SEASON one of The Daily Advertiser's new podcast series, examining the people at the heart of some of the incredible stories and events that have shaped the Riverina over the past 200 years, has launched.
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The six-part series, titled The Riv: A Podcast About People, begins with NSW Police superintendent Rod Smith detailing the investigation into Wagga serial killer Matthew James Harris.
Superintendent Smith, now the Commander of the Police Property Group, says it was a single phone call made in 1998 that put detectives on the path to apprehending the killer. "We knew about a missing man, Ronald Galvin," Superintendent Smith told The Daily Advertiser reporter Annie Lewis.
"But then we received a phone call from a lady in Wagga who reported that she had received a phone call from a fellow named Matthew Harris from Sydney.
"He was in the Kings Cross area at the time and had phoned her pretty much making claims that he had killed and murdered Ronald Galvin at Uranquinty."
Superintendent Smith, alongside another detective, conducted interviews with Harris after it became apparent he was responsible for the murders of three people.
"When we walked through his apartment, I noticed a bunch of books that were in a bookshelf there, and most of them were relating to true crime and serial killers," he said.
"He made some remark about those books as we walked through that he wanted to have a book written about him, and that sent chills down my spine to think that somebody just wanted, apparently from my own perception, some notoriety for killing people. And, somehow glorifying that was really quite disturbing."
To hear the full episode 'Face to face with Wagga's serial killer with Rod Smith', go to The Daily Advertiser's website or search for The Riv on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts. A new episode will be released each Thursday at 1pm.
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