September 9, 2025 • 26 mins
Take a trip down under, but watch out for the snakes.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hudson River Radio dot Com.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Your dad likes us. I'm Linda Zimmerman.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm Brian Harrowitz and this is.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Murder in the Hudson Valley on Hudson River Radio dot Com.
And greetings people far and wide. We've had a bit
of an international jaunt here and there recently.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Yes, yeah, well it's summer, so we need to travel, right,
isn't that the point?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So we are going to Australia tonight. And you know
there are different degrees of murder cases. This one really
really bothers me.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Okay, you know, I really I have not been to Australia.
That is on the short list. I would love to go.
But anytime you see, you know, the most dangerous blank
in the world, whether it's bug, snake, snake, animal, toad, anything,
which number one is always Australia slug.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yes, but I still oh yeah, yeah, everything, everything wants
to kill you there and sometimes some there are people
who are the most deadly. So we are going to Craigmore,
which is a northern suburb of Adelaide about twenty miles
(01:33):
to the north. Eighty one year old Robert Whitwell. He
his wife had recent his wife Joyce, who he absolutely adored.
He called his queen. Unfortunately had dementia and she had
to go to a nursing home, but he visited her
(01:54):
every day. That is so tough for older people who
get separated like that. He kept busy gardening. I saw
pictures of his place. His house and landscaping were immaculate.
It was like not a blade of grass or you know,
(02:15):
flower pedal out of place. I mean, really amazing. And
he was always dressed immaculate, immaculately, often in suits. You know,
he just liked dress up. His brother huh, I.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Can respect that.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yes, his brother called him. His brother Jeffrey said he
was just a real gentleman. Neighbors loved him, sweet kind,
always helping people. Just great and you can teach old
dogs new tricks. At age eighty, he got his first
cell phone, so because he wanted to keep in touch
(02:57):
with family. He loved his family. So on the morning
of August eighth, twenty sixteen, neighbors noticed a few newspapers
piled up at his front door. That was that was
not Robert. I mean, he wouldn't have left papers piled
up unless something was wrong. So they called police for
(03:20):
a welfare check. They got there and the front door
was unlocked. No, never would have happened. He always kept
the doors locked. They go onside and there he is
dead on the kitchen floor. So he's eighty one. Perhaps
your first thought is just natural, Yeah, yeah, yeah, until
(03:46):
they take a closer look and he has multiple stab
wounds in his neck and chest and had actually bled
to death in the kitchen. All right, everyone is absolutely stunned.
They said. It must have been a stranger and a
(04:06):
robbery gone wrong. They said, because absolutely no one who
knew Robert could ever have dreamed of hurting him. He
was just the you know, the sweetest guy on the planet.
So he had spoken to a family member the morning
of August fifth, so he was probably killed that day.
(04:29):
And then it wasn't until the eighth that the neighbors noticed.
So whoever did this got a three day had start,
had start, yeah, getting away unfortunately, So in they they
did ask a neighbors and apparently in May or June,
(04:52):
so just a month or two earlier, he had seen
someone in his backyard, so he had installed a taller fence,
he had security lights, always kept his door doors locked.
So we're thinking we're they're thinking robbery gone wrong. No,
(05:18):
let us take our first break at this point.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
This is Hudson River Radio dot com. Hudson Riverradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Okay, so we have the sweetest man north of Adelaide,
eighty one year old Robert Whitwell. His wife is unfortunately
in a nursing home. Everybody loved him, but apparently one
person didn't at least because he was found dead of
(05:56):
multiple stab wounds. So weeks are going by, you know,
friends and family are absolutely devastated. No leads they you know,
obviously no one who knew him could have done this.
