The secrets of a hypnotist who has helped solve crimes in Australia for 40 years by delving into the subconscious of witnesses have been revealed.
Margaret O’ Brien started working with New South Wales Police in 1980 and has since lent her hypnotherapy techniques to cases varying from sexual abuse to rape.
Her most notable her work includes hypnotising Joanne Lees in an attempt to extract more information from her in the case of her murdered boyfriend Peter Falconio.
Margaret O’Brien has worked with Australian police for 40 years, and has worked with witnesses of crime including Joanne Lees (right) – whose boyfriend Peter Falconio (left) was murdered in the Australian outback in July 2001
She also put Labor MP Peter Baldwin under her spell to see if he could remember who brutally assaulted him at his Sydney home in 1980.
In a taped hypnotherapy session seen by True Crime Australia, Mrs O’Brien hypnotised a factory worker who drove past the home of Peter Burt in 1999 – moments before he was murdered.
Mrs O’Brien teased recollections out of the worker that police could not, including a beige Ford Falcon car parked in front of her and a description of the possible killer.
In the tapes, Mrs O’ Brien softly reminds the woman where she was on the day in question.
Joanne Lees’ recount of what happened in the Australian outback had inconsistencies, according to police, when interviewed – so she was subjected to Mrs O’Brien’s hypnotherapy techniques to extract more information out of her
She said: ‘On the count of three, one, two, three … you feel wonderfully relaxed – do you remember a vehicle on the road that morning?
‘On the count of three, your upper arms, forearms and hands are feeling loose and limp. Not a worry or a care, no fears, no anxieties, just allowing yourself to drift deeper and deeper.’
Chillingly, even after the 90-minute session the hypnotised woman did not think she had said anything, apologised for not being of any help and believed she had simply fallen asleep.
The president of the Australian Hypnotherapists Assocation Mailin Colman said the practice of hypnotherapy is little known but often used in probing crimes.
She said: ‘You will find a lot of us when we get these calls will go pro bono, jump in the car to go and help catch these bastards.’
Hypnosis has also been shown to be effective in pain relief, according to American pain expert Mark Jensen who was visiting Australia for a conference in 2011.
Her work also includes putting a factory worker under her spell who drove past the house of Peter Burt in 1999 moments before he was murdered – the tapes of which have now been seen by True Crime Australia