Black Sheep

Latest Episodes:

Killer Conductor: the story of Eric Mareo (Part 1) May 16, 2021

Show notes

Kiwis rose to their feet and cheered when the flamboyant orchestra conductor Eric Mareo was found guilty of murdering his wife in 1936. But 85 years later, the verdict seems less certain. Was justice done? Or was Mareo an innocent man? RNZ's Black Sheep podcast investigates.

On June 17th, 1936 a single word appeared on the screens of movie theatres around Auckland.

"Guilty".

The audience were in a hush for a moment. Then they rose to their feet and cheered.

It was the end of a year-long saga, the case of 45 year-old orchestra conductor Eric Mareo. He was, not once, but twice convicted of murdering his wife, 29 year-old actress and singer, Thelma Mareo.

The Mareo trials had gripped New Zealand. People followed the news headline by headline. It had everything you could possibly want in a crime story: Sex, drugs, and lies.

Plus, the characters were all so interesting. Mareo was a flamboyant figure who walked up and down Queen Street in a tailcoat with a long cigarette holder. He conducted his orchestra using a giant tinsel-covered baton. His wife Thelma was a glamorous actress said to have been in a lesbian relationship with professional dancer, Freda Stark.

Stark would later become one of the most famous figures in the history New Zealand show-business.

At the time of Eric Mareo's conviction, most kiwis thought justice had been served. That's certainly what the newspapers said.

But looking back on this case 85 years later, the verdict seems less certain.

High Court Justice Rebecca Ellis and Victoria University social historian Dr Charles Ferrall re-examined the Mareo case in their book, The Trials of Eric Mareo.

" must have felt guilty about so many things," Dr Ferrall says. "But killing his wife was not one of them". Not because he was heartless but because, to Dr Ferrall's mind, he probably didn't do it.

As Justice Ellis and Dr Ferrall explain, the medical evidence used to convict Mareo was thin. What's more, a key prosecution witness had been in regular correspondence with the mother of the victim, and one-sided media coverage may have unduly influenced the jury.

In fact, the judge in Mareo's second trial was so concerned by the guilty verdict that he wrote to the Attorney General effectively saying the jury got it wrong.

"Which I have never heard of ever happening in any other case," Justice Ellis says.

So was Eric Mareo wrongly convicted? In this episode of Black Sheep, we re-examine the case.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Escape Artist: the story of George Wilder May 09, 2021

Show notes

George Wilder is an accidental folk hero. He never sought the spotlight, but his three escapes from prison in the 1960s and his daring evasion of the authorities made him a national sensation. Black Sheep investigates his story.

George Wilder is an accidental folk hero. He never sought the spotlight, but his three escapes from prison in the 1960s made him a national sensation.

His first escape made his name and reputation, sparking headlines as he was on the run for 65 days without resorting to violence. But the most famous escape was his second, where he evaded police all over the North Island for more than six months: On foot, by car, by boat, by bicycle and even on horseback.

The stories from this escape are wild (and some are purely fictional). They were immortalised in part by The Howard Morrisson Quartet, which released a song about his exploits, The Wild(er) NZ Boy. It became massively popular despite being banned from public radio.

His third and final escape was a grimmer affair, involving a sawn-off shotgun and a kidnapping. When additional sentences for the escapes were added to his original offences, he ended up spending more than a decade behind bars.

When actor and playwright Tim Balme retold a fictionalised version of George Wilder in his play, The Ballad of Jimmy Costello, he found it hard to disentangle tall stories from truth.

"The folklore came out of things that actually happened," Mr Balme said. "There's one point where his shoes were falling apart, and he managed to steal the shoes off a searcher who was close by."

But hiding behind the folk hero is a darker story which saw a man who started off as a non-violent burglar end up with the longest finite jail sentence in New Zealand history.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Slaver: the story of Thomas McGrath May 02, 2021

Show notes

In 1863 half the population of a small Tongan island called 'Ata boarded a ship captained by Thomas McGrath. They were never seen again. Black Sheep investigates the story of a slave raid which destroyed a small civilisation.

In the first week of June 1863 half the population of a small Tongan island called 'Ata boarded a ship captained by Thomas McGrath. They were never seen again.

Aside from a handful of castaways, 'Ata has been abandoned ever since. In this episode of Black Sheep, William Ray investigates the story of a slave raid which destroyed a small civilisation.

Today, many of the survivors of the raid still suffer stigma. They are told their ancestors were weak or stupid for falling for McGrath's lies. Sometimes it's claimed one of the island's leaders sold his own people into slavery; a myth which still haunts his descendants.

The true story of 'Ata is much broader. It's a story of environmental destruction, resistance to imperialism, the global effort to abolish slavery, and most of all, a terrible and opportunistic crime.

William Ray speaks to Scott Hamilton, author of The Stolen Island: Searching for 'Ata about the story of McGrath and the 'Atan's.

We also interview Dr Damon Salesa, Dean of Pacific Studies at the Univeristy of Auckland about the wider story of slavery in the pacific.

Finally, we speak to Kenneth Tuai, a descendant of the survivors of 'Ata whose family still suffer from the stigma of McGrath's raid.

The full documentary about the Tongan boys who were castaway on 'Ata:

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Governor: the story of Sir George Grey (Part 2) Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

In the second of Black Sheep's two part episode on Sir George Grey, Aotearoa is launched into the worst conflicts of the New Zealand Wars and George Grey will play a leading role.

This is the second in a two-part podcast on George Grey, the two-time governor of Aotearoa who led this country through most of the New Zealand Wars in the 1840s, 50s and 60s.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Governor: the story of Sir George Grey (Part 1) Apr 18, 2021

Show notes

Sir George Grey led Aotearoa into some of the worst conflicts of the New Zealand Wars. But at the beginning of his career many saw him as a defender of indigenous rights - including some Māori! So... What happened?

RNZ's Black Sheep Podcast presents a two-part episode on Sir George Grey, the colonial governor who led Aotearoa into many of the worst conflicts of the New Zealand Wars in the 1840s, 50s and 60s.

In this first episode, we look at how Grey gained a reputation with the British Colonial Office as an effective administrator with supposedly "progressive" attitudes towards indigenous people (at least by their standards). Some Māori also embrace Grey as a potential ally against the settlers' hunger for land and power. However, Grey's "progressive" reputation is undermined through unfair land deals and unjust wars in his first governorship.

In the second episode, Grey becomes governor of Cape Colony, South Africa, where his ruthless, authoritarian streak grows wider. By the time he returns for his second governorship of New Zealand he is a changed man who leads Aotearoa into the largest conflict of the New Zealand Wars, the Waikato War.

At 27 years old, George Grey was an ambitious young officer in the British Army who had survived two brushes with death in the past two years.

The first came when he was put in command of an expedition to explore Western Australia. He was seriously wounded in a skirmish with local aboriginal people (probably members of the Worrorra, part of the Wanjina Wunggurr cultural bloc).

Grey's expedition trespassed on sacred land and ignored multiple warnings to turn back. This ended with a violent confrontation where Grey was hit by two spears, one lodged deep in his hip and left him with a lifelong limp. He responded by shooting and killing an aboriginal leader.

The next year he led a second disastrous expedition. He and his men were marooned by a storm and forced to trek 700 kilometres overland to Perth. One man died in the process.

A lot of the failings of these expeditions should have fallen on Grey's shoulders. However, he managed to spin the story as a rip-roaring adventure rather than a chaotic disaster. He published his version of this story in what became a best-selling book.

" was compared to Robinson Crusoe!" says historian Edmund Bohan, author of To Be A Hero: A Biography of Sir George Grey. "That sort of set him off as the coming young man who was strong, physically brave and all the rest of it."

Grey's book took some heavy liberties with the truth, but it won him friends in high places. Its influence helped get him a job as Resident Magistrate of Albany, a town in southwestern Australia. …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Black Sheep Season Six Trailer Apr 14, 2021

Show notes

Black Sheep returns for a Sixth Season!

