Escaped Aussie Serial Killers – Ep. 6

Teen escape artist survives Aussie serial killers – Ep. 6

In 1986, four women go missing near Perth, Australia, in only a month’s time. But law enforcement doesn’t know there is a serial-killing couple in their midst until a very smart 17-year-old girl, realizing her captors have killed before, seizes an opportunity to make her escape. In doing so, she likely saved many other lives. 

The 2016 psychological thriller “Hounds of Love” is a fictionalized portrayal of what the media referred to as the Moorhouse murders, the crimes having taken place on Moorhouse Street in a Perth suburb. 

While the Escape Pod is a “No Excuse Zone,” we leave room for explanations – the factors that might cause people to do what they do. In this episode, co-hosts Charity and Julie go beyond the gory details of the Birnies’ behaviors in ‘86 and explore how these two people with deeply troubled pasts came to fall in love – and commit their crimes together. 

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode includes discussions of rape and other forms of violence against women. 

 

Bullet Points of Key Topics and Markers: 

• Topic #1 7:28 – Nov. 9, 1986: 17-year-old girl goes missing in Perth, Australia 
• Topic #2 13:33 – The teen successfully makes her escape 
• Topic #3 29:08 – The Birnies’ backgrounds examined 
• Topic #4 36:45 – A tired detective cracks the case with one simple question 

 

Resources & Links 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_and_Catherine_Birnie 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4206264/How-Kate-Moir-escaped-notorious-serial-killers.html 

https://au.news.yahoo.com/how-i-escaped-the-house-of-horrors-hostage-of-australia-s-most-evil-killers-tells-how-she-fled-david-and-catherine-birnie-34371633.html  

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/catherine-birnie-the-parasite-serial-killer-who-now-wants-freedom/news-story/7dbb6c2671d66234fd63230e8e85fbc9  

https://www.crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/partners/birnie/5.html  

https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/david-and-catherine-birnie-the-macabre-and-sadistic-moorhouse-murderers/news-story/d1937accb6dfdbb6cc89074e7eb7c241 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_and_Catherine_Birnie 

Movie: Hounds of Love (did not watch) 

 

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