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Obscura: A True Crime Podcast

73: Phillip Vasyli: Paradise Lost

Obscura: A True Crime Podcast

Justin Drown

True Crime, Personal Journals, History, Documentary, News, Society & Culture

4.62.9K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2023

⏱️ 62 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The tropical archipelago of The Bahamas is surrounded by crystal clear waters, spectacular reefs and boasts some of The Caribbean’s most pristine beaches. The picture perfect setting is home to a relaxed pace of life, friendly locals, and around 340 days of sunlight per year. In March 2015, wealthy Australian celebrity podiatrist Phillip Vasyli and his family were living the dream in the exclusive gated community of Old Fort Bay. Phillip and his wife Donna had just finished putting the finishing touches to building their palatial dream home. It was the culmination of years of hard work on a business which was continuing to go gangbusters internationally.

But life in paradise isn’t always footloose and fancy free. Beneath the veneer of Phillip’s flashy product launches and extravagant parties, there was discontent in his personal life. His marriage to Donna was strained and the couple were known to argue frequently. But Phillip was highly successful and a real innovator in the podiatry industry. He owed much of this to Donna’s unwavering support and commitment to the business that had provided them with a lavish lifestyle few of us could hope to have. The future was bright for Phillip and his family. Until it suddenly went dark.

CW: drug use, family violence

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Before the episode starts, just a heads up that there will be two Black Label episodes

0:04.8

released to Patreon before the end of the month. So if you've ever considered supporting

0:09.2

us, now is a good time to hop on the bandwagon.

1:00.0

The tropical archipelago of the Bahamas is surrounded by crystal clear waters, spectacular

1:22.8

reefs, and both some of the Caribbean's most pristine beaches. Situated in the Atlantic

1:28.1

Ocean, north of Cuba, and east of the Florida Keys, the country's 700 islands span an area

1:34.0

of 500 miles. The picture perfect setting is home to a relaxed pace of life, friendly

1:39.4

locals, and around 340 days of sunlight per year. Tourism drives the Bahamian economy,

1:46.6

given it's a popular destination for cruise visitors and employs around half the country's

1:50.8

workforce. But life in paradise isn't always footloose and fancy-free. Armed robberies

1:56.7

and sexual assaults in the Bahamas aren't uncommon, even in popular tourist areas.

2:02.2

By March 2015, there had been 33 murders in the country. That's almost three a week.

2:08.4

In today's episode, we'll hear the story of the 34th.

2:20.0

Philip Vaseley was born on the 29th of August 1956 in the town of Tweed Heads on the northern

2:25.9

coast of New South Wales, Australia. Not much is publicly known about Philip's immediate

2:31.0

family, but during his childhood, the Vaseeless relocated a 9.5-hour drive south to the

2:36.5

suburb of Liverpool in southwest Sydney, where Philip grew up. Philip attended Liverpool

2:41.4

boys' high school. His upbringing was reported to be tough, and his relationship with his

2:46.0

father said to be strained. As a teenager, Philip focused his energy on his interests,

2:51.5

including making surfboards and participating in mixed martial arts training. His efforts

2:56.1

saw him gain a black belt in karate and become a three-time state champion. After graduating

3:01.2

high school, Philip studied podiatry at university, while also working briefly as a bouncer.

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