Unfiltered

Mar 12 2024 30 ep. 52 mins 5.2k

Unfiltered Podcast artwork

Unfiltered invites guests from all walks of life to share real stories about justice and transformation. Join host Raquel O'Brien for a series of raw and honest conversations from a range of perspectives in an invitation for you to make up your own mind. No topic is off-limits.

Society & Culture True Crime

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30: Jeremy Gans: Guilty Pigs and Ouija Board Jurors

Mar 12 2024 41 mins

Legal professor Jeremy Gans teaches at Melbourne University's Law School. An accomplished author, he conducts research across all aspects of the criminal justice system, including the highly unconventional. One of Jeremy's books details a case of juror misconduct involving the use of an Ouija board. Another details the history of the law's treatment of animals. We're talking guil

29: Mike DiVicino: LA Mob Enforcer Turned Mentor

Mar 05 2024 45 mins

In the early 1990s, Mike DiVicino was convicted of a string of robberies and kidnappings in Los Angeles. He was subsequently given three consecutive life sentences. Behind bars, Mike began collecting heartfelt letters from his fellow inmates to centre at-risk youth, giving them insight into how the choices they make today can have dire consequences in the future. Mike was released

28: Martin Hodgson: Reversing Recidivism

Feb 27 2024 43 mins

When an individual is released from prison, only to relapse into criminal behaviour and be sent back behind bars, it’s known as the “revolving prison door.” In Australia, it’s estimated that over 50% of incarcerated people re-offend within two years and end up back in prison. In the US, that number is estimated to be as high as 75%. My guest today is Human Rights Activist

27: Madeline Heather: Reclaiming Her Story of Survival

Feb 20 2024 65 mins

Madeline Heather is the host of Reclaim Me, a remarkable podcast that spotlights the voices of individuals who’ve survived unimaginable crimes. Madeline herself is a survivor. At the age of 14, she attended a sleepover at a friend’s house, which quickly turned into a nightmare. In this week’s episode of Unfiltered, Madi shares her first-hand account of waking in the middle

26: Tom Voigt: Howard Stern’s Zodiac Guy

Feb 13 2024 50 mins

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Zodiac Killer terrorized the Bay Area of Northern California, murdering at least five people. He toyed with law enforcement officials, leaving clues about his identity in letters and cipher codes he sent to local newspapers. To this day, the case remains unsolved. Tom Voight was a kid growing up in Southern California when the Zodiac was acti

25: Sam Riggio: The Miracle Walker

Feb 06 2024 43 mins

On the 26th of January 1999, Sam Riggio’s life took an unexpected turn. A routine drive through his hometown turned into a catastrophic collision when a truck merged into his lane. Sam was left with a dislocated skull, shattered pelvis, broken ankle, ruptured spleen and stomach, lacerated liver and a punctured lung. Paralyzed from the neck down, medical staff told him he would ne

24: Olivia LaVoice: Unpacking The Bakersfield Three

Jan 30 2024 40 mins

For this week's episode of Unfiltered, I'm joined by Emmy Award winning crime reporter, Olivia LaVoice. Olivia hosts the Bakersfield Three podcast, which tells the story of three friends who either went missing or were murdered in the space of six weeks. Unconvinced that the cases were unrelated, the mothers of the three friends joined forces, transforming their grief and despair i

23: Shawn Rech and Brenda Schuler: Convicting a Murderer

Jan 23 2024 59 mins

In 2015, Netflix released a 10-part documentary series, Making A Murderer, that explores the 2005 Manitowoc area homicide of 25-year-old photographer Theresa Hallback and the convictions of Stephen Avery and Brendan Dassey. The series became a true crime cult classic, leaving a lot of viewers with an overwhelming sensation that Stephen Avery had been framed. But then, in 2023, dir

22: Erika Schlotthauer: Domestic Violence to Death & Everything In Between

Jan 16 2024 44 mins

On the 19th of November 2023, I got my first response to the call-out I extend at the end of some of our episodes, asking for personal stories from listeners related to justice and transformation. Erika Schlotthauer, a licensed psychotherapist, answered the call and is ready to share her story publicly for the first time. Please join Erika and I for this week’s episode of Unf

21: James Nelson: Abolition of the Prison System

Jan 09 2024 29 mins

Here’s a staggering reality: The United States, with only about 5% of the world's population, holds 25% of the world's prisoners. This raises a critical question: Does the US prison system perpetuate the oppressive legacy of slavery? In hopes of some perspective, I’m joined by James Nelson, an abolitionist who, at just 19 years old, was sentenced to life in prison for a murder