Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers - a podcast by True Blue Crime

from 2019-12-08T06:00

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9th of November 1983. Bayan Lepas International Airport, Penang, Malaysia


There was the usual bustle of activity inside and outside the airport, with a seemingly innumerable fleet of taxis dropping people off and picking up fares. The relentless cluster of passengers travelling to and from domestic and international flights flooded the airport lounges and check-in counters.


Amongst all of the airport activity, two young Australian men aged in their mid-20's alighted from one of the many taxis and entered the airport. One man was carrying a maroon suitcase; he was named Kevin Barlow, and his acquaintance was Brian Chambers.


Barlow approached the check in desk, as Chambers paid the taxi fare, passed through the luggage scanning area, and joined him there. Barlow was sweating and shaking profusely, which drew unwanted attention to him and Chambers. As a consequence, the two were detained and searched by local authorities, where they discovered the maroon suitcase contained 141.9g of pure heroin.


How did these two men end up in this dire situation, almost 5000km from their homes in Perth, Australia? Especially with Malaysia's new highly advertised harsh drug laws at the time, which promised death for the crime they were committing...


Join Shaun and Chloe as they discuss the case of Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers.


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This episode was produced by True Blue Media using the open source materials referenced below. A special thanks to John for the assistance with research and writing on this episode


  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang_International_Airport
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlow_and_Chambers_execution
  3. Dadah is Death TV Movie
  4. This Little Piggy Stayed Home by David Williams
  5. https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/violent-criminals-low-key-exit-ng-ya-220570
  6. https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/true-crime-scene/hangings-of-kevin-barlow-and-brian-geoffrey-chambers-in-malaysia-destroyed-families-lives/news-story/cbcd26256052e0d64370bd7ab1f40996
  7. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11263204
  8. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-15/malaysias-government-looks-to-decriminalise-drug-use/11511492
  9. https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/07/world/malaysians-hang-two-australians.html
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