Matthew Wales and the Society Murders
Morbid
03/14/24
•86m
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When millionaire Australian socialite Margaret Wales-King and her husband, Paul King, disappeared in April 2002, friends and family became concerned something serious had happened to the older couple. Those fears and concerns were confirmed a few weeks later, when park rangers discovered their bodies in a shallow grave in Marysville, Victoria. Margaret and her husband had been clubbed and strangled to death.
The press dubbed the murders “the society killings” and the tragedy captured the Australian public’s attention for the ways it seemed to have been pulled right out of a classic mystery novel. Yet for all the couple’s wealth, nothing appeared to be missing from their home and their bodies were discovered still wearing jewelry and in possession of credit cards and other valuables. Under the circumstances, police looked to Wales-King’s children, who stood to gain a great deal of money in the event of Margaret’s death. Within a week the case started to come together, and a suspect was revealed.
While most of the family responded to the Wales-King murders in a manner one would expect, thirty-four-year-old Matthew Wales behavior was erratic, explosive, and suspicious. Upon interviewing Matthew, investigators learned he was the last person to have seen his mother and stepfather the night they were murdered, after having dinner with Matthew and his wife, Maritza. A few weeks later, after multiple interviews, Matthew Wales confessed to murdering his parents; though why he had done it came as a shock to everyone who knew the family.
References
Anderson, Paul, Philip Cullen, and Mark Butler. 2002. "Bodies of missing couple in shallow grave." Advertiser, May 1.
Bonney, Hilary. 2003. The Society Murders: The true story of the Wales-King murders. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen and Unwin.
Clifton, Brad. 2002. "From high society to a grave in the bush." Daily Telegraph, May 4.
Daily Telegraph. 2002. "Son guilty of family killing." Daily Telegraph, October 18.
Green, Sue. 2002. "Crowds gather as search unfolds - son, wife charged over murders." Daily Telegraph, May 13.
Medew, Julia. 2007. "Wife of 'society murderer' avoids jail on ring theft." The Age, February 21.
Monroe, Ian. 2002. "The wayward youngest son." The Age, October 18.
Murphy, Padric. 2002. "Couple's disappearance baffles police." The Age, April 11.
Ross, Norrie, and Mark Buttler. 2003. "Death family vendetta, wife of killer brother will not profit." The Mercury, April 12.
Silvester, John. 2003. "Murder in the Family." The Age, April 11.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
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Previous Episode
The Career Girl Murders (Part 2)
March 11, 2024
•53m
While the tragic loss of two young lives was particularly shocking, the Career Girl Murders is better remembered as one of the most egregious cases of police coercion and abuse in the state’s history. Eight months after the murder, investigators arrested nineteen-year-old George Whitmore, an intellectually disabled day laborer from whom they elicited a false confession, not only for the murder of Hoffert and Wylie, but also for the murder of a single mother in Brooklyn. Eight more months would pass before the charges against Whitmore were dropped, and several more years before police arrested Wylie and Hoffert’s real killer, twenty-two-year-old drug addict and burglar Richard Robles.
The murders of Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie were just two of several high-profile New York City murders that reshaped how wealthy and middle-class white people thought of urban life in the 1960s. More importantly, however, it’s more important legacy is the extent to which it shined a light on how race and class can influence a police investigation and jury verdict, and how justice can be delayed or diverted in the interest of efficiency and the illusion of safety.
References
Anderson, David. 1965. "Jury that convicted Whitmore to be questioned on race bias." New York Times, January 15: 19.
Bigart, Homer. 1963. "Killing of 2 girls yields no clue; police question 500 in a month." New York Times, September 27: 1.
Buckley, Thomas. 1964. "Youth is accused in Wylie slaying." New York Times, April 26: 1.
Clark, Alfred E. 1963. "Girl got phone threats 10 days before murder." New York Times, August 30: 13.
Gansberg, Martin. 1964. "East Side tenants sigh in relief at capture of slaying suspect." New York Times, April 27: 21.
Johnson, Marilynn S. 2011. "The Career Girl Murders: Gender, Race, and Crime in 1960s New York." Women's Studies Quarerly (The Feminist Press at City University of New York) 244-261.
Jones, Theodore. 1965. "Jury finds Robles guilty in Wylie-Hoffert killings." New York Times, December 2: 1.
—. 1965. "Witness says Robles pondered murdering girls." New York Times, November 4: 40.
Kihiss, Peter. 1964. "Brooklyn indicts 3-slaying suspect." New York Times, April 29: 48.
Lefkowitz, Bernard, and Ken Gross. 1969. The Victims: The Wylie-Hoffert Murder Case and its Strange Aftermath. New York, NY: Putnam.
National Registry of Exonerations. n.d. George Whitmore, Jr. Accessed January 17, 2024. https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetailpre1989.aspx?caseid=358.
New York Times. 1963. "2 girls murdered in E. 88th St. flat." New York Times, August 29: 1.
—. 1975. "Max Wylie, writer, murder victim's father, is suicide." New York Times, September 23: 24.
—. 1946. "Suspect in slaying of 2 career girls found sane here." New York Times, October 17: 31.
—. 1964. "Whitmore guilty of rape attempt in Brooklyn case." New York Times, November 19: 43.
Roth, Jack. 1965. "Trial fading out in Wylie murder." New York Times, January 22: 17.
The People of the State of New York, v. Richard Robles. 1970. 27 N.Y.2d 155 (Court of Appeals of the State of New York, September 24).
Tolchin, Martin. 1964. "Victim describes Brooklyn attack." New York Times, November 13: 30.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Next Episode
Sabrina & Corinne from Two Girls One Ghost join us on this week's episode to talk about the dark histories behind childhood nursery rhymes. Fresh off of our ghost hunting experience at the Lizzie Borden house, we talk about the childhood rhyme and where it went wrong, as well as talk about others that SEEMED so innocent!
Don't forget to check the episode on the Two Girls One Ghost feed where we talk about our ghost hunting experiences! It was WILD!
Thank you to the wonderful Dave White of Bring me the Axe Podcast for research!
References
Burton-Hill, Clemency. 2015. The dark side of nursery rhymes. June 10. Accessed February 6, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20150610-the-dark-side-of-nursery-rhymes.
Hazlett, Lisa A. 2009. "The use of British nursery rhymes and contemporary technology as venues for creating and expressing hidden literacies throughout time by children, adolescents, and adults." Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table.
Opie, Iona, and Peter Opie. 1952. The Oxofrd Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Roberts, Chris. 2005. Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme. Sheridan, WY: Gotham Books.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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