Warning: This episode contains descriptions of child murder.
In 1892, Sydney was a city balancing progress and poverty. Thanks to social stigma and economic hardship, unwanted pregnancies were growing and as a result “baby farming” began to quietly thrive in backstreets and rented terraces. When workmen uncovered the tiny remains of infants buried beneath a particular house in Macdonaldtown, the discovery unravelled a web of deceit that stretched across the city, exposing a hidden trade built on desperation and betrayal.
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Mr Cruel, Part Two
Warning: This episode contains descriptions of child sexual assault and murder.
Mr Cruel has been keeping Melbourne’s North-East suburbs in a tight grip of fear. This is now his third confirmed home invasion and second kidnaping, with no sign of his attacks slowing. His awareness of forensics makes the police investigation near impossible, but with building pressure from the public, Victoria Police will go on to form one of the largest manhunt's in Australia's history.
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Mr Cruel, Part One
Warning: This episode contains descriptions of child sexual assault.
Between 1987 and the early 1990s, Melbourne’s suburbs experienced a series of highly organised and disturbing home invasions. The intruder would tie up the parents, cut the phone lines, and demand money, but at the centre of each attack was the sexual assault of a young daughter. Police investigations quickly linked the crimes to a single, elusive perpetrator; whose planning, control, and forensic awareness set him apart from typical offenders. The media would refer to him as, Mr Cruel.
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The Brownout Strangler
Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence against women.
In 1942, wartime Melbourne lived under the dim, uneasy glow of the brownout; a city cloaked in half-darkness to hide from Japanese bombers. By day it bustled with soldiers, trams, and factory workers, but by night the familiar streets turned dark and silent. Within the shadows, crime escalated with one predator in particular. Three women were found strangled to death within days of each other. What was implemented for safety quickly became the advantage of a killer.
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The Shark Arm Murder
In April 1935, a tiger shark at Sydney’s Coogee Aquarium regurgitated a human arm, setting in motion one of Australia’s most bizarre crimes. The case quickly grew into a tangled investigation, involving a crime underworld, a high-speed chase and the murder of a key witness. The story often feels stranger than fiction, yet it endures as a landmark case in Sydney’s history.
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