Blesk Podcast: Czechs lived in a village where murder took place. Australia’s Larrimah with 10 residents is a hit

At first glance, Larrimah looks like an Australian town whose glory days are behind it and only a bunch of smiling and joking hippies live on. But the almost abandoned town with 10 inhabitants has an unsolved murder, which has been the subject of a series of reports, an award-winning podcast, a bestseller and, last but not least, the successful two-part HBO documentary Last stop Larrimah, which is currently on Netflix.

On the evening of December 16, 2017, 70-year-old Paddy Moriarty was leaving a local pub with his girlfriend. However, they did not find him at home after a few days and it was very unlikely that he had gone somewhere on his own. According to Lucky Minaříková, this was evidenced by the number of traces, including the fact that dinner was left behind in the microwave. Police began investigating the scene and interviewed 10 residents who lived in Larrimah. The smiles and relaxed mood of the locals gradually melted away and it became apparent that even among 11 people there could be huge animosity.

They didn’t know about the murder

Lucie Minaříková came to Larrimah by pure chance. At first, he and his friend Ondřej worked in Tennant Creek, when after 3 months their boss asked them if they would go to Larrimah for two weeks, where they would feed the crocodiles and kangaroos they kept at the pub. “We nodded enthusiastically, saying that feeding the crocodiles would be very good and off we went,” smiled Lucie. Two weeks stretched into three years and they became the first couple to have a baby in Larrimah in 40 years.

The couple had no idea what had happened in Larrimah. “We realized it as soon as we arrived. There was a big poster on the door of our pub that we managed saying he was lost,” Lucie described how they first found out. Later, even the locals started telling them about the case. As the locals were grouped, they made plans, when Paddy was supposed to throw a kangaroo carcass outside the house of unpopular neighbor Fran, or barman Barry was supposed to set fire to another Larrimah resident’s business. Fran, the baker of Australian cakes, living together with Owen, the gardener, was supposed to have the biggest quarrels with Paddy.

Who is the killer?

“If I didn’t know the story behind her, I’d think she’s a nice lady who’s making quite a mess of herself, how the world is mean to her and how she’s trying to cope with it all. But I think she’s quite an actress and can play it,” Lucie described how Fran affected her. Owen became the prime suspectwhose singing was caught on a police wiretap at his home. Accompanied by a guitar, he sang how he killed Paddy and how he got rid of his body. But the police never found the evidence, and Owen denied that the voice belonged to him.

„Everyone here has been saying since the beginning that it could have been Owen,” Lucie admitted, although they also suspected Barry and Fran. After the death of Paddy, Barry and the departure of Richard and Fran, the atmosphere improved dramatically. “The fact that this group of people is no more has calmed the city down a lot. We have only experienced it as a very quiet place, peaceful with the seniors who live there,” the traveler revealed how Larrimah has changed.

Lucie Minaříková revealed in the Blesk Podcast what it was like to feed a four and a half meter long crocodile, what will happen to Larrimah and what residents of the village will never forget: