Australian True Crime

Suzanne Lawrance, known as Suzie, has been missing from Healesville, Victoria since February 7 1987.Suzie went missing sometime late on Saturday night 7 February/early morning 8 February when she was walking home after attending a 21st birthday party at the town’s Memorial Hall. She’s never been heard of since. No contact with her family or friends.There’s a lot of questions that Suzie’s family and friends have about her disappearance, the initial investigation by local police and some of the information that circulated at the time.If you have any information that could help find out what happened to Suzanne Lawrance call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at crimestoppersvic.com.au For more information about Australian missing persons go to the Australian Federal Police’s National Missing Persons Coordination Centre website.Thank you to Suzie’s family - Liz Westwood and Tony Lawrance and Suzie’s friends, Tracey Squires, Natalie Tulipano, Matthew Hughes and Glenn Taylor for speaking for

CONTENT WARNING: this episode discusses suicide, sexual abuse and assault.Private investigator and entrepreneur Bill Edgar had a traumatic childhood. Childhood sexual assault, life on the streets and a stint in Brisbane’s notorious Boggo Road Jail with some of Australia’s worst criminals, Bill found many ways to survive. In adulthood, Bill has built a loving home and family life with his wife Lara and their children and grandchildren. He’s a voice for the voiceless and has carved a unique position for himself as “The Coffin Confessor” where he attends funerals on behalf of the deceased and tells their secrets from the grave. Bill has had thousands of requests from around the world for his services.It’s a one-of-a-kind job and as you’ll discover Bill is an extraordinary man.Bill has detailed his extraordinary life journey in his autobiography The Coffin Confessor.Like us on Facebook ​Follow us on Instagram or TwitterSupport us on PatreonVisit our BookshopListen on&n

CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses pregnancy and abortion so listener discretion is advised if this is a subject that you may find distressing.In this interview, we have used the term ‘women’ but we note that trans-men and gender diverse and non-binary people also experience pregnancy and abortion.Show Notes Ep 219 of Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb:On 16 July 2001 a disheveled man with murder on his mind arrived at the entrance of the Fertility Control Clinic in East Melbourne and shot dead security guard Steven Rogers.What unfolded after the murder was a groundswell of action and years of legal wrangling to fight for abortion safe access zones that went all the way to Australia’s high court.Our guests are Clinical psychologist Dr Susie Allanson and writer and lawyer Lizzie O’Shea.Susie was working at the clinic that day of the murder as she did every day in her role as a clinical psychologist, counseling people about their reproductive options, including accessing abortions.&nb

Show Notes Ep 218 of Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbThe legendary Sandra Pankhurst, made famous as The Trauma Cleaner in the brilliant book by Sarah Krasnostein, passed away last week. Although she battled health issues for some years, Sandra never lost her sense of humour, her incredible generosity or her capacity for love. She was genuinely one of the most loving human beings I’ve ever met.A lot of the actual cleaning that Sandra and her team of trauma cleaners did, was in the homes of hoarders. They were hired by councils around Melbourne to go in and clean up homes that were made literally uninhabitable by people who were emotionally unable to throw anything away.Hoarding is actually a mental illness, and Sandra understood that implicitly. She approached hoarding clean up jobs as mental health jobs, and she went into those people’s homes with compassion and sensitivity, and never wearing any kind of protective gear, not even rubber gloves which is extraordinary given the various bi

Show Notes Ep 217 of Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbAustralian journalist Eileen Ormsby literally wrote the book on the Dark Web. In fact, she’s written 7 books about it, but it was her first book, “Silk Road”, released in 2014, about the so-called eBay of hard drugs, that began the exposure of the darkest corners of the internet to the world.A year after Silk Road’s release, Eileen sat in a courtroom looking at a man who was once the internet’s most wanted and illusive trafficker of violent child abuse material. His online name was “Lux”, but his true identity was shocking.Book tickets to the Melbourne Podcast Festival forensics show hereBook tickets to the Yarraville Rowland Legge show here Pre order Meshel’s book “CSI Told You Lies” here.Buy Eileen Ormsby’s books about the Dark Web here You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can become a patron here.You can subscribe to Calm Ya Farm here.You can visit the Calm Ya Farm website here. Like us on Fac

