Bloody Murder - A True Crime Podcast

- Season 4

(2020)

Dodgy Just Sweats business owners John Hawkins and Melvin Hanson had been cashing in on insurance scams since the early 1980's. After running their company into the ground, they came up with the scam to end all scams.

Mad Dog Morgan was one of Australia's most feared bushrangers. Resentful, bitter and bent on revenge after being wrongly convicted, Morgan terrorised the Australian countryside.

16 year old Matthew Hardman was obsessed with vampires and wanted to become one. He wanted to be a sexy vampire for so many reasons but mostly because he wanted to be immortal. It seems nobody in his quiet village in North Wales took his obsession seriously. That is until he brutally murdered his neighbor, 90 year old widow Mabel Leyshon and did unspeakable things to her corpse.

Young mother of two, Lynsey Quy went missing from the town of Southport, England in 1998. It was 53 days before a social worker reported her disappearance to the police. Her husband Mitchell claimed Lynsey had deserted him and their kids on Christmas Day. He ran to every media outlet in the vicinity to throw himself a public pity party and denigrate her to the press. The police and Lynsey's family knew that Lynsey had died at the hands of her abusive husband. The problem was how they would find a way to prove her murder without a body.

In late November, 1989, Karen Randell's friends were worried about her. Her alcoholic and drug addled ex boyfriend Paul Snabel was stalking her and wouldn't leave her alone. He had already bashed her and given her a black eye. Karen was afraid. One night over drinks Karen, together with her sister Donna and friends Irene Maslin and Rhona Heany devised a diabolical plan that would get Paul out of Karen's life for good.

When 41-year-old mother of three, Peggy Carr got struck down with a mystery illness in October 1988, doctors didn't know what to make of it. After test results showed Peggy had been poisoned, suspicion naturally fell on her new husband Pye. But this case would prove to be far more complicated. The real perpetrator would only be brought to justice after a long, undercover operation that involved infiltrating a Murder Mystery Weekend held by the biggest high IQ society in the world, Mensa.

Darryl Lewis was a small time crook who did a big time crime. This brought him to the attention of the Finks Motorcycle Club. The then president of the Beenleigh Chapter, Stephen Cranney was a man who would not tolerate the thieving of his beloved Harley Davidson motorbike. In November 1996, eighteen very hairy and very pissed off bikers descended on Darryl Lewis' semi rural property in Queensland, like a lava rain from hell, determined to get the bike back and reap a terrible and bloody revenge.

Considered one of very few female African-American serial killers, Josephine Virginia Gray's husbands and boyfriends had a nasty habit of being murdered after making her the beneficiary of their life insurance policies. Those around her believed Josephine's claims that she was a voodoo queen and practitioner of black magic. Intimidated by her powers, they refused to testify against her, lest she put a curse on them causing them to wind up dead too.

In June 1998, the residents of the seaside city of Wollongong were shocked and horrified by the decapitation murder of local shop keeper, David O'Hearn. Two weeks later, another brutal mutilation murder was committed, that of former lord mayor and alleged pedophile, Frank Arkell. Rumours of Satanism, the occult, gay hate murder squads and pedophile rings swirled about the city as Police struggled to find any real leads. But despite their best efforts, three murders would be committed before those responsible were brought to justice.

One week before his trial for the murders of David O'Hearn and Frank Arkell, Mark Van Krevel levels accusations of sexual abuse against his father Jack for the first time. It's seen by many as a cynical ploy to reduce his culpability in the murders. Although Jack says he was "hard on Mark" he denies the claims of sexual abuse. In a disturbed emotional state and believing whatever Mark's sister and his sort of girlfriend Belinda tells him, Mark's best friend Keith Schreiber spirals out of control and the consequences are deadly.

Matthew Brady was considered chivalrous, a man who used violence only in self-defense. Dubbed the Gentleman Bushranger, due his fine manners and his way with the ladies. Brady was charming and a little bit mischievous with a cheeky sparkle in his eye. Mark Jeffries was not like Matthew Brady. Beyond his dead eyed stare was an empty perverted soul who just wanted to watch the world burn, possibly while he had non-consensual sex with it. Jeffries was a sadist, a ruthless killer, a sexual predator, a baby executioner and cannibal. Both were being hunted by the notorious ...

