WEBVTT - Extra: Is There Really A Serial Killer In Byron Bay?

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to a Mother Mea podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>Mamma Mea acknowledges the traditional owners of land and orders.

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<v Speaker 2>This podcast was recorded on Hi True Crime Conversations listeners.

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<v Speaker 2>It's your host, Gemma, and I'm jumping back into your

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<v Speaker 2>ears today to share an important episode with you. It's

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<v Speaker 2>from Mamma MIA's news podcast, The Quickie, hosted by Claire Murphy.

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<v Speaker 2>She spoke to me for a recent episode investigating whether

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<v Speaker 2>there is a Byron Bay serial killer on the loose.

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<v Speaker 2>Right now, people are starting to connect the dots between

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<v Speaker 2>multiple cases of women going missing or being murdered in

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<v Speaker 2>the Byron and New South Wales coastal areas, including women

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<v Speaker 2>with their own first hand accounts. You may have seen

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<v Speaker 2>these women on TikTok and Instagram while you've been scrolling.

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<v Speaker 2>And in this episode, Claire and I talk about how

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<v Speaker 2>likely it is that all of these cases and run

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<v Speaker 2>ins are actually linked. Let us know what you think

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<v Speaker 2>of the episode and I'll see you next week for

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<v Speaker 2>another true crime conversation.

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<v Speaker 3>Hi. I'm Claire Murphy. This is Mumma MIA's twice daily

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<v Speaker 3>news podcast, The Quickie. We all love a bit of

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<v Speaker 3>true crime, right It's weirdly soothing listening to stories of

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<v Speaker 3>horrible things happening to someone else, somewhere else. But what

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<v Speaker 3>if that true crime gets a little too close to home, Like.

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<v Speaker 4>I looked at this man and I felt terror.

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<v Speaker 3>There's a theory being floated that the worst serial killer

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<v Speaker 3>in Australian history could be behind dozens of missing and

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<v Speaker 3>murdered New South Wales women, and there are some first

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<v Speaker 3>hand accounts from those who feel they might have even

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<v Speaker 3>been a potential target. Today we look at the alarming

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<v Speaker 3>similarity of more than sixty unsolved crimes and wonder if

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<v Speaker 3>they might all be linked. Last month, Melbourne woman Kayleie

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<v Speaker 3>was walking alone in the northern New South Wales suburb

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<v Speaker 3>of Suffolk Park. It was around four pm on a

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<v Speaker 3>Saturday afternoon and she was going to meet friends at

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<v Speaker 3>the beach when a car all of a sudden pulled

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<v Speaker 3>up beside her.

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<v Speaker 4>As I'm walking, there is a car that pulls up

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<v Speaker 4>like on the other side of the parked cast me

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<v Speaker 4>there in the middle of the road. I look into

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<v Speaker 4>the car and it's a young couple and the woman

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<v Speaker 4>in the passenger seat he's looking at me, and then

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<v Speaker 4>she's looking behind me at something and she looks terrified,

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<v Speaker 4>and I was like, what on earth is going on?

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<v Speaker 4>So I look behind me to see a man a

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<v Speaker 4>couple of meters behind me. And this man does not

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<v Speaker 4>look dressed for where we are. It's like thirty degrees

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<v Speaker 4>and he is in gloves, which I thought was really freaky.

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<v Speaker 4>Like I looked at this man and I felt terror.

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<v Speaker 4>The thing is is for that man to be as

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<v Speaker 4>close to me as he was, he had to have

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<v Speaker 4>run up on me because I had already been checking

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<v Speaker 4>behind me because I'm just like that type of person.

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<v Speaker 4>As soon as I look at him, he disappears, either

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<v Speaker 4>like down this side street or like into somebody's front yard.

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<v Speaker 4>I wouldn't have even noticed this man if not for

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<v Speaker 4>the fact that the couple in the car were distressed

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<v Speaker 4>and they'd pulled over. Every single part of me felt

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<v Speaker 4>like that was a really really close encounter with something

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<v Speaker 4>really evil.

