He traded his badge for a microphone: Listen how one ex-cop is seeking justice with a true crime podcast

Jamie Pultz is the creator and host of Beenham Valley Road, an Australian podcast that investigates the tragic death Kirra McLoughlin / photo courtesy Six 10 Media

By James Wolner

July 21, 2021 09:05 AM

This is the third of several weekly stories by Dakota Spotlight Podcast about mysteries and crimes from around the globe and the people dedicated to finding answers.

Who needs a gun and a badge when you have a microphone and a voice?

Jamie Pultz remembers distinctly the night he was on police patrol and responded to a domestic violence situation. How could this young ex-cop forget the night he met Kirra McLoughlin, the young mother of four who was so obviously in distress yet refused to press charges against her boyfriend?
"We basically had to walk away and she died several months later," Pultz recalled in an interview with Dakota Spotlight Podcast .
By the time he learned that Kirra McLoughlin had died and nothing was being done about it, Jamie Pultz had already become disenchanted with his career as a cop and had left the force. "I kind of had this burnout . . . not necessarily with the job but with the politics, bureaucracy and work load," Pultz recalled from his home in Queensland, Australia. Today, he has changed gears and works in a family business producing soap. "I went from fighting crime . . . to fighting grime," Pultz jokes.
But his lighthearted laughter vanishes abruptly when it comes to the subject of domestic violence and injustice. Committed to finding out what happened to Kirra McLoughlin, Pultz got serious and started Six 10 Media . His podcast Beenham Valley Road uncovers new information about McLoughlin's tragic death and has pushed the justice system forward. Listen to Dakota Spotlight's interview with Jamie Pultz and watch the two part documentary.