Murder and the Hellcats
The Queensland Cat Protection Society president was gruesomely murdered in 1998 and everyone assumed it was her arch enemy in the society. No one thought it was a random attack. MURDER AND THE HELLCATS investigates this bizarre true crime, full of characters too strange to be true, and a justice system quick to convict on DNA evidence alone.
When the victim, middle-aged veterinarian Kathleen Marshall, wasn’t helping animals she was defending Brisbane’s heritage architecture, the arts, green spaces or any other worthy cause she turned her attention to. She was the kind of neighbour if you lopped a tree, she‘d likely abuse you and then report you to council. With a sense of superiority and do-goodery, she was known in the neighbourhood as “an absolute bitch”.
It wasn’t surprising when she joined the Cat Protection Society that she immediately muscled her way to the top job. But even before her ascendency, the Cat Society was not a cozy club of matronly women bottle-feeding orphaned kitties. With large bequests at stake, it had long been a hotbed of infighting with a history of coups, dodgy accounting, an ASIC investigation, an animal cruelty prosecution, a private detective hired to spy on members, and a prior unsolved murder linked to the group.
Kathleen complained of being stalked and, weeks before her murder, was involved in a physical altercation with another member of the Cat Society — Kathleen’s nemesis and the original person of interest in the case.
Everyone was surprised when Andrew Fitzherbert was arrested for her murder. This slightly built, quiet, middle-aged man who restored books and read palms for a living, was a pacifist and conscientious objector in the Vietnam War. There was no eyewitness, no murder weapon found, no motive established. Yet with just five drops of blood at the scene that matched Andrew’s, the fledgling forensic science of DNA led to his conviction and life sentence. This was the first case in Australian history where DNA evidence alone led to a conviction.
Episodes
10 episodes
Ep.10 The Whistleblower
A confluence of cases with questionable DNA at the JTC, around the time of Andrew's case, raises the prospect of more significant issues at the lab. This is confirmed when I track down a whistleblower. This former JTC senior scientist outlines ...
Ep.9 Badly Degraded
The case of Lindy Chamberlain and Andrew Fitzherbert are linked by the retired DNA expert Barry Boettcher and Barry also happens to have a connection to the host's husband! The Lindy Chamberlain case reveals more erroneous forensics. A discussi...
Ep.8 Errant Garbage
After studying the Kathleen Marshall murder my attitude to offering a sample for DNA testing in a criminal case has changed. The DNA discovery in Andrew's case stopped police from pursuing other avenues of investigation. There were multiple iss...
Ep.7 Nondescript in Every Way
What were Andrew's whereabouts on Thursday, the day police thought Kathleen was killed and Friday, the day she was more likely killed? Photoboards are not regarded as reliable identification in a murder case and Andrew's smiling face likely sto...
Ep.6 Who is John Wilson?
Who did Victor and Pauline Licciardi see at Kathleen's house the day police thought she was killed? Their evidence, along with a refusal provide a DNA sample, sent police on the hunt to prove Andrew was the killer.
Ep.5 Cat Fight
Kathleen shared her fears of being stalked. A cat fight breaks out at Kathleen's house. The congregation of cat ladies outside Katheen's house, the day her body was found, tell police the murderer has just driven past. And that woman becomes th...
Ep.4 The Watch
Another crime committed close by, muddies the water. Crime scene diagrams created by the police forensic officer contain an item that could be crucial to the case - a detail that seems to have been missed till now. A walk through Eildon Hill Re...
Ep.3 Death March
Kathleen's house looks like it's been ransacked and police question the placement of a particular piece of sheet music on her grand piano. Time of death doesn't match a number of eye witnesses who saw Kathleen alive when she was supposed to be ...