Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary, we can only describe as equal parts baffling, intriguing, and haunting, HBO’s ‘Last Stop Larrimah: Murder Down Under’ is absolutely unlike any other. After all, it delves deep into the mysterious disappearance and presumable murder of 70-year-old Patrick “Paddy” Moriarty in a a remote Australian outback town of just 11 (10 following his vanishing) people. Amongst them is actually a quirky local known for her pies as well as her less than friendly demeanor, Fran Hodgetts — so now, if you simply wish to learn more about her, we’ve got the details for you.
Who is Fran Hodgetts?
It was back in the mid-1970s when Fran relocated to Larrimah alongside her husband Billy, only for them to soon establish a rather notable place for themselves in their little community. However, as time passed by and the former launched a pie business to attract locals and tourists alike in an attempt to make an independent living, it came to light she definitely held grudges. Though her most significant one was with the neighbor facing her, Patrick “Paddy” Moriarty, especially as he’d once allegedly claimed her meat pie was so bad he wouldn’t even feed it to his dog.
Thus began the back and forth between Fran and Paddy, which actually went to such an extent that they openly spoke about it to fellow community members and touring journalists alike. However, the most shocking is the fact the former had once told her friend Bobbie Roth that she could actually kill him because she was so fed up with his antics, including allegedly leaving a dead kangaroo outside her home. In fact, this sort of extremity is one of the reasons she soon hired a gardener named Owen Laurie to maintain her home — he lived in a bungalow on her estate — unaware he’d get into a rivalry with the Irish native over his dog too.
According to reports, Owen hated Paddy’s dog Kellie, and they’d even argued about it three days before the latter two went missing on December 16, 2017, after returning home from the pub. As a result, Fran and Owen were considered people of interest for a long time — their homes, vehicles, and personal belongings were searched too, especially with local rumors suggesting she’d minced their remains and mixed them into her meat pie. Nevertheless, despite the police confiscating a few items like the gardener’s vehicle for forensic examination owing to possible traces of blood, it resulted in nothing. There was no evidence against either.
Fran Hodgetts is Living in Melbourne Today
The truth is Fran is kind of obsessed with Paddy’s case and speaks of it almost every single day, according to her daughter Sue, yet she has never once implied she was responsible for it. However, she did incriminate Owen in the documentary by asserting that once the police showed up to look for the missing male, her employee had said something like, “Oh, I thought they were here for me.” She’d hence fired him upon quickly starting to feel unsafe in his company, just to now learn the police had bugged their homes, and there’s audio from his bungalow wherein it sounds like he’s confessing to killing Paddy as well as his dog via a song.
While Owen has since denied the accusations against him, he and Fran continue to live with a dark cloud of suspicion over their heads since many still believe he acted on her orders, per the documentary. Yet, there is seemingly zero evidence against the latter, enabling her to lead a life of freedom in Melbourne alongside her daughter at the moment — she’d relocated a few years prior upon closing her pie shop. Her grandson Brent has since moved to Larrimah to run the family business, and she hopes to return one day soon too; it had been her home for decades, so that’s where she wants to be.
Read More: Where Are Bobbie and Karl Roth Now?
