True Crime New Zealand (NZ)

By True Crime New Zealand

What's True Crime New Zealand (NZ) about?

True Crime New Zealand is a kiwi based true crime podcast.

It is storytelling based with no opinion, just facts. We are trying to give the big picture of these crimes with context as well as investigating what happened subsequently and how the crime affected the wider community of NZ.

www.truecrimenz.com

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True Crime New Zealand (NZ) episodes:

04.23.2024
Case 36: The Iceman
CALIFORNIA. USA. The drug that goes by many names, coke, blow, snow, has addictive properties. Use of cocaine induces tolerance to the effects and addicts that withdraw from the drug experience fatigue, depression, decreased libido and a decreased ability to...
01.18.2024
Case 35: The RSA Murders
The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association, better known simply as the RSA was first established in New Zealand on the 28th of April 1916 by veteran of the First World War Donald Simson. The RSA is a registered charity...
10.10.2023
TALES II: Bloody Friday
On the 9th of June 1978, natives of the Southland city of Invercargill in the South Island of New Zealand were treated to a curious sight, 1,300 ewes (female sheep) wandering confused around Invercargill’s main shopping district. The confused sheep created...
07.15.2023
INVESTIGATES III: Psychopathy
Psychopathy is no longer a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as of the third edition. Rather the diagnosis would be antisocial personality disorder with psychopathic traits. These psychopathic traits are characterised by “a lack of...
06.02.2023
Case 34: Phyllis Symons
HATAITAI. WELLINGTON. Construction on, what would become, Mount Victoria Tunnel began in December 1929 and was estimated to take 15 months and cost around £132,000 (approximately $16,000,000 today). Two teams of diggers began on each side of the mountain and began...
03.03.2023
Case 33: Waikino School Shooting
WAIKINO. WAIKATO. 19th of October 1923. 10 am. The Headmaster of Waikino School Robert Theodore Reid was in the teacher's room, perhaps going over some reports, perhaps grading some papers. The classrooms were full of children, maybe learning English, a...
01.11.2023
Case 32: The Newlands Baby Farmer (PART II)
NEWLANDS. WELLINGTON. Hugo Lupi was born sometime in the late 1800s possibly in Cairo, Egypt, to an Italian family. Hugo immigrated to New Zealand in 1912 and eventually settled in the South Island city of Dunedin. While in the Land...
11.25.2022
Case 32: The Newlands Baby Farmer (PART I)
NEWLANDS. WELLINGTON. In the 1800s to early 1920s, there was another, more controversial, type of farming going on, baby farming. Baby farming is the historical practice of accepting custody of an infant or child in exchange for payment. This was...
11.08.2022
TCNZ PODCAST UPDATE V
Hello friends, Jessica here from True Crime NZ. This is a bit of a different podcast today, just to update you on some changes that have been happening in our lives and the future of the podcast.
09.29.2022
Case 31: Christchurch House of Horrors (PART II)
CHRISTCHURCH. CANTERBURY. Thursday. 25th of September 2008. Some time between 11 am and 12.30 pm. 32-year-old Jason Somerville is home alone at his house, 312 Wainoni Road, on the corner of Hampshire Street and Wainoni Road in the Christchurch suburb...
08.28.2022
Case 31: Christchurch House of Horrors (PART I)
CHRISTCHURCH. CANTERBURY. Within the eastern suburbs of Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand, you will find Aranui. Originally called Flemington (after one time resident of the area Jubal Fleming), Aranui (a Māori word meaning great path) was officially...
07.23.2022
HISTORY IV: 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour (PART II)
22nd July 1981. The Springboks began the journey down the east coast of New Zealand and found their way to Gisborne. The Springboks were to play Poverty Bay (a small bay near Gisborne) for their first game in NZ. To enter...
06.01.2022
HISTORY IV: 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour (PART I)
Apartheid even extended to sport. Leagues were established in all sports, separated by race. For instance, football (soccer) was divided into the white South African Football Association, the African Indian Football Association, the South African African Football Association, the South...
04.24.2022
ANZAC III: The (Other) Great Escape
In 1937, Nazi Germany began work on building the first and the largest concentration camp in Germany. Found eight kilometres north of the city of Weimar, the camp was able to incarcerate over 60,000 people. Opened in July 1938, the camp...
04.23.2022
TCNZ PODCAST UPDATE IV
Kia ora koutou, Jessica here to give a quick update on the state of the podcast right now and upcoming releases. And where our heads are at right now.
03.14.2022
Case 30: The Foxton Tragedy
