The Australian police never gave up. And it was thanks to the DNA of this cold case dating back to 1977 that investigators were able to get their hands on the perpetrator of these murders that had deeply affected Melbourne. But it was thousands of kilometers from Australia, in Rome, Italy that a suspect, a 65-year-old man, was arrested for the violent murder of two young women. Aged 27 and 28, Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett, had been found stabbed to death at their home.
The alleged killer, an Australian-Greek citizen, was reportedly identified through a DNA test carried out by one of his family members, according to Australian tabloid The Age of Melbourne. But the information has not been confirmed by Australian police, who plan to extradite the suspect, who was 17 at the time of the murders. He has been taken into custody.
“For more than 47 years, homicide detectives have worked tirelessly to identify the culprit,” said Shane Patton, Chief Superintendent of Police for the state of Victoria, the Melbourne region, in a statement.
“He had been in the crib for two days before we found him.”
The Easey Street murders occurred on January 13, 1977, when the bodies of the two women were found stabbed to death in their home. The inquest found that Suzanne Armstrong had been sexually assaulted and stabbed, and that her friend had been killed when she went to her aid. Suzanne’s son, 16 months old at the time, was found safe in his crib. “He had been in the crib for two days before we found him. And it was only because of his crying that the next door neighbor found them,” said his aunt, who has since raised him.
“This is a crime that struck at the heart of our community – two women in their own home,” said Shane Patton, “where they should have felt safest… It was an absolutely horrific, gruesome, frenzied homicide.”
In 2017, police offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the deaths of the two women.
