How a notorious criminal became a pop culture legend.
Tim & Xanthe unpack the violent life and complicated mythology of Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ Read - the underworld figure immortalised in film, television, and true crime folklore. From prison violence and gangland crime to media fame and the cult success of 'Chopper', we examine how a brutal criminal transformed himself into an Australian icon. But beneath the stories, one-liners and legend lies a darker question: why are societies so fascinated by violent men like Chopper Read?

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She secretly changed her name. Hundreds of thousands of dollars disappeared from her bank account. A convicted conman was questioned for days at a coronial inquest, yet nearly three decades later, no one knows what happened to Marion Barter.
In this episode, Tim & Xanthe are joined by Marion’s daughter Sally Leydon. She reveals the extraordinary twists in her mother’s disappearance, the police failures that left the case largely uninvestigated for years and the new leads that continue to emerge.
Sally also reflects on her appearance before the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved cases, where she’s fighting for reforms to ensure other families don’t endure the same devastating search for answers.

Watch the full video episode on Youtube at Crime Central Australia HERE.

Anyone with information about Marion’s disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers:
1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au

For more information, follow the links below.
The Lady Vanishes podcast
The Missing Matter podcast
The Green Seat Project

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In 2007, four people vanished from a remote town in Western Australia - leaving behind an abandoned home, a cryptic note and a trail of unanswered questions.
At the centre of the mystery was a self-styled spiritual leader, who had built an online doomsday cult. Over the past 20 years, as desperate family, police and coroners examined theories ranging from suicide pacts to staged disappearances, the truth behind the so-called “Nannup Four” only became more disturbing.
In this episode, ABC journalist Dominique Bayens - behind the investigative podcast ‘Expanse: The Nannup Four’ - joins Tim and Xanthe to examine this mystery, and discuss the disturbing psychology behind what has become one of Australia’s strangest and most unsettling cult cold cases.

You can listen to the whole series by Dominique Bayens here: “Expanse: The Nannup Four”

Watch our full video episodes on Youtube on the Crime Central Australia channel.
Follow us on Instagram @Motive&Method

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In this bonus episode, Tim and Xanthe sit down with MP Jeremy Buckingham, the driving force behind the parliamentary inquiry examining some of Australia’s most notorious unsolved murders and missing persons cases.
Buckingham reveals what sparked his decade-long push for answers, the systemic failures families say have left them abandoned and why he believes these cases deserve fresh scrutiny. He also explains what changes could come from the inquiry - and why families believe this may be their best chance yet at answers and accountability.

More episodes of Australia's Killer Secrets coming soon...

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A three-year-old disappears. A teenager confesses. Yet more than five decades later, Cheryl Grimmer’s family is still fighting for justice.
Cheryl Grimmer vanished from a beach change room in 1970, and despite a detailed confession decades later, no one has ever been held accountable for her murder. In this powerful interview, Cheryl’s brothers, Paul Grimmer and Ricki Nash, share the devastating impact her disappearance has had on their family and their decades-long fight for justice.
They raise troubling questions about missed investigative opportunities, a confession that was ultimately ruled inadmissible, and why they believe authorities failed to properly pursue Cheryl’s case. More than 50 years on, they continue to demand answers and the chance for their little sister to finally have her day in court.

More episodes of Australia's Killer Secrets coming soon...

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What if Ivan Milat’s first victim was killed more than two decades before the backpacker murders?
Keren Rowland was 5 months pregnant when she was brutally murdered and hidden in a pine forest in 1971. In this episode, Tim & Xanthe sit down with Keren's brother Steve Rowland and former UK detective Hugh Hughes.
They detail years of fighting for answers, alleging police ignored crucial leads, withheld information and failed to properly investigate Milat despite mounting evidence linking him to Keren’s murder.
More than 55 years on, the family is still asking the question that haunts this case: if police had done more back then, could Ivan Milat have been stopped before his backpacker killing spree began?

More episodes of Australia's Killer Secrets coming soon...

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A twin brother's 47-year fight for answers, suspicious letters and a new witness who may hold the key to where Kay Docherty is buried.
In this episode, Kevin Docherty shares the heartbreaking story of his sister Kay Docherty, who vanished alongside her friend Toni Cavanagh in 1979. Nearly five decades on, Kevin recalls the night they disappeared, the suspicious letters sent to their families days later, and the long fight for answers after police initially treated the case as a runaway.
He also reveals new information from a recently emerged witness that may not only point to Ivan Milat, but to a potential burial site that has never been searched.

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Families demand answers - police under scrutiny - and a revelation that could reshape the Milat case.
At the first hearing into dozens of Australia’s unsolved murders and missing persons cases, police revealed a previously unheard list of potential additional victims linked to Ivan Milat.

In this episode, forensic scientist and criminologist Dr Xanthe Weston and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro take you inside the landmark parliamentary inquiry in Bowral, NSW. They unpack the heartwrenching testimony from families still searching for answers, and their sharp criticism of police.

Plus, the expert evidence they presented to the inquiry about Ivan Milat’s motives, methods and the murders they believe he may have gotten away with.

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