Patricia Walsh and Mary Anne Wysocki went to Cape Cod for a weekend away on January 24th, 1969. When they didn't return home afterwards, their friends and family were very concerned. The police initially thought the girls had just taken off travelling on an adventure, as many young people were doing at the time. The police had also failed to investigate the disappearance of other young women in the area for this reason. They didn't realize until it was too late that they had a serial killer on their hands. All the murdered young women were last seen with 24-year-old ...

Patricia Walsh and Mary Anne Wysocki went to Cape Cod for a weekend away on January 24th, 1969 and were never seen alive again. After searching for weeks near the remote cemetery in Truro, police uncovered the dissected and disassembled bodies of four missing young women. All the murdered young women were last seen with 24 year old carpenter and ladies man Tony Costa.

In August, 1999, Danny Wasley and Mark Banks vanished near Newcastle, in New South Wales. According to Danny's best friend, Kevin Naismith, the two missing men had been involved in selling cannabis. When their burnt bodies were eventually found in sand dunes at remote Stockton Beach, the truth of how they got there would shock their friends and families. This is an intriguing case full of twists and turns involving revenge and a tangled web of lies.

In 1996 in Melbourne, a 13 year old boy became one of the youngest people in Australia to be found guilty of murder. Now, we can't use his real name, as the courts have suppressed his details and sealed his records, so we're going to call him Sam West. From an early age, Sam's life seemed to be destined to be one of poverty, criminality and misery. But could Sam make his own fate and escape where he had come from to a better future? In a series of bad associations and even worse decisions, teenage Sam's aspirations would come undone after attempting to rob taxi driver...

When Multi Millionaire Peter Shellard met Shirley Withers it was love at first sight, then it was sexy bondage, then embezzlement and bank fraud, then it was murder most foul bound with dog leads, ropes and an electrical cord with the added sparkle of an anal suppository. The bizarre murder of wealthy eccentric Peter Shellard is a sideshow of carnivaleque characters, a plethora of possible enemies, phone taps and a hit-man, eventually revealing a sad trail of greed, hubris and vengeance.

The Children of Thunder were a cult of former Mormons who committed five murders in the year 2000. They believed these brutal killings would bring harmony to the world and begin Christ's millennial reign of peace. Their leader, Taylor Helzer, convinced his followers he had the gift of revelation and truly spoke the word of God. And according to him, God was super into drugs, sex trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, murder and dismemberment.

When Stephanie Erends went out to celebrate her 25th birthday with her best friend Alicia Ernst, nobody expected one of them to kill the other, but that's exactly what happened. This is a story of jealousy, drug fuelled paranoia, a close friendship turned toxic and of course, murder.

If you thought Part One was outrageous, you ain't seen nothing yet. The Children of Thunder were a cult of former Mormons who committed five horrendous murders in the year 2000. Their leader, Taylor Helzer, had convinced his followers that he had the gift of revelation and truly spoke the word of God. His plan for an organization called "Transform America" was supposed to bring harmony to the world and ring in Christ's millennial reign of peace. So obviously murder, kidnapping, sex trafficking, drugs and extortion would be involved.

When the president of the Queensland Cat Protection Society, Kathleen Marshall, was murdered in a frenzied stabbing attack in 1998, everyone thought her arch rival and nemesis Virginia Houston was responsible. But this proved to be a more complicated investigation, involving the two warring factions of the Cat Protection Society, who would stop at nothing to seize power. Forensic Science would eventually reveal the stranger than fiction truth of Australia's answer to Tiger King.

Michelle Burgess had a history of cheating on her husband, but a sordid affair she started in the year 2000 took it to another level. Her husband's boss Kevin Matthews fell hard for the saucy strumpet and they soon began to plan the murders of their spouses. Looking for a contract killer at her children's primary school seemed like the easy part, but could they get away with murder when news of their affair had gotten so public? And was their junkie amateur hit-man Dave Key up for the job?

