Podcast · True Crime

Bronwyn

by The Australian · English · True Crime

The Teacher’s Pet creator Hedley Thomas returns with a new podcast investigation for The Australian. Bronwyn Winfield disappeared 31 years ago from the idyllic surf town of Lennox Head. She was a devoted mother of two little girls, and was going through a painful separation from her husband, Jon

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New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 4 min
Latest: 13 Sep 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

13 Sep 2026 · 17 min

The Poisoned Wife – and a cop who didn’t buy her husband’s story

Journalist Hedley Thomas joins us with a special insight into where his blockbuster podcast investigation The Poisoned Wife is heading. After the 1986 murder of Rosslyn McQueen, the Homicide Squad rolls into tiny Lockwood, Victoria to question husband Ray, who is infatuated with a teenage girl - and the police interview changes everything. He suspects a neighbour of poisoning his wife Ros. Meanwhile, Ray’s attention is focused on a vulnerable 17-year-old girl. Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel . Husband accused of…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

17 Nov 2025 · 18 min
Hedley Thomas’ new podcast: Sick To Death
A blockbuster new podcast from The Australian and our investigative star reporter Hedley Thomas: Sick To Death is the horrifying true story of a surgeon who made catastrophic mistakes - and went unchallenged by a broken system. Hedley Thomas is here for a special episode to mark the launch of Sick To Death, available now in Apple Podcasts and at sicktodeathpodcast.com This is an episode of our daily news podcast The Front, presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Joshua Burton with Lia Tsamoglou. Our team includes Kristen Amiet, Lia Tsamoglou, Tiffany Dimmack,…
S3 · E36 · 22 Aug 2025 · 1 hr 29 min
Episode 36: Forever Loved
In the final episode for some time, the owners of a Sydney property learn that the missing mother’s remains may have been concealed under concrete there. Andy, Michelle and Madi reflect on some of the major milestones over the past 18 months of podcast investigation. New evidence is discovered by Karina who finds the former owner of the hair salon where Jodie Winfield worked in May 1993. She reveals that Bronwyn would telephone the salon to say Jon Winfield was going to kill her. Hedley and Karina go through the numerous clues which arouse suspicions over the Illawong property. Bev…
S3 · E35 · 15 Aug 2025 · 1 hr 4 min
Episode 35: Home Truths
Megan performs a dramatic backflip by changing her evidence about Jon’s moves in Sydney in the hours after his wife Bronwyn’s disappearance. Megan expresses doubts about whether Bronwyn's body was in the car’s boot during a road trip from Sandstone Crescent to Sydney. Bronwyn’s brother Andy Read accuses Megan of inventing ‘fairytales’ in a bid to make herself more relevant in the investigation of the suspected murder of the mother of two. Megan denies she was helping Jon. Madi sides with Andy while a senior detective who ran an exhaustive cold case probe…
S3 · E34 · 7 Aug 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Episode 34: A Cautionary Tale
Retired detective Glenn Taylor who has worked harder on Bronwyn’s case than any other police officer faces a problem. Will his video-taped formal interview in Ballina’s police station in 1998 with murder suspect Jon Winfield be ruled out in the event of any prosecution? Lawyers and police say it is on the cards because Jon was not cautioned by police that he had a legal right to silence. Glenn believes that damning evidence from the interview ‘should’ be admissible in a future prosecution – but he agrees it will be up to a judge to decide. Legendary former…
S3 · E33 · 31 Jul 2025 · 1 hr 1 min
Episode 33: The Legal Veil
After a break of almost three months between episodes, Andy and Michelle come away from a meeting for the loved ones of homicide victims with newly found patience and confidence in the restarted police investigation into Bronwyn’s 1993 disappearance. They explain why. A former insider from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions discloses concerns she has held for a quarter century about how the brief of evidence was handled behind closed doors in Lismore in 2000. The fallibility of prosecutors in significant cases where there is no formal external accountability comes under…
30 May 2025 · 44 min
The Gangster's Ghost Episode 1: Dead Man Talking
The family of slain gangster Stewart John Regan has been frustrated by an unwillingness on the part of the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit to share information about its investigation into his death. It's the same police unit leading the investigation into Bronwyn Winfield's disappearance – and they say they're reluctant to share important files because they're concerned publicity from podcasts like Bronwyn and The Teacher's Pet will compromise their investigation. Catch up on Episode 1 of The Gangster's Ghost now, and subscribe to hear new episodes first at gangstersghost.com.au The…
