The Murder of Betty Shanks

Murder in the Land of Oz

Betty Shanks was twenty-two years old and walking home from work when she was attacked, beaten and left for dead. Could be the first line of any article in the Courier Mail today, unfortunately, but this attack happened in 1952, and her killer was never found.

This week your girls talk exhaustively about Jess’s childhood, just how dirty motorbikes are, and just how unbelievably shitty it is to be a woman sometimes, regardless of what decade we’re in.

In 1952, a young woman named Betty Shanks was walking home from work when she was attacked, beaten, and left to die on the side of the road.

I have now told you literally everything there is to know about this case.

There are no suspects, really, despite the fact that every couple of years someone pops out of the woodwork claiming they know who did it.

There isn’t much information to be found out there about this case, due to the age and the unsolved nature of the crime. No one was ever brought to trial or even charged with ending the life of Betty.

Our main source this week was I Know Who Killed Betty Shanks, by Ted Duhs, which can be found here https://www.amazon.com.au/Know-Who-Killed-Betty-Shanks-ebook/dp/B0732NTR3K, although fair warning, there’s some graphic imagery and also, we didn’t love it as a read.

If you want to read another book about the case, you can’t cause it’s out of print, but the title to search the library for is Who Killed Betty Shanks? By Ken Blanch

For some lighter reading, we have the following news articles

https://www.qt.com.au/news/author-to-name-former-cop-as-betty-shanks-killer/3043045/

https://www.qt.com.au/news/betty-shanks-murder-case-cracked-by-lyle/2863230/

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/the-1952-unsolved-murder-of-betty-shanks-in-brisbane-sparks-battle-between-publishers-of-rival-books/news-story/23e072af565c0398f05b04efe5f6cbdd

And ya primary sources, if you’re doing a school essay https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/101721302

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