Australian fugitive arrested in Italy for 1977 murder

An Australian has been arrested at Rome airport on suspicion of a double murder since 1977. Police had been waiting for several years for the right moment to arrest the now 65-year-old suspect was arrested after fleeing the country in 2017.

The man is suspected of killing two women in their twenties in a Melbourne suburb nearly fifty years ago. One of the victims turned out to have been stabbed to death after being raped, her roommate may have been murdered when she tried to help her.

One of the detectives at the time said it was “the most barbaric and saddest murder case in local history”. As the murders were only discovered after three days, the son of one and a half of the victims barely survived: officers found him severely dehydrated in his crib.

At the time, the police did not know who the perpetrator was. The man arrested turned out to have been arrested with a knife nearby on the evening of the murder, but as the murders were not discovered until three days later, no connection was made to the case at that time. In addition, the research focused first on the women’s acquaintances.

The man re-entered the picture when a cold case team found a DNA trace. In 2017, it was decided to carry out a genetic analysis of the 131 people named in the file, including the 41 people who had already died in the meantime.

The suspect promised to visit him, but instead he left for Greece, where his family came from. Because that country does not extradite suspects for crimes that have already ended under Greek law, he appeared to be beyond the reach of Australian police.

The man managed to avoid justice for seven years, until it was discovered that he would be traveling to Italy, where there are different additional rules. He was arrested there yesterday morning.

The chief police commissioner said the crime “touched the heart of the community: two women murdered at home, in the place where they should feel safe.” “We’ve always worked hard and it’s brought us this.”