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Baby Farmer: the story of Minnie Dean Aug 30, 2020

Show notes

Minnie Dean is the only woman to be judicially executed in New Zealand history. For years she was portrayed as a cold-blooded killer who murdered babies for cash. More recently, attitudes towards Minnie have shifted, but she's still a controversial and complex figure. Black Sheep dives into the story of the baby farmer of Winton.

Minnie Dean must rank as one of New Zealand's most infamous figures. The first and only woman to be judicially executed in our history.

For years she was portrayed as a cold-blooded killer who murdered babies for cash. More recently, attitudes towards Minnie have shifted, but she's still a controversial and complex figure.

Minnie arrived in Invercargill on a ship from Tasmania in the early 1860s. We don't know exactly which year or her age but she would have been in her late teens or early 20s.

She told people she was the widow of an Australian doctor and the daughter of a Presbyterian minister back home in Scotland. That story wasn't true.

But as historian Barbara Brookes explained, it was pretty common for new migrants to lie about their backgrounds. "That's one of the big attractions of migration. People could reinvent themselves."

And Minnie had more reasons than most to want to reinvent herself. She arrived in Invercargill with a young daughter and was pregnant with a second.

Lynley Hood, author of Minnie Dean: Her Life and Crimes, found Tasmanian birth records for Minnie's eldest daughter signed with her maiden name - Williamina McCulloch.

That suggests both Minnie's daughters, Ellen and Isabelle, were illegitimate.

"She was only 16 years old and she'd gone to Tasmania by herself," Lynley Hood said. "Maybe she was pregnant and had been sent off to the colonies because she was bringing the family to shame?"

Of course, illegitimacy wasn't uncommon in the 19th century, but it came with a heavy social sanction. Unwed mothers struggled to find jobs, or husbands or any kind of normal social life. Minnie's white lie about a dead husband let her dodge a lot of social baggage.

She probably had some help in pulling off this story. Minnie had a famous aunt in New Zealand. She's best known as Granny Kelly, a founding settler of Invercargill.

"Her aunt would have known the truth," said Lynley Hood. "It must have been who really put her arms around , and supported her, and helped spread the story that she was the widow of a doctor and the daughter of a clergyman."

So Minnie had a tricky start to life, but she spent the next eight years making the most of her second chance. …

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Machine Gun Murder: the story of Bassett Road (Part 2) Aug 23, 2020

Show notes

The case of the Bassett Road machinegun murders breaks wide open, two key witnesses come forward with critical information. But the most interesting part of the story is what happens after the conviction...

It's nearly Christmas, 1963. Detectives have identified John Gillies as their main suspect in the murders of Kevin Speight and George Walker. Both men were found riddled with .45 caliber bullets from a submachine gun inside their rented house in Bassett Road, Remuera.

The killings had all the hallmarks of a gang turf war. It was quickly proven that the two victims had been operating an illegal beerhouse at Bassett Road.

But witnesses had painted a confusing picture. They said Gillies got the gun to settle a feud with Barry Shaw. So why was Shaw alive while Speight and Walker were dead? And who was the mysterious second man Gillies says was in the room when the shots were fired?

The police didn't know it, but they already had the critical piece of evidence they need to break the case wide open: A love letter from Mary Rapira, the teenage girlfriend of 62-year-old Gerry Wilby - leader of a rival beerhouse in Anglesea Street, Ponsonby.

Archival audio courtesy of Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Machine Gun Murder: the story of Bassett Road (Part 1) Aug 16, 2020

Show notes

It's 1963 and two bodies are found in a house at Bassett Road in Remuera. Detectives are shocked to discover they were killed by a submachine-gun. Newspaper headlines read "Chicago Comes to New Zealand". Black Sheep investigates a true crime story that scandalised New Zealand

Two bodies are found in a house at Bassett Road in Remuera. Detectives are shocked to discover they were killed in a hail of machine-gun bullets. Newspaper headlines read "Chicago Comes to New Zealand". Black Sheep investigates a true crime story that scandalised New Zealand in 1963.