Weeks go by, and then crime Stoppers, which we have
(06:19):
in this country. There's a hot line. We've covered a
lot of cold cases where I've given out the crime
Stoppers number. They it's a hot line for tips. You
can be anonymous. If you don't want to be anonymous,
and your tip pens out, you can get money. They
often have rewards. So crime Stoppers in Australia gets a
(06:41):
call that he was murdered by two girls. Okay, that's
a bit of right, that's a bit of surprise. They
even young, They even name them. Twenty one year old
Bernadette Burns and nineteen year old Brittany Dwyer. Wow, that's
(07:05):
pretty brutal, too young girls murdering an eighty one year
old Burns was born in New Zealand and she was
living in Brisbane, Australia at the time, which is twelve
hundred miles away. What the hell was she? I mean,
she drove from twelve hundred mile apparently I did a
(07:28):
Google Maps thing to drive those twelve hundred miles takes
about twenty three hours. That's a lot of driving to
go from Brisbane to Adelaide there to commit this crime.
Brittany Dwyer, well, who was she? Well, she was Robert's granddaughter. Yes,
(07:53):
that was my reaction. Okay. Robert absolutely loved Brittany on
her from the day she was born. People said, no, no, no,
this must be a mistake, because Brittany was devastated at
the funeral and when she first heard about his death
(08:13):
kept saying, poor pop. She called him Papa, poor Papa,
and everybody's consoling Brittany because she was so upset she
lost her dear grandfather. Okay, so it has to be
a mistake. So they bring both girls in to the
police station for questioning. Of course, question them separately. Are
(08:39):
they going to say this is ridiculous, I would never
do such a thing. Nope, they both confess. What the hell?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Okay, okay, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So let's back up a few months earlier. Brittany and
her mother Tanya were visiting Robert and you know, nice
family visit. And Robert tells Tanya and Brittany overhears that
I don't trust banks. I have my entire life savings,
(09:15):
over one hundred thousand dollars hidden in the house and
the shed. Well, I'm sorry, you're you just don't tell
anyone that, because do that you did right. If you're
if you have any sort of money hidden in the house,
(09:37):
you just don't tell anyone. Yeah, you know, if you're
crazy enough to do that. Remember that that case in Slottsburg.
The old woman used to go around town that, oh
I got a ton of money in the house. Oh wow,
she was murdered and robbed. Of course, you think it's
safe telling your daughter and granddaughter. But Brittany had a
(10:01):
bit of a drug and alcohol problem. At age eighteen,
she moved in with a friend, Shelby Holmes. There's a
whole lot of disturbing texts between Brittany and Shelby. They
loved Knives. They were fascinated by the Did you ever
(10:23):
see the show American Horror Story.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I've heard of it, I haven't seen it.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, several seasons it was I don't know. The first
one or two was pretty good, and then it was
I thought it was unwatchable. But they loved it. And
of course it was all about murder and sick things,
and they always used to talk about, Yeah, we should
slit somebody's throat. That'd be great. So this is what
these two young women talked about. Brittany convinces Shelby to
(10:51):
drive the twenty three hours to rob her grandfather. So
this is not Remember the other one was Bernard at Burns.
This is a difference. This is Shelby Holmes, another woman.
So Shelby is walking down the street to kind of
check out the house because Robert doesn't know who Shelby is.
(11:13):
And it turns out Robert's out and sees her and
gives her a big smile and hello, you know, how
are you know? Just being so nice. So Shelby immediately
texts Brittany, oh my god, he is lovely She's immediately
captivated by the man just being greeted by her, So
(11:36):
the lovely granddaughter texts back, don't get too attached to him.
He may have to die, all right, What a sweetheart.
So they wait for Robert to leave the house, probably
to go visit his wife in the nursing home. They
(11:57):
jump the fence. They try to break into a shed
in the back, which is locked. They didn't really bring tools.
Security light comes on, neighbor's dog starts barking. The neighbor
comes to see. He knows something's going on, and they
(12:18):
run and they drive all the twenty three hours back
to Brisbane with not having gotten a dime. So once
they got back, Shelby said, look, I am not interested
in trying again. I'm just not doing it. So she
(12:39):
needs another partner in crime. So this is when she
meets Bernadette. A little background. Bernadette was also an addict drugs.