Cesar Barone was an American serial killer and sexual sadist whose preferred victims were elderly women. Not one to limit himself, he'd also rape and murder younger women, when the mood struck him. Like most serial killers, he led a double life and those close to him had no idea what he was getting up to. He also had the dubious honor of being prison pals with Ted Bundy.

Cesar Barone was an American serial killer and sexual sadist who was prison pals with his murder idol Ted Bundy. Apparently Ted gave him some red-hot some tips that helped him become a serial killer. Cesar didn't conform to the rules of criminal profiling, murdering both elderly and young women. He used different methods, sometimes strangling or suffocating his victims and sometimes shooting them at point blank range. He also killed alone and with a partner.

In 1978 in the small town of Jerilderie in country New South Wales, Mick Lewis and his wife Sue were found dead, with their two small children left to starve in their isolated homestead. Was this another tragic case of domestic violence taken to it's deadly conclusion? Or was there an even more sinister force at play here? After weeks of painstaking and meticulous detective work, a bevvy of red herrings, some funky 1970's forensic work and a massive search for a rare rifle, the stranger, and balder than fiction truth eventually revealed itself.

William "Jackey Jackey" Westwood was an English born Bushranger and serial escapologist who was transported to Australia at the age of 16 for stealing a fancy coat. He promptly escaped and roamed the countryside, tipping his hat at ladies and looking flash in haute couture whilst relieving folks of their valuables. In his four year career he was captured dozens of times, but more slippery than a banana peel dipped in custard, he always managed to escape. That was until the cooking pot rebellion of 1846. Where Jackey Jackey finally made a stand and stood up for what he...

When Audrey Marie Hilley was arrested for murder and attempted murder in Alabama in 1979, everyone figured the story was pretty much over, but it had only just begun. This is a mysterious case of fake kidnappings, prison escapes, false identities, secret injections, doubtful doctors and closet fires.

Cruel, inhumane, cold and calculating, Gerard John Schaefer, known as the Butcher of Blind Creek, is believed to be responsible for up to 80 murders. He used his position of authority as a Police Officer to target young female hitchhikers. A sexual deviant and killer of small animals from an early age, Gerard Schaefer was unhealthily obsessed with women's underwear and bondage. He later published a book, which he called fiction, but most agree the collection of short stories is a thinly veiled confession of his terrible depraved deeds.

Novice Psychopath, Daniel Kelsall looked harmless, but this skinny 20-year-old with curly ginger hair was anything but. Inside this nerdish, owlish looking young man seethed a mass of cold anger and his blackened heart beat with the desire to commit evil deeds. Daniel told mental health professionals about his thoughts of killing random strangers, but they didn't take him seriously, letting him slip through the cracks of an already overloaded system. One night after finishing a shift at a restaurant he enacted his evil and bloody ambition with deadly results.

Jack and Sandra Jessee had been married for 14 years when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 1998. Unbeknown to him, it wasn't just the cancer that was out to get Jack Jessee.

Jade and Dionne Lacey were bored rich kids who lived a thugish life. Jade thought he was gonna be a superstar rapper. They both carried guns, sold drugs around the Gold Coast and enjoyed a spot of biffo. One day their love of violence went too far and ended in a brutal murder.

Steve Banerjee, creator of the world famous male stripper troupe, The Chippendales, would do anything to protect his brand. And what a brand it was; at their peak the Chippendales were raking in millions of dollars a year. Controlling and consumed by greed, Steve had everything he could dream of thanks to his thrusting empire of man meat, but it was never enough. In the end he resorted to arson, extortion and murder to retain his power. Welcome to part one of our two part special on The Chippendales Murder.

Steve Banerjee had gone from rags to riches by creating the male erotic dance troupe the Chippendales, but he didn't do it alone. Emmy award winning television producer and Broadway choreographer, Nick De Noia gave the Chippendales routines the glitz and glamor that made them world famous. But Steve, not adverse to acts of crime to retain his power, had a falling out with De Noia and called in his right hand man and crappy doer of cheeky arsons, Ray Colon to organise a hit on the unsuspecting Nick De Noia.

