Australian True Crime

Latest Episodes:

My father the underworld crime figure Dec 13, 2023

Show notes

Frank La Rosa and his wife Kim were murdered at a Welshpool (WA) factory on June 13, 2008.

Along with being a convicted heroin importer and notorious underworld figure in Western Australia, Frank La Rosa was also a father to three children.

Lisa Mahoney is one of those children. She joins us on this episode of Australian True Crime to discuss the collateral damage her father's actions have had on her own life and the lives of many others.

Lisa has written a memoir about her life and her father's life as seen through her eyes, titled 'Collateral Damage'. You can purchase it by clicking here.

You can also keep up to date with Lisa by following her Facebook page here.

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

Guest: Lisa Mahoney

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

Build your pro podcast with The Audio College

Shortcut: The international cult that has a presence in Australia Dec 10, 2023

Show notes

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.

Founded in 1972, "The 12 Tribes" presents itself as a welcoming religious sect. However, the accounts from those who have managed to escape tell a very different story.

The group maintains global locations and communities, including two communities in NSW: Katoomba and Picton.

Our guest for this episode is Tim Elliiott. Tim is Walkley nominated journalist who has been investigating and reporting on their activities since 2007.

His podcast on The 12 Tribes "Inside The Tribe" won Best True Crime Podcast at the 2023 Australian Podcast Awards, and can be streamed 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

Guest: Tim Elliott

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

This episode contains an audio grab from A Current Affair

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

Build your pro podcast with The Audio College

The international cult that has a presence in Australia Dec 10, 2023

Show notes

Founded in 1972, "The 12 Tribes" presents itself as a welcoming religious sect. However, the accounts from those who have managed to escape tell a very different story.

The group maintains global locations and communities, including two communities in NSW: Katoomba and Picton.

Our guest for this episode is Tim Elliiott. Tim is Walkley nominated journalist who has been investigating and reporting on their activities since 2007.

His podcast on The 12 Tribes "Inside The Tribe" won Best True Crime Podcast at the 2023 Australian Podcast Awards, and can be streamed 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

Guest: Tim Elliott

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

This episode contains an audio grab from A Current Affair

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

Build your pro podcast with The Audio College

Shortcut: The young law student who began robbing TABs - Part 2 Dec 06, 2023

Show notes

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.

This is the second part of a two part series with our guest, Arthur Bolkas.

In his late teens and early twenties, Arthur was pulling double duty as a promising young law student and an armed robber.

We discovered at the end of part one that Arthur was eventually captured after a very dramatic car chase through the streets of a busy inner Melbourne suburb.

We now pick up our conversation with Arthurs memories and reflections from his sentencing, incarceration and life after prison.

Arthur has now worked for many years as a Criminologist, activist and public speaker. He can best be contacted here on his Facebook page.

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

Guest: Arthur Bolkas

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

Build your pro podcast with The Audio College

The young law student who began robbing TABs - Part 2 Dec 06, 2023

Show notes

This is the second part of a two part series with our guest, Arthur Bolkas.

In his late teens and early twenties, Arthur was pulling double duty as a promising young law student and an armed robber.

We discovered at the end of part one that Arthur was eventually captured after a very dramatic car chase through the streets of a busy inner Melbourne suburb.

We now pick up our conversation with Arthurs memories and reflections from his sentencing, incarceration and life after prison.

Arthur has now worked for many years as a Criminologist, activist and public speaker. He can best be contacted here on his Facebook page.

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

Guest: Arthur Bolkas

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

Build your pro podcast with The Audio College

Shortcut: The young law student who began robbing TABs - Part 1 Dec 03, 2023

Show notes

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're going back to the "stick ups" this week with Arthur Bolkas.

He's a Criminologist, actor, public speaker and proud father of two.

However, before he was all of these things, he was a very promising young law student, and a flamboyant armed robber.

Part two of this two part series will be released later on this week.

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

Guest: Arthur Bolkas

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

Build your pro podcast with The Audio College

The young law student who began robbing TABs - Part 1 Dec 03, 2023

Show notes

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're going back to the "stick ups" this week with Arthur Bolkas.

He's a Criminologist, actor, public speaker and proud father of two.

However, before he was all of these things, he was a very promising young law student, and a flamboyant armed robber.

Part two of this two part series will be released later on this week.

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

Guest: Arthur Bolkas

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

Build your pro podcast with The Audio College

Shortcut: The surge of violence in Victoria's illicit tobacco market Nov 29, 2023

Show notes

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.

Over the past eight months, more than 30 tobacco stores in Victoria have fallen victim to a series of fire bombings due to a burgeoning turf war.

Marta Pascual Juanola is a crime reporter for The Age, and has written a series of stories on Victoria's illegal tobacco industry.

She joins us on this episode of Australian True Crime to talk about the increasing violence in this industry, and the surprisingly big players involved.

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

Guest: Marta Pascual Juanola

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

This episode contains audio grabs from Channel 9 News.

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

The surge of violence in Victoria's illicit tobacco market Nov 29, 2023

Show notes

Over the past eight months, more than 30 tobacco stores in Victoria have fallen victim to a series of fire bombings due to a burgeoning turf war.

Marta Pascual Juanola is a crime reporter for The Age, and has written a series of stories on Victoria's illegal tobacco industry.

She joins us on this episode of Australian True Crime to talk about the increasing violence in this industry, and the surprisingly big players involved.

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

Guest: Marta Pascual Juanola

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

This episode contains audio grabs from Channel 9 News.

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au

Shortcut: Falling in love with a prisoner sentenced to life Nov 26, 2023

Show notes

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.

Ashleigh (not her real name) is a kind of woman we've all heard about many times, but don't often get to hear from.

A couple of years ago, Ashleigh received a letter from an inmate who is serving a life imprisonment conviction for his involvement in a double murder. They soon fell in love with each other.

Ashleigh joins us today to talk about their relationship, about the realities of courtship under the ever-present eye of corrections, and about her hopes for the future.

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

Guest: Ashleigh (not her real name)

Executive Producer/Editor: Matthew Tankard

GET IN TOUCH:

Follow the show on Instagram @australiantruecrimepodcast and Facebook

Email the show at team@smartfella.com.au