FOXTON. MANAWATU-WHANGANUI. In 1866, Te Awahou was renamed Foxton; named after Sir William Fox the second premier of New Zealand (Premier meaning head of government). Over the next century, Foxton established itself as a small industrial town. Its primary exports...
02.11.2022
Case 29: Elizabeth Battersea
PAKIRI. AUCKLAND. By the mid-1800s, conversations were being had surrounding further expansion of women’s rights within marriage, and their access to education and employment. Due to the women’s rights movements, women had more opportunities in life. They received greater access...
12.23.2021
CHRISTMAS II: The Tangiwai Disaster
At 3 pm on Christmas Eve 1953, a Thursday, the daily Express train No. 626, a KA 949 class steam locomotive, left the Wellington railway station en route to Auckland carrying 285 souls, some men, some women, some children, many...
11.26.2021
TCNZ visits Canada: Greyhound Bus 1170 (PART II)
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, CANADA. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder in which sufferers interpret reality abnormally. This can manifest with disordered thinking, delusions and hallucinations. During a psychotic episode of schizophrenia, the sufferer may be hearing and seeing things that aren’t really...
10.30.2021
TCNZ visits Canada: Greyhound Bus 1170 (PART I)
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, CANADA. A place distinguished for its politeness, Canada is a land with low crime rates and is considered to be one of the safest destinations in the world to live. However, as with all countries, Canada has...
09.24.2021
TALES I: Opo the Friendly Dolphin
In June 1955, three bottlenose dolphins were observed by a local fisherman on the shores of Opononi. Spotting the dolphins by their dorsal fin, he believed the sea creatures to be sharks, so he pulled out his rifle and shot...
08.30.2021
Case 28: The Bunker in the Bush
On the 10th of July 2002, a team of five Wellington council workers were wandering through the Rimutaka forest, near Upper Hutt, laying 1080 poison bait for possums. The team eventually got around to the Tunnel Gully Recreation Area, a...
07.15.2021
Case 27: The Naenae Bank Robbery
Robbery is different from theft, while both are the act of taking someone else's property unlawfully, robbery differentiates itself by its use of either force or fear which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. An aggravated robbery is...
06.17.2021
HISTORY III: The Mighty Mongrel Mob
The legend goes, sometime in the 1960s, a group of criminal youth appeared in front of a judge in Hastings, a city of 49,000 in the Hawke’s Bay region. The youth stood in front of the judge who berated them...
05.10.2021
TCNZ PODCAST UPDATE III
Tēnā koutou friends, Jessica here with a quick update on some things happening around the podcast. Just an unscripted update on the state of the podcast right now with information on when new episodes are coming. Plus we update you all on...
04.29.2021
ANZAC II: Private Victor Spencer
Victor Spencer first signed up to fight on the 16th of April 1915. Still only 18 years and 5 months old, he lied about his age, saying he was born two years earlier so he would meet the minimum age...
04.06.2021
Case 26: Shayne Sime
CHRISTCHURCH, CANTERBURY. POLICE"Is there any way that, is there any way... Is there any way we could change your mind on what you’re doing?" SHAYNE"Nah, I’ve made my ... I’ve made my mind up, I’ve had enough." POLICE"So there’s ... so there’s no...
03.16.2021
INVESTIGATES II: Suicide Prevention
Friends, suicide and depression are destressing topics. However, it is also for some; a bleak reality. Within our own lives, in the past couple of weeks, we’ve known of two people who took their own lives. As you may be aware,...
02.27.2021
Case 25: Alice May Parkinson
NAPIER, HAWKE'S BAY. The tiny township of Hampden is found approximately 62km southwest of Hastings in the Hawke’s Bay region. Settled in 1863, the town was an industrial town, primarily sawmilling and farming. In 1900, the town changed its name...
02.05.2021
Case 24: The Invercargill Tragedy
INVERCARGILL, SOUTHLAND. Wednesday, 8th of April 1908. 10.45am. Archibald McLean, a city missionary, left his house on Crinan Street in Invercargill, Southland to start the day. His eyes wandered toward his neighbours property, the Baxters. Something caught his interest, the...
12.17.2020
Case 23: The Aramoana Massacre (PART III)
ARAMOANA, OTAGO. By 8pm on the 13th of November 1990, Police were informed that there was an active shooting situation in Aramoana. The first to respond to the calls was Sergeant Stewart Guthrie of the Port Chalmers Police Station, who...
11.15.2020
Case 23: The Aramoana Massacre (PART II)
ARAMOANA, OTAGO. 1990 was a special year for the citizens of New Zealand. It was Aotearoa’s sesquicentenary, NZ’s 150th year and local governments had put on events and activities to celebrate the occasion. By the 13th of November 1990, the...
11.04.2020
Case 23: The Aramoana Massacre (PART I)