She had had a child at age seventeen, which she
lost custody of that child, I think, which is good
for the child. They initially met online and Brittany convinces
(13:06):
her to drive the twenty three hours back to her
grandfather's house. This time she brings both cutters, tin snips,
a hammer, gloves, cable ties and a knife. Okay, it's
one thing if you want to break a lock, why
are you bringing cable ties and a knife? All right,
(13:30):
little premeditation here. So Brittany knocks on her grandfather's door.
Now he's not expecting to see her because she's a twenty.
That's like somebody from New York knocking on their grandfather's
house in California. Hey, Grandad, I'm here on a supprise.
And he is thrilled to see her. Oh, Brittany, come
(13:51):
on in, gives her something to eat, pulls out the
photo albums of when she's a child, and talks all
about out the fond memories of her growing up. He
just he just loves her. So here you are sitting
with your wonderful grandfather looking at childhood photos. And let's
(14:14):
take our second break. This is Hudson River Radio dot Com.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Hudson River Radio dot Com.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
This is sickening already in there. Yeah. It just makes me,
you know, it just makes me want to, you know,
throw up and take a shower. It just this is
so I think the term is odious. So here she
is sitting with her sweet grandfather looking at baby pictures
(14:51):
and little children, you know when she's a kid, and
he's telling all these wonderful stories. So Brittany May she
had some slate conference and a conscience Bernadette, who drove
down with her. Well, Bernadette's sitting in the car putting
on her makeup because that's what you do during a
(15:14):
robbery homicide. And she tells Bernadette, I can't do it.
Bernadette sends her a text back, harden up and just
do it. Well, that's good for her to say. She's
sitting in the car putting her makeup on, right, Yeah. Yeah,
(15:34):
So Brittany takes out her knife and stabs her loving
sweet grandfather in the neck. He is absolutely stunned and
just keeps saying, why did you do that? Why did
you do that? He staggers over to a counter. He
has a first aid kit. He's struggling for the first
(15:56):
aid kit. He's trying to get a band aid to
put on his neck, which is spurting blood. She helps
him put a band aid on his neck and then
stabs him in the chest three times. He's sitting in
the kitchen chair, bleeding to death and Brittany decides to
(16:21):
do the dishes while she waits for him to die.
Nineteen year old girl, loving grandfather. Finally, she texts Bernadette
it's done. Bernadette now comes in. They ransacked the house
expecting six figure payout. All they can find is one
(16:46):
thousand dollars. They finally give up and leave the funeral.
Brittany so distraught, As I said, everyone's consoling her. She's
just so full of grief. Put on a you kill
your own grandfather and then you can pretend you can
(17:08):
just dissociate yourself. You're at his grave, you're at his funeral,
and you're crying tears to get sympathy. It's that is
a pretty screwed up individual. So Bernadette apparently gets a
guilty conscience. She starts telling friends what they did, and
(17:30):
then one of those friends, fortunately was the one who
called crime stoppers. Brittany, of course, was taken into custody.
She was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Oh, I think
she was way south of that border. I don't think
(17:51):
there's anything borderline about this. She also had rage issues
and anti social behavior. You think, so Bernadette the one
who sat in the car and urged her to murder
(18:13):
her grandfather then went in, you know, and while the
body's still warm, she's ransacking looking for money. She's convicted
of something of the equivalent of manslaughter. It's called murder
without intent. I strongly disagree with that. How hardened up.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
And can you be you're sitting face to face.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Harden up and just do it? Do what?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
You know she knew they went there to kill the grandfather.
So she was given life. But because she confessed, she
is now eligible for parole in twenty years, which I
think hopefully that never happens. Yeah, but because she was
(19:10):
born in New Zealand, apparently even if she does get paroles,
sometimes she will be deported to New Zealand. I don't
know what they'll do, but she should never get out. Never.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
No, unless she's going to be released into a pit
of scorpions or something.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Oh I like that. That's an idea. I think we
should suggest that Shelby, the one who did the first
attempt at not harming him, but just robbing. She was
given a seventeen month suspended sentence with three years probation
(19:47):
just for trespassing. Okay, clearly they waited for him to leave.
