Original title
Sensing Murder
Released
1/10/2006
Origin country
AU, NZ
Genre
Documentary, Drama
Production companies
Prime Time Productions Holdings, Ninox Television
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
4
Number of episodes
33
Sensing Murder is a television series from New Zealand and Australia, in which psychics are asked to act as psychic detectives to help provide evidence that might be useful in solving famous unsolved murder cases in each country by communicating with the deceased victims.
In 1976, thirteen-year-old schoolgirl Tracey Ann Patient was plucked off Auckland's Great North Road. The following morning, her body was found dumped 16 km away in the Waitakere Ranges, having been strangled with a pantyhose tourniquet. Deb Webber and Sue Nicholson investigate.
The psychics investigate the unsolved kidnapping of Sharon Wills and Nicola Lynas, and kidnapping/murder of Karmein Chan.
In 1970, eighteen-year-old Olive Waiker disappeared as she walked across Rotorua to babysit her nieces and nephews. Her semi-naked body was found hours later in a rest area south of the city, having been bashed to death so feircly that her skull had smashed into seven pieces. Deb Webber and Adelle Dishcombe investigate.
In 1985, 25-year-old Luana 'La Verne' Williams disappeared from her Tauranga home. Eight years later her disappearance was upgraged to a murder enquiry. Her body has never been found. Sue Nicholson, Scott Russell Hill, and Kelvin Cruickshank invesitgate.
In 1980, six-year-old Alicia O'Reilly was raped and murdered in her bed, while her sister slept less than a metre away, and her mother sleeping across the hallway. Kelvin Cruickshank and Deb Webber investigate.
Australian case, unsolved double murder of Lorraine Wilson and Wendy Evans
In this episode of Sensing Murder we learn about the murder of Angela Blackmoore, a 21 year old woman with a 2 year old child. Divorced (or separated) from the father of her child she lives with her new partner in Christchurch. When her partner returns home from working late on the night of the 17th of August 1995, he finds Angela murdered in the kitchen of their home. She had been stabbed 39 times. The child was not harmed and the killer has not been found.
Australian case, unsolved murder of Elizabeth Barnard
Psychics Kelvin Cruickshank (NZ) and Deb Webber (Aus) investigate the unsolved murder of Lower Hutt pensioner 91 year old George Engelbrecht. In 1979, a burglar broke into George's home and beat the old man to death in his bed.
Scott Russell Hill & Debbie Malone try to solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of 23 year old Sarah MacDiarmid from Kananook train station on 11 July 1990.
Almost Perfect revisits one of Australias most baffling family murders - the case of Elmer Crawford. He appeared to be an average family man, but then in 1970, he murdered his pregnant wife and three children, with no apparent motive. He electrocuted them then sent them over a cliff in the family car. Unbeknownst to Elmer, the car hit a small ledge and hung on above the crashing waves. It endured the stormy night hanging on the cliff edge with only a few centimetres of limestone stopping it from falling into the sea, and it was discovered the next morning by 2 tourists. A Coronial inquest was held in 1971, which found Elmer responsible for the deaths of his family. Despite numerous reported sightings over the past three decades, Elmer has never been caught. Psychics Deb Webber and Barbara Neilson re-investigate the crime and trace his movements since.
The disappearance of a 14-year-old girl in the early 1980s, whose body was eventually found - along with five others - in the Australian Outback, but whose killer was never brought to justice
Sensing Murder Insight (screening TV2, 8:30pm Tuesday 4th September 2007) launches a new series of Sensing Murder on New Zealand television. Police detectives from around New Zealand reveal exciting new developments sparked by the Sensing Murder psychics in Series 1. And, for the first time, the Sensing Murder filming process is laid bare as die-hard sceptic and professional clinical psychologist Nigel Latta scrutinises a full psychic read.
In 1999, Kiwi engineer Aaron Hopa and his English colleague Robert Glazzard were murdered on board a survey ship in the Persian Gulf in. Aaron's father is the sole policeman in the South Island town of Geraldine and is convinced at least one of the 28 men on board the ship is responsible. Psychics Deb Webber and Kelvin Cruickshank investigate.
When 12 year old Agnes Ali'iva'a drowned in a ditch in 1992, the police initially thought her death was accidental. It was four years before public and political pressure forced police to re-investigate her death. A second coroner's inquest confirmed that Agnes had drowned under suspicious circumstances and a second police team concluded they were dealing with a possible homicide. Psychics Sue Nicholson and Deb Webber investigate the suspicious death of young Agnes.
In 1993, devoted father Kevin O'Loughlin came face to face with the dark side of sunny Nelson when he was brutally stabbed to death after a night out on the town. Police believe Kevin was killed by more than one person but, to this day, the identity of his murderers remains a mystery. Psychics Kelvin Cruickshank and Deb Webber investigate Kevin's murder.
54 year old Simon Buis was savagely beaten and kicked to death in an Auckland park in 1980 by persons unknown. To this day, his killers have evaded capture. Simon was a gifted photographer, who socialised with some of New Zealand's best known artists. Friend Tim Shadbolt described him as a "philosopher" and a "Socrates type" who enjoyed a good debate. His murder devastated his family and shocked Auckland's artistic community. Psychics Sue Nicholson and Deb Webber turn to the spirit world for answers
Spirited teenager Jayne Furlong dreamed of becoming a child psychologist - instead, she ended up a prostitute. In 1993, 17 year old Jayne vanished from her patch on Auckland's Karangahape Road. Police suspect that Jayne was murdered -- but, to this day, her body has not been found. Her disappearance is investigated by psychics Deb Webber and Kelvin Cruickshank.
