39 episodes

A woman who has created more than 100 fake identities. A young girl found wandering the streets of Dublin. A teenager deported from Canada. Stories of sustained sexual abuse at the hands of many. Kidnapping charges, prison time, lies, fraud and deceit. Could all of these stories go back to just one person? A new 7-part podcast series from RTÉ Documentary On One unravelling the wild world of Samantha Azzopardi... // Previous series from Doc On One include The Nobody Zone, GunPlot and Tiger Roll: The People's Horse
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Finding Samantha - Doc On One RTÉ

    • True Crime
    • 4.7 • 692 Ratings

A woman who has created more than 100 fake identities. A young girl found wandering the streets of Dublin. A teenager deported from Canada. Stories of sustained sexual abuse at the hands of many. Kidnapping charges, prison time, lies, fraud and deceit. Could all of these stories go back to just one person? A new 7-part podcast series from RTÉ Documentary On One unravelling the wild world of Samantha Azzopardi... // Previous series from Doc On One include The Nobody Zone, GunPlot and Tiger Roll: The People's Horse
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Finding Samantha: 01 - GPO Girl

    Finding Samantha: 01 - GPO Girl

    2013 - A distressed teenage girl is found wandering in front of the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin city centre. As suspicions rise that she’s the victim of serious crime, everyone scrambles to help her and to get to the bottom of her story. But a massive month long investigation by the Irish authorities reveal nothing about her. In desperation, the Gardaí (Police) release a photograph of the girl to the public with spectacular results. And the story of who the GPO Girl is takes us far beyond the streets of Dublin. (Ep 1/7) 
    Credits: Finding Samantha is written, recorded and produced by Sharon Davis in Australia and Tim Desmond and Nicoline Greer in Ireland. Soundtrack composed by Paddy Flynn. Sound Engineer is Damian Chennells. Executive Producer is Liam O’Brien.
    If you have any information or tips on this story, email us documentaries@rte.ie For further information on the series visit www.rte.ie/findingsamantha   

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    • 27 min
    Finding Samantha: 02 - Webs of Deceit

    Finding Samantha: 02 - Webs of Deceit

    As we follow the trail of the Girl at the GPO – who we now know is Australian woman Samantha Azzopardi - we dive into a surreal world where fact and fiction are often blurred. Samantha has connections to Ireland and a seemingly long and troubled back history in Australia. To begin to understand where this all started, we travel to Australia, to the suburbs of Sydney, where journalist Sharon Davis comes on board. Samantha’s trail leads us into the Blue Mountains in New South Wales and to a small Christian community. (Ep 2/7) 
    Credits: Finding Samantha is written, recorded and produced by Sharon Davis in Australia and Tim Desmond and Nicoline Greer in Ireland. Soundtrack composed by Paddy Flynn. Sound Engineer is Damian Chennells. Executive Producer is Liam O’Brien.
    If you have any information or tips on this story, email us documentaries@rte.ie For further information on the series visit www.rte.ie/findingsamantha  

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 30 min
    Finding Samantha: 03 - Samm Az

    Finding Samantha: 03 - Samm Az

    A 15 yr old Russian gymnast turns up hoping to be adopted by a new family. A Police Prosecutor in Perth is not quite sure what kind of an individual he's dealing with. One Samantha Azzopardi actually reaches out to us - and we get to meet another. This journey is getting deeper and wilder than we could have ever imagined... (Ep3/7)
    Credits: Finding Samantha is written, recorded and produced by Sharon Davis in Australia and Tim Desmond and Nicoline Greer in Ireland. Soundtrack composed by Paddy Flynn. Sound Engineer is Damian Chennells. Executive Producer is Liam O’Brien. If you have any information or tips on this story, email us documentaries@rte.ie For further information on the series visit www.rte.ie/findingsamantha 

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 31 min
    Finding Samantha: 04 – Catch me if you can

    Finding Samantha: 04 – Catch me if you can

    With Samantha Azzopardi continuing to face police and judges, she fails to heed their warnings to change her behaviour. Instead, she continues to target people in Australia, then returns to Ireland before moving to another continent. And all the time, she’s creating new characters, new aliases and leaving new victims in her wake. Where is this all going to end up? (Ep4/7). Credits: Finding Samantha is written, recorded and produced by Sharon Davis in Australia and Tim Desmond and Nicoline Greer in Ireland. Soundtrack composed by Paddy Flynn. Sound Engineer is Damian Chennells. Executive Producer is Liam O’Brien. If you have any information or tips on this story, email us documentaries@rte.ie For further information on the series visit www.rte.ie/findingsamantha
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 32 min
    Finding Samantha: 05 - The One That Got Away

    Finding Samantha: 05 - The One That Got Away

    Sharon receives a strange phone call from a mystery woman with something to give her. Samantha receives her first full jail sentence as we hear from the Appeal Court Judge who decided on her case. And we receive an insight into how Samantha uses other people as she appears tries to play with us. (Ep 5/7) Credits: Finding Samantha is written, recorded and produced by Sharon Davis in Australia and Tim Desmond and Nicoline Greer in Ireland. Soundtrack composed by Paddy Flynn. Sound Engineer is Damian Chennells. Executive Producer is Liam O’Brien. If you have any further tips on this story email documentaries@rte.ie For further information on the series visit www.rte.ie/findingsamantha
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 36 min
    Finding Samantha: 06 - Child's Play

    Finding Samantha: 06 - Child's Play

    With Samantha out of prison in 2018, she was now turning 30 years old. She began working as an au pair again and was about to commit her most serious crimes to date. With access to children, she began manipulating them into presenting themselves as victims before she was eventually charged with child stealing... (Ep 6/7) Credits: Finding Samantha is written, recorded and produced by Sharon Davis in Australia and Tim Desmond and Nicoline Greer in Ireland. Soundtrack composed by Paddy Flynn. Sound Engineer is Damian Chennells. Executive Producer is Liam O’Brien. If you have any further tips on this story email documentaries@rte.ie For further information on the series visit www.rte.ie/findingsamantha
    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    • 34 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
692 Ratings

692 Ratings

Angrboda74 ,

Riveting!

Brilliant storytelling! Had me hooked from Episode 1 & reeled me right in. This is podcasting at its absolute finest. WHAT a crazy tale.

KDSwan ,

Catch it if you Can!

Like the stuff of movies, each episode is a cliff hanger that keeps you suspended and in disbelief.
What will the elusive Samantha do next… and what are her motives!?
Highly recommend!

Belle Murf ,

Amazing!!

The best podcast I’ve ever listened to! Enjoy every second and the layout and plot twists were exceptional! Highly highly recommend

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