Murder, Meat Pies & A Pet Crocodile: Last Stop Larrimah Is Australia’s Bizarre Answer To Tiger King

Spoilers ahead. You've likely heard about the two-part Netflix documentary, Last Stop Larrimah, which delves into the mysterious 2017 disappearance of Paddy Moriarty from the remote Australian outback town of Larrimah in the Northern Territory. The gripping true crime documentary explores the peculiar dynamics of this community of 11 residents, revealing that the seemingly sleepy town is in fact rife with animosity.

The disappearance of Moriarty and his dog Kelly on December 16, 2017 captured national attention in Australia, turning the spotlight onto Larrimah. The police declared that Moriarty was in fact murdered, and over the course of the documentary, we learn that the ensuing investigation focuses on the entire town — that is, on the 10 remaining residents.

The police begin to investigate whether Moriarty's murder was linked to the ongoing feuds among its inhabitants, and every single resident becomes a suspect in the case. The documentary presents several incidents between Moriarty and Fran Hodgetts, including accusations of theft, a kangaroo carcass, property damage, and even a statement attributed to Hodgetts allegedly expressing a desire for Moriarty to be killed. Hodgetts denies any involvement in Moriarty's disappearance.

As each of the residents is interviewed (à la Tiger King), theories about Moriarty's fate abound, including speculations that he was fed to the pub owner Barry Sharpe's pet crocodile, or baked into Hodgetts' famous meat pies. The pie theory is the most lurid, and there is a lot of chatter about how Moriarty had said that even his dog wouldn't eat Hodgetts' pies, which she claims put the town on the tourist map.

Then there's Owen Laurie, who allegedly had a dispute with Moriarty over his dog. During the 2022 inquest into Moriarty's disappearance, hidden listening devices recorded a person alleged to be Laurie confessing to the murder, claiming to have struck Moriarty on the head with a claw hammer. “I killerated old Paddy … I struck him on the fucking head and killerated the bastard … basherated him," says the recording. However, Laurie denies that the voice on the recording was his.

Six years later, the case remains unsolved and no one has been charged. The small unknown outback town of Larrimah is now firmly on the map and back in the national imagination. But like Tiger King before it, there are no clear heroes and villains, and even fewer clear answers. Last Stop Larrimah vacillates between funny, sweet, sad and harrowing as it unravels the layers of a small-town community that appears at first to be close-knit, but has in fact been torn apart by fractured relationships, jealousy, longstanding feuds — and now, an unsolved mystery that continues to haunt the town to this day.