Former detective Duncan McNab is live and talking all things Dawn O’Donnell at 6pm.
Thirty years ago on the Sleaze Ball weekend - known by some as the Labour Day Weekend - Ludwig Gertsch disappeared. He was allegedly last seen on the corner of Oxford and Palmer Streets by his solicitor Brian Roberts. Ludwig had recently inherited most of estate of the late Roger Claude Teyssedre who, with Dawn O’Donnell (immortalized in film as Croc A Dyke Dundee and reputed to be handy with a box of matches) had pioneered and profited from their multiple gay venues - pubs, clubs, restaurants, saunas, back rooms and sex shops. Roger, suffering from AIDS, died unexpectedly. Dark rumours swirled in chic and not so chic salons that his departure had been hastened by his heir. Noses of would be beneficiaries to Roger’s estate who’d expected a windfall, were decidedly out of joint.
Ludwig’s body was found weeks later in the Blue Mountains. Whisper of whodunnit were rife, and one suspect was Dawn - she’d managed to benefit handsomely. Or police officers moonlighting as hitmen.Or... What was missing was evidence. Two Inquests shed some light on the opera in three acts that was the demise of Roger and Ludwig. The Coroner referred a ‘known person’ to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Gay Sydney waited for charges but the DPP weren’t keen to prosecute. Thirty years later no one has been arrested for Ludwig’s murder
Join Brandy and Duncan McNab on a tour into one of Sydney’s enduring mysteries - glitz, glamour, caftans, hunky bricklayers, forged wills, dire threats, turbulent dinner parties, arson (or just bad luck with old wiring) towels, glory holes and murder. And that’s just the start…
Duncan McNab is a former police detective, private investigator, investigative journalist and media adviser to government and the private sector. He is the author of 12 books with the latest, on the Ruby Princess, due out this summer. His previous work includes the phenomenally bestselling DEAD MAN RUNNING (with Ross Coulthart), OUTLAW BIKERS IN AUSTRALIA, and WATERFRONT. Duncan was a producer on the Kennedy and Clarion award-winning MURDER UNCOVERED series (7 Network) in 2017. In 2017 his book GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER won the Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime. In the same year, his bestselling book on disgraced former detective and convicted murderer ROGER ROGERSON was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime.
Tickers include a special event cocktail. $20.
Limited tickets, get in quick!