Bad Apple: A True Crime Podcast

Bad Apple: A True Crime Podcast

Bad Apple: A True Crime Podcast hones in on the world of Aus and NZ true-crime, from chilling unsolved disappearances to the most infamous serial killers. Join us as we take a closer look at the bad apples lurking in our own backyards. Hosted by Rylee and Helen. Insta and Twitter @badapplethepod Leave us a review: https://lnk.bio/HlOI Bad Apple is recorded on the lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging.

Episodes

November 19, 2022 33 mins

Deep in the suburbs of south-east Melbourne, a young woman who believed herself to be the reincarnation of Christ, began to build a following based on New Age ideologies and practices. Anne Hamilton-Byrne quickly developed a following of adults who would worship her like a god, and do anything, including break the law, to help "The Family". The cult set up a network to facilitate the fraudulent adoption of children to create the ne...

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In 2012, 23-year-old Leisl Smith got into a white ute at Tuggerah Railway Station on the New South Wales Central Coast. She hadn't told anyone where she was going, or who she was going with, but when she didn't return home that night to tend to her horses her family knew something was wrong. The investigation into Leisl's disappearance was slow, leaving her family without closure for a long period of time. Finally, 6 years after he...

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In 2019, a young woman, using the pseudonym Alice, came forward and reported that she had been sexually assaulted by the volunteer massage therapist she met at her childhood netball games. In the tight-knit community of northern Tasmania, news spreads fast, and within months another 4 women had alleged that the same man, Jim Griffin, had groomed and assaulted them too. The subsequent police investigation exposed a man who had dedic...
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In the late 1980s, Auckland was considered a safe place and somewhere to raise a family. Parents were comfortable leaving their young teens home alone at night, and young women often walked home alone after dark. That was until New Zealand police discovered the possibility that a serial rapist was operating in the South Auckland area. Citizens became gripped with fear, installing greater security in their homes and sleeping next to...
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On the 16th of October 2021, 4-year-old Cleo Smith disappeared from her family’s campsite at the Blowholes, north of Carnarvon in Western Australia. What followed was the most comprehensive search and rescue operation in recent Australian history, and non-stop reporting of Cleo’s case which had gripped the nation. Cleo was missing for 18 days before police made a breakthrough discovery, bringing relief to those enthralled by the st...
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Nature enthusiasts Urban Höglin and Heidi Paakkonen left Sweden in September 1988 to embark on a trip down under. When the couple didn’t return home on time, their families initially thought they’d changed their plans. By the time they raised the alarm, Urban and Heidi had been missing for 6 weeks. Conveniently, a convicted criminal and current fugitive David Tamihere had been recently apprehended and was last seen where the two ba...
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In 1998, a man was killed while walking along the railway tracks in inner-city Perth. With no identification on his person and no information from the public, investigators couldn’t reunite the man with his family. History repeated itself 10 years later, in 2008 when another man was struck by a train in south-east Melbourne. He too was unable to be identified. These two men joined the more than 500 unidentified persons at any one t...
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In 2006, 3-month-old twins, Cris and Cru Kahui were taken to hospital by their mother after sustaining serious head injuries and broken bones. No one could explain how the twins had suffered these life-threatening injuries, but hospital staff suspected that it had been deliberate. The case of Cris and Cru highlighted disparities around infant deaths, bringing to the spotlight a 2003 statistic that revealed that Maori children were ...