Show Notes Ep 216 of Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbSome of Australia’s most dangerous offenders aren’t housed in prisons because they were judged mentally unfit to stand trial. Dr Danny Sullivan is the Executive Director of Clinical Services at Thomas Embling hospital. It’s been home to some of Victoria's most dangerous people, including Masa Vuktotic’s killer Sean Price, Henry Hammond who murdered Courtney Herron and Bourke Street rampage driver James Gargasoulas.Dr Sullivan joins us to talk about his work.You can find out more about the work of Forensicare at https://www.forensicare.vic.gov.au/Book tickets to the Melbourne Podcast Festival forensics show hereBook tickets to the Karralyka Rowland Legg show hereBook tickets to the Yarraville Rowland Legge show here Pre order Meshel’s book “CSI Told You Lies” here. You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can become a patron here.You can subscribe to Calm Ya Farm here.You can visit the Calm Ya Farm website here

Show Notes Ep 215 of Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbAmber Haigh has been on the missing persons list since 2002. At that time, she was 19 years old, the mother of a newborn, residing in the NSW town of Young, with the parents of her former boyfriend, who were reportedly the last people to see her alive. Shaun McMahon, from the True Blue Crime podcast joins us to tell us the chilling story of Amber’s disappearance. You can pre order Meshel’s book CSI Told You Lies here. You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can become a patron here.You can subscribe to Calm Ya Farm here.You can visit the Calm Ya Farm website here. Like us on Facebook ​Follow us on Instagram or TwitterSupport us on PatreonVisit our BookshopListen on ApplePodcastsListen on GooglePodcastsListen on Spotify If you have any information on the cases covered by this podcast,please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Thank you f

Show Notes Ep 214 of Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbMany things have changed since Jamie Pultz and I last spoke about KirraMcLoughlin’s death and the podcast it inspired, called Beenham Valley Road.Most notably, we don’t have to use the pseudonym “Jason” when talking about herpartner anymore. That’s because Queensland’s Deputy Coroner named him as theperson responsible for her death last week in the inquest brought about in nosmall part by Jamie’s podcast. He joins us again to recap and update.  You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can become a patron here.You can subscribe to Calm Ya Farm here.You can visit the Calm Ya Farm website here. Like us on Facebook ​Follow us on Instagram or TwitterSupport us on PatreonVisit our BookshopListen on ApplePodcastsListen on GooglePodcastsListen on Spotify If you have any information on the cases covered by this podcast,please contact Crime Stoppers on 180

Show Notes Ep 213 of Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbJulie Clarke and her husband Richard Neville wrote the book On theTrail of the Serpent, The Life and Crimes of Charles Sobhraj upon which theNetflix series The Serpent is based. Julie is our guest this week.  You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can become a patron here.You can subscribe to Calm Ya Farm here.You can visit the Calm Ya Farm website here. Like us on Facebook ​Follow us on Instagram or TwitterSupport us on PatreonVisit our BookshopListen on ApplePodcastsListen on GooglePodcastsListen on Spotify If you have any information on the cases covered by this podcast,please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Thank you for supporting us and our guests.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime. Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime. Hosted on Acast. See

This is an Australian True Crime short cut. It’s an abridged version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed. Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbGinger Gorman is an award-winning journalist and the author of Troll Hunter. She’s always had great passion for her work, and she’s been driven by equal parts creativity and curiosity. In 2011, those forces led her to a home in Far North Queensland to record an interview with a family. It was meant to be a short radio piece about diverse families, but Ginger had no way of knowing that it would change her life and lead her into some of the darkest corners of the modern world. Links to get your tickets to our live shows. Starting in Melbourne but heading out around the country over the coming months.  The Karralyka theatre in Ringwood on May 28.https://www.karralyka.com.au/Theatre/Touring-and-community/Meshel-Laurie-Australian-True-Crime-PodcastThe Yarraville Club June 12.https://www.ev

