PODCAST · true crime
Motive & Method
by Tapt Media
Motive & Method is an expert-led Australian true crime podcast. Join Dr Xanthe Mallett and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro as they unpack what really makes the offenders behind some of history’s most notorious cases tick, and also react and unpack crimes as they hit the headlines. You will also hear from victim survivors, investigators and advocates for change analysing motive, and method.
Episodes
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49,000 Reports| Who Is Looking For Australia's Missing
What happens behind the scenes when someone disappears? In this episode, Tim and Xanthe sit down with AFP Commander Joanne Cameron to discuss how Australia tackles some 49,000 missing persons reports every year. The conversation dives deep into high-risk demographics, the impact of ambiguous loss...
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14. Two Teenage Girls Vanished: A Sister’s 46-Year Search For Answers
It’s been 46 years since 16-year-old Elaine Johnson vanished alongside her friend Kerry-Ann Joel. But Elaine’s little sister, Helen Cooper, refuses to let her become a forgotten statistic. Her relentless search for answers has taken her to local brothels, into confrontations with bikies and…
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You Asked, We Answered: Serial Killers, Psychopaths & Bizarre Murder Methods
In our first ever Q & A episode Tim and Xanthe are answering your questions about the inside world of true crime, forensics and criminal psychology. From the top personality traits of psychopaths, to why most serial killers are men, to the psychology behind mothers who murder. In this very…
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How To Rob A Bank: The Thief & The Agent Who Caught Him
They were on opposite sides of the law - one robbing banks, the other hunting him. In this extraordinary interview, bank robber Steven Meyers and former FBI agent Shawn Johnson sit down with Tim & Xanthe to share their side of the case and the chase. In 1990s Seattle, Meyers was part of a crew…
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Did An Innocent Man Hang? The Execution Australia Tried to Stop
Was an innocent man sent to the gallows in Australia’s most infamous - and final - execution? On February 3, 1967, Ronald Ryan was hanged for the murder of a prison guard during a chaotic escape from Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison - an execution that shocked the nation and would ultimately help…
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13. Nadine Haag: The Note That Said 'He Did It'
Her death was ruled a suicide. But was crucial evidence missed that could point to foul play? When Nadine Haag was found dead in her Sydney apartment in 2009, police immediately treated her death as suicide. But her family refused to accept it and began their own investigation, uncovering…
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Fatal Sex Trend: Teens Learning From Porn & Social Media
Australia is seeing a disturbing trend of teenagers engaging in extremely dangerous, and potentially fatal, sexual acts. After a 16-year-old girl reportedly died during a suspected sexual strangulation act, experts are warning how mainstream these practices have become. Research shows more than…
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12. The Case of Janine Vaughan: A Red Car, CCTV Clues & The Lost Evidence
After 25 years, could forensic experts uncover new leads from the final clue in this case? In December 2001, Janine Vaughan was seen on CCTV getting into a red car outside a Bathurst nightclub - then she vanished. In this episode, her brother Adam and sister Kylie reveal how missed witnesses,...
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11. Ivan Milat's Accomplice & Questions Of Lost Files
Did Ivan Milat really act alone? And could lost documents link him to unsolved murders? The Crown prosecutor who put Ivan Milat behind bars believes the notorious serial killer may have had help with some of the murders. This episode, Tim and Xanthe take you inside the latest NSW parliamentary...
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Lindsay Clancy: A Hung Jury In The Case That Gripped The World
She killed her three children. But was she in control of what she was doing? The Lindsay Clancy case has gripped the world - a mother accused of killing her three young children, and a trial that ended in a dramatic hung jury after weeks of conflicting evidence about postpartum psychosis,...
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The Murders Of Karlie & Khandalyce
Two unidentified bodies were found years apart and thousands of kilometres away from eachother- Then came the chilling discovery that they were a mother and her young daughter. When the remains of a young woman were discovered in the notorious Belanglo State Forest, no one knew who she was. Her...
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Forgery & Foul Play: Who Killed Les Ball?
Leslie Ball didn't just disappear, someone went to extraordinary lengths to erase him. But a trail of forged signatures, fraud and burnt evidence couldn't keep this 33-year-old cold case buried forever. In this episode Xanthe and Tim are joined by News.com.au investigative reporter Jo Townsend to...
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Mr Rent-A-Kill: The Underworld Hitman Who Disappeared
For years, Christopher Flannery AKA 'Mr Rent-a-Kill' was the man Australian mobsters hired to make people disappear - until he became a target and vanished into thin air himself. In 1985, after becoming a volatile liability who simply knew too much about corrupt police and syndicate bosses, the...
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‘Falsely Convicted’ with Neil Mercer: True Stories of Injustice in Australia
From unvetted science to coerced confessions, catastrophic failures in Australia's justice system have stolen decades from innocent people for crimes they didn't commit. In this episode Xanthe and Tim sit down with Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist Neil Mercer to discuss his new…
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Port Arthur: The Massacre That Changed Australia
The Port Arthur massacre remains the deadliest mass shooting in Australian history - a tragedy that shattered lives and transformed the country’s gun laws. On a quiet Sunday afternoon in April 1996, 35 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a gunman opened fire at the tourist site and...
