Sensing Murder

In 1976, thirteen-year-old schoolgirl Tracey Ann Patient was plucked off Auckland's Great North Road. The following morning, her body was found dumped 16 km away in the Waitakere Ranges, having been strangled with a pantyhose tourniquet. Deb Webber and Sue Nicholson investigate.

The psychics investigate the unsolved kidnapping of Sharon Wills and Nicola Lynas, and kidnapping/murder of Karmein Chan.

In 1970, eighteen-year-old Olive Waiker disappeared as she walked across Rotorua to babysit her nieces and nephews. Her semi-naked body was found hours later in a rest area south of the city, having been bashed to death so feircly that her skull had smashed into seven pieces. Deb Webber and Adelle Dishcombe investigate.

Sensing Murder Insight (screening TV2, 8:30pm Tuesday 4th September 2007) launches a new series of Sensing Murder on New Zealand television. Police detectives from around New Zealand reveal exciting new developments sparked by the Sensing Murder psychics in Series 1. And, for the first time, the Sensing Murder filming process is laid bare as die-hard sceptic and professional clinical psychologist Nigel Latta scrutinises a full psychic read.

In 1999, Kiwi engineer Aaron Hopa and his English colleague Robert Glazzard were murdered on board a survey ship in the Persian Gulf in. Aaron's father is the sole policeman in the South Island town of Geraldine and is convinced at least one of the 28 men on board the ship is responsible. Psychics Deb Webber and Kelvin Cruickshank investigate.

When 12 year old Agnes Ali'iva'a drowned in a ditch in 1992, the police initially thought her death was accidental. It was four years before public and political pressure forced police to re-investigate her death. A second coroner's inquest confirmed that Agnes had drowned under suspicious circumstances and a second police team concluded they were dealing with a possible homicide. Psychics Sue Nicholson and Deb Webber investigate the suspicious death of young Agnes.

In 2006, 19 year old Blake Stott died in a mysterious car fire. Blake had seemingly pulled into a South Otago lay-by to have a sleep, when his late-model, un-modified car burst into flames. Because the fire damage was so severe, a team of fire experts were unable to conclusively determine the cause of the blaze. They suspected an “unspecified electrical fault” was to blame. The police found no evidence of foul play, the coroner ruled that Blake had died from carbon monoxide poisoning and the case was closed - much to the distress of Blake’s family. Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson search for answers.

26 year old deaf woman Alexa Cullen vanished from her home in Manaia, on the Coromandel Peninsular in 1995. She had a history of hitch-hiking and police suspected she’d run away. But three years later, ominous rumors began circulating in the community, prompting police to launch a murder enquiry. To this day, Alexa’s body is missing and the events of that fateful day remain a mystery. Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson investigate.

In 2003, 32 year old mother of three Sara Neithe vanished from the Hauraki Plains. Neither Sara nor her car have been seen since. Police suspect that Sara has been murdered but without a crime scene, they have been unable to advance the case. Deb Webber and Sue Nicholson investigate.

This week, for the first time ever, the prime suspect in a murder enquiry has turned to Sensing Murder for help. Since 1977, farmer Lindsay Calvert has had to endure local suspicion that he murdered his wife Lesley, who was missing for seven months before her body turned up in an area that had already been searched. Although the coroner ruled that Lesley died from 'unknown causes', and the police thought she had probably committed suicide, Calvert is still convinced that his wife was murdered. Calvert is adamant that he adored his wife. "It was everything I ever dreamed a relationship would be," he says. "We were soul mates - and she was a fantastic mum." Soon after Lesley's disappearance, some local people started to speculate on his possible involvement in the crime, and disturbing things began happening in the Calvert household. "We had a house cow shot. We had four sheep shot up here by the stock yard - gut shot at that, which is very cruel," Calvert explains. "My kids had two pet goats, they both disappeared." His daughter, Sandra Calvert also remembers the unsettling occurrences. "We'd go down to our grandparents for dinner and we'd come back and things had been moved in the house. Things had been pulled out of the hot water cupboard - it was scary." Now, frustrated by the years of suspicion, Calvert wants the psychics to clear his name and unmask the real killer. Psychics Webber and Cruickshank travel into the heart of Taranaki King Country in search of answers about Lesley's mysterious death.

In 2004 Brendan Percy was found dead of hypothermia and dehydration in a sub alpine area above Oamaru in suspicious circumstances. Psychics Kelvin Cruickshank and Sue Nicholson go to new heights to uncover the truth about Brendan's death.

Katikati man Siegfried Newman disappeared on February 25, 2008, after he had dropped his sons Thomas, 9, and Oliver, 7, at Pahoia School. Police carried out a three-day search but found no sign of him. At the time, police said Mr Newman was known to be suffering depression over the loss of his wife Vicki, who had died a few months earlier of cancer.