Otautau toddler Amber-Lee, aged two and a half, vanished from Kingston at the southern tip of Lake Wakatipu on October 17, 1992.
25 year old Te Puke woman Judy Yorke was a devoted solo Mum who adored her kids. When she missed her daughter’s Fourth birthday party, her family knew something was terribly wrong and reported her missing. Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson investigate.
42 year old Garth Doull was last seen on the 17th of August boarding a ship in Wellington harbour. Police don’t know if he died on that day, or at a later stage. A newspaper found in his bedroom was dated two weeks later, suggesting he may have died after the 17th. Police could not find a murder scene, nor could they narrow down a motive for murder. Garth had swindled many people, but he was a small time crook and police did not believe he’d angered enough to warrant them killing him. Garth’s sisters, who are still traumatised by his murder, remember a scared Garth fleeing Auckland shortly before his death. Did his past catch up with him somehow? In The Great Pretender, presented by Rebecca Gibney, psychics Deb Webber and Kelvin Cruickshank attempt to tune into Garth Doull’s spirit to answer the questions that have baffled police for all these years. When did Garth die? How did he die? Where? Why? And who killed him?
Jim Donnelly was a hard-working family man living a quiet life in suburban Auckland. For 20 years he’d worked as a scientist at the Glenbrook Steel Mill, south of Auckland. On the 21st of June 2004, he simply vanished into thin air…Deb Webber and Sue Nicholson investigate his disappearance.
Behind the scenes with the psychics on the show.
In 2006, 19 year old Blake Stott died in a mysterious car fire. Blake had seemingly pulled into a South Otago lay-by to have a sleep, when his late-model, un-modified car burst into flames. Because the fire damage was so severe, a team of fire experts were unable to conclusively determine the cause of the blaze. They suspected an “unspecified electrical fault” was to blame. The police found no evidence of foul play, the coroner ruled that Blake had died from carbon monoxide poisoning and the case was closed - much to the distress of Blake’s family. Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson search for answers.
26 year old deaf woman Alexa Cullen vanished from her home in Manaia, on the Coromandel Peninsular in 1995. She had a history of hitch-hiking and police suspected she’d run away. But three years later, ominous rumors began circulating in the community, prompting police to launch a murder enquiry. To this day, Alexa’s body is missing and the events of that fateful day remain a mystery. Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson investigate.
In 2003, 32 year old mother of three Sara Neithe vanished from the Hauraki Plains. Neither Sara nor her car have been seen since. Police suspect that Sara has been murdered but without a crime scene, they have been unable to advance the case. Deb Webber and Sue Nicholson investigate.
This week’s episode of Sensing Murder promises greater co-operation between psychics and police, attempting to uncover the truth about the death of 18 year old apprentice plumber Regan O’Donoghue, who was killed in a hit and run last year. Regan O'Donoghue was walking home from a party held at Elstow Hall near Te Aroha in 2007 when he was fatally struck down by a car. Police believe the car crossed the centre line to hit Regan, and that it may have been deliberate.
This episodes involves the disappearance of 62 year old Kaye Stewart, a woman who went missing while on a short walk on June 13th, 2005. She was walking in Rimutaka Forest Park, near Wellington, NZ
This week, for the first time ever, the prime suspect in a murder enquiry has turned to Sensing Murder for help. Since 1977, farmer Lindsay Calvert has had to endure local suspicion that he murdered his wife Lesley, who was missing for seven months before her body turned up in an area that had already been searched. Although the coroner ruled that Lesley died from 'unknown causes', and the police thought she had probably committed suicide, Calvert is still convinced that his wife was murdered. Calvert is adamant that he adored his wife. "It was everything I ever dreamed a relationship would be," he says. "We were soul mates - and she was a fantastic mum." Soon after Lesley's disappearance, some local people started to speculate on his possible involvement in the crime, and disturbing things began happening in the Calvert household. "We had a house cow shot. We had four sheep shot up here by the stock yard - gut shot at that, which is very cruel," Calvert explains. "My kids had two pet goats, they both disappeared." His daughter, Sandra Calvert also remembers the unsettling occurrences. "We'd go down to our grandparents for dinner and we'd come back and things had been moved in the house. Things had been pulled out of the hot water cupboard - it was scary." Now, frustrated by the years of suspicion, Calvert wants the psychics to clear his name and unmask the real killer. Psychics Webber and Cruickshank travel into the heart of Taranaki King Country in search of answers about Lesley's mysterious death.
In 2004 Brendan Percy was found dead of hypothermia and dehydration in a sub alpine area above Oamaru in suspicious circumstances. Psychics Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson go to new heights to uncover the truth about Brendan's death.
Katikati man Siegfried Newman disappeared on February 25, 2008, after he had dropped his sons Thomas, 9, and Oliver, 7, at Pahoia School. Police carried out a three-day search but found no sign of him. At the time, police said Mr Newman was known to be suffering depression over the loss of his wife Vicki, who had died a few months earlier of cancer.
Sue Nicholson and Deb Webber investigate one of the most complex and intriguing cases ever featured - did Waikato man Jason Dark commit suicide, or was he murdered, as his family believe?
65 year old Alan Gordon Woodford, of Bedford St, Mossburn left his home on foot Saturday morning April 20, 1985 and was never seen or heard of again. Weeks of searching by police, family members and volunteers, taking in all rivers in the area and a shoulder-to-shoulder search of the Takitimu mountains, found nothing.
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