Young mother Tara Costigan was breastfeeding her eight-day-old baby when she was bludgeoned to death by her axe-wielding partner. The horror of the young mum’s brutal death is revealed in The First Time He Hit Her.
In need of a true crime book binge? Get started with Adam Courtenay’s new work on convict William Buckley’s incredible life, then check out a dozen other titles thanks to True Crime Australia.
Teacher Stephanie Scott was about to marry the man of her dreams. But psychopath Vincent Stanford had been hiding in plain sight, waiting to make his move.
This is the story of how headmaster turned navy cryptographer Dr Frederick Wheatley become the world’s No. 1 code-cracker. Australian Code Breakers is the latest book written by The Sunday Telegraph’s James Phelps. WIN ONE OF 50 COPIES
Attempts to seduce women on the outside, heartbreak over the death of his mum, a broken romance and a growing sense of foreboding as the day of his murder edges closer are revealed in astonishing letters penned by underworld killer Carl Williams.
He wanted to be Police Commissioner, but when life as a cop fell apart he was a Mr Fix-It in Sydney’s underbelly, a money smuggler and a jailbird. Yet Charles Staunton reckons one title stands throughout — he’s a good bloke.
It took a spray of Luminol to show the blood stains on the seemingly spotless couch where Narelle Fraser had sat to question Tony Serrano, but it was what investigators found next that sickened the senior detective.
When parents Stan and Noelle Richardson drove by a car parked by the river they simply thought someone was fishing. It was only after their murdered daughter’s body was found at the spot they realised they’d likely passed her killer.
A young boy found the woman’s head. The torso was nearby, but police found little else to solve the case. The killer could easily have eluded them, but for a bizarre and blatant act involving the rest of the body. WARNING: Graphic content
It was a brutal murder in an outback town, paid for by the victim’s partner and organised by her son. But it was the jail sentence for a man who wasn’t even at the crime scene that kept the NT’s first contract killing in the news.
A mummified headless corpse found near Stawell led police to Robert Francis Burns. But a shocking confession as the hangman’s noose was placed around his neck begs the question: Was he our first serial killer?
Three desperate children run to a neighbour with horrific news: “Mammy and Daddy are dead.” It’s 1904 and an all-too-common case of murder-suicide, but there’s a wider family story, raising stark questions about criminality and the notion of nature versus nurture. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/bookextracts/page/3