Inside The Minds Of Australia’s Worst Female Killers
4/1/202649 min
Katherine Knight, Sarah Makin, Caroline Grills, Catherine Birnie, Helen Moore, and Rachel Pfitzner are among the most notorious female killers in Australian history. But what compels a woman to take a life, whether it’s someone close to her or, more rarely, a stranger?
Dr Xanthe Weston, a criminal psychologist, has long been driven by this very question. Drawing on years of research into cases like these, she joins us today to explore what she’s discovered - why women’s motives for killing often differ from men’s, and whether some perpetrators are inherently predisposed to violence...
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGemma Bath· Host0:00
[suspenseful music] It's March 1979 in Southwest Sydney, and Helen Moore has been put in charge of babysitting her two brothers while her parents enjoy a night out. Only four days ago, her stepbrother, 14-month-old Andrew, was discharged from hospital after being found unresponsive in his cot. Doctors say he narrowly escaped from SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. But 17-year-old Helen is confident she'll be able to handle the evening alone, as she ushers her mom and dad out the door.
Celeste Barber· Soundbite0:30
Bye. Have fun.
Gemma Bath· Host0:31
Later that evening, her 13-year-old brother, Craig, hears Helen screaming. He rushes into her bedroom and sees Andrew. He's not breathing again.
Celeste Barber· Soundbite0:42
Wake up.
Gemma Bath· Host0:42
The young boy quickly starts to give the toddler mouth-to-mouth, while Helen runs to the neighbor's house for help. But it's no use. Andrew is gone. At first, his death is ruled as SIDS, but a trail of death starts to follow Helen. By early 1980, four children have died while being babysat by Helen. Two more have been found unresponsive, and only just survived. By the age of 18, Australia will know Helen as the Babysitter Killer. [gentle music] I'm Gemma Bath, and you're listening to True Crime Conversations, a podcast exploring the world's most notorious crimes by speaking to the people who know the most about them. Moore ended