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<v Speaker 3>Kaylie says she informed local police, but found them to

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<v Speaker 3>be dismissive of her experience. Her TikTok comments section, though,

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<v Speaker 3>was flooded with similar experiences, experiences like Laura Claire's. Laura

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<v Speaker 3>is a Barron Bay local who's been documenting her run

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<v Speaker 3>ins a info about the alleged Byron Bay serial killer. Laura,

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<v Speaker 3>can you talk us through that day where you and

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<v Speaker 3>your friend decided to go hitch hiking? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 5>Sure, I think Byron has this this hold on people.

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<v Speaker 5>It's just this idolistic kind of town and there's a

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<v Speaker 5>lot of people hitch hiking there, and you just have

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<v Speaker 5>this sense of safety. Well I did when I first

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<v Speaker 5>went there, obviously. So my friend and I needed to

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<v Speaker 5>get from Byron to Suffolk. It was a really hot day.

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<v Speaker 5>I suggested that we hitch hike. She had never hitch

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<v Speaker 5>hike before and was very much against it, and I

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<v Speaker 5>kind of convinced her it wasn't a very long distance

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<v Speaker 5>and it was safe and all the things that I

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<v Speaker 5>shouldn't have said, all the things that I felt, a

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<v Speaker 5>sense of safety that I shouldn't have felt. So we

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<v Speaker 5>go to hit to Ride and this van pulls up.

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<v Speaker 5>He's so normal looking I can barely remember his details,

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<v Speaker 5>and he seemed to look very friendly as well. So

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<v Speaker 5>my friend I put her in the back and I

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<v Speaker 5>went to sit in the front and there was a

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<v Speaker 5>big knife on the front seat, and not having any

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<v Speaker 5>survival instincts at all, I just grabbed the knife and

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<v Speaker 5>put it on the floor to get in, and I

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<v Speaker 5>think I even asked him permission to do so. And

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<v Speaker 5>then I kind of just out of curiosity, was like, oh,

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<v Speaker 5>what's the knife for?

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<v Speaker 1>And he said that he was a chef. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>kind of when.

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<v Speaker 5>I started to feel uncomfortable. Most people would have felt

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<v Speaker 5>uncomfortable hit hiking. This is where I started to feel uncomfortable.

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<v Speaker 5>The knife was very rusty, the knife did not look

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<v Speaker 5>like it should go anyway.

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<v Speaker 1>We're near food.

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<v Speaker 5>It just kind of started mulling in my mind, and

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<v Speaker 5>I said, Oh, where are you a chef? Because I

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<v Speaker 5>thought maybe i'd know the restaurant or you know, just

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<v Speaker 5>get some comfort in knowing that he worked around the area.

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<v Speaker 5>And he said, oh, I'm not working at the moment.

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<v Speaker 5>And that's when I just went, Okay, I don't feel

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<v Speaker 5>comfortable here. We need to get out of this situation.

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<v Speaker 5>And so I said, oh, yeah, that's us just up there.

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<v Speaker 5>He led us out of the van like we got out.

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<v Speaker 1>Of the van.

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<v Speaker 5>So that was my experience, and honestly, I don't think

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<v Speaker 5>I even thought about it again after that day for

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<v Speaker 5>a long time, but a few friends of mine have

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<v Speaker 5>contacted me in the last couple of days and said, oh,

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<v Speaker 5>you told me about that story, so it has sort

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<v Speaker 5>of stuck with me, but not as much as it

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<v Speaker 5>probably should have.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, can you explain what happened after you shared that

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<v Speaker 3>story publicly? Because we've seen this happen with other women

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<v Speaker 3>too in the area who've shared their close encounters that

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<v Speaker 3>it's essentially kind of opened up the floodgates.

