Darryl Posted September 20 Share Posted September 20 Quote Police have arrested a man in Italy over the 1977 murders of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett in the Easey Street home. He fled Australia in 2017 after he became aware he was a suspect. The man fled to Greece and couldn’t be arrested because local laws meant charges must be laid within seven years of the offence. Archived article from The Age: https://archive.md/EvICl ABC news: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-21/easey-street-murders-arrest-collingwood/104379910 1 7 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly_F Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 I have just been listening to a 6 part podcast about this case this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two-bit Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 Oh wow. My ex husband was a child a couple of doors down in Easey St at the time of the murders, he attended Victoria Park Primary School and always remembered this case, so I have followed it. I hope this helps their families a little, and that poor baby. 4 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplekitty Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 Oh my goodness. I've never forgotten those murders, I think of them every time I go down Hoddle St. I bought a house not too far away not that long after. Justice many years too late. It gives hope that the High St. book shop murder and the Beaumont disappearance will have resolution. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STBG 2 Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 A long time coming, he would have thought he'd got away with it. This was very close to home and I could not at the time relax. I was not a mum yet but all I could think of was that poor baby. DH was stationed in the area, the girls had a close friend who worked at the station with him who had visited them just days before this happened. I agree with @purplekitty I wish the book shop and Beaumont cases could be resolved. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillipa Crawford Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 So glad progress has been made. I grew up in country SA in the 60's and early 70's. While the Beaumonts must have been in the background I was far more aware of the girls who disappeared from Adelaide oval during a football match in 1973. Sadly the chances of fnding the beaumont's abducor or that of those two is remote https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-25/joanne-ratcliffe-and-kirste-gordon-disappeared-50-years-ago/102770974 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenbean Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 So pleased to see some justice and progress here. This happened before I was born but I recall the story and always think of it when I pass the street. I live not too far away and when I was house hunting there was a house on easey st and I couldn't even consider going to the open house Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContentedFleur Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 I'm so glad this case has never been forgotten and that there will now be some justice done. My parents are too; they were friends with the parents of one of the girls, and have never forgotten how utterly devastated the families were. The man is 65, so he would have been in his late teens at the time, I wonder if he has other crimes attached to his name... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenflea Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 He was 17 I heard on the news tonight @ContentedFleur 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bornagirl Posted September 21 Share Posted September 21 I’ve been interested to hear that the police have had him watched for many years and must have been so gratifying for them to be able to nab him. I was only a few years younger than them, and living alone in Melbourne at the time, so the case has certainly stayed with me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianalynch Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 I think they’ve had him on a watch list for many years as they couldn’t extradite him from Greece They found the knife in his car at the time, yet somehow he eluded justice. Grateful to the police who never gave up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Void Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 13 hours ago, dianalynch said: They found the knife in his car at the time Ah, I wondered what they had on him... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prancer Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 I am quite intrigued by this. So sounds like they found him in the area at the time with a knife, but did not regard him as a suspect. Then some time later, at least 7 years after the murders, he became a suspect. They worked out some sort of DNA match from a relative? Then they knew it was him but had to wait for him to leave Greece to arrest him? I am keen to know why he was not a suspect in the first place given his proximity and that he had a knife. And I wonder if the family were aware that police knew who the killer was but could not do anything about it until he travelled? The whole thing is just heartbreaking. I felt sorry for the child at the time. But do again now with it all being brought back up and the media probably very keen to talk to him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STBG 2 Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 The family who live regionally were visited by the police before the public and the press were informed of the arrest. The family and the squad have maintained good relationships with the police who never gave up. Policing and investigation of 47 years ago should not be judged on what is available today. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContentedFleur Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 In the news stories, I read that it wasn't uncommon for Greek men to be carrying knives, because there was a fair bit of gangland warfare happening between them and the Kane brothers, so this bloke having a knife wouldn't in itself be suspicious. But for it to be bloodstained, and then for him to flee the country; that couldn't have been more suspicious if it tried! I got the impression that the police have been watching him like a hawk, waiting for him to leave Greece so that they could arrest him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillipa Crawford Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 There was an Interpol red flag attached to his name. So when he travelled it would have come up automatically Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sincerely Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 According to media reports, he didn’t leave Australia until 2017, the year a reward of one million was posted for solving the cold case and he (and presumably other persons of interest) were asked to provide DNA samples. Allegedly, he agreed to comply, but left Australia for an holiday and didn’t return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiglet Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 The most accurate and detailed reporting is coming from the Age - John Silvester is very thorough with this, and knows his stuff: https://archive.is/rvsLb So after initially being found with the bloodstained knife, detectives went to question him, but he was on the run to escape burglary charges. These two paragraphs are very telling: The inquest was held in July 1977, the same month Kouroumblis’ parents sold their home in Bendigo Street, Collingwood – three streets away from Easey Street. The parents dropped off the electoral roll in 1980 and are believed to have later returned to Greece. Perry “Dingo” Kouroumblis, Australian-born, also moved to Greece before returning to Victoria. So, 2017 wasn't the first time he'd bunked off to Greece to lie low and escape questioning/charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernegirl Posted September 23 Share Posted September 23 It’s such a sad case but it gives me hope that historical crimes are increasingly being solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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