They weren't going to harm him, they were just trying
to rob him.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
There.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Okay, Brittany was given life, but again because she confessed,
there may come a day where she will actually be
eligible for parole. And if someone should never ever see
the outside of a jail, I think that's her. The judge,
(20:22):
Kevin Nicholson, called this case evil and abhorrent and deemed
her to be a danger to the community. You think
she did this to her own grandfather, What would she
do to a stranger?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Probably killed him in a heartb heartbeat some of his things,
He said. The murder was brutal, callous, cold blooded and
dispassionately planned. Strangely, you assisted mister Whitwell to apply a
band aid to one of the cuts, and you a
(21:00):
cloth to help clean off some of the blood. So
you just stab him in the neck and chest and oh,
let's put on a bandage and let's let's c What
was this poor guy thinking? Right? What was his granddaughter
doing to him?
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Can imagine the horror that he went through those lists?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yes, he said. The judge also said, your unnatural interest
with violence, and you have an unnatural interest with violence
and seeing people die, and he also mentioned while waiting
for him to die, you busied yourself doing the dishes.
(21:42):
I don't know that I've heard of a case quite
like somebody that is close to somebody being just.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
You know, overall, being face to face with a stranger
and taking that action as difficult. You know, usually all
the cases are you snuck up from behind, they snuck in,
they were in the house. Say, but your face to
face with somebody, just to get over that, to be
able to take that kind of action is very, very
difficult for someone to do.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
But to be able to be that to prave andy, Yeah, yeah, depraved,
that's a good word. He also said, the very same
people who have been badly damaged by the sudden and
violent end to the life of mister Whitwell are simply
shattered by the fact that it was such a close
(22:32):
member of the family, you miss Dwyer, who so callously
and brutally murdered him. One can hardly imagine the pain
and distress your mother must be feeling seeing her father
killed in this way, and by her own daughter. Right,
(22:54):
I saw an interview by the mother. I mean, horrible
enough to lose your dad to murder you're like, oh,
my god, who could do this? And then you find
out it's your own twisted, demented daughter. Wow, who did it?
But that brother, Jeffrey. I saw an interview with him again.
(23:17):
He said his brother was always the gentleman, always tried
to do the right thing. I couldn't have had a
better brother he was. He said he was satisfied with
the sentences and said, let the healing begin. We need closure.
(23:38):
You know, I don't know, it's it's a tough if
you can forgive for something like that, But I guess
you can keep tearing yourself up over it, or you
can try to move on. I don't know. I don't
think I could forgive someone who did that and then
(23:58):
you know, sat there crying while I consoled them for
their horrible loss. So yeah, so that's why I said
at the beginning, there are murders, and then there is
just a whole different level of murders, and this is
in need. Yeah, this is this was one of those
that halfway through I'm like, ah, I wish I hadn't
(24:21):
done this case. But they're out there. These people are
out there and in your own family, and you know
they're your neighbors, your best friends, your family members. I
guess you just never know what's going on in someone's head.
So hopefully Brittany Dwyer never gets released from prison and
(24:47):
Bernadette should stay there a long, long, long time as well.
I saw an interview with Shelby and she was all smiles,
Oh no, you know, down playing. Oh you know, we
we just you know, we were just gonna rob it.
We just you know, like, oh, everything's fine, it's no
(25:11):
big deal.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Little denial.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yes, yes, So good luck with the rest of her
life because everybody knows who she is and everybody knows
what she was involved with. So yeah, good luck with
a normal life. Oh boy, that was draining.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yeah that was a rough one. I expect no less
from you.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
So why don't you take us away from Australia all right?
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Yeah, well, thank you Linda for messing with all of
our minds again, and thank you all for joining us
for a Murder in the Hudson Valley and hopefully we
will see you next time on Murder in the Hudson Valley.
