Show Notes
LISTEN TO WOMEN, FOLKS. Phew, now we’ve got that out of the way. This is the story of Catherine and David Birnie, sure, but more importantly, it’s the story about a survivor, Kate Moir, and how her ingenuity, bravery, and commitment to the truth led to the arrest of two serial murderers and rapists. Kate survived an abduction, several rapes, imprisonment, and narrowly escaped being murdered, but when she went to the police, they tried to ‘stitch her up’ into giving a false report. But Laura Hancock, the only female police officer at the station, believed Kate’s story, and nagged her superior officers to pay attention. When Kate gave the name of one of her captors – David Birnie – the police finally released they had the missing piece in a month-long series of unsolved missing women. Listen to women.
EPISODE NOTES: David and Catherine Birnie have been called ‘Australia’s Bonnie and Clyde’, due to the fact that 1) they were a couple and 2) they committed a boatload of crimes, but to compare them to like, whimsical old-timey bankrobbers completely diminishes the reality of these two sadistic killers. David and Catherine Birnie lured five women back to their home in Moorhouse Street to rape, torture and kill them. They murdered Mary Neilson, Susannah Candy, Noelene Patterson, Denise Brown over the course of a month in 1986, dumping their bodies in shallow graves in national parks. They did it all to satisfy David’s lust, with Catherine a willing enabler and participant. They tried to do the same to Kate Moir, but she managed to escape, get help, and tell the police her horrible story. Initially, the police were skeptical of her story, but Kate’s bravery and commitment to detail convinced them that she was indeed telling the truth, and David eventually led police to the bodies of the other four women. David committed suicide in 2005, but Catherine is still alive and well (maybe, we aren’t checking up on her) and imprisoned in Bandyup Women’s Prison. By order of the Attorney-General, she will remain imprisoned for life, with no possibility of parole. Hear all about the case from Kate herself here, if you’re in Australia and have access to 7plus (or if you have a VPN) https://7plus.com.au/murder-uncovered?fbclid=IwAR0YBqTUwwAAEp1Cz7-mBYo7sTC2peGTD3a46qW3miPeeQIwSyyEshfiV2k To learn more about the controversy about the film Hounds of Love, go here https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/survivor-blasts-birnie-film-ng-ya-114131?fbclid=IwAR39RXFtVSZ-FysypCkVjoVcD_i7psZdFJV7aBsy_MjO68wUFl1YxBvDuDc For everything else, there’s Murderpedia https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/birnie-david.htm
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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