw is joined by forensic anthropologist and criminologist Dr. Xanthé Mallett to unpack the formation, impact and far-reaching consequences of fringe religious sects quietly embedding themselves in communities nationwide.

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The 14 cult members reject legal representation and let their police interviews do the talking in the Supreme Court of Australia. Court reporter Anna Rawlings takes us inside the unprecedented mass trial, where The Saints are confronted with testimony from medical experts, police officers and family members. After a nine-week trial, the Judge delivers a shocking verdict that will set legal precedent in Australia.

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Just weeks after her mother’s release from prison, and with her father now in the grip of the cult, Elizabeth is left vulnerable. Deprived of her insulin, she suffers a slow and painful death. After her parents are arrested, Pippa Bradshaw tracks down the cult in Toowoomba to find answers. Months later, 12 other adults are also charged and we hear them attempt to justify their actions, through hours-long police interviews, steadfast in their belief that God will miraculously bring Elizabeth back to life.

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Serious red flags loomed long before Elizabeth Struhs' tragic death. In 2019, she was rushed to the hospital on the brink of death. Court documents, police interrogations and expert medical testimony expose the events leading to Elizabeth’s diagnosis. Her case was so extreme, having been neglected to the point of critical illness, that her mother was jailed.

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Who are the 14 cult members arrested over Elizabeth Struhs’ death? How did ordinary people, from teachers to police officers, become entangled in religious cult who called themselves The Saints? Estranged family members and friends break their silence for the first time. This episode breaks down the origins of this group, its members, and the shocking truth behind their decent into religious extremism.

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In January 2022, two parents were arrested on the front lawn of their Toowoomba home and charged over the death of their eight-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Struhs. In the months that followed a disturbing story unraveled of a religious cult with extreme beliefs, rejecting medical assistance and placing their complete trust in divine healing.

In a rare and deeply personal interview, Elizabeth’s sister opens up about how their mother’s unwavering devotion to the cult leader shaped their childhood. She shares chilling details of life inside the cult, the suffocating control, and blind faith. 

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A little girl dead. A cult on trial. A tragedy that should have never happened.

The Saints unravels the harrowing story of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs, whose parents and their secretive religious group denied her life-saving medical care - choosing prayer over treatment, with fatal consequences. Award-winning journalist Pippa Bradshaw takes you inside one of Australia’s most confronting cases of religious extremism, exposing how blind faith turned deadly. With exclusive interviews, chilling police interrogations, and expert analysis, this gripping series lays bare the sinister side of excessive devotion. How did no one stop it? And could it happen again?

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