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Terror In The Outback: Can Peter Falconio’s Body Be Found?
On a remote highway Peter Falconio vanished forever - His murder became every outback travellers worst nightmare. 25 years after one of Australia’s most infamous murders, the case is back in the spotlight with the release of never-before-seen police footage and investigation photos. In this...
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10. Painful Patterns: Inside The Grafton Hearing with Tim & Xanthe
At the second hearing of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved missing and murdered cases, Tim and Xanthe examine three more cases that expose troubling similarities in the experiences of families searching for answers. They discuss the unsolved murder of 16-year-old Lee Ellen Stace, the...
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9. Andrew Inglis: The First Love Who Never Came Home
A teenager climbed into his red Datsun and drove off into the rain on Boxing Day 1985. He was never seen again. Nearly 40 years later, what happened to 18-year-old Andrew Inglis remains a mystery. In this episode, Tim and Xanthe are joined by Andrew’s then-girlfriend, Joanne Greensill, who shares...
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The Thailand Suitcase Murder: An Australian Charged
A 17-year-old disappeared in Thailand after meeting an Australian man. Less than a day later her body was found inside a suitcase abandoned near railway tracks. In this episode Tim and Xanthe examine the evidence authorities allege they have against Australian man Simon Peter Carman, and how they...
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8. Narelle Cox: If Not Milat, Then Who?
Could an anonymous truck driver hold the key to solving this 50-year-old cold case? In this episode Tim & Xanthe sit down with Karen Cox, the sister of Narelle Cox, who vanished in 1977 while hitchhiking from Grafton to Noosa. She was just 21 years old and left a note saying she was visiting a...
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7. Marion Barter Pt. 2 - The Citizen Sleuth Who Found What Police Missed
No badge, no warrant and no official powers - yet she uncovered vital evidence in the search for missing schoolteacher Marion Barter. In this episode, we speak with citizen sleuth and social worker Joni Condos, whose relentless research from her own living room uncovered crucial evidence in the...
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6. The Mysterious Disappearance of Marion Barter
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...
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Chopper Read: Australia’s ‘Celebrity’ Criminal
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...
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A Family Vanished: The 'Nannup Cult' Mystery
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…
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Bonus: Behind The Scenes With MP Jeremy Buckingham
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...
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5. Cheryl Grimmer: A Confession Ignored- A Child Killer Never Caught
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...
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4. Keren Rowland: Was She Ivan Milat's First Victim?
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…
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3. Kevin Docherty: 47 Years Searching For Answers
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...
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2. Ivan Milat's 11 Other Victims?
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...
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1. Australia's Killer Secrets: Milat, Murders & Missing
What if the full story behind Australia's most notorious serial killer Ivan Milat has never been told? In episode one of this special series of Motive&Method, forensic scientist Dr Xanthe Weston and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro break down the unsolved missing & murdered cases being...
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Introducing: Australia's Killer Secrets
What if the full story behind Australia's most notorious serial killer Ivan Milat has never been told? And what if more recent cases point to a copycat killer - or worse? In this special series of Motive&Method, forensic scientist Dr Xanthe Weston and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro take…
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Is There A Byron Bay Serial Killer?
Mysterious disappearances, unsolved deaths & terrifying stories - Is a killer stalking Byron Bay? And could there be more than one? In 2019, 18-year-old Belgian backpacker Theo Hayez vanished after a night out in Byron Bay and was never seen again. Since then, the disturbing death of Jackson...
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A Horrific Crime In Campbelltown: Australia's DV Crisis
A mother & two young boys killed allegedly at the hands of their father - This tradegy has once again left an entire country asking how this keeps happening. The alleged murders in Campbelltown, Sydney have been described as among the most confronting domestic violence scenes seasoned…
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Youth Crime & 'Crimefluencing': Clicks, Clout & Coercion
Crimes for clicks, shares and online status - In this episode, Tim and Xanthe unpack the dangerous new phenomenon “crimefluencing”. Australia’s top cop recently highlighted this “new and disturbing front in traditional gender-based violence” - with young people being drawn into online networks…
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Breakthrough: Body Found In Search for Jayden Penno-Tompsett
In December 2017, two young men took off on a drug-fuelled roadtrip to spend New Year's Eve in Cairns. One made it to the party - the other was never seen again. Now a shocking development could see this case finally solved. In the final episode of this special series for Outback Murder Highway,...
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The Wrong Man? Who Killed Leanne Holland
More than three decades after 12-year-old Leanne Holland was murdered in Ipswich, her case remains one of Australia’s most controversial unsolved killings. In this episode, Tim and Xanthe speak with former police officer turned private investigator Graeme Crowley, whose relentless investigation...
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Bonus: Mark Jones [Extended Interview]
Mark Jones’ little brother Tony was hitchhiking to meet their other brother in 1982 when he made a final phone call back home & was never heard from again. In this extended interview from the documentary series Outback Murder Highway, Mark shares his disappointment in the police investigation. He...