Show Notes Ep 212 of Australian True Crime with Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbGinger Gorman is an award-winning journalist and the author of Troll Hunter. She’s always had great passion for her work, and she’s been driven by equal parts creativity and curiosity. In 2011, those forces led her to a home in Far North Queensland to record an interview with a family. It was meant to be a short radio piece about diverse families, but Ginger had no way of knowing that it would change her life and lead her into some of the darkest corners of the modern world. Links to get your tickets to our live shows. Starting in Melbourne but heading out around the country over the coming months.  The Karralyka theatre in Ringwood on May 28.https://www.karralyka.com.au/Theatre/Touring-and-community/Meshel-Laurie-Australian-True-Crime-PodcastThe Yarraville Club June 12.https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/australian-true-crime-blood-ties-with-meshel-laurie-emily-webb-tickets-152031796195See you there.   

Show Notes Ep 211Journalist Nina Young made a podcast documenting her search for the truth about her father. It’s called My Father the Murderer.Nina uncovered much more than she could ever have imagined, and more than her mother Denise had ever wanted to know. Both Nina and Denise join us to talk about their impressions of the man in question, Allen Ladd and his crimes. We’ll also talk about the profound impact on their relationship of not talking enough about him for most of Nina’s life and then talking about little else for the last two years.The book, My Father the Murderer is available now. Links to get your tickets to our live shows. Starting in Melbourne but heading out around the country over the coming months.  The Karralyka theatre in Ringwood on May 28.https://www.karralyka.com.au/Theatre/Touring-and-community/Meshel-Laurie-Australian-True-Crime-PodcastThe Yarraville Club June 12.https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/australian-true-crime-blood-ties-with-meshel-laurie-emily-webb-tickets-152

This is an Australian True Crime short cut. It’s an abridged version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.  Journalist Nina Young made a podcast documenting her search for the truth about her father. It’s called My Father the Murderer.Nina uncovered much more than she could ever have imagined, and more than her mother Denise had ever wanted to know. Both Nina and Denise join us to talk about their impressions of the man in question, Allen Ladd and his crimes. We’ll also talk about the profound impact on their relationship of not talking enough about him for most of Nina’s life and then talking about little else for the last two years. The book, My Father the Murderer is available now. Links to get your tickets to our live shows. Starting in Melbourne but heading out around the country over the coming months.  The Karralyka theatre in Ringwood on May 28.https://www.karralyka.com.au/Theatre/Touring-and-community/Meshel-Laurie-Australian-Tru

Dr Ahona Guha is a Melbourne-based forensic and clinical psychologist. She works with people who have abnormal behaviours like stalking and arson and try and help them modify these and lead better lives and improve safety for the community. She also treats people who have experienced trauma, including people affected by stalking behaviours - it’s all important work.You can ask Ahona questions on Instagram or TwitterLike us on Facebook ​Follow us on Instagram or TwitterSupport us on PatreonVisit our BookshopSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime. Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a special mother’s day edition if Australian true crime. Both Emily and Meshel have a favourite TV show they share with their 11-year-old daughters called “Superstore”. All four of them share the same favourite character – assistant manager Dina Fox, played by Canadian actress Lauren Ash, and would you believe it? Lauren co-hosts her own True Crime podcast, called True Crime and Cocktails with her best friend who also happens to be her cousin, Christy Oxborrow. In this week’s Australian True Crime, Meshel and Emily are joined by Lauren Ash joins from LA and Kristy Oxborrow from Canada to talk True Crime.Links to get your tickets to our live shows. Starting in Melbourne but heading out around the country over the coming months. The Karralyka theatre in Ringwood on May 28.https://www.karralyka.com.au/Theatre/Touring-and-community/Meshel-Laurie-Australian-True-Crime-PodcastThe Yarraville Club June 12.https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/australian-true-crime-blood-ties-with-meshel-laurie-emily-