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<v Speaker 5>Absolutely has, and it's quite distressing. In my mind. I

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<v Speaker 5>was going to share this story about what happened, I

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<v Speaker 5>was either going to have people going, you're overreacting or

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<v Speaker 5>people going, oh my god, that was really scary. I

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<v Speaker 5>didn't prepare myself for hundreds of women coming forward speaking

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<v Speaker 5>about close call encounters, rapes, drink spikings, names of people

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<v Speaker 5>that are dangerous in the area.

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<v Speaker 3>You know.

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<v Speaker 5>I just wasn't prepared for the volume. I wasn't prepared

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<v Speaker 5>for the horrific details, and it's just so alarming, and

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<v Speaker 5>at times I felt defeated because I'm like, how do

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<v Speaker 5>we help?

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<v Speaker 1>How do we change this?

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<v Speaker 5>Like what do we do? Obviously my first point is

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<v Speaker 5>to call the police and report what you know, but

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<v Speaker 5>in a lot of these cases, they were actually let

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<v Speaker 5>down by the police in either not showing up on

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<v Speaker 5>the scene, taking too long to get to the scene

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<v Speaker 5>where they were no longer in danger, saying that they

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<v Speaker 5>didn't have enough information, not taking down details, telling them

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<v Speaker 5>to go home when they went into the station, the stress,

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<v Speaker 5>all of that kind of stuff as well.

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<v Speaker 3>This is something that a lot of women come up

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<v Speaker 3>against when it comes to crimes against them like this,

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<v Speaker 3>and another of its nature is that police are so

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<v Speaker 3>under resourced. These are sometimes put in the two hard basket,

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<v Speaker 3>especially when there's many, many of them to look at.

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<v Speaker 3>But I think what we have realized when yourself and

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<v Speaker 3>others who are also looking at crimes against women like

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<v Speaker 3>this in the area where you live, is that when

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<v Speaker 3>you start to map this out, that map starts to

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<v Speaker 3>look very crowded, doesn't it, Like with if you were

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<v Speaker 3>to pin all of these instances to a real physical map,

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<v Speaker 3>like there'd be no space in between.

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<v Speaker 5>And look, this has been common knowledge among locals for years,

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<v Speaker 5>and I think one of the biggest things that kind

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<v Speaker 5>of is terrifying is these are maps of women that

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<v Speaker 5>have gone missing or died. It would be interesting to

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<v Speaker 5>see a map of women that have been assaulted because

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<v Speaker 5>what I've heard in the last seventy two hours is

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<v Speaker 5>a lot a lot of assaults and people that didn't

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<v Speaker 5>die that are left with the consequences of this, and

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<v Speaker 5>these can often be behaviors in the lead up to

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<v Speaker 5>worse crimes. Some of these haven't been reported or weren't

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<v Speaker 5>reported or it's interesting with a lot of this information

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<v Speaker 5>women when they haven't reported it, I've asked them why.

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<v Speaker 5>And there's quite a common thread of young women being

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<v Speaker 5>worried that they were going to get in trouble with

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<v Speaker 5>their parents for not being where they were supposed to.

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<v Speaker 5>And so I think that there's a lot of information

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<v Speaker 5>out there that we're not getting through to the legal

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<v Speaker 5>system either. But in the case of the map and

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<v Speaker 5>how many crimes happen in this area, it is unbelievably high.

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<v Speaker 5>And when you're going to a town like Byron and

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<v Speaker 5>you don't live there, you have this kind of view

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<v Speaker 5>of it, like I did, that it was this sleepy

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<v Speaker 5>coastal town. And so when you have that view of

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<v Speaker 5>a town, you're walking around doing things that you do

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<v Speaker 5>on holiday that you probably wouldn't do it at home,

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<v Speaker 5>and you're not really fearing for your safety or being

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<v Speaker 5>concerned about it at all because you're not hearing about

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<v Speaker 5>it on the news and you're not realizing actually that

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<v Speaker 5>you may be in danger. Like I had a friend

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<v Speaker 5>of mine that lives in Byron and I was talking

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<v Speaker 5>to her about it, and she said, I'd rather walk

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<v Speaker 5>around alone in the Cross or Redfern than I would

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<v Speaker 5>en Byron.

