Introducing: Australia's Killer Secrets

More from Motive & Method All episodes →

1. 

   23 Jun 2026 · 29 min

   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 murder. In this powerful interview, Cheryl’s brothers, Paul Grimmer and Ricki Nash, share the devastating impact her disappearance has had on their family and their decades-long fight for justice. They raise troubling questions about missed investigative opportunities, a confession that was…

2. 

   16 Jun 2026 · 33 min

   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 detective Hugh Hughes. They detail years of fighting for answers, alleging police ignored crucial leads, withheld information and failed to properly investigate Milat despite mounting evidence linking him to Keren’s murder. More than 55 years on, the family is still asking the question that…

3. 

   11 Jun 2026 · 27 min

   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 decades on, Kevin recalls the night they disappeared, the suspicious letters sent to their families days later, and the long fight for answers after police initially treated the case as a runaway. He also reveals new information from a recently emerged witness that may not only point to Ivan Milat, but…

4. 

   11 Jun 2026 · 22 min

   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 episode, forensic scientist and criminologist Dr Xanthe Weston and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro take you inside the landmark parliamentary inquiry in Bowral, NSW. They unpack the heartwrenching testimony from families still searching for answers, and their sharp criticism of police.…

5. 

   10 Jun 2026 · 29 min

   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 re-examined in a landmark parliamentary inquiry. Tim & Xanthe have been working for years, alongside family members, on many of these cases. Now they're being called to give their expert submissions, highlighting the evidence and potential links in some of the investigations. In Australia's Killer…

6. 

   2 Jun 2026 · 35 min

   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 Stacker and the mysterious cases of Hugo Palmer and Erwan Ferrieux, among others, have become part of a chilling theory that a serial killer may be stalking northern New South Wales. As social media speculation collides with real police investigations, stories of alleged close calls and suspicious…

7. 

   26 May 2026 · 27 min

   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 investigators have encountered. Police allege the accused may have been inspired by another shocking family killing in Perth. In this episode, Tim & Xanthe unpack the allegations while examining the broader national crisis of domestic violence in Australia. Why do these tragedies keep happening - and what will…

8. 

   19 May 2026 · 31 min

   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 that encourage everything from petty offending to serious violence and exploitation. From livestreamed assaults to the coercion of vulnerable teenage girls, this episode explores how social media has gamified criminal behaviour. WATCH OUR FULL VIDEO EPISODES ON YOUTUBE AT…

9. 

   13 May 2026 · 26 min

   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, investigative journalist Amelia Oberhardt dissects the mysterious disappearance of 22-year-old Jayden Penno-Tompsett who vanished in a tiny town off the Flinders Highway. The coroner ruled out foul play - but Jayden’s mum isn’t convinced and hired a private investigator to find new…

10. 

    12 May 2026 · 38 min

    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 helped trigger a new coronial inquiry into the case. They unpack the disappearance and murder of Leanne, the quashed conviction of her sister’s boyfriend Graham Stafford and the unanswered questions that have haunted the case for 35 years. Graeme reveals the new witness sightings,…