If you don't step on a scorpion or the most
dangerous rattlesnake in the world, or eat the most dangerous
plan or anything along those lines, Stay sayd bye.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
This is Hudson River Radio dot com. H
Hudson River Radio dot Com.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Your dad likes us. I'm Linda Zimmerman.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I'm Brian Harrowitz and this is.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Murder in the Hudson Valley on Hudson River Radio dot Com.
And greetings people far and wide. We've had a bit
of an international jaunt here and there recently.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Yes, yeah, well it's summer, so we need to travel, right,
isn't that the point?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So we are going to Australia tonight. And you know
there are different degrees of murder cases. This one really
really bothers me.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Okay, you know, I really I have not been to Australia.
That is on the short list. I would love to go.
But anytime you see, you know, the most dangerous blank
in the world, whether it's bug, snake, snake, animal, toad, anything,
which number one is always Australia slug.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yes, but I still oh yeah, yeah, everything, everything wants
to kill you there and sometimes some there are people
who are the most deadly. So we are going to Craigmore,
which is a northern suburb of Adelaide about twenty miles
(01:33):
to the north. Eighty one year old Robert Whitwell. He
his wife had recent his wife Joyce, who he absolutely adored.
He called his queen. Unfortunately had dementia and she had
to go to a nursing home, but he visited her
(01:54):
every day. That is so tough for older people who
get separated like that. He kept busy gardening. I saw
pictures of his place. His house and landscaping were immaculate.
It was like not a blade of grass or you know,
(02:15):
flower pedal out of place. I mean, really amazing. And
he was always dressed immaculate, immaculately, often in suits. You know,
he just liked dress up. His brother huh, I.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Can respect that.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Yes, his brother called him. His brother Jeffrey said he
was just a real gentleman. Neighbors loved him, sweet kind,
always helping people. Just great and you can teach old
dogs new tricks. At age eighty, he got his first
cell phone, so because he wanted to keep in touch
(02:57):
with family. He loved his family. So on the morning
of August eighth, twenty sixteen, neighbors noticed a few newspapers
piled up at his front door. That was that was
not Robert. I mean, he wouldn't have left papers piled
up unless something was wrong. So they called police for
(03:20):
a welfare check. They got there and the front door
was unlocked. No, never would have happened. He always kept
the doors locked. They go onside and there he is
dead on the kitchen floor. So he's eighty one. Perhaps
your first thought is just natural, Yeah, yeah, yeah, until
(03:46):
they take a closer look and he has multiple stab
wounds in his neck and chest and had actually bled
to death in the kitchen. All right, everyone is absolutely stunned.
They said. It must have been a stranger and a
(04:06):
robbery gone wrong. They said, because absolutely no one who
knew Robert could ever have dreamed of hurting him. He
was just the you know, the sweetest guy on the planet.
So he had spoken to a family member the morning
of August fifth, so he was probably killed that day.
(04:29):
And then it wasn't until the eighth that the neighbors noticed.
So whoever did this got a three day had start,
had start, yeah, getting away unfortunately, So in they they
did ask a neighbors and apparently in May or June,
(04:52):
so just a month or two earlier, he had seen
someone in his backyard, so he had installed a taller fence,
he had security lights, always kept his door doors locked.
So we're thinking we're they're thinking robbery gone wrong. No,
(05:18):
let us take our first break at this point.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
This is Hudson River Radio dot com. Hudson Riverradio dot com.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Okay, so we have the sweetest man north of Adelaide,
eighty one year old Robert Whitwell. His wife is unfortunately
in a nursing home. Everybody loved him, but apparently one
person didn't at least because he was found dead of
(05:56):
multiple stab wounds. So weeks are going by, you know,
friends and family are absolutely devastated. No leads they you know,
obviously no one who knew him could have done this.
