Bill Edgar is the world's only Coffin Confessor. He attends people’s funerals, sits quietly amongst the mourners, and then at a time pre-determined by the deceased, he stands up and confesses. Sometimes, it’s a shocking secret. Sometimes, it's their last wish. What started as a favour for a friend, has turned into Bill's life calling. And as he’ll tell you, it’s not an easy job, but it’s worth it. THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia Want to try our new exercise app? Click here to start a seven-day...
Feb 28, 2024•42 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Insects never lie. And in Paola Magni’s job, she's the person who helps translate what these tiny little witnesses have to say to give justice to victims of crime. Known as Australia’s ‘bug whisperer’, Paola is the global face of the specialist forensic science that uses insects and other small creatures to help solve murders, suspicious deaths and cold cases. She joins us today to take us behind the scenes of forensic entomology. THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia Want to try our new exercise ap...
Feb 21, 2024•39 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Laura McConnell grew up in a fundamentalist sect with no name. Along with no official title, the group also claims to have no registration around the world, no formal hierarchy, and no official places of worship. According to Laura, it's this secrecy and denial that has allowed abuse to flourish within the community. She joins us today to expose what she witnessed and experienced inside the group she calls The Truth. THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia Want to try our new exercise app? Click here ...
Feb 14, 2024•51 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Johan Duflou has seen a lot of dead bodies. In his four decades as a forensic pathologist, he estimates he’s done about 200 autopsies a year. Sometimes the people on his table have been the victim of a crime. Sometimes they’ve simply died unexpectedly and he’s been tasked to find out why. As he’ll tell you, the job is not like what you see in movies or on TV. THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia Want to try our new exercise app? Click here to start a seven-day free trial of MOVE by Mamamia. CREDITS...
Feb 07, 2024•45 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Mamamia’s True Crime Conversations is back for 2024, exploring the world’s most notorious crimes, by speaking to the people who know the most about them. And over the next month we're taking you behind the scenes of crime, interviewing a forensic pathologist, a cult survivor, a forensic scientist who uses insects and other small creatures to help solve crimes, and the world’s first and only Coffin Confessor. Hear True Crime Conversations’ Behind The Scenes Of Crime Special throughout February, r...
Feb 05, 2024•2 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In 2023, Malka Leifer was sentenced to 15 years in prison for 18 counts of sexual abuse against Dassi Erlich and her little sister. Leifer was the sisters' former high school principal, and when whispers of their allegations came to light in 2008, she fled from her home in Melbourne to Israel before any formal complaint could be made. It took 70 extradition hearings and 13 years to bring her back to Australia. But finally last year, Dassi was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Leifer was finally ...
Jan 31, 2024•55 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In 2016, Gypsy Rose Blanchard pled guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She admitted to planning and orchestrating the stabbing death of her mother Dee Dee at the hands of her boyfriend Nick Godejohn, who was convicted of first-degree murder. Nick remains behind bars, but in December 2023, Gypsy was released after serving eight years of her sentence. This case is about more than just murder. It’s one of the most famous cases involving the alleged diagnosis of M...
Jan 24, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Stevie Munro is a Senior Correctional Officer with Moree Court Escort services, in charge of things like processing offenders who’ve just been arrested, and escorting them to and from court. She deals with prisoners from all over Australia, and has seen it all. Kicking, screaming, lashing out, attempted suicide… She is dealing with people during their most emotional times in prison. But as she will explain, her toughest days have nothing to do with the criminals themselves. THE END BITS Subscrib...
Jan 17, 2024•35 min•Season 4Ep. 1
This episode was originally published as part of Mamamia’s Extraordinary Stories podcast . In the lead-up to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the world began to wonder how and if Peng Shuai would be used in the games, and whether the IOC was going to have anything to say to the Chinese Government about their silencing of the tennis star. So how did the Chinese propaganda juggernaut shift its attention to the global sporting stage? And what happens when the international community’s peak sporting bod...
Jan 10, 2024•35 min•Season 3Ep. 114
This episode was originally published as part of Mamamia’s Extraordinary Stories podcast . For three long weeks in November 2021, the tennis community, news organisations and human rights advocates the world over had one question; Where Is Peng Shuai? In the aftermath of a Weibo post detailing allegations of sexual assault against one of China’s top political figures, concerns for Peng Shuai's freedom were escalating swiftly. Then suddenly, proof of life. On this episode, we’ll learn more about ...
