True Crime Tonight: Ted Bundy Was My Coworker

**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.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:23)
Stand off with police. Wanted fugitive. Stabbed 19 times.

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

**Lauren Cassimatis** (0:29)
Most legal dramas in Hollywood.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:30)
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)
Hello, everyone. It is True Crime Tonight night. It's Sunday night and I'm here, Meshel Laurie, and I'm here with my producers, Matthew Tankard and Ruby Bartzis. Hello. We're here every Sunday night from 6 to 7, bringing you our True Crime Show. We've got book reviews. I'm going to tell you about possibly my all time favourite True Crime Book Tonight. I'm very excited to tell you about it. We've got documentary recommendations. We chat with you, our listeners, and we have an interview coming up later in the show. This one is about, I just can't even, I struggled to find the words to tell you about Katherine Knight. Well, let me put it to you this way. She has the longest sentence ever given to an Australian female prisoner. So that should tell you a little bit about this special lady we'll be hearing about a little bit later in the show. But up next, we're going to hear from one of you, from a listener that's on True Crime Tonight.
Around Australia, this is True Crime Tonight. I'm Michelle Laurie. I'm here with our producers, Matthew Tankard and Ruby Bartzis.
We are about to listen to a message, like a voicemail message from one of you, one of our listeners. I call it the True Crime Hotline.

**Matthew Tankard** (1:42)
Yes.

**Meshel Laurie** (1:43)
Matthew, remind us how this person found us.

**Matthew Tankard** (1:46)
If you want to leave us a question or a comment about the show, just go to the show notes of any episode from the Australian True Crime Podcast or if you find us at Australian True Crime on Facebook and Instagram, there's a link there.

**Meshel Laurie** (1:56)
Very easy. That's exactly what this lovely person did.

**SPEAKER_7** (1:59)
Hi, Michelle. My question for you is, how do you go about making sure that you provide that safe space for guests to come onto the show where you strike that balance of being a very confident and empathetic host but then also being able to enter into some pretty confronting and distressing topics.
I think it's pretty fine line and you handle it really well and definitely harder than it seems. So really curious to hear how you go about creating that environment for your guests really successfully.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:31)
Yeah.

**Ruby Bartzis** (2:31)
So nice and so true. You are really good at that.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:35)
Well, thank you. But big part of it is these days is Matthew sends out this questionnaire to the listeners. So that's new since Matthew has been on board for the last three years or something. Tell us the sorts of questions that are on here. It's so great.

**Matthew Tankard** (2:48)
Well, yeah, it's just about, you know, let us know if there's anything you're not comfortable speaking about. Let us know if there's any trigger words. But, you know, oftentimes they've done lots of other like TV shows that a lot more like legacy media type shows that at times can be pretty sensationalist.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:04)
Yes.

**Matthew Tankard** (3:04)
And so basically I'm just saying we're not that we're not going to edit them in a funny way. We just want to make it really clear that once they record with us, it's not like, you know, out into the ether and out of their control.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:16)
And we always make it clear that they can contact us later if they want something cut out basically. Or even as we're recording, if they say something and then they wish they hadn't, they can just say, oh, I shouldn't say that. I don't want to say that or whatever. And we'll cut it out. So I think that from the outset creates a very comfortable environment.
And also I'm just honest and open. So I try really hard to ask a question if I don't know something, I hate. The only thing that annoys me is when I get home and realize I've pretended to know something when I didn't know. And I should have just admitted I don't know what that means. So yeah, I try that really hard. I try to go, hang on, what does that mean?