ARAMOANA, OTAGO. Located 27km north of Dunedin, tucked away at the mouth of the Otago Harbour in the South Island of New Zealand, you will find the small seaside village of Aramoana. The village which translates to ‘pathway to the...
10.02.2020
Case 22: Bristol Family Murders (WHANGANUI CHRONICLES – PART III)
WHANGANUI, MANAWATU. In the decades subsequent to 1920, Wanganui did much growing. The town of Wanganui was officially upgraded to a city in 1924. Many of Wanganui’s most well known monuments were erected during this time, including the Durie Hill...
09.14.2020
Case 21: ‘The Wanganui Affair’ (WHANGANUI CHRONICLES – PART II)
WHANGANUI, MANAWATU. On the 15th of May 1920, Wanganui citizens were shocked by a crime that involved their elected Mayor. The crime was reported on later in the New Zealand Truth newspaper, “The evidence which was adduced makes the case...
08.17.2020
Case 20: Phoebe Veitch (WHANGANUI CHRONICLES – PART I)
WHANGANUI, MANAWATU. On the 27th of February 1883 something was found on the beach near the Whanganui river mouth that wasn’t the usual river byproducts. A telegraph linesperson, Arthur Fitchett was working along the beach when he discovered something that...
06.05.2020
Case 19: Gordon McKay
PIHA, AUCKLAND. In 1939 Piha was in the news for something completely unrelated to its beach; it was in the headlines for a house fire claiming the life of one person. As the events unfolded, more information rose to the...
05.11.2020
Case 18: The Raurimu Rampage
RAURIMU, MANAWATU. Saturday the 8th of February 1997. 9.05am. Stephen Anderson walks into the kitchen holding a 12 gauge sawn-off shotgun and carrying a shotgun cartridge in his mouth. His father Neville immediately sprang from his seat and approached the...
05.04.2020
ANZAC I: Caesar the Anzac Dog
In early 1916, the 4th Battalion of the NZ Rifle Brigade took part in a parade down Queen Street, Auckland before they embarked overseas to Egypt to fight in World War I. ‘A’ company marched down the street waving to...
04.18.2020
Case 17: Baby Kahurautete
LOWER HUTT. WELLINGTON. Saturday. 13th of April 2002. 11.20am. Donna Hall gathered her two nieces, Manumea and Erena Durie to take a morning stroll along the Hutt River with ‘baby Kahu’ and the family dog. The fivesome left their house...
03.29.2020
History II: Featherston Military Camp
In 1915, the area between Featherston and the Tauherenikau River was acquired by the Ministry of Defence. The area was chosen as the site to train the New Zealand soldiers heading to Europe to serve in World War I. Development began...
03.08.2020
Case 16: The Lundy Murders (EPILOGUE)
PALMERSTON NORTH. MANAWATU. Four months into his sentence, in August of 2002, Mark Lundy took his case to the Court of Appeal based on the belief that he was convicted on “bad science”. Upon upholding the conviction, the Court added an additional...
02.18.2020
Case 16: The Lundy Murders (INVESTIGATION)
PALMERSTON NORTH. MANAWATU. 30th of August 2000. 11.59am. Mark Lundy took a call from a client who wanted to place an order; Mark emotionally communicated through tears that he couldn’t right now as he was on his way home because...
02.01.2020
Case 16: The Lundy Murders (PROLOGUE)
PALMERSTON NORTH. MANAWATU. 30th of August 2000. 9.30am. Christine’s brother James Weggery arrived at 30 Karamea Crescent in the suburb of Kelvin Grove in Palmerston North. James knew Christine’s routine well, he knew she would be home after taking her...
01.16.2020
Case 15: Beverly Bouma
REPOROA. WAIKATO. 30th of November 1998. Highschool sweethearts and husband and wife, Henk and Beverly Bouma are alone in their farmhouse property located on Plateau Road in Reporoa, a small rural community 40km outside of Rotorua. The couple's three children...
12.31.2019
CHRISTMAS I: THE FIRST NZ XMAS
On the 17th of December 1642. Abel and his crew saw land in the far distance; it was Te Tai Poutini -- the west coast of the South Island of NZ. As the Dutch mariner approached the unknown land, he...
12.16.2019
Case 14: Sophie Elliott (PART II)
DUNEDIN. OTAGO. The day after stabbing 22 year old Sophie Elliott to death, the 10th of January 2008, Clayton Weatherston appeared in court in Dunedin -- he pled not guilty to the charge of murder. This began long and lengthy...
11.27.2019
Case 14: Sophie Elliott (PART I)
EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on new equipment and we did not get an ideal recording. We learnt a lot of lessons though. We hope the quality isn't too distracting from the information for all you audiophiles out there....
11.13.2019
Case 13: Hayden Poulter
AUCKLAND CITY. AUCKLAND. 19th of October 1996. 9.40am. Sister Janet Swindle, a nun, was walking her dog along Karangahape Road. Sister Swindle and her canine companion entered Pigeon Park, an area of the Symonds Street Cemetery. Among the many corpses...
11.02.2019
TCNZ PODCAST UPDATE II
Tēnā koutou friends, Jessica here, with a quick update on some new things happening around our way. With the completion of the Rainbow Warrior story, that was our 12th case and 21st episode. Which was kind of like a season...

