02 The Airbnb Guest | Dejected ex-lover, or helpful house guest?

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The Case Of 28 min 2 speakers 6 chapters transcribed 2 months ago
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

Why did Matthew Flinders write such saucy letters to his best friend, George Bass? Who really chopped off choppers' ears? And why did they name a swimming pool after an Australian Prime Minister who drowned? I mean, why didn't they just use Harry Holt's high school nickname, Puss? These are the kind of historical questions we'll be asking on The Dead Can't Sue. Search The Dead Can't Sue podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Anna McGuinness 0:30
ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music and more.
Stephen Stockwell 0:46
A dejected ex-lover or a helpful hand around the house? Who was Timothy Loosemore to Marie Vermont? This question was central to his murder trial. I'm Stephen Stockwell. This is episode two of The Case of the Airbnb Guest.
Anna McGuinness 1:02
Mr Loosemore was a farmstay guest at the home in Goldie near Kilmore.
We didn't really expect to have something dangerous happen.
Anna McGuinness 1:09
The prosecution alleges the 62-year-old from the UK killed Miss Vermont and lit a house fire to cover it up.
She was a very kind and caring person and we're very proud of who she was and how she brought us up.
Anna McGuinness 1:22
This hand-built house was a labour of love. It's all been lost, alongside everything she owned and, her sons say, evidence of her final moments.
Stephen Stockwell 1:36
After the Stonehouse fire, police thought Timothy Loosemore smelt of petrol. And in this episode, we're going to find out what the arson investigator discovered at the house and what Marie's friends and family thought of this lingering houseguest. To help us unpack it all, we're joined by Anna McGuinness, an ABC reporter in Bendigo. Anna, welcome back to The Case Of.
Anna McGuinness 1:56
Thanks, Taki.
Stephen Stockwell 1:57
The relationship between Marie Vermont and Timothy Loosemore is a key part of this story. Was he happy in the arrangement at the house or was he someone who, you know, was kind of annoyed and frustrated with where this relationship was going? What evidence did the court hear about that?
Anna McGuinness 2:15
So during the trial, there was a number of witnesses who had spent time with Marie in the kind of months leading up to and while Timothy Lucemore was staying with her. Many of those were friends that she'd met through this camping group called Rolling Solo. And they seem to be going on trips like every month or every couple of months. So they kind of have this running record of how things evolved throughout the start of that year.
Stephen Stockwell 2:39
Yeah, the friends from Rolling Solos seem like really interesting people. And the way that we kind of hear about that group and Marie through them is like all these different kind of lenses as they're giving evidence in the court. And I mean, she really seemed to bond with them and maybe she joined them kind of after separating from her husband. What's this kind of group like?
Anna McGuinness 3:01
Yeah, so we hear from one of the group members, Jenny LeFoe, who says it's a women's only group. You can be any sort of relationship status over 18. You can bring your dogs, but strictly no men. So sorry, Stocky, you can't join them. But we hear that they're kind of travelling around to different caravan parks across Victoria. The first one's around February and then there's a month later. So they're travelling around, they're having their... happy hour each afternoon where they're recalling these chats that they're having with Marie and hearing about, I guess, how things evolve.
Stephen Stockwell 3:36
Yeah. And the kind of the conversation, yeah, sort of evolves over time. So you've got kind of part one, she separated from her husband and then part two, she's thinking of starting an Airbnb, right?

Who was Timothy Loosemore and what was his relationship with Marie Vermont?

Anna McGuinness 3:48
Yeah, so around the start of 2023, around February, they're chatting about her Airbnb and they hear that she's got this boarder coming to stay, this man. And it sounds like it's quite a lighthearted conversation and it gets to the point where they're kind of sitting in a circle, it's happy hour, and they're stirring her up and they're like, we know you've separated a few years ago. Maybe it's time to blow the cobwebs out. Maybe you should sleep with him. And Jenny LaFoe says she remembers this specifically because one of the older women in the group was kind of disgusted by this kind of crass way they were talking.

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