Show Notes
CU in the NT, motherfuckers! Our first foray into the Top End covers the murder of Peter Falconio, a British tourist who was murdered while on holiday with his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, on a road trip from Sydney to Darwin. Bradley John Murdoch played the role of concerned fellow motorist when he signalled to Joanne and Pete to pull over, saying that sparks were coming out of the exhaust on their Kombi. Knowing that car trouble could lead to serious trouble if they were stranded on the Stuart Highway in the literal middle of nowhere in the remote Northern Territory Outback, Peter pulled over, checked the exhaust, and was then shot at point-blank range by Bradley Murdoch. Murdoch then handcuffed Joanne with homemade cuffs and pulled her into his car with the intention to do God-knows-what, but she managed to escape, hiding herself in the bush until Peter gave up and drove away. A massive (and somewhat flawed) police investigation followed. Locating the suspect took literal years, allegations of evidence contamination dogged the trial, and Joanne Lees was forced to physically demonstrate how she escaped from Murdoch before the jury before he was ultimately convicted of the crime. EPISODE NOTES: As we all know, most of Australia is essentially full of sweet fuck-all. For tourists, that’s part of the appeal – long stretches of road with nothing but blue skies and the wild Outback out the window. Joanne Lees and Peter Falconio had dreams of those blue skies when they came to Australia in 2001 on a working holiday visa. After working for a few months, they planned to drive from Sydney through to Adelaide and up to the Top End in an old orange Kombi van before heading to New Zealand and back home to the UK. Their dream Aussie holiday came to a tragic end when they happened upon Bradley John Murdoch on the Stuart Highway by Barrow Creek. The senseless murder of Peter Falconio (and Joanne Lee’s miracle escape) would make headlines across the world. The investigation into Peter’s murder would continue for years, and Joanne would fall prey to an unfriendly media who wouldn’t accept that her British stiff-upper-lip attitude after Peter’s murder was masking unmentionable pain. Bradley Murdoch, a drug runner and suspected rapist, would eventually be found guilty of Peter’s murder, but not before Joanne was found guilty in the court of public opinion. This case added to the atmosphere of fear generated by the Backpacker Murders that Australia was unsafe for tourists, and perhaps for good reason. The body of Peter Falconio has never been found. He is one of many people lost to the unforgiving Outback. You can watch the telemovie made about the case here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEMz1ACXF8g&fbclid=IwAR3ve6qxPn6GK_TLTodKQ2emccGyfJ5s69A5twjoj3DXKiLqKQ5ibg0MQlo and the episode of Real Crime Stories covering the case can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28eb8c6FYEM&t=7s&fbclid=IwAR1WGsDgsETr2Kx5KnIZb-pgQoh56qSOt8x_CXagsgy1QesypWVaQ6OLA5Q To read more about the drama about the interview with Andrew Fraser, go here https://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/channel-7-and-rahni-sadler-charged-over-bradley-john-murdoch-interview/news-story/90b3a9a4324e453fc7e161dfaadeb7fe?sv=f9980e182f0bb97134b47bcd07250b81&fbclid=IwAR1kcTLfzwPXXg7udSdKT9rtvZfy4qu7902l4YQVEvmXBDbJIuMyEm0xy04 Of course... 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