Crime Scenes with Coffee Beans

Dumped in a Stump - The Murder of Chrissie Venn

On a summer's day in February 1921, in a small country town called North Motton, located in Tasmania, Australia, 13 year old Chrissie Venn set off to run errands for her mother, as chore she had done many times before. Only on this day, she didn't come home. She was found, days later, brutally murdered, sexually assaulted and stuffed in a tree stump.
What followed the discovery of Chrissie's body would leave a presumably innocent man tarnished, a mother and town with no answers as to who had murdered the young girl and would give birth to one of Tasmania's most iconic ghost stories. 
Join Belinda over a cuppa or a cocktail as she goes over the sad murder of Chrissie Venn and the 'spirit seeking revenge'  legend that proceeds her. 
** WARNING - THIS EPISODE DISCUSSES SEXUAL ASSAULT AND MURDER OF A YOUNG PERSON. LISTENER DISCRETION IS ADVISED **

Served for Supper - The Murder of John Price

Love hurts, love scars..... yes, we all know the song, but what happens when those lyrics ring true and not only does love hurt, but it becomes homicidal?
Crime Scenes with Coffee Beans has hit double digits - yes, we are at episode 10!! - and for this episode Belinda is travelling to Aberdeen, NSW, where in 2000, well liked local, John Price, was stabbed to death, skinned and decapitated by his ex girlfriend, Katherine Knight. This murder shocked even seasoned police who attended to it, and rocked Australia to its core. It also made Katherine the first woman in Australian history to have 'definitely never to be released' marked on her file. 
Join Belinda as she takes a dive into this shocking crime and the woman, with a history of brutality and violence, would rather kill her ex partner then let him leave. 
A double shot coffee - or something harder - definitely recommended for this episode.
Music by Gioele Fazzeri from Pixabay
*** WARNING - This episode discusses domestic violence, cannibalism and contains explicit language. Listener discretion is advised ***
 
 

Stolen for Money - The Kidnap and Murder of Graeme Thorne

Most of us dream of winning the lottery, right? We fantasise about the things we'd buy, the jobs we'd quit, and the places we'd see and for Bazil and Freda Thorne, this dream became a reality when the couple $100,000 pounds in the Sydney Opera House Lottery. However, that dream come true quickly turned into a living nightmare when their 8 year old son, Graeme, was kidnapped and held for ransom. What happened next shocked a country to its core and brought a new and unthought of evil right to our doorstep. 
Join Belinda over a cuppa or a cocktail as she takes a look at the heartbreaking case of Graeme Thorne and how this young boy's tragic murder paved the way for a safer community for the children of Australia and lottery winners. 
Music by Gioele Fazzeri from Pixabay

Deadly Tourist - The Kimberely Killer

When most of us travel, we make sure we have all we need, and if we forgot something we'll grab it when we get to our destination. Which is exactly what German tourist Joseph Schwab did when he arrived in Queensland, Australia in 1987. Except instead of stopping to buy a forgotten item like toothpaste, he stocked up on guns and ammunition. What happened next left five innocent campers dead and police shooting for their lives.
 
Join Belinda as she dives into the story of Joseph Schwab, aka The Kimberely Killer, and the horrific crimes he committed in the space of a week in the Top End of Australia. Was he an unhinged killer, who hunted humans for fun, or someone who had simply gone 'troppo'?
Coffee - or cocktails - not compulsory to listen to this podcast, but it's certainly recommended! 
Music by Gioele Fazzeri from Pixabay
 
 

I Never Intended to Kill Anyone Else But my Wife - The Hope Forrest Massacre

It's the day after Fathers Day, 1971 and Hope Forrest, a small town in South Australia, will wake up to the news that a horrific shooting has taken place in their beautiful country town, leaving 10 people from the same family dead, and earning the town the unenviable title of being the home of the worst familicide in Australia. 
Join your host Belinda Brady over a cuppa or cocktail as she takes a deep dive into the horrific night a man made a decision to kill his wife - and take his entire family out with her. But it doesn't end there - because for this mass killer, his new life and beginnings were waiting for him on the other side of prison.
An absolute jaw dropping case and one that will leave you speechless. 
Music by Gioele Fazzeri from Pixabay

The Brownout Strangler

It's May 1942, and Melbourne, Australia, just like the rest of the world, is in the grips of WW2. As a result, Melbourne is in 'brownout' a term used to describe the low lighting the city used to avoid enemy detection (think minimal streetlights, shops lights etc).A killer takes advantage of this low lighting and three women are found strangled, all within days of each other. As a new fear grips the area, particularly the women living in it, the last victim's death will be the one that brings a new, unheard of hatred to light and a killer to justice. Join Belinda over a cup of joe, or a cheeky cocktail, as we travel back to wartime 1942 to discuss the Brownout Strangler. 
Music by Gioele Fazzeri from Pixabay
Crime Scenes with Coffee Beans

The Gun Alley Murder

It's early morning NYE 1921, in a quiet, yet seedy laneway known as Gun Alley in the heart of Melbourne, Victoria, and a keen bottle collector is up early to collect empty bottles from the night before, eager to beat the crowds and summer heat.What he finds instead is so horrific it sends him running for the police. There, in Gun Alley, was the body of 12 year old Alma Tirtscke, the very girl that had been reported missing the day before by her grandmother. But how did Alma end up in this seedy laneway? Why was she there and most importantly, who did this to the shy girl with fiery red hair?Join Belinda over a cuppa - or cocktail - as she takes a look at the crime that shook Melbourne to its core and resulted in an innocent man being posthumously pardoned of a murder charge - 96 years after he was hanged.Coffee not compulsory - but it is recommended! Music by Gioele Fazzeri from PixabayCrime Scenes with Coffee Beans

Pyjama Girl

It's an early September morning, 1934, in Aulbury NSW, and Tom Griffith is taking his prized bull for a walk. Whilst walking he smells kerosine and upon investigating he discovers the body of a pyjama cald young woman, very dead and very burned and this discovery will spark a murder mystery that wont be resolved for years.Who is Pyjama girl? Who killed her? And how did this murder result in a dead body being put on public display in the hopes of identifying her?Join Belinda over a coffee - or cocktail - or two as she discusses the infamous and equally fascinating Pyjama Girl murder. Music by Gioele Fazzeri from PixabayCrime Scenes with Coffee Beans

Who Killed Bertha Schippan?

It's New Years Eve, 1901, in the small German farming town of Towitta, South Australia and the Schippan children are settled in for the night. That is, until their 14 year old sister, Bertha, is brutally murdered by a 'bearded man' in a seemingly unprovoked attack. With no suspects to go on, police quickly arrest Mary, Bertha's older sister who was sharing a bed with Bertha that night. But did Mary really do it? Grab your beverage of choice and join Belinda as she discusses this still unsolved case and looks at each suspect one by one, each of them capable of this brutal killing.This episode will leave you wanting more from this awful yet fascinating case and asking - who did kill Bertha Schippan?Music by Gioele Fazzeri from PixabayCrime Scenes with Coffee Beans

John and Sarah Makin - Baby Farmers

Join your host Belinda over a beverage or two as she discusses baby farmers John and Sarah Makin and yes, it is as bad as it sounds. In 1893, married couple John and Sarah Makin were trusted and paid for to care for infants by desperate, often destitute, parents, a practice known as baby farming, which was not uncommon in those times, but horrifically, they did anything but, with a blocked pipe in a backyard bringing their heinous crimes to light.  *WARNING - This episode discusses infant murder. Listener discretion advised * Music by Gioele Fazzeri from PixabayCrime Scenes with Coffee Beans