David and Catherine Birnie

Murder in the Land of Oz

LISTEN TO WOMEN, FOLKS.

Phew, now we’ve got that out of the way.

This is the story of Catherine and David Birnie, sure, but more importantly, it’s the story about a survivor, Kate Moir, and how her ingenuity, bravery, and commitment to the truth led to the arrest of two serial murderers and rapists.

Kate survived an abduction, several rapes, imprisonment, and narrowly escaped being murdered, but when she went to the police, they tried to ‘stitch her up’ into giving a false report. But Laura Hancock, the only female police officer at the station, believed Kate’s story, and nagged her superior officers to pay attention. When Kate gave the name of one of her captors – David Birnie – the police finally released they had the missing piece in a month-long series of unsolved missing women.

Listen to women.

EPISODE NOTES:

David and Catherine Birnie have been called ‘Australia’s Bonnie and Clyde’, due to the fact that 1) they were a couple and 2) they committed a boatload of crimes, but to compare them to like, whimsical old-timey bankrobbers completely diminishes the reality of these two sadistic killers.

David and Catherine Birnie lured five women back to their home in Moorhouse Street to rape, torture and kill them. They murdered Mary Neilson, Susannah Candy, Noelene Patterson, Denise Brown over the course of a month in 1986, dumping their bodies in shallow graves in national parks. They did it all to satisfy David’s lust, with Catherine a willing enabler and participant.

They tried to do the same to Kate Moir, but she managed to escape, get help, and tell the police her horrible story. Initially, the police were skeptical of her story, but Kate’s bravery and commitment to detail convinced them that she was indeed telling the truth, and David eventually led police to the bodies of the other four women.

David committed suicide in 2005, but Catherine is still alive and well (maybe, we aren’t checking up on her) and imprisoned in Bandyup Women’s Prison. By order of the Attorney-General, she will remain imprisoned for life, with no possibility of parole.

Hear all about the case from Kate herself here, if you’re in Australia and have access to 7plus (or if you have a VPN) https://7plus.com.au/murder-uncovered?fbclid=IwAR0YBqTUwwAAEp1Cz7-mBYo7sTC2peGTD3a46qW3miPeeQIwSyyEshfiV2k

To learn more about the controversy about the film Hounds of Love, go here https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/survivor-blasts-birnie-film-ng-ya-114131?fbclid=IwAR39RXFtVSZ-FysypCkVjoVcD_i7psZdFJV7aBsy_MjO68wUFl1YxBvDuDc

For everything else, there’s Murderpedia https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/birnie-david.htm

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