True Crime Tonight: The New Mafia

**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.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:25)
Stab 19 times. The suspect lured the victim into the water. Biggest legal dramas in Hollywood.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:30)
Today is a major win to show what the system can do.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:34)
This is True Crime Tonight.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:37)
Hello, this is True Crime Tonight. I am your host, Michelle Laurie. I'm here with Matthew and Ruby, the producers, the people who create all of this. Thank you both so much.

**Matthew Tankard** (0:47)
Thank you, Michelle.

**Ruby Bartzis** (0:47)
That was really nice.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:48)
I just wanted to give you some flowers.

**Ruby Bartzis** (0:49)
I've never heard you say that before.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:51)
That's all right. We have a book recommendation coming up.

**Matthew Tankard** (0:54)
I didn't want to linger.

**Meshel Laurie** (0:56)
No, because you threw me under the bus. I just said thank you. And then you were like, oh, she never does that.
So I just stepped away from it. But I'll tell you what, we do have a book recommendation coming up and an interview with Pete Bates. Now you're going to find him very interesting. I don't want to give too much away, but Pete has spent a lot of time in jail.

**Matthew Tankard** (1:13)
Yes.

**Meshel Laurie** (1:14)
So it's a particular perspective that he has on the world. And I think he's fantastic. But I believe we have a message from a listener, Matthew.

**Matthew Tankard** (1:21)
We do. What are we calling it? The True Crime Hotline?

**Meshel Laurie** (1:23)
That's what we're calling it.

**Matthew Tankard** (1:24)
And to leave us a message on the True Crime Hotline, you can find a link. It's called a Speakpipe link. I don't want to get too complicated, but it's in the show notes of every Australian True Crime podcast episode and it's also on our social media.
Let's play this week's.

**Ruby Bartzis** (1:37)
Hey guys. Absolutely love the show. And I just wanted to highlight an excellent podcast I've been listening to that I think Michelle in particular might be interested in. It's called Escaping the Cross by Glenn Owen Fisher. And I just also wanted to explore a little bit the case of Chris and Shanann Watts over in Colorado.
There's a really great podcast called The Chris Watts Tapes, which covers quite a few aspects that weren't covered in the Netflix documentary. There's so many unanswered questions, which is why the podcast is great because it kind of, in a way, maybe answers some of those for some people.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:09)
Thank you so much. You know, please though, you guys have got to leave your names. I would love to be able to say thank you, your name.

**Matthew Tankard** (2:16)
Yeah, but maybe they want to be anonymous.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:17)
Maybe they do, but if you can try and remember to go, hi, I'm Michelle from Altona or wherever, whoever you are, that's who I am. But yeah, everyone knows that Ruby. Everyone knows.

**Ruby Bartzis** (2:28)
I was going to say, do we want to put that on there?

**Meshel Laurie** (2:30)
Everybody knows I'm from Altona. Escaping the Cross is interesting.

**Matthew Tankard** (2:35)
Yes, that was with Glenn Fisher, who we've had on Australian True Crime. Here's a book called Predators Paradise.
Glenn Fisher was one of lots of kids in that era who-

**Meshel Laurie** (2:45)
Yes.

**Matthew Tankard** (2:46)
Coming from broken homes.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:47)
Oh, God, he taught me so much about those awful refuges in inverted commas. What do you call them?

**Matthew Tankard** (2:52)
I want to call them like institutions, but it's not even really, it's not even like a government place. It was like privately owned.

**Meshel Laurie** (2:57)
Yeah, but this one, one that he was talking about specifically that was run by people who were subsequently convicted of predation, of molestation, but it had government funding.

**Matthew Tankard** (3:09)
Yeah.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:11)
It was just this wild west of funneling disadvantaged children towards paedophiles. I swear to God, that was the whole setup.

**Matthew Tankard** (3:19)
So there'd be these homes where kids could go and stay, run by, I guess you'd call them social workers. Well, is what they would call themselves.

**Meshel Laurie** (3:28)
Did they have any training? I don't know. They were just blokes.