The NSW Special Commission into LGBTIQ hate crimes is a world first and its report was released just days before Christmas 2023.  It was appropriately critical of NSW Police and contains 19 recommendations which should have a massive impact on the handling of cold case murders in NSW. But in the background is another cold case murder, and one that was initially bungled (like so many) but later prompted competent police to think they may have an epidemic of gay hate crimes on their hands.

That case is the 1990 murder of Ludwig Gertsch, a hairdresser, retired go go boy and heir to a chunk of the estate of his late lover Roger Claude Teyssedre who, with Dawn O’Donnell, built an empire of gay bars, hotels, sex on premises venues, etc. along the streets of Sydney throughout the 1970s and 1980’s.The mysterious circumstances surrounding Roger’s death and Ludwig’s murder months later, raise unsettling questions, creating a web of intrigue and suspicion. Ludwig’s death  was originally thought to have been a hate crime a but turned out to be more traditional - murder possibly for love, lust and lucre. No one has been arrested and it remains a cold case.  

Join Brandon and Duncan for an update on the Special Commission then a dive into gay Sydney in the 1990s - mirror balls, mayhem and murder.

Tickets are $25 and include a cocktail on arrival.