What's True Crime New Zealand (NZ) about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

True Crime New Zealand (NZ) episodes:

Case 36: The Iceman

Case 35: The RSA Murders

TALES II: Bloody Friday

INVESTIGATES III: Psychopathy

Case 34: Phyllis Symons

Case 33: Waikino School Shooting

Case 32: The Newlands Baby Farmer (PART II)

Case 32: The Newlands Baby Farmer (PART I)

TCNZ PODCAST UPDATE V

Case 31: Christchurch House of Horrors (PART II)

Case 31: Christchurch House of Horrors (PART I)

HISTORY IV: 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour (PART II)

HISTORY IV: 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour (PART I)

ANZAC III: The (Other) Great Escape

TCNZ PODCAST UPDATE IV

Case 30: The Foxton Tragedy

Case 29: Elizabeth Battersea

CHRISTMAS II: The Tangiwai Disaster

TCNZ visits Canada: Greyhound Bus 1170 (PART II)

TCNZ visits Canada: Greyhound Bus 1170 (PART I)

TALES I: Opo the Friendly Dolphin

Case 28: The Bunker in the Bush

Case 27: The Naenae Bank Robbery

HISTORY III: The Mighty Mongrel Mob

TCNZ PODCAST UPDATE III

ANZAC II: Private Victor Spencer

Case 26: Shayne Sime

INVESTIGATES II: Suicide Prevention

Case 25: Alice May Parkinson

Case 24: The Invercargill Tragedy

Case 23: The Aramoana Massacre (PART III)

Case 23: The Aramoana Massacre (PART II)

Case 23: The Aramoana Massacre (PART I)

Case 22: Bristol Family Murders (WHANGANUI CHRONICLES – PART III)

Case 21: ‘The Wanganui Affair’ (WHANGANUI CHRONICLES – PART II)

Case 20: Phoebe Veitch (WHANGANUI CHRONICLES – PART I)

Case 19: Gordon McKay

Case 18: The Raurimu Rampage

ANZAC I: Caesar the Anzac Dog

Case 17: Baby Kahurautete

History II: Featherston Military Camp

Case 16: The Lundy Murders (EPILOGUE)

Case 16: The Lundy Murders (INVESTIGATION)

Case 16: The Lundy Murders (PROLOGUE)

Case 15: Beverly Bouma

CHRISTMAS I: THE FIRST NZ XMAS

Case 14: Sophie Elliott (PART II)

Case 14: Sophie Elliott (PART I)

Case 13: Hayden Poulter

TCNZ PODCAST UPDATE II