In this episode we hear from Dimity about the night she was sexually assaulted by a stranger in 2019, the investigation from her perspective, why she chooses to speak about her experience and how she feels about it now. Most importantly though, we learn lots of other things about Dimity.You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can become a patron here.You can subscribe to Calm Ya Farm here.You can visit the Calm Ya Farm website here.When it comes to reporting a sexual assault – if the assault has just happened, ·      go somewhere safe, call triple 0 and ask for police. ·      Don’t disturb the area where the assault happened. ·      Don’t bath or shower. ·      Don’t eat or drink anything. ·      Don’t wash or discard the clothing you wore during the assault.  When it comes to reporting historical sexual assault

Detective Leading Senior Constable Brett Sniegowski takes us through the investigation into the 2019 sexual assault of Dimity, who joins us next week. We discuss the criticisms levelled at police by sexual assault victims and their families in the past and how investigators are working to improve their methods.Thank you to Detective Leading Senior Constable Brett Sniegowski and Detective Inspector Juliann Goldrick, and thank to Victoria Police Media.You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can become a patron here.You can subscribe to Calm Ya Farm here.You can visit the Calm Ya Farm website here.When it comes to reporting a sexual assault – if the assault has just happened, ·      go somewhere safe, call triple 0 and ask for police. ·      Don’t disturb the area where the assault happened. ·      Don’t bath or shower. ·      Don’t eat or drink anything.&nbs

Bank robbers like Russell ‘Mad Dog’ Cox and Ray Denning were household names in Australia in the 1980s, when they brazenly escaped prison and taunted police for years. Author Mark Dapin joins us to talk about this period in Australian history.Warning: please be advised this episode contains graphic content.Show notes for Episode 172:Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbWith thanks to Mark DapinLike us on FacebookFollow us on Instagram or TwitterSupport us on PatreonVisit our BookshopListen on Apple PodcastsListen on Google PodcastsListen on SpotifyIf you have any information on the cases covered by this podcast, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.Thank you for listening!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime. Become a subscriber to Australian True Crime Plus here: https://plus.acast.com/s/australiantruecrime. Hosted on Acast. See acast.co

Show notes for Episode 207:Your hosts are MeshelLaurie and EmilyWebbWith thanks to Joe Noonan.“Breaking Ranks: An Amazing true Story of a cop on the line.”Former Detective Joe Noonan’s time in Victoria Police happened to coincide with a very hectic period in history - the 1980s when a bloody battle raged between the armed robbery squad and the fearless armed robbery gangs of the day.You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can become a patron here.You can subscribe to Calm Ya Farm here.You can visit the Calm Ya Farm website here. Like us on Facebook ​Follow us on Instagram or TwitterSupport us on PatreonVisit our BookshopListen on ApplePodcastsListen on GooglePodcastsListen on Spotify If you have any information on the cases covered by this podcast,please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Thank you for supporting us and our guests.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/australiantruecrime. Become a subsc

Show notes for Episode 206:Your hosts are Meshel Laurie and Emily WebbWith thanks to James Harding and Steve.For one family at least, connecting with James Harding’s Hard Cuddles organisation was the intervention that made the difference. Steve was fresh out of jail when he met James Harding. He was a convicted domestic abuser, helpless against his addiction, on the verge of losing his children and still blaming his partner for his troubles. He’s now sober and helping other men through the Hard Cuddles program. Both Steve and James Harding join Emily Webb for this episode of Australian True Crime.You can find out more about James Harding and Hard Cuddles here.For free phone counselling 24 hours a day you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14For help with addiction issues,Alcoholics Anonymous AustraliaNarcotics Anonymous AustraliaIf you need help coping with the effects of someone else’s drinking, you can get support through Al-Anon here.You can support us with a one-off contribution here.You can b