Arrest made over Easey Street murders almost 50 years after deaths
Police have arrested a man in Italy over the 1977 murders of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett in their Easey Street home. He fled Australia in 2017 after he became aware he was a suspect in one of Melbourne’s most notorious crimes.
The man fled to Greece and couldn’t be arrested because local laws meant charges must be laid within 15 years of the offence.
The 1977 murders of Susan Bartlett (top) and Suzanne Armstrong in Easey Street, Collingwood shocked Melbourne.Credit: Stephen Kiprillis
Police have waited years for him to leave Greece so he could be arrested. They will now seek to extradite him to Melbourne to face charges.
A police spokesperson confirmed a 65-year-old dual citizen of Australia and Greece was arrested at an airport in Rome in the early hours on Friday.
The murders had happened at the height of an Australian summer, in January 1977, in a street whose name – Easey Street, Collingwood – was to echo down the years in Victoria.
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The suspect, then a teenager, was checked by police near Easey Street around that time and it was recorded he was carrying a knife.
In a relaunched investigation, he agreed to provide DNA but fled Australia. It is understood a DNA sample from a relative established a match.
Attempts through diplomatic channels to have the man returned to Melbourne failed, and he was put on an international watch list that led to his arrest in Rome.
“The Easey Street murders, as they came to be known, have always been a priority for Victoria Police and an enormous amount of work has been done by many, many people to bring us to the position we are in today,” Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said on Saturday.
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“As well as the homicide squad, this includes a large number of police and staff from a range of specialist areas across the organisation. All have been wholly committed to finding answers and holding those responsible for these deaths to account.
“This was a crime that struck at the heart of our community – two women in their own home, where they should have felt their safest. While we still have some way to go, this arrest is an important breakthrough.”
Armstrong, 27, was stabbed 29 times, and raped. Her housemate, Bartlett, 28, was stabbed more than 50 times, with the same knife, that was never found, after coming to her friend’s aid.
Armstrong’s 16-month-old son was found unharmed in his cot.
More to come
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