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CTV News
4 days ago
- CTV News
Mushroom murder: Woman accused of serving in-laws beef wellington laced with deadly fungi
Watch A woman in Australia is accused of poisoning her in-laws with beef wellington laced with deadly mushrooms.
Daily Mail
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Inside the bizarre world of 'telepathic' bird-loving Australian twins who never spend a moment apart - after they shocked viewers by speaking in perfect unison during live TV interview
They say great minds think alike - but for one extraordinary pair of identical twins, it's more than just a saying. From their perfectly coordinated outfits to their shared bedroom and uncanny habit of speaking in perfect unison, these inseparable siblings take togetherness to a whole new level. Paula and Bridgette Powers, 51, from Queensland, recently stunned the world with their 'telepathic powers' after going viral in a video where they spoke in sync and mimicked each other's gestures. The dynamic duo first made headlines in Australia last month when they recalled the harrowing experience of witnessing an armed carjacking and shooting. The twins were invited onto Good Morning Britain the following day, where they donned matching pink scrubs and talked completely in tandem as they discussed their shared love of birds and bizarre way of life. The double-act - who were once mentored by late legendry crocodile hunter Steve Irwin - are now using their new-found fame to raise $30,000 (£22,000) to support their long-standing work in animal welfare. But, while their growing media presence has brought attention to their cause, it has also opened them up to criticism, with online trolls dismissing their unique telepathic bond as 'fake' and 'nonsense'.' However, this hasn't stopped the twins from finishing each others sentences as they insist: 'It's us, and we've tried not to talk together, and it's impossible.' Early life The sisters were born in 1974 and have spent nearly every moment together since. They have only been apart a handful of times since then and when their mother Helen tried to separate them as children, they used to scream until they were reunited. 'When we were toddlers, one stayed at Nan's place and one stayed at our auntie's,' Bridget and Paula Powers said in unison in an interview for the SBS programme Dateline. When they speak, the twins look at each other often and smile, touch each other affectionately and on the few occasions they are not talking in unison, they say the same thing in a different way. 'When we were toddlers, one stayed at Nan's place and one stayed at our auntie's,' Bridget and Paula Powers said in unison in an interview for the SBS programme Dateline One of the other rare times when they were apart was when Paula went to hospital for appendicitis, or as the girls explained 'when we were in hospital having our appendix out'. Bridgette said she visited every day and 'if I was allowed to sleep in the hospital I would have'. Three weeks later Bridgette, too, had to have her appendix removed. The twins' mother Helen Powers told SBS that she had thought it was the right thing to try and separate the girls when they were little. 'I thought, well, we have got to try,' she said. 'They were too close. 'I thought, they are two people, but as time went on I thought the two people are really just one people.' Helen tried putting them in separate beds. 'You'd wake up in the morning and they'd be curled up on the floor together like little puppy dogs,' she told ABC News. To this day, they sleep in their twin beds in the same bedroom, in the same pyjamas, slippers, socks. Their doctor knows that if one gets sick the other will get sick, so now he writes a double prescription. The twins said school teachers also tried to separate them after they had believed the pair were cheating during an exam because they gave exactly the same answers to questions. 'We would rather die than cheat,' the twins said. 'They split us up and gave us different questions and we [each] came up with the same answers and they were shocked.' The girls said that when they are separated they don't feel right. 'We're not as bubbly,' they insist. Relationships Asked whether they had ever had boyfriends Bridgette and Paula said, 'No. But we have each other for company.' They previously told 'A Current Affair' that they don't have time to date - even George Clooney, who the inseparable pair say is 'too old'. 'We give all our love to the wildlife,' they said. They also featured on Good Morning Britain in 2016, with former presenter Piers Morgan calling their discussion 'one of the greatest interviews I have ever conducted in my life' Helen told The Sydney Morning Herald how she and her husband John have worried about what will happen to the pair when they're no longer around. It was because of this that in 2015 she agreed to a request from a set of touring male twins from Canada, who asked if they could 'visit' Bridgette and Paula. But, the twins weren't interested and simply 'ignored' the men. Helen said they later told her they could never get married because they couldn't bear sleeping in separate rooms. Despite spending so much time together the twins insist they have never had an argument and 'never get sick of one another'. Career The twins have always loved birds and met the late Steve Irwin during their first wildlife rescue on the Sunshine Coast. After seeing them in action, the 'wildlife warrior' hired the sisters to work at his Australia Zoo. They have now been running the Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue for 25 years and are renowned across Queensland for their wildlife volunteer work. 