Case #059 - Yanfei Bao

Forty-four year old real estate agent Yanfei Bao went missing in July 2023. Jesse Mulligan talks to RNZ's award-winning crime correspondent Sam Sherwood who covered the case, which resulted in 54-year old Tingjun Cao imprisoned for life for her murder.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In 2021, Lauren Dickason was found guilty of the murder of her three daughters. In this episode, Jesse Mulligan talks to Adam Burns who covered the heart-breaking case for RNZ.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

In 2001, pizza delivery driver Michael Choy was robbed and fatally attacked by six offenders, all under the age of 17. Jesse talks with defence lawyer Marie Dyhrberg KC who represented one of the other teenagers found guilty of manslaughter for his role in the attack.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Grace Millane's disappearance attracted international attention and the discovery of her body in Auckland's Waitākere Ranges sent shockwaves around the world. Jesse Kempson was eventually found guilty of her murder. Reporter Alice Wilkins covered the trial.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

On September 5, 2025, Julia DeLuney was sentenced to 18 years in jail for the murder of her mother. RNZ's Kate Green covered the trial which heard details of how 79-year-old Helen Gregory was brutally killed in her own home.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

From Black Sheep: In 1892 a masked figure in a bizarre uniform began a 15 month crime spree, robbing people at gunpoint in and around New Plymouth. When he was finally arrested and unmasked, residents were dumbfounded to discovered the perpetrator was mild-mannered Robert Wallath - the teenage son of a local farmer and carpenter.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

A suitcase was found floating in the Waitematā Harbour in 1966. Its contents kicked off an international manhunt and one of Aotearoa's biggest fraudsters. Joseph Sheehan BEM was a detective on the case.In 1966, the captain of the Salvation Army barge was heading up the Waitematā Harbour when he spotted a mysterious suitcase floating in the water.He fished it out and discovered documents from the cosmetics company Leidrum and Hartnell.A company which turned out to be a sham. The man behind it, Robert Gardner, had already left the country. Sending Joseph Sheehan, a detective sergeant at the time, on an international man.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Michael Blowers was a police officer, family man and pillar of the community. He was also stealing drugs from the police exhibit room and giving them to his mistress to sell. RNZ's Charlie Dreaver describes Blowers downfall.In 2014, former police detective Michael Blowers was sent to prison for five years on a raft of drug-related offences.For years he had been stealing drugs from the Whangarei police exhibits room and giving them to his mistress to sell.RNZ reporter Charlie Dreaver was in the courtroom for his trial and describes how his downfall shocked the Northland community.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

True crime writer Scott Bainbridge takes us through the unsolved murder of pharmacist Arthur Blomfield, who was bludgeoned to death in his Auckland store, Mackay's Dispensary, in 1931.In 1931, just before closing time, pharmacist Arthur Blomfield was bludgeoned to death at the back of Mackay's dispensary on Wellesley Street in central Auckland.His killer has never been found.True crime author Scott Bainbridge talks us through the details of this case and shares who the prime suspect might be.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Alan Hall spent nearly two decades in jail for the 1985 murder of Arthur Easton. In 2022 his convictions were quashed. Stuff journalist Mike White explains the flaws in the case against Hall and Geoff Hall talks about his brother's life after prison.In 1985, Arthur Easton was murdered by a bayonet wielding intruder, in his Papakura home.His two sons were also injured trying to fight off the attacker.In 1986, Alan Hall was convicted of the crime and spent 19 years in jail. But he has always protested his innocence and 37 years after Easton's death, Hall's convictions were quashed. Stuff senior investigative reporter Mike White and Alan's brother Geoff share details of the case and Hall's fight for justice.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details