S3 · E32 · 8 May 2025 · 1 hr 28 min
Episode 32: Finally, A Finding
After a bizarre last ditch bid by Jon Winfield to curry favour from a Ballina detective, the coroner heading the inquest into Bronwyn’s presumed murder sums up the case against the surfing bricklayer. He describes Bronwyn’s predicament in May 1993, the plans she was making for herself and her two girls, and her resolve to be free from Jon. The coroner weighs and rejects Jon’s claims – that a mentally befuddled Bronwyn had gone on an impromptu break and must have started a new life. Jodie’s protection of her father comes under closer scrutiny. Chrystal reveals…
8 May 2025 · 2 min
Listen to The Australian's new podcast The Gangster's Ghost
Johnny 'The Magician' Regan was a murderer, pimp and psychopath, gunned down by three assassins in a grimy back lane in 1974. He was 29. In this new investigative podcast, The Australian's Matthew Condon investigates gangland’s last great murder mystery. Subscribers to The Australian and registered users hear episodes of 'The Gangster's Ghost' first at gangstersghost.com.au . Plus, you can read more about this case, see exclusive stories, photos, videos and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S3 · E31 · 1 May 2025 · 1 hr 14 min
Episode 31: The Memory Hole
Jon’s daughter Jodie returns to the witness box for a searching cross examination on Day 4 of the inquest.She volunteers that she looked in the boot of the Ford Falcon on the morning that she says her father arrived at the Shire hair salon, Intercutz, after the overnight drive from Lennox. If Bronwyn’s body was in the boot en route to be concealed somewhere in the Shire – a theory which Jon emphatically denies – Jodie didn’t see it. Her memory of events was generally vague. Jodie couldn’t recall anything to do with suggestions of violence against Bronwyn.…
S3 · E30 · 24 Apr 2025 · 1 hr 3 min
Episode 30: Mountains And Molehills
Did Bronwyn have a secret boyfriend with whom she was having a clandestine relationship before he spirited her away from her daughters and her Lennox Head home? Was Jon’s neighbour Murray affected by painkillers or cannabis when he says he saw Jon leaving the house with his car’s engine and its lights off on the night Bronwyn disappeared? Was such a departure even unusual for Jon? The bricklayer’s lawyer Craig Leggat turns up the heat on witnesses on Day 3 of the inquest. Bronwyn’s close friend and neighbour Deb Hall answers the challenge as the legal strategy…
S3 · E29 · 17 Apr 2025 · 1 hr 7 min
Episode 29: Out Of Character
Bronwyn’s state of mind and powerful maternal instincts for her two daughters face a determined challenge as Jon’s side depicts the missing mother in a negative light. Bronwyn’s care for Chrystal and Lauren comes into sharp focus when Jon’s lawyer asks if it would have been out of character for the Lennox Head mum to go to a Saturday night party, leaving the girls home alone. Witness after witness reject the suggestions. Andy’s wife Michelle is combative as Jon’s lawyer questions her closely. It’s decision time too – we decide whether to move…
S3 · E28 · 10 Apr 2025 · 1 hr 8 min
Episode 28: The Lawyer's Picnic
Jon’s lawyer Craig Leggat does his homework, analysing witness statements and other documents to discover significant and inconsequential flaws in the evidence. He knows that if things go badly in the inquest, Jon faces a murder charge. But if defects in the evidence are properly highlighted, there’s a chance Jon can walk away. Bronwyn’s cousin Megan Read faces another torrid time in the witness stand because Jon and his lawyer see her evidence as the weakest link. Bruised but not beaten, Megan finally gets a reprieve, and then it’s the turn of Scruffy, his wife…
S3 · E27 · 3 Apr 2025 · 1 hr 18 min
Episode 27: Megan's Court Showdown
Bronwyn’s friend and cousin Megan Read drops new bombshells while under oath on Day 2 of the inquest. Megan gives evidence at the coronial inquiry about having been told by Jon Winfield that he saw and spoke to Bronwyn in Brisbane, several years after her disappearance. Jon’s lawyer starts a fierce cross examination of Megan in the witness box. Jodie also comes under renewed scrutiny for pushing a claim that Bronwyn has been happily living in a hippie community. The claim appears baseless and police officer Matt Fordham challenges Jodie for having omitted key details when she put…
S3 · E26 · 27 Mar 2025 · 1 hr 2 min
Episode 26: No Way In The World
The inquest into Bronwyn’s disappearance hears that when detective Glenn Taylor attended Jon and Bronwyn’s former family home at Lennox Head, dozens of photographs lined the walls. Glenn only started investigating the unsolved case five years after Bronwyn disappeared, and Jon was still living at the same property in Sandstone Crescent. The pictures in the home included happy snaps of Jon and daughters Jodie, Chrystal and Lauren, but Bronwyn had been erased. Not one image in the house showed Bronwyn, the detective says. Jon’s lawyer Craig Leggat seizes his chance to…