Weeks go by, and then crime Stoppers, which we have
(06:19):
in this country. There's a hot line. We've covered a
lot of cold cases where I've given out the crime
Stoppers number. They it's a hot line for tips. You
can be anonymous. If you don't want to be anonymous,
and your tip pens out, you can get money. They
often have rewards. So crime Stoppers in Australia gets a
(06:41):
call that he was murdered by two girls. Okay, that's
a bit of right, that's a bit of surprise. They
even young, They even name them. Twenty one year old
Bernadette Burns and nineteen year old Brittany Dwyer. Wow, that's
(07:05):
pretty brutal, too young girls murdering an eighty one year
old Burns was born in New Zealand and she was
living in Brisbane, Australia at the time, which is twelve
hundred miles away. What the hell was she? I mean,
she drove from twelve hundred mile apparently I did a
(07:28):
Google Maps thing to drive those twelve hundred miles takes
about twenty three hours. That's a lot of driving to
go from Brisbane to Adelaide there to commit this crime.
Brittany Dwyer, well, who was she? Well, she was Robert's granddaughter. Yes,
(07:53):
that was my reaction. Okay. Robert absolutely loved Brittany on
her from the day she was born. People said, no, no, no,
this must be a mistake, because Brittany was devastated at
the funeral and when she first heard about his death
(08:13):
kept saying, poor pop. She called him Papa, poor Papa,
and everybody's consoling Brittany because she was so upset she
lost her dear grandfather. Okay, so it has to be
a mistake. So they bring both girls in to the
police station for questioning. Of course, question them separately. Are
(08:39):
they going to say this is ridiculous, I would never
do such a thing. Nope, they both confess. What the hell?
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Okay, okay, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
So let's back up a few months earlier. Brittany and
her mother Tanya were visiting Robert and you know, nice
family visit. And Robert tells Tanya and Brittany overhears that
I don't trust banks. I have my entire life savings,
(09:15):
over one hundred thousand dollars hidden in the house and
the shed. Well, I'm sorry, you're you just don't tell
anyone that, because do that you did right. If you're
if you have any sort of money hidden in the house,
(09:37):
you just don't tell anyone. Yeah, you know, if you're
crazy enough to do that. Remember that that case in Slottsburg.
The old woman used to go around town that, oh
I got a ton of money in the house. Oh wow,
she was murdered and robbed. Of course, you think it's
safe telling your daughter and granddaughter. But Brittany had a
(10:01):
bit of a drug and alcohol problem. At age eighteen,
she moved in with a friend, Shelby Holmes. There's a
whole lot of disturbing texts between Brittany and Shelby. They
loved Knives. They were fascinated by the Did you ever
(10:23):
see the show American Horror Story.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
I've heard of it, I haven't seen it.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Yeah, several seasons it was I don't know. The first
one or two was pretty good, and then it was
I thought it was unwatchable. But they loved it. And
of course it was all about murder and sick things,
and they always used to talk about, Yeah, we should
slit somebody's throat. That'd be great. So this is what
these two young women talked about. Brittany convinces Shelby to
(10:51):
drive the twenty three hours to rob her grandfather. So
this is not Remember the other one was Bernard at Burns.
This is a difference. This is Shelby Holmes, another woman.
So Shelby is walking down the street to kind of
check out the house because Robert doesn't know who Shelby is.
(11:13):
And it turns out Robert's out and sees her and
gives her a big smile and hello, you know, how
are you know? Just being so nice. So Shelby immediately
texts Brittany, oh my god, he is lovely She's immediately
captivated by the man just being greeted by her, So
(11:36):
the lovely granddaughter texts back, don't get too attached to him.
He may have to die, all right, What a sweetheart.
So they wait for Robert to leave the house, probably
to go visit his wife in the nursing home. They
(11:57):
jump the fence. They try to break into a shed
in the back, which is locked. They didn't really bring tools.
Security light comes on, neighbor's dog starts barking. The neighbor
comes to see. He knows something's going on, and they
(12:18):
run and they drive all the twenty three hours back
to Brisbane with not having gotten a dime. So once
they got back, Shelby said, look, I am not interested
in trying again. I'm just not doing it. So she
(12:39):
needs another partner in crime. So this is when she
meets Bernadette. A little background. Bernadette was also an addict drugs.
