True Crime Tonight: Full Show (14/06/26)

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Warning, this is a true crime segment and not suitable for children. It contains references to sexual violence and suicide, which some listeners may find distressing. If you need support, you are not alone. Contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, or visit lifeline.org.au for 24 hour support.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:20)
It's a voice that will send shivers down your spine.

**Matthew Tankard** (0:23)
Stand off with police.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:24)
Wanted fugitive.

**Tariah** (0:25)
Stabbed 19 times.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:27)
The suspect lured the victim into the woods.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:29)
Most legal dramas in Hollywood. Today is a major win to show what the system can do.

**Matthew Tankard** (0:34)
This is True Crime Tonight.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:37)
This is True Crime Tonight. I'm your host, Michelle Laurie, and I'm here with my producers, Matthew Tankard and Ruby Bartzis. Say hello, guys. Hello. There we go. They're really here. And every Sunday night from 6 to 7, they'll be here, and we'll bring you our true crime book and documentary recommendations. We'll chat with you, our listeners, and we'll interview some of the biggest faces, the most interesting people in true crime.
This is a true crime show. Don't forget that. I keep saying it, but please don't let your kids listen. Coming up later this hour, we'll talk to Dr. Jenny Haynes about the documentary on her life called We Are Jenny. I'm sure you remember Jenny. She's the lady who went to court to testify against her father, but it was her and her over 2,000 personalities.
That's coming up later in the show. But up next, we'll hear from a listener.

**Tariah** (1:24)
So, my name is Tariah. I'm a long-term listener to your podcast. I live in Newcastle, New South Wales. Anyway, unfortunately, about 18 months ago, my friends and I were witness to knife crime on a night out, which then led to the mail, lots of fighting, and we saw all the perpetrators.
We had to go in for interviews and all those things. It was like a really awful skyfall. And then following on from that, like knife crime in Australia, and also services for victims. Like I was obviously entitled to victim's support through the government. And to be quite frank, it was rubbish. Then I had to pay out of pocket to go see my psychologist and go through EDMR and those things to support my own mental health and journey back into the world.
Yeah, there's a lot of cute little things that I love to hear about.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:20)
Thank you so much for calling and leaving that message, by the way. So you have witnessed a murder?

**Matthew Tankard** (2:25)
Yeah.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:26)
Okay.
I'm trying to find a way to say this without sounding like an a-hole, but I feel like there's so many witnesses to crime in Australia, which is not to say I don't think we have an epidemic of violent crime. I really do not. But I understand why probably the state government can't afford for everybody to have ongoing psychiatric care. We know that victims of crime and witnesses of crime certainly deserve help. It's a very traumatic event. But I just don't know. Anyone who's tried to access mental health care in Australia knows that it's hard, right?

**Ruby Bartzis** (2:59)
Yeah.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:59)
Just to get an appointment anywhere for anyone, hundreds of dollars, even if you're on a mental health plan, it's still expensive. This is an interesting perspective and it's one I guess we don't think about until it happens to us.

**Matthew Tankard** (3:11)
Yeah, exactly.
A few months ago, the IGA just next to my house, a bunch of kids came through, all masked up and basically just did a smash and grab. They just went in, they were kicking down all of the stands. In the supermarket, there was me, two elderly women and then a guy with his three-year-old son. The lady who ran the IGA, she was screaming, murderously screaming and going, somebody do something which I shouldn't have even done. All I said was just like, hey, that's all I did. I went, hey, trying to sound as tough as I could. And then one of the kids walks up to me and sort of gestures to his waistband as if he's got a knife under there. And I obviously just immediately walked back and said, oh, no worries. And I've been working with you, Michelle, for a bit over four years. We do true crime all the time. In the scheme of things, that is such a low level crime to experience. People running through an IGA and taking stuff, that freaks me out. It was really, really scary. And it's good to remember, we talk about that all the time with people who robbed banks back in the day.