By the time Texas trucking company owner-operator James Kelly and his wife Marcia were married, both already had children with other people. Brady-Bunching doesn't always work out and the matter of disciplining Marcia's wayward daughter Shaina caused a lot of tension between the couple. James had spent time in prison in his younger years and didn't want Shaina repeating his mistakes but Marcia usually let her do whatever the hell she wanted. In October 2005, James Kelly was murdered but who was responsible and what could possibly be their motive?

74-year-old widow Dottie Davis disappeared from the beautiful seaside suburb of Maroubra, in Sydney in 1995. She was never seen again and the case soon went cold. Two years later, mother of three Kerry Whelan was kidnapped in Parramatta and a one million dollar ransom was demanded for her safe return. It would take police nearly a decade to find the perpetrator of these seemingly unrelated cases and bring him to justice.

In part one we covered the 1995 mysterious disappearance of 74-year-old widow Dottie Davis. Two years later, mother of three, Kerry Whelan was kidnapped in Parramatta and a one million dollar US ransom was demanded for her safe return. Dottie and Kerry both had close ties to slick con man Bruce Burrell. Part two details the investigation into Kerry's kidnap and the long road to justice for the Whelan and Davis families.

Chevie Kehoe, wasn't born to hate. His father taught him how to do that. But in the end his extremist beliefs would even eclipse his racist Daddys. In early 1996 when a Jewish gun dealer and his family went missing, Law enforcement were baffled. That was until their bodies showed up in a lake not far from their home. What originally looked like a nasty home invasion, turned into a national manhunt. And an ever widening circle of violence that defined a new age of domestic terrorism and Chevie Kehoe and his roving band of white supremacists would stop at nothing to ...

When Las Vegas real estate magnate Ron Rudin went missing in 1994, his wife Margaret didn't seem too concerned. He'd been gone four days before she reported Ron missing, and she did so only after Ron's coworkers had already informed the police. Margaret soon became the prime suspect when her husband's charred remains were discovered at a nearby Lake. When the law closed in on the softly spoken grandmother, she skipped town. On the lam, Margaret Rudin deployed a plethora of disguises and fake identities to elude capture.

You could say the crap apple doesn't fall too far from the crap tree. In the case of Matthew Milat this couldn't be more true. Nephew of Backpacker Murderer, Ivan Milat, Matthew's crimes were also brutal and disgusting. On November 20, 2010, Matthew lured David Auchterlonie to the Belanglo State Forest on his 17th birthday with the promise of beers and weed. There, with the help of friend Cohen Klein, they tortured, tormented and murdered David with a double-sided battle axe in the same forest where his Uncle murdered seven backpackers nearly 20 years earlier.

Nancy and Frank Howard seemed like a happily married and devout Christian, couple living in East Texas. Nancy devoted her life to her husband, her three kids and her church. Accountant Frank was an attentive father and an upstanding member of the community. After their three kids had grown up, Frank got horny and greedy. He not only started embezzling from his employers but he also began an affair. Wanting to be rid of his doting wife but not wanting to bother with a divorce, Frank hired a motley circus of methed-up criminals to kill her, but nothing at all would go ...

After 34 year old beauty therapist and mother of two, Novy Chardon went missing from her Gold Coast home in February 2013, her husband John wasn't even slightly concerned. He made sexual advances to her friends who came looking for her and didn't bother reporting his fifth wife's disappearance to the police. The day she vanished, Novy's divorce lawyer had sent John an email saying she wanted half his assets in the settlement. Interestingly enough, this is almost exactly what had happened before Chardon's first wife Maureen died of a suspicious overdose 17 years ...

Jessie Hickman a.k.a. The Lady Bushranger and The Wild Woman of Wollemi led an extraordinary but short life. Given away to the circus at the age of eight, she became a rough rider champion, only to be washed up at the age of 17. Turning to a life of crime, she became the menace of the bush. Wearing men trousers, stealing cattle and evading coppers. Quick with her fists and her boots, Jessie ensured any man that would take her on had met his match.