Show Notes
Aaron Pajich had dreams he wanted to fulfil. He worked hard, he wanted to get a good job, and he wanted to live in Japan. Aaron was autistic, loved video games and computers, and by all accounts, he was as friendly and good-natured as they came. Jemma Lilley’s dream in life was to be a killer. She had concocted a fantasy life in which she was a sadistic killer named SOS, with a ‘murder cult’ of worshippers, more powerful than any killer before her. Trudi Lenon was Jemma’s lover and SOS’ loyal servant. Trudi had no problem luring Aaron, a family friend, to his death, so Jemma could finally make her dreams come true.
EPISODE NOTES: Jemma Lilley wanted to be a serial killer.
She was obsessed with killers like John Wayne Gacy and David Berkowitz. She wrote a book, called Playzone, that described in gory details the crimes of a fictional serial killer named ‘SOS’. Jemma had SOS tattooed on her body, written on her license plate, and she told her sexual submissive, Trudi, to call her SOS. Trudi would be called Corvina, and Trudi would do everything she could to make Jemma’s dreams of killing come true.
Trudi lured a friend of her son’s, an autistic man named Aaron Pajich, into their house under the pretence of installing software on their computer. Aaron, who was sweet-natured, friendly, and a whiz with computers, was looking forward to helping someone out, and maybe getting to play some video games with his friend.
Instead, he became a character in Jemma Lilley’s murder fantasy. Jemma and Trudi murdered Aaron and buried his body in their backyard. Afterwards, Jemma told Trudi that she felt ‘empowered’. But the euphoria wouldn’t last long. Within days, police zeroed in on Trudi and Jemma, backed by phone call evidence between Trudi and Aaron, witness reports saying Jemma had bragged about finally ‘doing it’ to coworkers, and CCTV footage of the two buying saws and hundreds of litres of hydrochloric acid from Bunnings.
Jemma tried to pin the murder on Trudi at trial, but her fantasies, her collection of knives, her Dexter-inspired murder room – and a ton of DNA and blood evidence – were damning evidence, and she was sentenced to life in prison.
A detailed account of the crime can be found here https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/secret-life-of-sadistic-killer-jemma-lilley/news-story/9e3fce8daa476be1b31fcb185642f075?fbclid=IwAR2Mpjts6u6HN2BF-gvwGjR7h33IAx7U10gfXnxSH_h-opQXEQI_8cj9QE8
Information on the trial can be found here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-06/work-colleague-tells-court-lilley-confessed-to-pajich-murder/9024844?fbclid=IwAR1k6qYRrlrcY8rU4Wrg-JkfqjoS4V4ZNlUDG1C0w7QbPSHI2Yic7Q7uS6g
To read more about the murder of Gemma Hayer, go here https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/751ddfd4-2b7a-4f3f-9a07-2f2ec29c985a?fbclid=IwAR3CQbRWTNvmjWjA_q9TORRp1vy1UrAt10krZmQI4DqXwC9tgxnNOkjIEro If you like what we do please consider supporting us on PATREON Subscribe to the podcast on 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