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<v Speaker 1>It's well known by.

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<v Speaker 5>The locals, and I think, you know Kaylee, the other

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<v Speaker 5>girl that spoke out about it, she kind of got

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<v Speaker 5>attacked and shut down when she first came out about it,

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<v Speaker 5>and a lot of that was by the locals. You

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<v Speaker 5>don't want to try that with me because I've lived

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<v Speaker 5>there and I can name, you know, incidences that happen

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<v Speaker 5>and people that have gone missing, and no one from

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<v Speaker 5>the community has tried to say to me, no, no,

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<v Speaker 5>it's not no, it didn't happen. Because when you live there,

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<v Speaker 5>you know, it's very easy to shut down a girl

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<v Speaker 5>from Melbourne that was visiting a week because she just

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<v Speaker 5>had this bad experience and she had a very off

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<v Speaker 5>feeling about it. But if you live there, you know,

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<v Speaker 5>trying to cover it up for the sake of tourism

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<v Speaker 5>or house prices or whatever it is is actually doing

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<v Speaker 5>the town at disservice.

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<v Speaker 3>Laura, you said that when the hitch hiking incident happened,

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<v Speaker 3>you kind of dismissed it and almost essentially forgot about

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<v Speaker 3>it until now. Would you say the same thing now,

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<v Speaker 3>with all the responses that you got to it and

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<v Speaker 3>all the stories that you've heard, do you feel like

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<v Speaker 3>that has now changed you where that hitch hiking incident didn't.

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<v Speaker 5>It's interesting because the hitch hiking incident, when I think

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<v Speaker 5>about it at a core level, did change me. I

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<v Speaker 5>hit taged once again after that, but I was in

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<v Speaker 5>a very desperate situation. I remember thinking I shouldn't be

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<v Speaker 5>doing this, So it did change me at that level.

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<v Speaker 5>But what it's kind of changed for me now as

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<v Speaker 5>a woman, especially after speaking out about this, is just

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<v Speaker 5>how careful I need to be. Like I was walking

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<v Speaker 5>my dog yesterday and I just went wow, Like, I'm

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<v Speaker 5>not as aware of my surroundings as I should be,

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<v Speaker 5>and maybe I need to be more careful in a

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<v Speaker 5>lot of other areas in my life, because after hearing

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<v Speaker 5>the things that I did and reading what I have

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<v Speaker 5>in the last seventy two hours, it's pretty bleak.

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<v Speaker 3>While Laura is thinking her lucky stars that she and

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<v Speaker 3>her friend didn't find themselves potentially in the path of

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<v Speaker 3>a killer. There are potentially more than sixty others who

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<v Speaker 3>weren't so lucky. Last week, New South Wales MP Jeremy

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<v Speaker 3>Buckingham addressed State Parliament stating that the worst serial killer

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<v Speaker 3>in the nation's history has gotten away with it.

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<v Speaker 6>Ivan Malat, was convicted of seven murders. There is someone

0:11:56.782 --> 0:11:59.862
<v Speaker 6>on the North Coast that has murdered as many or

0:11:59.862 --> 0:12:03.502
<v Speaker 6>more and they are still amongst us sixty seven the

0:12:03.622 --> 0:12:08.422
<v Speaker 6>numbers of unsolved homicides of women on the north coast

0:12:08.462 --> 0:12:13.462
<v Speaker 6>of New South Wales, and as indication that someone operated

0:12:13.542 --> 0:12:17.862
<v Speaker 6>in that area, traveled that area, lived across that area

0:12:17.902 --> 0:12:23.782
<v Speaker 6>and took women, destroyed their bodies, destroyed their lives and

0:12:23.862 --> 0:12:27.742
<v Speaker 6>it's appalling that it's taken so long for this matter

0:12:27.902 --> 0:12:30.382
<v Speaker 6>to come before House and to public attention.

0:12:32.102 --> 0:12:35.262
<v Speaker 3>Buckingham told Parliament that he's been called alarmist because his

0:12:35.382 --> 0:12:38.342
<v Speaker 3>view and the view of some senior police like Detective

0:12:38.382 --> 0:12:41.942
<v Speaker 3>Gary McAvoy, who investigated these matters from Coffs Harbor, is

0:12:41.982 --> 0:12:45.262
<v Speaker 3>that they were and are linked. He, with the support

0:12:45.302 --> 0:12:48.222
<v Speaker 3>of Green's MP Sue Higginson, has called on the Premier,

0:12:48.262 --> 0:12:51.542
<v Speaker 3>Chris Mins to hold a special commission of inquiry that

0:12:51.622 --> 0:12:54.782
<v Speaker 3>has been rejected amid suggestions a new police task force

0:12:54.862 --> 0:12:59.222
<v Speaker 3>be set up to investigate the unsolved cases instead. According

0:12:59.222 --> 0:13:02.782
<v Speaker 3>to a Daily Telegraph investigation, there are sixty seven women

0:13:02.822 --> 0:13:05.302
<v Speaker 3>who've been murdered or who've gone missing in the area

0:13:05.382 --> 0:13:07.942
<v Speaker 3>over the last thirty years. They include a number of

0:13:07.942 --> 0:13:12.062
<v Speaker 3>disappearances around Newcastle in the nineteen seven. Jemma Bath is

0:13:12.142 --> 0:13:15.422
<v Speaker 3>Mumam's news editor and host of the true Crime Conversations

0:13:15.462 --> 0:13:18.582
<v Speaker 3>podcast Jemma, these cases go back as far as the

0:13:18.622 --> 0:13:21.102
<v Speaker 3>nineteen seventies. Can you give us a rundown of some

0:13:21.142 --> 0:13:23.342
<v Speaker 3>of those older cases that they think might be the

0:13:23.382 --> 0:13:24.502
<v Speaker 3>work of this serial killer?

0:13:24.982 --> 0:13:27.182
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And so they kind of spread all the way

0:13:27.222 --> 0:13:29.182
<v Speaker 1>up the coast. We're talking from like Coffs Harbor to

0:13:29.542 --> 0:13:31.942
<v Speaker 1>after kind of the Gold Coast area, but there does

0:13:31.982 --> 0:13:35.702
<v Speaker 1>seem to be a concentration around Newcastle, which is one

0:13:35.742 --> 0:13:37.662
<v Speaker 1>of the biggest centers along that coast if you know

0:13:37.702 --> 0:13:41.462
<v Speaker 1>the area, and many of the disappearances or alleged murders

0:13:41.462 --> 0:13:44.062
<v Speaker 1>in that area are from the seventies. So we've got

0:13:44.102 --> 0:13:46.422
<v Speaker 1>eighteen year old Robin Hickey She was last seen at

0:13:46.422 --> 0:13:50.022
<v Speaker 1>a bus stop in April nineteen seventy nine. Eight months

0:13:50.062 --> 0:13:54.262
<v Speaker 1>after that, fourteen year old Amanda Robinson. She vanished while

0:13:54.262 --> 0:13:58.062
<v Speaker 1>walking home Miss Swansea. The following year, seventeen year old

0:13:58.062 --> 0:14:00.862
<v Speaker 1>Annie and eighteen year old Joy. They both went missing

0:14:00.862 --> 0:14:02.622
<v Speaker 1>after a night out at a club in the city.

0:14:02.702 --> 0:14:06.582
<v Speaker 1>So in Newcastle again, there's Norell Cox. She was twenty one.

0:14:06.862 --> 0:14:09.822
<v Speaker 1>She was last seen in Grafton in nineteen seventy seven.

0:14:10.422 --> 0:14:12.102
<v Speaker 1>He actually left a note for her family and it

0:14:12.142 --> 0:14:15.342
<v Speaker 1>read gone to Nosa to see Fae. Be back on Monday,

0:14:15.502 --> 0:14:18.422
<v Speaker 1>which is just heartbreaking, isn't it. A truck driver said

0:14:18.542 --> 0:14:21.222
<v Speaker 1>he picked her up and actually dropped her in Brunswick

0:14:21.262 --> 0:14:24.222
<v Speaker 1>Heads and she's never been seen again. Then we've got

0:14:24.422 --> 0:14:27.222
<v Speaker 1>Rose How she was eighteen, went missing in two thousand

0:14:27.222 --> 0:14:30.662
<v Speaker 1>and three about twenty five kilometers from Coffs Harbor. Susan

0:14:30.662 --> 0:14:33.502
<v Speaker 1>Marie Killy she was thirty three. She's been missing from

0:14:33.502 --> 0:14:36.262
<v Speaker 1>Bellingen on the Mid North Coast since nineteen eighty nine.

0:14:36.302 --> 0:14:38.982
<v Speaker 1>Her body's never been found. I could go on and

0:14:39.022 --> 0:14:42.502
<v Speaker 1>on and on. There's literally dozens of cases.

0:14:42.622 --> 0:14:45.582
<v Speaker 3>But general are we just seeing patterns when there might

0:14:45.622 --> 0:14:47.662
<v Speaker 3>not be one. You know how humans really like to

0:14:47.822 --> 0:14:51.502
<v Speaker 3>seek patterns and find those kind of things that look linked,

0:14:51.502 --> 0:14:53.902
<v Speaker 3>when really they might not be. Why are we thinking

0:14:53.902 --> 0:14:55.102
<v Speaker 3>that all of these have a connection.

0:14:55.662 --> 0:14:57.582
<v Speaker 1>When you think about the string that's linking all of

0:14:57.622 --> 0:15:00.862
<v Speaker 1>these cases women who have gone missing while hitchhiking or

0:15:00.902 --> 0:15:04.462
<v Speaker 1>walking or traveling to another place. That's obviously a very

0:15:04.502 --> 0:15:07.222
<v Speaker 1>broad term, but I don't think that doesn't mean it's

0:15:07.222 --> 0:15:09.822
<v Speaker 1>not a pattern, particularly when you consider the fact that

0:15:10.462 --> 0:15:13.982
<v Speaker 1>when you compare how many women have gone missing along

0:15:14.022 --> 0:15:16.782
<v Speaker 1>the stretch of the New South Wales coastline, you just

0:15:16.822 --> 0:15:20.182
<v Speaker 1>don't see that kind of concentration of missing and murdered

0:15:20.222 --> 0:15:23.222
<v Speaker 1>women anywhere else in the country anywhere for that kind

0:15:23.262 --> 0:15:28.542
<v Speaker 1>of population geography, that span of time. To give you

0:15:28.542 --> 0:15:30.822
<v Speaker 1>an example, in the whole of Tasmania, there's less than

0:15:30.902 --> 0:15:35.022
<v Speaker 1>ten cases, and we're talking over sixty in this one area.

0:15:35.822 --> 0:15:38.182
<v Speaker 3>Why is this only being discussed now though we mentioned

0:15:38.222 --> 0:15:40.582
<v Speaker 3>some of these cases date back more than thirty years.

0:15:40.942 --> 0:15:46.382
<v Speaker 1>Why now because technology, forensics, investigative techniques, they've come so

0:15:47.222 --> 0:15:49.502
<v Speaker 1>far in the last few years alone. I mean, we're

0:15:49.582 --> 0:15:52.302
<v Speaker 1>learning new things every day. A lot of these cases

0:15:52.662 --> 0:15:57.262
<v Speaker 1>weren't thoroughly investigated or properly investigated at the time, sometimes

0:15:57.262 --> 0:16:00.302
<v Speaker 1>because they just didn't have the resources or the technology

0:16:00.342 --> 0:16:03.062
<v Speaker 1>to do so. I mean, we're seeing so many cold

0:16:03.102 --> 0:16:06.262
<v Speaker 1>cases being solved. One that comes to mind recently is

0:16:06.302 --> 0:16:08.782
<v Speaker 1>the Easy Street murders in Melbourne that was from nineteen

0:16:08.862 --> 0:16:12.462
<v Speaker 1>seventy seven, and that is a really highly publicized case.

