Episode 8: Rex and Wendy
Summary
This episode of *The Poisoned Wife* features an interview with Wendy Beattie, the best friend of Rosalind McQueen, who provides crucial insights into Ros’s life, her strained marriage, and her suspicions regarding her husband Ray’s relationship with a young babysitter. Wendy recounts her shock at Ros’s death and her growing conviction that Ray was responsible, supported by her long-standing correspondence with private investigator Rex Bakes. The narrative also details Rex’s decades-long, often futile efforts to obtain coronial records from Victorian authorities, highlighting the systemic ba…
Topics discussed
Introduction and content advisory
Planning to interview key witness Wendy Beattie
Initial contact and meeting with Wendy
Wendy's suspicions and Jodie's reaction
Media coverage and Joy Craig's beliefs
Reunion of Rex Bakes and Wendy in Bendigo
How Rex and Wendy first connected
Roslyn's early life and relationship with Ray
Marital strain, financial issues, and pregnancy
The final Easter weekend and discovery of body
Witness accounts and funeral observations
Forensic details and strychnine poisoning
Jodie's estrangement from Wendy
Expert analysis of strychnine symptoms
Rex's decades-long fight for case records
Legal threats and police correspondence
Threats from Ray's family and police refusal
Karina's view on public access to records
Successful release of inquest documents
Rex's health, relief, and closing remarks
Call to action and credits
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