Episode 11: Eaglehawk

Donna Manallack fronts up at Eaglehawk Court House to give evidence at the inquest into Rosslyn McQueen’s death. The teenager is challenged by Ray McQueen’s lawyer. He tries to get her to change her story about Ray’s infatuation with her and his plan for her to live with him. Donna drops a bombshell about the status of her relationship with Ray, a year after Rosslyn’s death. Ray's mother, Beryl McQueen, angrily denies tailoring her evidence to try to make her alleged killer son’s conduct look less suspicious. Beryl paints Ros as deeply depressed and worried that she has a serious cancer. Ron Blackshaw breaks his silence about the purported ‘virginity testing’ of Donna.  Ron reveals why it was appropriate for Donna to be examined in an intrusive and embarrassing way - and how the outcome helped the murder investigation. Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription. Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on Facebook Do you know more? Contact the team at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Key evidence revealed at the Eaglehawk Court House on day one of the 1987 coronial inquest into Rosslyn's death is examined by Hedley and Karina. Two witnesses give telling evidence about whether Ray needed to contact Ros urgently on the morning she was found dead.  According to several witnesses, Ros and Ray's toddler told them "Mummy's dead" on the day Ros died. The daughter of the neighbour Gordon Rosengren comes forward and reveals Jodie said this to her too.  Professor of Psychology Virginia Slaughter shares an expert view about whether the toddler could have come up with the words based on what she saw and what she understood at that time. Some have suggested a sinister scenario: that she heard the words from her father on the morning of Rosslyn's death. Another case heard at the court 90 years before Ros's inquest has some uncanny similarities with Rosslyn's and Ray's circumstances.  Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription. Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on Facebook Do you know more? Contact the team at [email protected]  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hedley, Karina and Rex reunite in Melbourne for a podcast live event for listeners. Some of Rosslyn’s relatives are in the audience, along with her close friends Wendy, Jillian and Lisa. Many new connections are made and new information comes to light.  The morning after the event, Rex reflects on the podcast investigation and shares what the future might hold for the case.  Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription. Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on Facebook Do you know more? Contact the team at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Bendigo resident Max Miles comes forward to reveal that Ray McQueen asked him troubling questions about autopsy testing in the days immediately after Rosslyn's death.  Hedley and Karina delve into strychnine, the toxic farming poison that killed Rosslyn. With help from experts like toxicologist Adjunct Professor Dimitri Gerostamoulos, and historical and modern poisoning accounts, they unpack how the "very nasty poison" can produce violent convulsions in someone who ingests it. Because if Rosslyn died experiencing back-arching convulsions often caused by strychnine poisoning, is it likely that she would have ended up lying across the kitchen chair after her death? Police suspect she was placed there after she died. We talk to experts to tackle these questions.  Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription. Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on Facebook Do you know more? Contact the team at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the first time, Rosslyn's best friend Wendy's real voice is heard in the podcast. She has never believed that her friend committed suicide and is sure she met foul play.  Wendy reveals that homicide detectives told her some things in 1987 about Ros's poisoning with strychnine and their theory about how her body ended up on a kitchen chair. Wendy recalls how she connected with Rex years ago after he placed a public notice in a newspaper. After many phone calls, the pair meet for the first time in Bendigo during the podcast investigation.  Hedley unpacks the highlights of Rex's heroic investigation efforts and the many rejections he received along the way.  When Rex's regular phone calls stop, Hedley discovers Rex has been unwell and in hospital. Rex describes his immense relief that Rosslyn's story is finally being told.   Subscribers hear new episodes of The Poisoned Wife first.  Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription. Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on Facebook Do you know more? Contact the team at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donna reveals she received a secret letter from Ray after Rosslyn's death. The then teenager tells Hedley and Karina that she didn't give it to police when they came to her home with a search warrant. Donna recalls how the letter "freaked her out" and regrets not handing it over. Donna asks herself whether things might have turned out differently if she and others had "not fought for Ray" had they known about his lies at the time.  Back in Bendigo, Rex tells Hedley and Karina why the inscription on the headstone of Rosslyn's grave infuriates him. Subscribers hear new episodes of The Poisoned Wife first.  Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription. Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on Facebook Do you know more? Contact the team at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former detective Ron Blackshaw breaks his silence to reflect on critical aspects of the police case, 40 years after charging Ray with Ros's murder.  Ray told friends, neighbours, work colleagues and teenager Donna that Ros had cancer and might die. Ros and her doctors told a very different story.  A former neighbour of Ray and his first wife Jeanette speaks publicly for the first time about helping Jeanette flee the family home.  Peter and Yvonne Dixon "call bullshit" on Ray's claims their neighbour Vin McKenzie supplied the strychnine that killed Ros. They say Vin went to his grave heartbroken from the smear. Rex's reasons for relentlessly investigating Ros's death become clearer.  Subscribers hear new episodes of The Poisoned Wife first. Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription. Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on Facebook Do you know more? Contact the team at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donna drops a bombshell during her police interview. Two months after Rosslyn's sudden death, Ray asked Donna to live with him in a "husband and wife relationship". Her mother and stepfather are horrified.  Ray tells his friend Evan Doherty that Donna had offered to live with him to repay him for his help to her. Evan doubts Ray's supposedly altruistic motives in relation to Donna.  Donna endures an intrusive medical examination to test her claim to police that she has not had sex with Ray.  After hours of questioning by homicide detectives, Ray is charged with murdering his wife. He maintains his innocence, telling detectives he loved Ros, was devoted to her and wouldn't do a thing to hurt her. Subscribers hear new episodes of The Poisoned Wife first. Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on FacebookDo you know more? Contact the team at [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ray's mother Beryl McQueen tells police they used strychnine to poison foxes on the family farm, where Ray lived for about 25 years. Ray's first wife Jeanette McQueen makes startling disclosures to police about the tumultuous end of her marriage to Ray and his violence towards her.  Ros is so concerned about Ray and Donna's closeness that she involves her mother-in-law. Friends notice Ray and Donna's intimacy and ask Ros if something is going on. In the months before Ros dies, Donna and Ray are often seen close together in Ray's car at the local tennis club. Members of the club are highly suspicious of the friendship.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Homicide squad detectives rush from Melbourne to Bendigo. They hit the ground running, questioning Donna and Ray within days of one another. Detectives identify contradictions in their accounts, including when Ray denies kissing Donna before Ros's death.   Ray suggests that his neighbour Vin, who found Ros's body, might have been the source of the strychnine that killed Ros. Ros's mother pleads with her daughter's best friend, Wendy, to tell the police everything she knows.  Subscribers hear new episodes of The Poisoned Wife first. Listen at thepoisonedwife.com, in The Australian’s app or search for The Poisoned Wife on Apple Podcasts to connect your subscription.Join the conversation and hear more from Hedley Thomas in The Poisoned Wife Podcast Official Discussion Group on FacebookDo you know more? Contact the team at [email protected]  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.