It was Saturday Morning, December 7th 1963. Bassett Road, Remuera.

The weather had been sunny and hot all week. Kids were playing in their yards, men were washing their cars. Women were packing picnic hampers for trips to the beach.

Eric Lewis drove past them on his way to number 115.

He was there to collect the rent. His tenants had moved into the house about a week and a half ago, 26-year-old Kevin Speight and 34-year-old George Walker.

Eric walked past the letterbox. He noticed it was stuffed with a couple of days worth of newspapers.

He frowned and kept walking toward the door. Bottles of milk were sitting on the porch, they'd curdled in the summer sun. Had his tenants gone off on holiday and forgot to tell anyone?

Nobody answered the door. Eric shrugged and pulled out his key.

The smell hit him first. The whole place reeked. He got a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He walked inside, the smell got stronger as he neared the bedroom. He opened the door.

"What he found inside horrified him," said Scott Bainbridge, author of The Bassett Road Machine-Gun Murders

Both Eric's tenants were dead, they had clearly been shot multiple times.

Within a few hours, Bassett Road was swarming with police.

"A murder was a rarity," Scott Bainbridge explains. "A murder made the front page back then but a double murder in 1963 was something pretty big."

Even more shocking was how these men had died. They had both been shot multiple times at close range.

Police collected six bullets from the bedroom and handed them over to Dr Donald Nelson, a firearms expert at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Dr Nelson looked at those bullets, then called a meeting with the detectives. He announced those bullets had been fired from a .45 submachine gun.

"You could have heard a pin drop," Scott Bainbridge said.

That announcement immediately raised images of 1920s USA, when prohibition-era gangsters like Al Capone blasted away at each other with Tommy Guns. The Truth Newspaper printed the headline "Chicago Comes to New Zealand"…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Madam: the story of Flora MacKenzie Aug 09, 2020

Show notes

Flora MacKenzie is one of the most colourful characters in New Zealand history: A hard drinking, hard talking brothel owner from the 1960s and 70s who won the affection of sex workers, police and punters alike. In this episode of Black Sheep, we look at the legend of "Madam Flora".

There are all kinds of crazy stories about her: The time she threw a dead dog at her neighbour, her famous revolving bed, her close friendship with the head of the Auckland police vice squad.

In this episode of Black Sheep, we look at the legend of Madam Flora.

Elisabeth Easther is a playwright and actor - and also probably the closest thing to a Flora MacKenzie expert.

"It's very hard to get to the truth," Easther said. "You hear so many different versions of , and you have to cobble it together from hearsay and newspaper articles and letters people write to you."

Easther became fascinated by Flora MacKenzie after performing a monologue as her while at drama school. Later in Easther's career, she turned that monologue into a full play: Famous Flora - named after the brothel that MacKenzie ran for more than 30 years.

Easther said Flora was the daughter of Sir Hugh MacKenzie, a rich and well regarded businessman who ran a horse stud in Māngere and served as head of the Auckland Harbour Board.

"She was all horse races and debutante balls and being introduced to the Queen."

According to Easther's sources, MacKenzie caused a minor scandal during a royal visit to New Zealand because she crossed her legs at the knee, rather than the ankle, while the Queen was present.

"And I think she did it on purpose," Easther added.

Flora began training as a nurse but gave it up because she couldn't stand the strict discipline of the nurse matrons.

"She was determined to be her own person," explained historian Barbara Brookes, author of A History of New Zealand Women.

Instead, MacKenzie traveled to Australia in the 1920s, mixed with the bohemian crowd in Sydney and developed a fascination with fashion design which she brought back to Auckland when she returned home.

By 1927, she was the sole owner of Ninette Gowns, a high-end fashion shop on Queen Street.

"And she's got a particular market that she knows how to cater to," Brookes said. "She took meticulous care ... some of the beautiful gowns are now in museum collections."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected