Motive & Method
Channel Details
Motive & Method
Motive & Method is an expert-led Australian true crime podcast. Join Dr Xanthe Mallett and criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro as they unpack what really makes the offenders behind some of history’s most notorious cases tick, and also react and unpack crimes as they hit the headlines. You wil...
Recent Episodes
168 episodes
The Murders Of Karlie & Khandalyce
Two unidentified bodies were found years apart and thousands of kilometres away from eachother- Then came the chilling discovery that they were a moth...
Forgery & Foul Play: Who Killed Les Ball?
Leslie Ball didn't just disappear, someone went to extraordinary lengths to erase him.
But a trail of forged signatures, fraud and burnt evidenc...
Mr Rent-A-Kill: The Underworld Hitman Who Disappeared
For years, Christopher Flannery AKA 'Mr Rent-a-Kill' was the man Australian mobsters hired to make people disappear - until he became a target and van...
‘Falsely Convicted’ with Neil Mercer: True Stories of Injustice in Australia
From unvetted science to coerced confessions, catastrophic failures in Australia's justice system have stolen decades from innocent people for crimes...
Port Arthur: The Massacre That Changed Australia
The Port Arthur massacre remains the deadliest mass shooting in Australian history - a tragedy that shattered lives and transformed the country’s gun...
Terror In The Outback: Can Peter Falconio’s Body Be Found?
On a remote highway Peter Falconio vanished forever - His murder became every outback travellers worst nightmare.
25 years after one of Australi...
10. Painful Patterns: Inside The Grafton Hearing with Tim & Xanthe
At the second hearing of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved missing and murdered cases, Tim and Xanthe examine three more cases that expose t...
9. Andrew Inglis: The First Love Who Never Came Home
A teenager climbed into his red Datsun and drove off into the rain on Boxing Day 1985. He was never seen again.
Nearly 40 years later, what happ...
The Thailand Suitcase Murder: An Australian Charged
A 17-year-old disappeared in Thailand after meeting an Australian man. Less than a day later her body was found inside a suitcase abandoned near railw...
8. Narelle Cox: If Not Milat, Then Who?
Could an anonymous truck driver hold the key to solving this 50-year-old cold case?
In this episode Tim & Xanthe sit down with Karen Cox, the si...
7. Marion Barter Pt. 2 - The Citizen Sleuth Who Found What Police Missed
No badge, no warrant and no official powers - yet she uncovered vital evidence in the search for missing schoolteacher Marion Barter.
In this ep...
6. The Mysterious Disappearance of Marion Barter
She secretly changed her name. Hundreds of thousands of dollars disappeared from her bank account. A convicted conman was questioned for days at a cor...
Chopper Read: Australia’s ‘Celebrity’ Criminal
How a notorious criminal became a pop culture legend.
Tim & Xanthe unpack the violent life and complicated mythology of Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ R...
A Family Vanished: The 'Nannup Cult' Mystery
In 2007, four people vanished from a remote town in Western Australia - leaving behind an abandoned home, a cryptic note and a trail of unanswered que...
Bonus: Behind The Scenes With MP Jeremy Buckingham
In this bonus episode, Tim and Xanthe sit down with MP Jeremy Buckingham, the driving force behind the parliamentary inquiry examining some of Austral...
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.
Cher...
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 w...
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 e...
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 Austra...
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...
Introducing: Australia's Killer Secrets
What if the full story behind Australia's most notorious serial killer Ivan Milat has never been told? And what if more recent cases point to a copyca...
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-...
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 hap...
Crimefluencing: The Disturbing Phenomenon Of Crimes For Clout
Crimes for clicks, shares and online status - In this episode, Tim and Xanthe unpack the dangerous new phenomenon “crimefluencing”. Australia’s top c...
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...
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 kill...
![Bonus: Mark Jones [Extended Interview]](https://www.omnycontent.com/d/clips/88b564ea-a9a6-4751-910a-a5d800019396/599e036d-9f0e-47ce-b09a-b19a01862d1e/432faef9-6b45-4663-8cbb-b441004e6b66/image.jpg?t=1777957698&size=Large)
Bonus: Mark Jones [Extended Interview]
Mark Jones’ little brother Tony was hitchhiking to meet their other brother in 1982 when he made a final phone call back home & was never heard from a...
Outback Murder Highway: The Disappearance Of Tony Jones
In the early '80s a young hitchhiker vanished off the Flinders Highway - despite a mysterious tip-off in the mail, a killer’s confession, and growing...
![Bonus: John Twaddle [Extended Interview]](https://www.omnycontent.com/d/clips/88b564ea-a9a6-4751-910a-a5d800019396/599e036d-9f0e-47ce-b09a-b19a01862d1e/3151413b-7ca9-4fbe-87fa-b43c0187d324/image.jpg?t=1777594543&size=Large)
Bonus: John Twaddle [Extended Interview]
John Twaddle thought he knew who murdered his brother Gordon, but the person he had suspected has been ruled out by police on multiple occasions.
Outback Murder Highway: Triple Murder At Spear Creek
In October 1978 three bodies are found at Spear Creek in remote outback Queensland - each has a single rifle shot to the head. Decades later a prime s...
![Bonus: David Cunningham [Extended Interview]](https://www.omnycontent.com/d/clips/88b564ea-a9a6-4751-910a-a5d800019396/599e036d-9f0e-47ce-b09a-b19a01862d1e/d4550a3c-4bb1-4e15-9394-b42f0005f89e/image.jpg?t=1776385735&size=Large)
Bonus: David Cunningham [Extended Interview]
For over fifty years, David Cunningham has been searching for the truth about his sister Anita, who vanished while hitchhiking Queensland’s notorious...
Outback Murder Highway: The Sensible Creek Killings
Two 18-year-old girls disappeared on the Flinders Highway in 1972. One was found murdered, the other has never been found.
In this first episod...
Outback Murder Highway - Coming Soon...
One Australian highway - 11 people dead or missing
In this special series, criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro and forensic criminologist, Dr...
TED BUNDY BONUS EPISODE: DNA Breakthrough In Serial Killer Case
Breaking news on notorious serial killer Ted Bundy decades after his execution - A DNA breakthrough has linked Ted Bundy to another cold case murder,...
Catching Peter Foster & Finding A Missing Baby: Ken Gamble (Part 2)
A dramatic arrest on a Queensland beach and a years-long search for a missing baby - it’s not all cybercrime for private investigator Ken Gamble! In p...
Hunting Scammers & Chasing Con Artists: Ken Gamble (Part 1)
He’s helped bring down international fraud rings, recover millions for victims and hunt some of the world’s most notorious con artists - including ser...
REPLAY - DEZI FREEMAN: The Porepunkah Police Shootings
REPLAY: This episode was originally released in September, 2025 as the hunt was continuing for self-described sovereign citizen, Dezi Freeman who was...
A Not So Perfect Murder: The Kouri Richins Case
Her husband died. She wrote a book about grief. Then she was charged with his murder.
The Kouri Richins case is one of the most talked about rec...
He Got Away With Murder - Where Is 'Mr Cruel' Now?
He was one of Australia's most feared predators - and he was never caught. In this episode, Tim & Xanthe revisit the terrifying crimes of Mr Cruel, th...
Cult On Trial: Who Are The Zizians?
Six deaths, multiple states and a high-IQ cult at the centre of it all. In this episode Xanthe and Tim unravel the bizarre and deeply unsettling case...