'It is a costly passion [but] we just love looking after the seabirds and water birds,' Bridgette told Daily Mail Australia. 'We love it because they need our help because there's hardly anyone who cares for them on a big scale.' Fame Bridgette and Paula sparked worldwide interest last month after they were filmed speaking in unison during an interview on 7NEWS about a carjacking. Dressed in matching Easter outfits, sisters Bridgette and Paula Powers recounted the terrifying moment their mother came face-to-face with an alleged gunman. While describing the ordeal to reporters on April 23, they gave an identical, word-for-word explanation at the exact same time. They even mirrored one another's head and hand gestures, at one point brushing their faces with their hand to indicate the blood on the thief's face. The clip soon went viral and just hours later the twins appeared on Good Morning Britain to talk about their unique way of communicating - leaving hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley baffled. Susanna said: 'This interview with you went viral because people watching cant believe it when they see the way you speak together. 'Just explain who are new to the experience of meeting you, your extraordinary connection, which means you speak in unison. ' Paul and Bridgette replied: 'Yeah we know that we annoy a lot of people out there. Following their April 23 Good Morning Britain interview people watching at home rushed to social media to share their opinions on the sister's unique ability Does twin telepathy exist? According to Tania Johnson from the Institute of Child Psychology, there is no scientific evidence that twin telepathy exists. Speaking about Paula and Bridgette's in sync interviews she told ITV News: 'What we are likely seeing here is a deep familiarity....a powerful connection that has been shaped by years of shared experiences, emotional closeness and shared genetics. 'Identical twins grow up deeply attuned to one another. 'They often will think alike, speak alike, and act alike simply because they know one another so well - what we are seeing here is the result of an incredibly strong bond.' She added how she believes the twins are able to speak in unison due to mirroring - a natural process that occurs when people who are closely connected start to unconsciously reflect each other. 'But we've told people if they don't like listening to us, just switch off the TV because we have tried to talk separately and it's very hard for us. 'We're not ourselves.' This is not the first time Paula and Bridgette have appeared on Good Morning Britain. They also featured on the show in 2016, with former presenter Piers Morgan calling their discussion 'one of the greatest interviews I have ever conducted in my life'. In the wake of their recent TV appearances the pair were contacted by GoFundMe who want to help use their fame for a good cause. As a result, the Powers sisters launched a fundraiser on Wednesday to raise $30,000 (£22,000) to support their long-standing work rescuing pelicans and seabirds. However, although their recent media attention has its benefits there are also downsides to the twins' decision to put themselves in the public eye. Following their April 23 Good Morning Britain interview people watching at home rushed to social media to share their opinions on the sister's unique ability. Many expressed frustration over the interview - and insisted that they didn't believe it. One said: 'Stop this nonsense NOW #gmb.' 'No we're not dealing with telepathy here, Richard,' added another. A third said: 'We're dealing with rehearsed scripts & attempting to copy each other. When it's not a rehearsed part, they speak really slowly.' 'Isn't one just copying the other one? Doesn't seem in unison?' asked a fourth. Someone else wrote: 'You can literally see them trying to guess what the other one is saying, there is nothing telepathic about it don't be so stupid.' 'Notice how slowly they are speaking when it not a rehearsed bit and how it speeds up when rehearsed,' said another social media user. Another comment read: 'How are they speaking in sync? One is clearly copying what the other one says.' In the wake of their recent TV appearances the pair were contacted by GoFundMe who want to help use their fame for a good cause. As a result, the Powers sisters launched a fundraiser on Wednesday to raise $30,000 (£22,000) to support their long-standing work rescuing pelicans and seabirds But, despite the hate the sisters insist they don't let negative comments bring them down. 'It worries the keyboard warriors, they've got nothing better to do,' they said. 'The comments don't bother us anymore. It used to bother us but now it doesn't whatsoever. I don't know why it bothers them.' They added: 'There is a lot of negative comments on Facebook ... because some people are saying, 'It's fake. How can you rehearse a conversation?' 'You can't. It's us, and we've tried not to talk together, and it's impossible.' The sisters say they try to speak independently but it 'comes very awkward'. Speaking in unison during an interview on Channel 10's The Project on April 23 they said, It just happens and we don't know why.' 'We have tried to talk separately but we're not ourselves. 'It's not us, and it's very hard,' they added.