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Outback Murder Highway: The Disappearance Of Tony Jones
In the early '80s a young hitchhiker vanished off the Flinders Highway - despite a mysterious tip-off in the mail, a killer’s confession, and growing rumours around one outback town, the truth remains hidden. In this third episode for Outback Murder Highway, Tim, Xanthe and investigative…
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Bonus: John Twaddle [Extended Interview]
John Twaddle thought he knew who murdered his brother Gordon, but the person he had suspected has been ruled out by police on multiple occasions. Almost 50 years after Gordon was found dead off Queensland’s Flinders Highway, alongside his girlfriend Karen and mate Tim, their families are no…
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Outback Murder Highway: Triple Murder At Spear Creek
In October 1978 three bodies are found at Spear Creek in remote outback Queensland - each has a single rifle shot to the head. Decades later a prime suspect is ruled out but did witnesses identify another man? In this special episode for Outback Murder Highway, Tim and Xanthe are joined again by...
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Bonus: David Cunningham [Extended Interview]
For over fifty years, David Cunningham has been searching for the truth about his sister Anita, who vanished while hitchhiking Queensland’s notorious Flinders Highway in 1972. While her friend Robin was tragically found murdered, Anita’s fate remains one of the Outback's most enduring and…
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Outback Murder Highway: The Sensible Creek Killings
Two 18-year-old girls disappeared on the Flinders Highway in 1972. One was found murdered, the other has never been found. In this first episode of our special series for Outback Murder Highway, Tim & Xanthe are joined by investigative journalist Amelia Oberhardt to dissect the unsolved case of...
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Introducing: Outback Murder Highway
One Australian highway - 11 people dead or missing In this special series, criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro and forensic criminologist, Dr Xanthe Weston are unpacking four major cases under investigation in the exclusive new television documentary series Outback Murder Highway. In each...
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Ted Bundy Bonus Episode: DNA Breakthrough In Serial Killer Case
Breaking news on notorious serial killer Ted Bundy decades after his execution - A DNA breakthrough has linked Ted Bundy to another cold case murder, proving his story may not be as closed as once believed. In this bonus episode, Xanthe and Tim unpack the breakthrough and what it reveals about…
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Catching Peter Foster & Finding A Missing Baby: Ken Gamble (Part 2)
A dramatic arrest on a Queensland beach and a years-long search for a missing baby - it’s not all cybercrime for private investigator Ken Gamble! In part two of our conversation, Ken takes us inside his pursuit of Australia’s most notorious conman, Peter Foster. Plus, how he got dragged into a...
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Hunting Scammers with Private Investigator Ken Gamble (Part 1)
He’s helped bring down international fraud rings, recover millions for victims and hunt some of the world’s most notorious con artists - including serial swindler Peter Foster. In part 1 of Tim & Xanthe’s conversation with private investigator Ken Gamble, Ken talks overnight mafia stakeouts,...
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A Not So Perfect Murder: The Kouri Richins Case
Her husband died. She wrote a book about grief. Then she was charged with his murder. The Kouri Richins case is one of the most talked about recent criminal trials. While she was giving interviews spruiking the book she wrote to help her children cope with the loss of their father, investigators...
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He Got Away With Murder - Where Is 'Mr Cruel' Now?
He was one of Australia's most feared predators - and he was never caught. In this episode, Tim & Xanthe revisit the terrifying crimes of Mr Cruel, the masked offender who stalked Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, targeting young girls, in the late 1980s. Tim worked alongside Victoria Police at the...
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Cult On Trial: Who Are The Zizians?
Six deaths, multiple states and a high-IQ cult at the centre of it all. In this episode Xanthe and Tim unravel the bizarre and deeply unsettling case of 'The Zizians', whose alleged victims include a border patrol agent and one member's own parents. So how and why did a group of highly…
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The Killer Babysitter: Living Free & Babysitting Again
She killed three babies and tried to murder two others. How is Australia's worst female serial killer now living in anonymity within close proximity to young children? An investigation by A Current Affair reporter Erin Ramsay has thrust the case of Helen Patricia Moore, the so-called killer...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Motive & Method is an expert-led Australian true crime podcast. Join Dr Xanthe Mallett and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro as they unpack what really makes the offenders behind some of history’s most notorious cases tick, and also react and unpack crimes as they hit the headlines. You will also hear from victim survivors, investigators and advocates for change analysing motive, and method.
HOSTED BY
Tapt Media
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Motive & Method have?
Motive & Method currently has 100 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Motive & Method about?
Motive & Method is an expert-led Australian true crime podcast. Join Dr Xanthe Mallett and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro as they unpack what really makes the offenders behind some of history’s most notorious cases tick, and also react and unpack crimes as they hit the headlines. You will...
How often does Motive & Method release new episodes?
Motive & Method has 100 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Motive & Method?
You can listen to Motive & Method on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Motive & Method?
Motive & Method is created and hosted by Tapt Media.
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