I Was an Undercover Cop With a Death Wish

About this episode

Todd Maguire shares his harrowing journey from a happy-go-lucky policeman to an undercover cop battling trauma and addiction after a personal tragedy.

Todd Maguire was happy-go-lucky Australian policeman until his girlfriend died by suicide and everything changed. From there, Todd became a heavy drinking undercover cop chasing life-and-death situations to bury his trauma. This is Todd’s story of going to hell but somehow finding his way back. Check out Todd’s memoir: Donny: An undercover cop with a deathwish . Find us on TikTok: @whatitwaslikepodcast Find us on Youtube: @whatitwaslikepodcast Follow us on Instagram: whatitwaslikepodcast This is a Superreal production Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Guest: Todd Maguire

Topics covered

• undercover police work
• mental health
• trauma
• addiction
• personal story

Keywords

• undercover cop
• death wish
• trauma
• suicide
• memoir

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Superreal, Acast, TikTok, Youtube, Instagram

Books & works: Donny: An undercover cop with a deathwish

More episodes of What It Was Like

• I Discovered Snowtown's Bodies in Barrels (Classic) · June 7, 2026 · 48 min
• How Do You Survive a Cyber-Stalking Cult? · May 23, 2026 · 54 min
• How I Became a Cult Recruiter · May 15, 2026 · 1h 0m
• I Committed a School Shooting · May 10, 2026 · 1h 3m
• I Got Caught Fabricating Stories for the New York Times · May 2, 2026 · 41 min
• I Woke From a Coma to a Man Claiming to Be My Boyfriend · April 25, 2026 · 52 min