0:16:12.742 --> 0:16:15.182
<v Speaker 1>You know, everyone in Melbourne knows that story. The two

0:16:15.302 --> 0:16:17.702
<v Speaker 1>sus that were murdered in their house, a little boy

0:16:17.982 --> 0:16:20.662
<v Speaker 1>that was left crying in the middle of their dead bodies.

0:16:20.782 --> 0:16:24.382
<v Speaker 1>Horrific story. They've got a man in custody all these

0:16:24.462 --> 0:16:28.782
<v Speaker 1>years later, decades later because of DNA, Because of DNA

0:16:28.822 --> 0:16:31.902
<v Speaker 1>that is now able to be traced and tracked back

0:16:31.942 --> 0:16:34.862
<v Speaker 1>to people all these decades later. So I think the

0:16:34.902 --> 0:16:37.222
<v Speaker 1>reason that we're talking about it now is because some

0:16:37.262 --> 0:16:40.822
<v Speaker 1>of these cases need to be reinvestigated with fresh twenty

0:16:40.862 --> 0:16:43.182
<v Speaker 1>twenty four eyes, because you never know what you're going

0:16:43.222 --> 0:16:44.902
<v Speaker 1>to find. You're never going to know what we're going

0:16:44.982 --> 0:16:47.622
<v Speaker 1>to be able to solve with everything that's at our fingertips.

0:16:47.702 --> 0:16:50.502
<v Speaker 1>And we also know so much more about serial offenders

0:16:50.542 --> 0:16:52.542
<v Speaker 1>now than we did back then. We've just got so

0:16:52.662 --> 0:16:55.662
<v Speaker 1>much more knowledge in the police force, so we definitely

0:16:55.742 --> 0:16:57.142
<v Speaker 1>need to go back. We need to go back and

0:16:57.142 --> 0:16:58.702
<v Speaker 1>look at these cases with fresh eyes.

0:16:59.262 --> 0:17:01.902
<v Speaker 3>Well, speaking of the police force, obviously these are cold

0:17:01.942 --> 0:17:04.702
<v Speaker 3>cases and cold cases are never officially closed. But as

0:17:04.742 --> 0:17:07.382
<v Speaker 3>you mentioned, they might not be being investigated to the

0:17:07.422 --> 0:17:10.342
<v Speaker 3>extent that we would hope or that we would prove

0:17:10.742 --> 0:17:13.702
<v Speaker 3>that they are investigated, especially if they're beyond thirty years old.

0:17:14.062 --> 0:17:16.422
<v Speaker 3>But obviously New South Wales police know more than any

0:17:16.462 --> 0:17:18.222
<v Speaker 3>of us about all of these cases. What have they

0:17:18.262 --> 0:17:21.182
<v Speaker 3>said about this alleged linking of all of them.

0:17:21.662 --> 0:17:24.742
<v Speaker 1>They have released a statement, it's not as exciting as

0:17:24.742 --> 0:17:27.782
<v Speaker 1>you might expect. It says there is no evidence to

0:17:27.822 --> 0:17:31.782
<v Speaker 1>indicate a common offender was responsible for the disappearance. They've

0:17:31.782 --> 0:17:34.182
<v Speaker 1>said that the matters remain under investigation by the State

0:17:34.222 --> 0:17:37.822
<v Speaker 1>Crime Commands, Homicide Squad, Unsolved Homicide Team that's a mouthful,

0:17:38.182 --> 0:17:41.782
<v Speaker 1>and the Missing Person Registry as part of recent recommendations

0:17:41.782 --> 0:17:44.182
<v Speaker 1>that were handed down by a Special Commission of Inquiry.

