After almost half a century of investigations here comes the turning point on a double homicide that in the 1977 shocked the Australian city of MelbourneThe alleged perpetrator was arrested to Romeon the other side of the world. This is a 65 year old Greek-Australian accused of killing two young friends by hitting them with dozens of stab wounds. He was stopped by the police Thursday evening at the airport Fiumicino where he had landed on a flight from Greece for a holiday in the eternal city.
He had a with him Greek identity card which bore a name similar to the one he was known by in Australia. It was internationally sought after from seven years. After the murder the man, at the time teenagerhad been heard by the investigators and released. Then thanks to ‘technological advances’ over the years there has been aAcceleration in investigations. In the 2017 he would have been asked for a DNA sample and from that moment on man has become untraceable. But the Australian investigators they would still have been able to make a comparison by identifying it as responsible for the crime.
«Now theAustralia will start the procedures for extradition for the suspect, a citizen Greek-Australian who lived in Greece where he was protected by the prescription» announced in a press conference Chief of Police of the Australian State of Victoria, Shane Pattondescribing this ‘cold case’ as the longest and most serious in the Australian state. In 2017 the police had also offered a A$1 million reward (680 thousand US dollars) for information leading to an arrest of the person responsible for the double homicide described by the police chief as “absolutely gruesome, horrible and frenetic”.
Suzanne Armstrong 27 years old and Susan Bartlett 28-year-olds were found dead in January 1977 in the flat they shared in a Melbourne suburb. They were in a pool of blood. On their bodies the signs of dozens of stab wounds. At home with the two girls, friends since they were children, there was also Suzanne’s son, who was only 16 monthsIt was the crying of the child, fortunately unharmed in his cot, that triggered thealarm. Emotion among the relatives of the victims on the news of the suspect’s arrest. The families of Susan and Suzanne said they were “grateful for not being forgotten” to the detective who has been following the case since 2015 and communicated the turning point.