Before we begin, I must tell you that this article, nay this introduction contains spoilers about RTÉ Documentary on One's latest podcast Finding Samantha. So if you haven’t listened to episode one, then open a new tab and start streaming.
Last week, we listened tentatively as the Gardaí raced to identify the mysterious girl found abandoned on O’Connell Street. A young girl who drew pictures of guns and crosses, and refused to speak, a victim that the Irish public took under their wing. But she wasn’t a victim of human trafficking or a sex crime; she was Samantha Azzopardi, a 25-year-old Australian woman visiting relatives in Ireland.
This revelation opened a Pandora's box of questions for our crack team of investigative journalists. Why would she lie about this? Is she a crook or just mentally unwell? Who are these family members she was staying with, and has she done anything like this before?
This week we will travel across the globe from Ireland to Australia searching for answers. Pedestrians, police officers, victims even the woman herself will be contacted. But be warned, you’re about to enter a "surreal world where fact and fiction are often blurred."
For this week's breakdown keep scrolling - otherwise start streaming episode two, Webs of Deceit - you can listen to it below.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
It’s a long way to Tipperary
Our episode opens in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. Journalist Nicoline Greer has tracked down the place where Samantha Azzopardi stayed in 2013 before her stint on O’Connell Street. With the help of some locals, Nicoline pinpoints the right house. The former partner of Samantha’s mother, the father of her two step-siblings, answers the door. To find out what he said, hit play.
"She's lovely, and she cared for her brothers so much. There doesn't seem to be any malice in her. Do you know there isn't badness" - Nicoline Greer, quoting the former partner of Samantha’s mother.
What to do with Samantha?
Now that the Irish authorities knew she was not an unidentified child but a fully grown woman, they had to decide what to do next. Hundreds of thousands of euros had been spent by the state, and the authorities worked day and night to assist this woman, all for nothing. Was she a vulnerable adult or a con woman? Opinions were split. When Gardai recovered Samantha’s phone, they discovered she had researched children’s hospitals in Ireland and the UK.
She had even left her ID and clothing with her relatives in Clonmel before heading to Dublin. But there was also the tiny matter that she never spoke. So legally she never made a report to the authorities and couldn’t be charged with making a false report. Was this intentional? Or was she acting on impulse?
"This search will take us far from the streets of Clonmel and a long way from Ireland into a surreal world where fact and fiction are often blurred". - Sharon Davis
Homeward bound
When the Gardaí arrived in Clonmel in 2013, they discovered that Samantha had arrived in the country on a fraudulently obtained passport and had obtained a credit card under the same name: Georgia McAuliffe. While it’s a criminal offense to use stolen identity documents to obtain a passport and Visa, Samantha had garnered enough sympathy to dodge prosecution. Instead, she would be packed off back to Australia, compliments of the Irish taxpayer. She maintained her nonverbal stance to the very end.
"I was also aware of her vulnerabilities as well and you have to weigh up the public interest and the decision was made not to proceed with a criminal prosecution of her in this jurisdiction" - Detective Superintendent Dave Gallagher
Back to Australia
When Samantha landed back in Oz, the authorities decided not to charge her for traveling on a fake Australian passport. But this wasn’t her first rendezvous with law enforcement, far from it. She had spent most of her life pretending to be someone else, which meant a lot of face time with judges.
After pouring over material from the Court archives in Queensland Sharon discovered that Samantha was first charged in 2007. She was 19 and going by the name Lindsay Coughlan. The documents revealed that she tried to defraud someone, but they didn't say who. For a while, Samantha or Lindsay slips into obscurity, but when she does surface again "things start to get very strange". So buckle up...
"Samantha’s had a lifetime of scamming across three continents, using over 100 different identities and leaving many victims in her wake." - Nicoline Greer
Meet Dakota Johnson
In 2010 a young woman turned up at a Brisbane High School. She claimed to be a 15-year-old orphan called Dakota Johnson (yes, like the actress). At this point, I think you can guess her name wasn’t Dakota Johnson, but the school didn't know that, so they asked the police for help. T
hey found a pink notebook detailing violent sexual offenses she said had been perpetrated against her. But soon, things started to unravel. The police uncovered a photo of her from her computer at the Harbour Bridge in Sydney. It had a date. When they contacted the company behind the photo for records from that date, they got a match: 22-year-old Samantha Azzopardi.
"Her mother was a magistrate, her father was a neurosurgeon. They both resided in Holland, but tragically had just been killed in a car accident in France." - Sharon Davis
Abby's story
Despite receiving a conviction for her stint in Brisbane, Samantha bounced back. She conned her way into a church community in the Blue Mountains. Sharon Davis managed to track down someone who knew Samantha from that time, a woman called Abby. " I think I was like everyone else," Abby says, "like, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. God has bought this young woman here…".
Samantha convinced a youth pastor to take her in. She babysat his children and developed a strong bond with his wife. She even got baptized in a swimming pool. But then they tried to enroll her in school....
"She obviously did her research on them to know where they were and what church they were involved with. Now I just think, yeah, she's a great con woman." - Abby
Face to face
In this week’s episode, Sharon manages to speak face to face with Samantha outside of Picton Court. She was facing her 100th charge for "falsely representing herself to police". She had claimed to be a 15-year-old cult member who had been coerced into sex. She refused to be interviewed by Sharon but said the podcast could go ahead without her. Later Sharon receives a WhatsApp message from our elusive protagonist - as always with Samantha, nothing is quite what it seems.
"The techniques that she's employing are exactly the same as online cyber criminals." - Paul C Dwyer
New episodes of Finding Samantha are available weekly - catch up here, or via your preferred podcast source.