0:17:44.542 --> 0:17:48.222
<v Speaker 1>So they're reviewing all unsolved cases every two years, which

0:17:48.262 --> 0:17:50.742
<v Speaker 1>is amazing. It does mean each of these cases at

0:17:50.742 --> 0:17:53.862
<v Speaker 1>getting fresh eyes, but there are so many cases, so

0:17:53.902 --> 0:17:56.062
<v Speaker 1>we've just got a hope that they're getting the attention

0:17:56.142 --> 0:17:56.822
<v Speaker 1>that they deserve.

0:17:58.662 --> 0:18:01.062
<v Speaker 3>We don't want to alarm people, but we do want

0:18:01.102 --> 0:18:03.182
<v Speaker 3>to arm them. So if you find yourself along the

0:18:03.222 --> 0:18:06.222
<v Speaker 3>New South Wales northern coast, please be careful and be

0:18:06.302 --> 0:18:09.902
<v Speaker 3>aware of your surroundings. Laura says she wants women to know, though,

0:18:09.942 --> 0:18:13.142
<v Speaker 3>that they're experiences aren't just fine, and to ignore the

0:18:13.182 --> 0:18:15.062
<v Speaker 3>gas lighting that comes with reporting them.

0:18:15.462 --> 0:18:17.742
<v Speaker 5>I've noticed people were more likely to come to me

0:18:18.022 --> 0:18:20.862
<v Speaker 5>than they were to call crime stoppers. And that is

0:18:21.182 --> 0:18:25.382
<v Speaker 5>us systematically as women, being taught that, oh, it's probably nothing.

0:18:25.902 --> 0:18:30.302
<v Speaker 5>You're being over dramatic, you're overreacting, you're being hysterical. And

0:18:30.382 --> 0:18:33.902
<v Speaker 5>so even with me with the incident in two thousand

0:18:33.942 --> 0:18:36.582
<v Speaker 5>and eight, I played it down to well, he let

0:18:36.662 --> 0:18:40.262
<v Speaker 5>me out of the band, so he couldn't be well,

0:18:40.582 --> 0:18:42.582
<v Speaker 5>I've a mala led a lot of people out of

0:18:42.622 --> 0:18:46.182
<v Speaker 5>his car too, So we kind of gaslight ourselves, and

0:18:46.222 --> 0:18:48.782
<v Speaker 5>we also go to people who were meant to help

0:18:48.862 --> 0:18:51.702
<v Speaker 5>us that also gas light us and make us feel

0:18:51.742 --> 0:18:53.902
<v Speaker 5>like we're being idiots. And so I think that that

0:18:53.982 --> 0:18:55.582
<v Speaker 5>needs to change. I think that there needs to be

0:18:55.662 --> 0:18:58.222
<v Speaker 5>a safe space to be able to discuss these issues

0:18:58.222 --> 0:19:01.662
<v Speaker 5>and what I wanted to achieve. Often we hear these

0:19:01.662 --> 0:19:05.382
<v Speaker 5>different separate stories, but this is hundreds of women and

0:19:05.502 --> 0:19:08.382
<v Speaker 5>hundreds of close goals that you're seeing in these comments sections,

0:19:08.382 --> 0:19:11.542
<v Speaker 5>And maybe when you see that volume altogether, you start

0:19:11.582 --> 0:19:15.222
<v Speaker 5>to realize, Okay, this is a really big issue. Can

0:19:15.262 --> 0:19:18.182
<v Speaker 5>we get it now? Like we need to do something

0:19:18.182 --> 0:19:20.462
<v Speaker 5>about this. Women aren't feeling safe.

0:19:21.782 --> 0:19:23.542
<v Speaker 3>Thanks for taking the time to feed your mind with

0:19:23.622 --> 0:19:26.342
<v Speaker 3>us today. The quickie is produced by me Claire Murphy

0:19:26.382 --> 0:19:29.742
<v Speaker 3>and our executive producer Taylor Strano, with audio production by

0:19:29.782 --> 0:19:30.582
<v Speaker 3>Teagan Sadler.