Chasing Ghosts

Warning: This episode contains discussion around suicide.

In 2011, after outing her for her catfishing, David Fisher sat down with Natalia Burgess for an interview about why she had done what she had.

13 years later, David revisits that interview as he looks for answers as to why she has done what she has, and gets insight from a psychologist on the potential motivations behind her behaviour. 

Suicide and depression help services:

If it is an emergency and you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

For counselling and support:

Youth services:

For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service.

The Mental Health Foundation has more helplines and service contacts -click here for information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While Natalia is best known for catfishing teen boys and young men into relationships, she has also used the photos she has stolen to trick at least two different teenage girls - and their mothers - into believing she is a long-lost member of their family. Today, David finds out their stories and how Natalia came to infiltrate their lives. 

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In 2022, David Fisher receives an email from Crystal Jenner, a New Zealand woman living in Australia. She has approached him as her last hope after six years of trying to find a solution to Natalia stealing her photos.

David hears from her, her mother, and a friend who also had had her pictures stolen, one of the men who fell victim to Crystal's face, and a lawyer analyses why Crystal has struggled to get the law to help her. 

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In December 2010, the announcement on Facebook that Laura Jane West has died in a car crash devastates her online friends, and has ramifications in real life for those linked to her and her sisters. 

Four months later, Herald on Sunday journalist David Fisher investigates a serial catfisher targeting teen boys in Christchurch.

In his reporting, David would link these two stories together as he uncovered the extent to which the catfisher had created the world around her characters - a world that, 13 years later, he is still trying to make sense of. 

Suicide and depression help services:

If it is an emergency and you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

For counselling and support:

Youth services:

For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service.

The Mental Health Foundation has more helplines and service contacts -click here for information

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season of Chasing Ghosts - The Puppeteer - begins October 1st. 

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On Easter Monday 2021, Paulina Hanna was found dead at the Remuera home she shared with her husband of 30 years, Philip Polkinghorne.

For 16 months, her death was treated as “unexplained”. That’s until it emerged Polkinghorne had been charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty in August 2022.

From the team behind The Front Page, the New Zealand Herald's daily news podcast, comes Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial.

Listen to Accused: The Polkinghorne Trial on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, or in The Front Page podcast feed.

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Elizabeth Fraser's testimony at the coronial hearing into Donald's death sparks huge interest in Christchurch - but can she be blamed for his death? And how does the success of Donald's horse tie into his murder?

Host: Ric Stevens
Audio Editor: Alastair Boyes
Producers: Ethan Sills and Elizabeth Binning

Open Justice is funded through the Public Interest Journalism Fund through NZ on Air. 

If you know more about this case, you can get in touch at ric.stevens@nzme.co.nz

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The spotlight falls on Elizabeth Fraser as the investigation continues, but who was she and why would she want to kill her own husband? And who was the mistress that came between this marriage?

Host: Ric Stevens
Audio Editor: Alastair Boyes
Producers: Ethan Sills and Elizabeth Binning

Open Justice is funded through the Public Interest Journalism Fund through NZ on Air. 

If you know more about this case, you can get in touch at ric.stevens@nzme.co.nz

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Fraser's body is discovered, the murder investigation begins, but as Christchurch police struggle to find his killer, outsiders are brought in - and the suspect list starts to contract. 

Host: Ric Stevens
Audio Editor: Alastair Boyes
Producers: Ethan Sills and Elizabeth Binning

Open Justice is funded through the Public Interest Journalism Fund through NZ on Air. 

If you know more about this case, you can get in touch at ric.stevens@nzme.co.nz

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On November 16th, 1933, Donald Fraser was shot dead in his bed at the Racecourse Hotel. But who was the controversial publican, and why would anyone want to kill him? 

Host: Ric Stevens
Audio Editor: Alastair Boyes
Producers: Ethan Sills and Elizabeth Binning

Open Justice is funded through the Public Interest Journalism Fund through NZ on Air. 

If you know more about this case, you can get in touch at ric.stevens@nzme.co.nz

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new series of Chasing Ghosts premieres November 4th. New episodes every Saturday in November

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In the years after Goy's death, an extended police investigation and multiple coronial inquiries looked into the circumstances of her death and the actions of the men on board the boat to try and determine what happened. Eight years on, are Goy's friends and family any closer to the answers they want? 

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In February 2015, Goy Thongsi went on a diving expedition in Christchurch with four men she hardly knew. Within a few hours of setting out onto the waters of Motunau, Goy was dead and missing, and a cloud of suspicion surrounded her diving companions.

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Listen to Part One February 18th, and Part Two February 25th. 

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The lives of the three families at the centre of the case remain intertwined. And a new bid to overturn Scott Watson's conviction is reviving memories for many.

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Two decades on, two key questions continue to spark fierce debate: Was Scott Watson the mystery man? And were Ben and Olivia dropped at his boat, or a distinctive ketch almost twice the size? WARNING: Occasional use of mild language.

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What happened in the early hours of January 1, 1998? We revisit the scene of the crime on the boat where the prosecution successfully argued Scott Watson killed Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. WARNING: Occasional use of mild language.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.