S3 · E25 · 20 Mar 2025 · 58 min
Episode 25: Inquest Begins
For more than 140 years, the Lismore courthouse has stood firm through a procession of natural disasters. Withstanding everything nature has thrown at the town, the courthouse has witnessed a tragic roll call of cases. Cases such as the alleged shooting murder of local mother Carolyn Stuckey by her enraged husband, pharmacist Allan Stuckey. And cases like Bronwyn’s. In 2002, Bronwyn’s family and friends gather at the court for an inquest that explores in detail her disappearance and suspected murder. Proceedings stretch over five days in front of deputy state coroner, Carl…
S3 · E24 · 13 Mar 2025 · 1 hr 9 min
Episode 24: Listener Night
In this special live event recorded at the Art Gallery of NSW on a warm late summer evening, listeners and Bronwyn's family gather for a Q&A with the podcast team, including Hedley Thomas, David Murray, Matthew Condon, Madi Walsh and Claire Harvey. Through panel discussion and thoughtful audience questions, we examine twists in the story so far, including the mystery of how Jon Winfield became a beneficiary of Beverley Brooker's estate, and explore the status of the police investigation. There are deep reflections on toxic relationships, violence against women and coercive control, and…
S3 · E23 · 6 Mar 2025 · 1 hr 14 min
Episode 23: Will Power
News of Jon Winfield’s windfall and changes to the Will of his near-neighbour, Bev, shock the Lennox Head community and galvanise Bev’s friends and relations. Bev’s cousin Cathy comes forward and says she was isolated from knowledge of what had happened to her lifelong friend, Bev. Cathy describes having been ‘warned off’ by a gruff man using Bev’s phone after her death. Cathy and her husband Les are aghast and they’re back in touch with their cousin’s brothers Geoff and Paul. A legal challenge could force Jon to justify his handling of the…
S3 · E22 · 27 Feb 2025 · 59 min
Episode 22: Suburban Gothic
Lennox Head locals are suspicious of Jon’s motives with a well-off elderly woman who lives alone and has a terminal illness. Jon has been spending a lot of time at her ocean-facing house, helping with renovations and an expensive makeover. As she’s dying, the woman buys two new cars and new furniture and appliances. Her two brothers are shocked when they finally get hold of her will after she dies and discover she has changed it to make Jon the new prime beneficiary and executor. Almost everything in her multimillion-dollar estate is left to Jon, a stranger to her brothers, who…
S3 · E21 · 20 Feb 2025 · 1 hr 11 min
Episode 21: Concrete Evidence
Investigations reveal Jon’s fast work to get federal government welfare payments diverted from Bronwyn’s bank account to his account when she went missing. The single parent pension and other payments to Bronwyn to help her raise the children were cut off quickly after Jon said it should be going to him. Andy Read says Jon’s actions were not those of someone expecting Bronwyn to come back. A ‘lightbulb moment’ during filming with the podcast team at Hedley’s house results in Andy making a formal approach to the State Coroner, asking her to order a proper…
21 Jan 2025 · 6 min
Where is Bronwyn’s body?
Hear the Bronwyn team debate how to approach the biggest question: was Bronwyn concealed under a concrete slab in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire? This mini-episode is a snippet of a new instalment in our video-only series. Watch the videos now at bronwynpodcast.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
14 Jan 2025 · 5 min
Live now: Special video episodes of Bronwyn
Go behind the scenes of the podcast in a very special new series of video episodes, live now at bronwynpodcast.com . Plus, you can read more about this case, see photographs, maps, timelines and more at the website. If you have information which may help solve this cold case, you can – contact our team confidentially by emailing [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
S2 · E20 · 13 Dec 2024 · 1 hr 13 min
Episode 20: The Shire
Andy seeks expert advice about the x-raying of a concrete slab at a house in Illawong in The Shire – the place he refers to as God’s Country, where he and Bronwyn grew up. After getting more intel about a concrete pour in May 1993, Andy and Madi visit and are more suspicious about what went on at the former building site in Illawong where Jon had been bricklaying. Jon’s friend at the time, builder Glenn Webster, discloses knowledge of his former family home and an area which would have been easiest to dig to conceal a body. A neighbour reveals something Chrystal told her about the boot of…
S2 · E19 · 6 Dec 2024 · 1 hr 4 min
Episode 19: The Calling