Jan 07, 2024•30 min•Season 3Ep. 113
This episode was originally published as part of Mamamia’s Extraordinary Stories podcast . It was after 10 pm, on November 2nd, 2021 when 35-year-old Peng Shuai - China’s beloved global tennis star - sat down and began typing. Truncated sentences of an open letter, detailing an affair and sexual assault involving one of China’s highest-ranking political figures, would go on to rock the international community. It took only a few minutes before the post had amassed thousands of shares, likes, and...
Jan 03, 2024•28 min•Season 3Ep. 112
This episode was originally published as part of Mamamia’s Extraordinary Stories podcast . Belle Gibson spent years lying about her health. From those early skater chatroom claims that she had died on the operating table during heart surgery, to a terminal brain cancer diagnosis, and finally, revelations that cancer had spread through her entire body. She had built a business out of peddling her strategy for treating that cancer; with food. She said it was curing her, and could (for a small fee)...
Dec 31, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 111
This episode was originally published as part of Mamamia’s Extraordinary Stories podcast . Belle Gibson was travelling to Queensland for a funeral when she was first contacted by Melbourne newspaper, The Age. Reporters were seeking clarification. They wanted to know exactly how much of the money that Belle was making was going to charity. By 2015, The Whole Pantry had become a hugely successful app, blog and book. Belle had always publicly pledged that a sizeable chunk of the money it was making...
Dec 27, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 110
This episode was originally published as part of Mamamia’s Extraordinary Stories podcast . Belle Gibson spent years lying about her health. From those early skater chatroom claims that she had died on the operating table during heart surgery, to a terminal brain cancer diagnosis, and finally, revelations that cancer had spread through her entire body. She had built a business out of peddling her strategy for treating that cancer; with food. She said it was curing her, and could (for a small fee)...
Dec 24, 2023•31 min•Season 3Ep. 109
On a summer evening in January 1983, 10-year-old Louise Bell went missing from her bedroom in Adelaide's Hackham West. It was a case that horrified Australia, as every parent's worst nightmare became reality for the Bell family. How could a young girl tucked up in her bed in a safe, suburban neighbourhood just go missing in the middle of the night? It would take 30 years, and advances in DNA technology, to find out who was responsible for the disappearance of Louise Bell. THE END BITS Subscribe ...
Dec 20, 2023•42 min•Season 3Ep. 108
The Murdaughs were one of South Carolina's most prominent legal families for nearly a century. They were so influential in the area, that locals nicknamed the county they practised in ‘Murdaugh country.’ But in 2019 a fatal boating accident put the family under a microscope, and what was uncovered about the Murdaughs over the next four years is almost too shocking to believe. This story is complicated. You’re about to hear about the deaths of five people in South Carolina, all with ties to the M...
Dec 13, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 107
On a Sunday night in August 1987, 18-year-old Julian Knight unleashed terror on the streets of Melbourne. It was just after 9:30pm when the recently discharged army cadet opened fire on innocent civilians, murdering seven people and seriously injuring 19 more. After the incident, a group of psychologists were tasked with analysing Knight to try to understand the motivations of such a callous, unprovoked attack. Our guest today was part of that team. THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia CREDITS Gues...
Dec 06, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 106
In May 1965 a horrific discovery was made at a Darwin post office. A package carrying the remains of a newborn baby boy had been sent there from the Russell Street post office in Melbourne. The sender and the intended recipient were unable to be identified at the time. Now, almost 60 years later, there are new leads in the case. Finally, after all this time, detectives might be on the precipice of solving this cold case. THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia If you have any details about this case, ...
Nov 29, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 105
The murder of Lynette Dawson was a crime that unravelled in real-time via a podcast called The Teacher’s Pet in 2018. It was a groundbreaking investigation. One that forced police to re-investigate things they’d filed away as unimportant decades prior. Shanelle Dawson, Lynette's daughter, had already pieced together the truth before investigative journalist Hedley Thomas came knocking. But his podcast helped put her father behind bars. Since then, Shanelle has released her own story, in her own ...
Nov 22, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 104
Malcolm Naden was once Australia's most wanted man. The prime suspect for the murder of his neighbour, as well as in the disappearance and suspected murder of his cousin, Naden was on the run from 2005 until 2012. Today’s guest, Dimity Clancey, followed this story as it unfolded and was the journalist who first acquired and published Naden’s confession in 2016. THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia CREDITS Guest: Dimity Clancey. You can watch her award-winning coverage of Malcolm Naden's confession ...
Nov 15, 2023•41 min•Season 3Ep. 103
On New Year’s Eve, 1927, Ethel Griggs and her baby daughter Alwyn returned home to Victoria after six months away in Tasmania. After eating supper with her husband Ethel quickly became ill, and just over 48 hours later she was pronounced dead. At first, it was thought to be heart trouble or even sea sickness that caused her death, but when police exhumed her body just two weeks after Ethel was laid to rest, they found enough arsenic inside her stomach to kill not just Ethel, but several people. ...
