Show Notes
Between May 1980 and November 1981, the bodies of six women were found hidden in dense scrubland in south-east Melbourne. The murders mystified police – the circumstances of their disappearances were similar, but not exactly the same. Their ages were quite different. There wasn’t a strong physical resemblance. But the bodies were all found in the same fairly small geographic area. Was there one killer with no particular preference for the type of woman he killed? Or were there two or more killers who happened to dispose of their victims in the same convenient section of bush? The case remains unsolved to this day. EPISODE NOTES: We covered a fair swathe of topics in this episode, so there are a few links for you to parse. Allison Rooke, Joy Summers, Bertha Miller, Catherine Headland, Ann-Marie Sargent, and Narumol Stephenson were taken away from us by an unknown person or persons, their bodies left to decay in the bush, sometimes hidden only metres away from other victims. You can find out more about the murders, and view a timeline of the disappearances and a rather excellent map of the important locations here http://frankston-tynong.com/?fbclid=IwAR3AV6Ml92fFQZSOHTFxFtVtCM3rOQR4To-lQ36GWQ-BiZyvPDSqOk6O250#victims. You can find out more about the case here https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/help-crack-a-cold-case/news-story/3f137cf3c0736e4d19c8848d3449cc46?fbclid=IwAR3xau62HX8l2KPPzr48X4tQR6gpHjL680FgXpY0deB-rHtE_HTnXfVetLo and if you know anything, please contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000. We also talked a lot about psychics, and how they are fine for hearing fun stories about when you're gonna meet your future husband, but bad for solving crimes. If you're so inclined, you can find the websites for the psychics who participated in the Sensing Murder episode about this case here http://debwebber.com.au/?fbclid=IwAR3j5x-uWDZEjLXNmWZoqbmkzbgUZ8vzkp5uv4bU3yY7d6DQeGmpRgdN3e4 and here https://scottrussellhill.com.au/?fbclid=IwAR3TbMZR4s07snl_VesI-JfVjttpApGKTMewBhUJIuJjOUp66fqOHdzdDso. We also discussed the Black Lives Matter movement, and about how we, as white true crime podcasters, truly the most privileged group on God’s earth, don’t need to be at the forefront of the conversation right now. We’ve mentioned a couple of times about Australia’s absolutely shithouse record with the Indigenous people of this land, and how the police have failed Indigenous people repeatedly through the multitude of Indigenous deaths in custody and the simple fact that the death or disappearance of an Indigenous person in this country is very rarely given the attention or resources that we afford to non-Indigenous people. But talking about it isn’t enough. There is so much more we need to be doing. If you want to educate yourselves more about the Black Lives Matter movement, please make sure you’re listening to the voices of Black and Indigenous people, not two white girls who went to private school who whine on a podcast for 50 minutes a fortnight. You can listen to the GREAT podcast Bobo and Flex discuss the BLM movement here Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Murder in the Land of Oz
As the final installment of our First Nation's themed season, we are talking about January 26th. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We are back after a (what turned into a much bigger than intended) break!
Whoops we covered another cult. Coming for ya, Jo Thornely. Chantelle McDougall, her six-year-old daughter Leela, her partner Simon Kadwill, and their housemate Tony Popic went missing in July of 2007. Simon was the leader of an internet-based doomsday cult, who believed that through death, a chosen few would ascend to a new plane of reality and usher in the new Aquarian age of existence. So you know, normal stuff. They told friends and family they were moving to Brazil, but their was no activity on their passports. Their disappearance left police stumped. Had they committed group suicide, or had they gone even further into isolation and completely segregated themselves from society? Our main sources this week were the coronial inquest completed in 2017. You know we love an inquest document! https://www.coronerscourt.wa.gov.au/_files/Felton,%20G;%20McDougall,%20C%20J%20and%20L;%20Popic,%20A%20K%20%20finding.pdf News articles about the case can be found here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-06/cult-leader-simon-kadwell-inquest-begins-into-missing-family/9205656 and here https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/cult-leader-simon-kadwell-inquest-hears-police-failed-to-investigate-report-of-dead-flesh-smell/news-story/b828be6ad139699e509c94ce62bc5292 The website for Simon’s “work” can be accessed via the Wayback Machine here https://web.archive.org/web/20071103141354/http://www.thenewcall.org/book_sdp.htm Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/murder-in-the-land-of-oz. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Okay, yes, every show and their dog (or podcast cat) have covered this case. But we just had to jump on the bandwagon. You may be familiar with the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard from the documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, or the hit TV show now on Hulu The Act, or just generally from having an internet connection at any point in time over the past four years. The internet is obsessed with this case, and for good reason – the horrific murder of Dee Dee Blanchard shocked the world, not because of the brutality of the crime – but because of the scale of the abuse that Dee Dee afflicted on Gypsy, her daughter, who she had raised to believe was sick with a whole medical textbook of illnesses. Once Dee Dee was dead, the truth came out – nothing was wrong with Gypsy. She was a victim of Munchausen by Proxy, and was horribly abused by the person who was meant to care for her most. EPISODE NOTES: Friends and neighbours looked at Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard as a perfect mother-daughter pair. Dee Dee was dedicated to her sick daughter, and Gypsy was in turn loving and devoted to her mother. When Dee Dee was murdered in 2015, people were horrified. Who was going to take care of poor Gypsy now? But as the truth came out, and Gypsy – along with her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn – was charged with her death, people were horrified to discover that Dee Dee was not what she seemed – and neither was Gypsy. Gypsy had every disease under the sun, from cancer to muscular dystrophy. She was confined to a wheelchair, had tubes all over her body, and had no hair and barely any teeth. She never properly attended school and was in and out of hospital constantly. But none of her ailments were real. Dee Dee was forcing Gypsy to be sick, lying to her about her real age, and physically and mentally abusing her to keep up the sickness routine, so that Dee Dee could keep reaping the benefits of having a sick child. While Gypsy and Nicholas Godejohn were both ultimately convicted of Dee Dee’s murder, many people believe that Gypsy acted in self-defence, and did what she had to do to escape from one of the most horrific situations of abuse conceivable. Read Michelle Dean's incredible longform article on the case here https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/michelledean/dee-dee-wanted-her-daughter-to-be-sick-gypsy-wanted-her-mom More info about the case can be found here https://www.yourtango.com/2019322839/who-nick-godejohn-new-details-gypsy-roses-boyfriend-man-murdered-dee-dee-blanchard?fbclid=IwAR0c95is1g2caWJ1wSQX9CobuA8rK30l_Z5BDjfW4AAdf-CpbE2IlcVH7kA Information about the case and also Munchausen by Proxy can be found here https://www.yourtango.com/2019322870/what-munchausen-syndrome-by-proxy-story-gypsy-rose-blanchard?fbclid=IwAR28fu87X_aWdA9iOnfoLHevQ_bfIyiMeabBSbHo-T2YajOWh8ey3vd7YKI For some info on Hulu's stunning new show The Act (this is not a sponsored episode but also – sponsor us, Hulu?) head here https://www.marieclaire.com.au/the-act-tv?fbclid=IwAR2Ohe3PFiupYeS2rfTO3Ux9LoluGAiYbzWQMNMiQJz8RCg5iwvChcyUMHM