Bondi Badlands

Coming soon - Bondi Badlands

Bondi Badlands, from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, investigates a series of murders and mysterious disappearances that happened on the southern headland at Sydney's Bondi Beach in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  When a high profile TV newsreader and weatherman disappeared on the Bondi cliff tops on a frigid winter's night in July 1989, it received nationwide news coverage but such a shoddy police investigation that links would not be drawn to a series of other murders at Bondi and across Sydney at the time. More than a decade later, one police investigator would join the dots, revealing a dark mosaic of murder that would keep unfolding to this day. Subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Introducing Bondi Badlands

Ahead of the first episode of Bondi Badlands this week, listen to host and Good Weekend deputy editor Greg Callaghan in conversation with Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland about the series and a special preview of what to expect. For over 15 years, Greg Callaghan has been writing about the murders of gay men at the clifftops on the southern headland of Sydney's Bondi. This was the epicentre of a wave of gay hate killings that spread across Sydney at the time. Now Callaghan hosts a podcast which delves into the factors behind this war on gay men and why these murders continue to reverberate as cold cases. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe https://subscribe.theage.com.au/ or https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Newsreader Vanishes

On a freezing night in July 1989, Ross Warren, a newsreader from WIN TV in Wollongong, NSW, vanishes into thin air on the southern headland at Sydney’s Bondi. After a brief investigation, the case lies dormant for years until a detective at Paddington police station, moved by a bundle of letters from Ross Warren’s mother, picks up the case – and discovers a pattern of horrific violence on the headland. If you value independent, quality journalism, please subscribe to the SMH or The Age. Thanks for listening and don't forget to check out more of our great podcasts here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Murder of a Barman

Barman John Russell has just inherited $100,000 and is about to leave Bondi to build a house on his dad's property and travel Australia. But after farewell drinks with his best mate, Russell goes for a cliffside walk, where the 31-year-old gay man is set upon by his killers and hurled to his death.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blood City

The savage killing on the Bondi clifftops of a Thai man, Kritchikorn Rattanajurathaporn, in July 1990 results in murder convictions for three young men. But as the spree of anti-gay violence and murder escalates across Sydney, the LGBTQ community starts to fight back: from staging a mass demonstration at the gates of state parliament, to street patrols along Oxford Street, to angry activists splattering red paint over public buildings. More than a decade later, as Detective Sergeant Steve Page reviews the cold cases of the disappearances and murders on the Bondi headland, he begins to join the dots with other killings across Sydney in the late 1980s and early 1990s.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.