Australian True Crime

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Sarah Boyd immigrated from Scotland to Sydney in 1923. It was there, where she and an accomplice committed an unthinkable decision.   What's even more terrifying, is that it was a decision that wasn't uncommon for women living in Sydney, Australia at the time. In fact, it was one of only a handful of difficult options faced by many women.   BUY Tanya Bretherton's book The Suitcase Baby.   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Tanya Bretherton Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.

Sarah Boyd immigrated from Scotland to Sydney in 1923. It was there, where she and an accomplice committed an unthinkable decision.   What's even more terrifying, is that it was a decision that wasn't uncommon for women living in Sydney, Australia at the time. In fact, it was one of only a handful of difficult options faced by many women.   BUY Tanya Bretherton's book The Suitcase Baby.   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Tanya Bretherton Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.

🚨 NEW PODCAST ALERT 🚨   You are the first to find out about a new podcast project I've been working on and it's called "Can We Be Real?"   I've really missed connecting with you on a range of different topics and now every Tuesday we can catch up, share secrets, chat life and discuss taboo topics going on in the world.   I would really love your support today...   Please search "Can We Be Real? on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe on Apple, follow on Spotify so you get the latest episodes when they drop and if you get the chance to share this podcast with your friends that would be a HUGE help.   Tuesday's are now for "Can We Be Real?" Thank you for your support.   Instagram: @Meshel_Laurie

We continue on from last week's episode with a breakdown of a suspect believed to be the perpetrator of the 1941 Pay Car massacre.   That suspect's name is Lionel Charles Thomas. But don't get too used to it, because if there was one thing this guy loved, it was changing his name.   You'll have to keep your wits about you because over the course of this episode, as he lies cheats, murders, but also romances his way around Australia and New Guinea, Lionel will go by no less than three more names.   Despite his long and nefarious history, Lionel went mostly under the radar because of his incredible capacity to commit them on the same days as major historical events.   You can listen to Michael's podcast, Forgotten Australia wherever you get your podcasts.   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Michael Adams Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    We continue on from last week's episode with a breakdown of a suspect believed to be the perpetrator of the 1941 Pay Car massacre.   That suspect's name is Lionel Charles Thomas. But don't get too used to it, because if there was one thing this guy loved, it was changing his name.   You'll have to keep your wits about you because over the course of this episode, as he lies cheats, murders, but also romances his way around Australia and New Guinea, Lionel will go by no less than three more names.   Despite his long and nefarious history, Lionel went mostly under the radar because of his incredible capacity to commit them on the same days as major historical events.   You can listen to Michael's podcast, Forgotten Australia wherever you get your podcasts.   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Michael Adams Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.

On the morning of December 8, 1941, three men operating a "Pay Car" in south Sydney were unknowingly heading into a brutal ambush.   This story, however, has been lost to history due to it taking place on the same day Pearl Harbour was attacked.   Michael Adams from the Forgotten Australia podcast is back with us for another historical Australian crime.   This is a part one of two part series.   You can listen to Michael's podcast, Forgotten Australia wherever you get your podcasts.   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Michael Adams Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    On the morning of December 8, 1941, three men operating a "Pay Car" in south Sydney were unknowingly heading into a brutal ambush.   This story, however, has been lost to history due to it taking place on the same day Pearl Harbour was attacked.   Michael Adams from the Forgotten Australia podcast is back with us for another historical Australian crime.   This is a part one of two part series.   You can listen to Michael's podcast, Forgotten Australia wherever you get your podcasts.   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Michael Adams Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.

Sandi Harvey has not seen her daughter Leisl Smith since 2012.   At that time, Leisl was 23 years old. She was happy, healthy and working in her dream job caring for horses.   But it was horses that brought her into contact with James Church, a much older man with whom she fell in love.   After her disappearance, Sandi discovered Leisl's relationship with Church was one of cruelty and heartache.   Ten years after Leisl's disappearance, Sandi and the rest of her family thought they may finally be on the verge of some kind of breakthrough. But James Church had one more cruel trick up his sleeve.   We implore our listeners to join Leisl Smith's information page: https://www.facebook.com/FindLeislSmith/   If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Leisl Smith, please contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Sandi Harvey Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Sandi Harvey has not seen her daughter Leisl Smith since 2012.   At that time, Leisl was 23 years old. She was happy, healthy and working in her dream job caring for horses.   But it was horses that brought her into contact with James Church, a much older man with whom she fell in love.   After her disappearance, Sandi discovered Leisl's relationship with Church was one of cruelty and heartache.   Ten years after Leisl's disappearance, Sandi and the rest of her family thought they may finally be on the verge of some kind of breakthrough. But James Church had one more cruel trick up his sleeve.   We implore our listeners to join Leisl Smith's information page: https://www.facebook.com/FindLeislSmith/   If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Leisl Smith, please contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Sandi Harvey Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.

This is a "Shortcut" episode. It’s a shortened version of this week’s more detailed full episode, which is also available on our feed.    Our guest today is Boyd Unwin, a suburban tradie and father of three in his fifties, who's always thought of himself and his family as the epitome of normal and unremarkable.   Boyd has committed himself to understanding how he lost his daughter, Katie Haley, to her partner five years ago. Boyd and his wife Tania are now raising the child their daughter shared with her murderer. And bit by bit, they'll have to explain to that child why neither of her parents can be with her. They're doing this at a time when they thought they'd be settling into retirement and enjoying being grandparents.   The Unwin's are determined to open the eyes of other normal families to what they now see were red flags in Katie's relationship. They'd all grown to dislike her partner, but none of them believed she was in mortal danger in her home. If they had, they'd never have allowed her and her kids to be in that home for a single second, and that's the very important message Boyd wants us all to hear.   For Support:  Lifeline  on 13 11 14   13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)   1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732   CREDITS: Host: Meshel Laurie. You can find her on Instagram  Co-Host: Emily Webb. You can find her on Instagram here  Guests:  Boyd Unwin Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard   GET IN TOUCH:   Send us a question or comment on this episode to be used in our "Episode Download" series: https://www.speakpipe.com/ATC   Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook    https://www.facebook.com/AustralianTrueCrimePod/   Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au   Australian True Crime is a podcast by Smart Fella Media. Your story matters and how you tell it matters even more.