Nov 08, 2023•58 min•Season 3Ep. 102
For more than a century, Australia's infamous Pentridge Prison was an ominous presence just 30 minutes away from Melbourne’s CBD. A place of murder and mayhem, it was home to Victoria’s worst criminals. Everyone from Ned Kelly and Chopper Read, to mass murderers Julian Knight and Craig Minogue. Pentridge officially closed in 1997 after decades of controversy. Over the years, everybody in Victoria had an understanding that Pentridge was a bad place, and the criminals who spent time inside can att...
Nov 01, 2023•45 min•Season 3Ep. 101
Over the last two years, Indigenous Affairs Reporter Douglas Smith and his team have been looking into the deaths of six Indigenous women, from three different states across Australia. Each case occurred in different jurisdictions, involving different individuals, but the investigation conducted by Doug's team uncovered a commonality that is impossible to ignore. THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia CREDITS Guest: Douglas Smith host of the Dying Rose podcast . Host: Gemma Bath Executive Producer : ...
Oct 25, 2023•42 min•Season 3Ep. 100
In June 1987, Australia's top end lost it's innocence. The murders of five tourists across the Northern Territory and Western Australia marred the reputation of this idyllic tourist region, sparking fear in locals and visitors alike. These horrific events sparked one of the biggest manhunts in Australian history and saw today's guest, Former WA Police Inspector Bob Brown, on the front lines of the hunt for Josef Thomas Schwab: ‘The Kimberley Killer’ THE END BITS Subscribe to Mamamia If you have ...
Oct 18, 2023•40 min•Season 3Ep. 99
In 2018, Hedley Thomas’ podcast The Teacher's Pet captivated millions of listeners around the world as he unravelled the disappearance of Lynette Simms in real time, week by week. Throughout his meticulous investigation more evidence and information came to light, leading to the arrest of Lyn's former husband Chris Dawson. In 2022, Hedley found himself a witness in Dawson's high-profle murder trial. He joins us today to discuss the podcast that landed Hedley in the courtroom, and Dawson behind b...
Oct 11, 2023•54 min•Season 3Ep. 98
Evaristo Salas Junior was just 16 when he was sent to an adult men’s prison convicted of the murder of Jose Arreola in 1995. But in the nearly three decades since his conviction, the evidence has been re-examined in great detail. Cracks, lies and omissions have been uncovered by journalists and documentary makers alike, leading to Evaristo's exoneration and release in August of this year. So how did this happen? How did the justice system fail him so monumentally, and why did it take so long to ...
Oct 04, 2023•50 min•Season 3Ep. 97
In October 1992, 12-year-old Rhianna Barreau disappeared. On the day she went missing it was school holidays, and Rhianna had spent the morning wandering to the local shops to buy her American pen pal a Christmas card. When her mother got home at 4pm, expecting to find Rhianna, she was nowhere to be found. It's one of South Australia's most enduring cold cases. Her disappearance didn’t just change the lives of her family, it changed her community and the streets of Adelaide forever. THE END BITS...
Sep 27, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 96
In September 1988 a campaign of terror was unleashed upon Perth’s Chinese community through a series of targeted firebombings that decimated a number of restaurants around the city. The motive behind the attacks was impossible to ignore, but it would take a drastic escalation of violence for WA police to start taking the firebombs seriously. Once they finally started to piece the crimes together and close in on the culprits, police realised they’d happened upon a plot in the making that was a lo...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 3Ep. 95
For nearly half a century, Australia was engaged in a shameful and shocking practice that would tear babies from the arms of their mothers, sometimes before they ever even laid eyes on their precious little faces. Today, Amelia Oberhart shares with us the journey of her discoveries about her mother’s life before she was born in her podcast, Secrets We Keep, Shame, Lies and Family…and in the process of unveiling her own story, found the buried stories of women whose numbers will shock you. THE EN...
Sep 13, 2023•44 min•Season 3Ep. 94
In Australia in the 1920s a 'murder wave' gripped the country, as the desperation of The Great Depression rippled through society. Cases like The Human Glove, The Hammer Horror, The Park Demon, The Bungendore Bones , and most famously The Pyjama Girl, were splashed across tabloid headlines. At the same time a new age of methods and technologies were being rolled out to help investigate crimes that would've previously gone unsolved. In NSW there was an elite group of hardened and cunning detectiv...
Sep 06, 2023•49 min•Season 3Ep. 93