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In June 1982, 49 gold bars were withdrawn from the Perth Mint using three cheques. The bars were taken to Jandakot Airport, loaded onto a plane, and never seen again. However, staff at the Mint had realised the cheques were fraudulent, meaning the gold had been swindled. The Mickelberg brothers, Ray, Peter and Brian, were convicted in 1984, but these convictions were overturned 20 years later. The unsolved mystery of the missing go...
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In the 1980s, the Satanic Panic was rife in the United States, with authorities receiving more than 12,000 claims of satanic abuse within an alleged network of underground devil-worshipping paedophiles operating in daycare centres. By 1991, this panic had reached Christchurch, New Zealand. Child care worker, Peter Ellis, was accused of sexually assaulting a young boy in his care. The investigation of these claims has been plagued w...
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Australia and New Zealand share a passion for sport. It is a source not only of entertainment, but of national pride, which means it comes as no surprise that conspiracies of sabotage against our sporting stars are some of the most widely believed conspiracies among the population. The allegations of Phar Lap’s murder by US gangsters, and the potential poisoning of the All Blacks’ at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, have been discussed at...
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Like so many young people at the time, 29-year-old Kayo Matsuzawa had traveled from Japan to Christchurch, New Zealand, with a dream of learning English and seeing the world. In September 1998, Kayo took her first trip to Auckland. Worried about traveling alone, Kayo invited her friend Naomi to Auckland, but when Naomi couldn’t come, Kayo promised to send her a postcard. After 10 days, there was no postcard - Naomi knew that someth...
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In 1942, Melbourne was subject to light restrictions, known as a ‘brownout’, in order to lessen the threat of an air raid. Little did they know, another threat was lurking in the darkness. When 3 women were killed in the span of 15 days, police had to work fast to find the perpetrator. Suspicions were raised when reports came to hand that a US soldier had been harassing and attacking women - with a quarter of a million US troops st...
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In the late 1970s, Air New Zealand began operating an Antarctic sightseeing flight. These flights offered a once-in-a-lifetime experience and attracted tourists from all around the world. This all changed on the 28th of November, 1979, when Air New Zealand flight 901 lost contact with Antarctic air traffic controllers during its descent over Ross Island. A fatal error had been made, but was it an honest mistake, or was the crash a ...
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On the 25th of August 1973, Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon went to a Saturday afternoon football game with their families at Adelaide Oval. In the 3rd quarter, Joanne and Kirste went to the bathroom together. When they didn’t return to their seats 15 minutes later, Joanne’s mother became worried and began to look for the two girls, but it may have already been too late. Despite a number of witness accounts of the abduction, and...
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In 1954, two teenage girls, Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme orchestrated and carried out the murder of Pauline's mother in Victoria Park in Christchurch, New Zealand. Their attempt to cover up the death as an accident quickly fell apart, and both girls were charged with murder. When their trial began, rumours of insanity and homosexuality consumed the Christchurch population as people speculated about the motivations around the see...

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In 2014, Queensland veterinarian, Dr Martin Pearson, was in the final stages of an endurance cycling ride when he was the victim of a fatal hit-and-run accident. When police located the driver responsible, they realised that he had been responsible for the accidental death of his wife, Leanne, just 6-years prior. Although Geoffrey Sleba’s actions had resulted in the loss of 2 lives, he substantially escaped punishment, only serving...
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In 2005, Victoria Police received information that a woman had been sexually assaulted by her father, but were unable to pursue the claim as the woman, fearing what her father might do, refused give more information. 3 years later, police obtained a DNA sample from the man, which revealed that he was the father of his daughters 3 children. What followed was a discovery of almost 30 years of sexual abuse and emotional manipulation a...
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On June 21st, 2004, 43-year-old Jim Donnelly signed into work at the Glenbrook Steel Mill. 16 years later, Jim still hasn't signed out. Despite a wide-ranging search, and investigation of Jim's personal life, there is very limited evidence as to what happened to him, leading to plenty of speculation and unique theories about his disappearance. To this day, Jim's family is no closer to finding out what happened, and without new evid...

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In the summer of 2018, 16-year-old Amber-Rose Rush was anticipating 2018 would be her year, after finishing school and starting a new job. But her future was robbed from her on the night of February 3rd 2018 when Amber-Rose was murdered in her family home. After retrieving heated Instagram messages between Amber-Rose and a 30-year-old Dunedin doctor, police had their prime suspect. It was revealed that Dr Skantha had been behaving ...
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