Show Notes
A 26-year-old German tourist named Nancy Grundwalt disappeared from Scamander, Tasmania in 1993, while cycling down the Tasman Highway. No trace of her has ever been found. Two years later, a 20-year-old Italian tourist named Victoria Cafasso was violently murdered on Beaumaris Beach, only a few kilometres away from where Nancy was last seen. Her killer has also never been found. Two mysteries in two tiny towns on Tasmania’s East Coast, that almost thirty years later are no closer to being solved. What happened to Nancy and Victoria? EPISODE NOTES: Although police don’t believe there is a connection between the two cases, the odds of two young female tourists being murdered two years apart in the same area is a bit much to take as a coincidence for some people. Rumours still fly around the East Coast about who could have done it, and everyone has a friend’s father’s cousin’s neighbour who was interviewed by police at the time. But after extensive investigations, two inquests, and twenty years, there is still no indication about what happened to Nancy and Victoria. Was Nancy murdered, or was she the victim of a hit-and-run? Was Victoria killed as a case of mistaken identity? Or were she and Nancy the victims of the same opportunistic killer? If you have any information about either of these cases, they are both still open investigations, and you can contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 The Coroner’s findings for Nancy Grundwalt can be found here https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/about_us/coroners/coronialfindings/g/182_of_2004 Read more about retired detective Bob Coad’s belief that Nancy was killed in a hit-and-run here https://www.examiner.com.au/story/475468/death-of-nancy-grunwaldt-an-accident/ A call for information twenty years after Nancy’s disappearance can be found here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-12/family-marks-missing-tourist27s-anniversary-of-missing-woman/4566734 The Coroner’s findings for Victoria Cafasso can be found here https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/about_us/coroners/coronialfindings/c/2005_tascd_125_-_cafasso,_victoria_anna_elizabeth An excellent long read can be found here https://www.smh.com.au/national/who-killed-victoria-cafasso-20151008-gk41h0.html A summary of several Tasmanian cold cases, including Victoria and Nancy, can be found here https://www.themercury.com.au/news/scales-of-justice/rewards-still-on-offer-for-vital-case-clues-in-states-cold-cases/news-story/8091182d9c7abaef4a9ce736363a3f04 If you like what we do please consider supporting us on PATREON Subscribe to the podcast on ITUNES, 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