The ‘smoking gun’ is data from the phone company about any local calls made from Sandstone Crescent on the night of May 16, 1993. Jon insists that Bronwyn made a couple of local calls, then a car came to pick her up and she disappeared. But if no local calls were made, his story falls over. Hedley and Karina hunt for local call data which fell between the cracks during previous police investigations. Terry and Heather Freeman track down a Ford Falcon XF sedan with a large LPG tank to test if there was space for Bronwyn’s body to fit in the boot. Andy, Hedley and Madi meet in the Shire to…
S2 · E18 · 29 Nov 2024 · 1 hr 7 min
Episode 18: Origin Story
Jon disparages Bronwyn’s mother Barbara as a sex worker. In one of his final comments in his 1998 interview with police investigating the disappearance of Jon’s estranged wife five years earlier, Jon’s smear of the grandmother of Lauren and Chrystal goes unchallenged until now. Kim Marshall and her brother Andy emphatically reject the labelling and explain Barbara’s mental illness struggles as depression took hold. A deeply personal account of Barbara’s life story is told through her own statement to police. Bronwyn’s long-silent sister Melissa comes forward, shedding more light on Jon’s…
S2 · E17 · 22 Nov 2024 · 54 min
Episode 17: A Strange Cheque
Police Commissioner Karen Webb and her top Homicide detectives come under fire. Bronwyn’s brother, Andy Read, calls out a lack of effort, urgency and competence in the police investigations of his sister’s case, which has been hopelessly bungled all the way back to 1993. Commissioner Webb and her top Homicide detective Danny Doherty look uncomfortable and unwilling to talk about a case which has embarrassed detectives for three decades. Jon insists that Bronwyn went back to the house in Sandstone Crescent about six weeks after her disappearance, yet nobody saw her. Jon says Bronwyn left…
S2 · E16 · 14 Nov 2024 · 1 hr 2 min
Episode 16: A Family Divided
A politician and a leading newspaper speculate that a serial killer could have murdered Bronwyn and 66 other women on the New South Wales north coast over the past three decades. Bronwyn’s daughter Chrystal – who still supports Jon Winfield – welcomes news of a possible serial killer instead of her step-father being responsible for Bronwyn’s presumed slaying. In stark contrast, other members of the Read family point the finger at Jon. The powerful emotions and different views fuel family tensions and lead to Chrystal icing cousin Madi Walsh. Bronwyn’s youngest daughter, Lauren, who also…
S2 · E15 · 8 Nov 2024 · 1 hr 13 min
Episode 15: Taking Flight
For 31 years, key parts of Jon’s story have been taken for granted. Even while he has been a longtime murder suspect, nobody challenged Jon’s claims that he made two long-distance telephone calls from the house at Sandstone Crescent on the night Bronwyn was last seen alive. The first call, he claimed, was made to his daughter Jodie. The second one to his brother Peter. Hedley Thomas and Matt Condon delve deeply into Jon’s own words from his recorded interview with police in 1998, and they test the veracity of these claims by retracing his steps on the fateful night. They conclude that…
S2 · E14 · 1 Nov 2024 · 1 hr 4 min
Episode 14: Jon's Own Words
What was going on in Jon’s marriage to Bronwyn leading up to the separation in 1993? Why did he suddenly take a flight from Sydney one Sunday afternoon to return to the house in Lennox Head when Bronwyn moved back in with her daughters? What did Bronwyn say and do when he turned up at the front door? What did they talk about when he went inside the house? Did he know that Bronwyn was getting legal advice about her rights to the property? These questions and many more are asked in Jon’s only interview with the then Detective Sergeant Glenn Taylor. Analysis of his answers throws up new leads…
S2 · E13 · 25 Oct 2024 · 1 hr 8 min
Episode 13: Father's Day
A surprise message opens a long-closed door to Jon’s secret past. Sonia Lee has been listening to every episode in the Bronwyn podcast series while weighing the right time to come forward for the first time. She made a promise to her grandmother on her death bed to tell the truth about her biological father when the time was right. A man she has never known— but is now hearing so much about. In a remarkable interview with Hedley Thomas, Sonia Lee reveals her biological father is Jon Winfield, and his then-girlfriend was 15 and left heartbroken when Jon denied being the father. He refused to…

About Bronwyn

Bronwyn is a English true crime podcast from The Australian. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: The Australian
Language: English
Category: True Crime
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 1 hr 4 min
Latest episode: 13 Sep 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1748010922
Rights: 2026 News Corp Australia

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