She had had a child at age seventeen, which she
lost custody of that child, I think, which is good
for the child. They initially met online and Brittany convinces
(13:06):
her to drive the twenty three hours back to her
grandfather's house. This time she brings both cutters, tin snips,
a hammer, gloves, cable ties and a knife. Okay, it's
one thing if you want to break a lock, why
are you bringing cable ties and a knife? All right,
(13:30):
little premeditation here. So Brittany knocks on her grandfather's door.
Now he's not expecting to see her because she's a twenty.
That's like somebody from New York knocking on their grandfather's
house in California. Hey, Grandad, I'm here on a supprise.
And he is thrilled to see her. Oh, Brittany, come
(13:51):
on in, gives her something to eat, pulls out the
photo albums of when she's a child, and talks all
about out the fond memories of her growing up. He
just he just loves her. So here you are sitting
with your wonderful grandfather looking at childhood photos. And let's
(14:14):
take our second break. This is Hudson River Radio dot Com.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Hudson River Radio dot Com.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
This is sickening already in there. Yeah. It just makes me,
you know, it just makes me want to, you know,
throw up and take a shower. It just this is
so I think the term is odious. So here she
is sitting with her sweet grandfather looking at baby pictures
(14:51):
and little children, you know when she's a kid, and
he's telling all these wonderful stories. So Brittany May she
had some slate conference and a conscience Bernadette, who drove
down with her. Well, Bernadette's sitting in the car putting
on her makeup because that's what you do during a
(15:14):
robbery homicide. And she tells Bernadette, I can't do it.
Bernadette sends her a text back, harden up and just
do it. Well, that's good for her to say. She's
sitting in the car putting her makeup on, right, Yeah. Yeah,
(15:34):
So Brittany takes out her knife and stabs her loving
sweet grandfather in the neck. He is absolutely stunned and
just keeps saying, why did you do that? Why did
you do that? He staggers over to a counter. He
has a first aid kit. He's struggling for the first
(15:56):
aid kit. He's trying to get a band aid to
put on his neck, which is spurting blood. She helps
him put a band aid on his neck and then
stabs him in the chest three times. He's sitting in
the kitchen chair, bleeding to death and Brittany decides to
(16:21):
do the dishes while she waits for him to die.
Nineteen year old girl, loving grandfather. Finally, she texts Bernadette
it's done. Bernadette now comes in. They ransacked the house
expecting six figure payout. All they can find is one
(16:46):
thousand dollars. They finally give up and leave the funeral.
Brittany so distraught, As I said, everyone's consoling her. She's
just so full of grief. Put on a you kill
your own grandfather and then you can pretend you can
(17:08):
just dissociate yourself. You're at his grave, you're at his funeral,
and you're crying tears to get sympathy. It's that is
a pretty screwed up individual. So Bernadette apparently gets a
guilty conscience. She starts telling friends what they did, and
(17:30):
then one of those friends, fortunately was the one who
called crime stoppers. Brittany, of course, was taken into custody.
She was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Oh, I think
she was way south of that border. I don't think
(17:51):
there's anything borderline about this. She also had rage issues
and anti social behavior. You think, so Bernadette the one
who sat in the car and urged her to murder
(18:13):
her grandfather then went in, you know, and while the
body's still warm, she's ransacking looking for money. She's convicted
of something of the equivalent of manslaughter. It's called murder
without intent. I strongly disagree with that. How hardened up.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
And can you be you're sitting face to face.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Harden up and just do it? Do what?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
You know she knew they went there to kill the grandfather.
So she was given life. But because she confessed, she
is now eligible for parole in twenty years, which I
think hopefully that never happens. Yeah, but because she was
(19:10):
born in New Zealand, apparently even if she does get paroles,
sometimes she will be deported to New Zealand. I don't
know what they'll do, but she should never get out. Never.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
No, unless she's going to be released into a pit
of scorpions or something.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Oh I like that. That's an idea. I think we
should suggest that Shelby, the one who did the first
attempt at not harming him, but just robbing. She was
given a seventeen month suspended sentence with three years probation
(19:47):
just for trespassing. Okay, clearly they waited for him to leave.
They weren't going to harm him, they were just trying
to rob him.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
There.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Okay, Brittany was given life, but again because she confessed,
there may come a day where she will actually be
eligible for parole. And if someone should never ever see
the outside of a jail, I think that's her. The judge,
(20:22):
Kevin Nicholson, called this case evil and abhorrent and deemed
her to be a danger to the community. You think
she did this to her own grandfather, What would she
do to a stranger?
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Right?
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Probably killed him in a heartb heartbeat some of his things,
He said. The murder was brutal, callous, cold blooded and
dispassionately planned. Strangely, you assisted mister Whitwell to apply a
band aid to one of the cuts, and you a
(21:00):
cloth to help clean off some of the blood. So
you just stab him in the neck and chest and oh,
let's put on a bandage and let's let's c What
was this poor guy thinking? Right? What was his granddaughter
doing to him?
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Can imagine the horror that he went through those lists?
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Yes, he said. The judge also said, your unnatural interest
with violence, and you have an unnatural interest with violence
and seeing people die, and he also mentioned while waiting
for him to die, you busied yourself doing the dishes.
(21:42):
I don't know that I've heard of a case quite
like somebody that is close to somebody being just.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
You know, overall, being face to face with a stranger
and taking that action as difficult. You know, usually all
the cases are you snuck up from behind, they snuck in,
they were in the house. Say, but your face to
face with somebody, just to get over that, to be
able to take that kind of action is very, very
difficult for someone to do.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
But to be able to be that to prave andy, Yeah, yeah, depraved,
that's a good word. He also said, the very same
people who have been badly damaged by the sudden and
violent end to the life of mister Whitwell are simply
shattered by the fact that it was such a close
(22:32):
member of the family, you miss Dwyer, who so callously
and brutally murdered him. One can hardly imagine the pain
and distress your mother must be feeling seeing her father
killed in this way, and by her own daughter. Right,
(22:54):
I saw an interview by the mother. I mean, horrible
enough to lose your dad to murder you're like, oh,
my god, who could do this? And then you find
out it's your own twisted, demented daughter. Wow, who did it?
But that brother, Jeffrey. I saw an interview with him again.
(23:17):
He said his brother was always the gentleman, always tried
to do the right thing. I couldn't have had a
better brother he was. He said he was satisfied with
the sentences and said, let the healing begin. We need closure.
(23:38):
You know, I don't know, it's it's a tough if
you can forgive for something like that, But I guess
you can keep tearing yourself up over it, or you
can try to move on. I don't know. I don't
think I could forgive someone who did that and then
(23:58):
you know, sat there crying while I consoled them for
their horrible loss. So yeah, so that's why I said
at the beginning, there are murders, and then there is
just a whole different level of murders, and this is
in need. Yeah, this is this was one of those
that halfway through I'm like, ah, I wish I hadn't
(24:21):
done this case. But they're out there. These people are
out there and in your own family, and you know
they're your neighbors, your best friends, your family members. I
guess you just never know what's going on in someone's head.
So hopefully Brittany Dwyer never gets released from prison and
(24:47):
Bernadette should stay there a long, long, long time as well.
I saw an interview with Shelby and she was all smiles,
Oh no, you know, down playing. Oh you know, we
we just you know, we were just gonna rob it.
We just you know, like, oh, everything's fine, it's no
(25:11):
big deal.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
Little denial.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yes, yes, So good luck with the rest of her
life because everybody knows who she is and everybody knows
what she was involved with. So yeah, good luck with
a normal life. Oh boy, that was draining.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Yeah that was a rough one. I expect no less
from you.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
So why don't you take us away from Australia all right?
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Yeah, well, thank you Linda for messing with all of
our minds again, and thank you all for joining us
for a Murder in the Hudson Valley and hopefully we
will see you next time on Murder in the Hudson Valley.
If you don't step on a scorpion or the most
dangerous rattlesnake in the world, or eat the most dangerous
plan or anything along those lines, Stay sayd bye.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
This is Hudson River Radio dot com. H
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