ABC News
08-05-2025
- ABC News
How Mechelle Turvey's grief and love for her son Cassius captured hearts across Australia
Mechelle Turvey had just lost her son. WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family. It also contains details some people may find distressing. One of his murderers was handcuffed in the building behind her, and in front of her was a media pack. "For no reason I've lost him. We only buried his father a month ago," she told reporters outside court on October 24, 2022. Cassius Turvey was murdered while walking after school in Perth's east. ( Supplied ) Her voice was trembling. Tears welled up. Her family held her as she conjured the courage to continue speaking. "My heart is breaking," she said. " I'm relying on you guys to help us with justice for Cassius. " Her cry for help — her deep grief and boundless love for her son — went on to capture hearts across the nation. A vortex of pain and fury Noongar-Yamatji schoolboy Cassius Turvey died after being brutally beaten with a metal pole in broad daylight while walking with friends after school. He was 15 years old. Those who knew the teenager described him as a "kind and gentle soul". But in the days after Cassius died, his name spread with fury, along with a stark message: "justice for Cassius". ( Supplied: Mechelle Turvey ) Questions were raised at the time as to Crowds of The prime minister even weighed in, saying the attack was a "human tragedy" that "just breaks your heart". But amongst the vortex of fury and rage after yet another Indigenous death, Mechelle Turvey called for calm. Mechelle Turvey at a candlelight vigil for her son. ( ABC News: Cason Ho ) "Do not use my son's tragedy as a platform to blow your trumpets," she told a crowd of attendees at a candlelit vigil for her son. " Kids matter ... all our kids. " Justice for Cassius, in Mechelle's eyes, wouldn't be achieved through retribution or stoking racial tensions. It was about listening, learning, and improving. "Anger ... will manifest in your heart to a point where you hate everyone and everything," Mechelle Turvey speaks in front of a crowd of thousands. ( ABC News: Cason Ho ) On November 2, 2022, just weeks after her sons death, Mechelle led a peaceful rally of thousands in Perth with the words "Kids Matter" emblazoned on the back of her shirt. A crowd of thousands at a rally for Cassius Turvey. ( ABC News: Cason Ho ) Thousands more followed suit in dozens of rallies across Australia in a Again, Mechelle Turvey made her message clear. It wasn't one of retribution or anger, but of hope. Hope for the future: "Kids matter". 'Three months of hell' It's been a long and arduous journey for the grieving mother, Cassius's attacker Jack Brearley was described by the prosecutor as being filled with fury over petty grievances and "hunting for kids" after his car windows had been smashed. While racial slurs had been yelled on the day Cassius was attacked, the trial never cited racial motivations as a factor behind the attack. Cassius Turvey was remembered by his teachers as always willing to help his classmates. ( Facebook: The Awesome Boileys ) Rather, it was an act of vigilantism gone horribly wrong. Forever 15 The court heard the 15-year-old was walking with a group of friends after school when he was fatally attacked by Brearley using a metal handle ripped from a shopping trolley. Another man, Brodie Palmer, was also found guilty of murder for helping Brearley; and a third, Mitchell Forth, was convicted of manslaughter. The men were all in their 20s, significantly older than the boys they targeted. Two-and-a-half years after her boy died, Mechelle Turvey walked out of court surrounded by family and supporters, and yelled: "Justice". Supporters of the family gathered with Mechelle Turvey and shouted "justice" outside court after the verdicts were read. ( ABC News: David Weber ) "I'd like to thank the 91 witnesses, and may I say, most of them were young children that are scarred for life," she said. " 15 years of age, my son has finally got justice. May he live forever 15. " 'Mama's on a mission' In light of her experiences with police after her son's death, Mechelle has gone on to help train officers to manage the needs of victims of crime. It was Mechelle's way of using her grief, and love, to make a difference. She quoted one of her son's cheeky phrases: "Mama's on a mission," she said. "It's not only helping people in the community in the long run, and the police, it's also helping me." Cassius Turvey's mother Mechelle, pictured with Detective Steve Cleal outside court on Wednesday, has worked with police since her son's murder. ( ABC News: David Weber ) Mechelle was named Speaking after Thursday's verdict outside court, there was a sense of finality in Mechelle's words as she told reporters what she had planned for the next chapter of her life. "Trying to do what I have been doing, and taking one day at a time, and getting myself to be the best version of myself," she said. " I feel very light-weighted in my heart and soul today. " Loading
