Australia Australia - Victoria Cafasso, Beaumaris Beach, Tasmania, 11 Oct 1995

[Mel 1303]

A murder on a sunny day at the beach in Tasmania is an image too bright and brutal for a state known for its biting winters and low crime rate.

But that is what happened 20 years ago on October 11,1995, when 20-year-old Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso was killed in a frenzied attack on Beaumaris Beach on the state's east coast.

Who killed Victoria Cafasso? (smh.com.au)

 

[Mel 1303]

Fifty people visited the beach the day Victoria Cafasso was murdered — her killer hasn't been found - ABC News
On an open beach, in broad daylight, 20-year-old Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso lay dying.

She had been stabbed 17 times.

Fifty people visited Beaumaris Beach on the idyllic Tasmanian coastline that day in 1995 — but no-one saw or heard a thing.

 

[Mel 1303]

Person of interest in the case of missing person Niamh Maye, Jason Paul Nicklason would have been 25 in 1995. He committed suicide (jumped off a buiding) in police custody after being arrested for a vicious rape in Brisbane in 2002. I follow Niamhs case fairly closely, and was interested to note that Nicklasons family are from Pyengana in Tasmania, about 30km away from where Victoria was found.

 

[CastlesBurning]

Includes a small mention of Victoria...

Tasmania police boost cold case rewards

 

[dotr]

May 8 2023

Hope that killers will be found when all of Tasmania's cold cases are run through new DNA machine

New forensic technology will be used to re-examine all Tasmanian cold cases, with police hoping it could finally provide answers to families and loved ones of those like Victoria, whose killer has never been found.

www.abc.net.au

• ''In short: All Tasmanian cold cases will be re-examined using new forensic technology, with a hope it could help families desperate for answers.
• What's next? The new technology will start to be used later this year, with further upgrades set to happen over the next three years.

New forensic technology will be used to re-examine all Tasmanian cold cases, with police hoping it could finally provide answers to long-suffering families.

A $3.7 million upgrade will see Tasmania's DNA analysis and testing process automated, reducing the risk of contamination and human error.''


''Tasmania Police offered $500,000 rewards in 2021 for information that would help it solve seven high-profile cold cases, including 20-year-old Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso, who was murdered on Beaumaris Beach on the state's east coast in 1995.

Other cases include then-26-year-old Nancy Grunwaldt, who went missing from the east coast in 1993,''

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Police conducting new searches over grisly unsolved beach murder of Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso

Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso had been in Tasmania barely a week in 1995 when she was stabbed 17 times on an idyllic beach in broad daylight. Twenty-seven years on, police release new images and reveal they have conducted recent searches.

www.abc.net.au

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Police conducting new searches over grisly unsolved beach murder of Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso

Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso had been in Tasmania barely a week in 1995 when she was stabbed 17 times on an idyllic beach in broad daylight. Twenty-seven years on, police release new images and reveal they have conducted recent searches.

www.abc.net.au

Updated today

 

[dotr]

‘Surfie’ clue in tourist cold case murder

Tasmanian Police have launched a new appeal for information into the cold case murder of Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso whose body was found on Beaumaris Beach in 1995.

au.sports.yahoo.com

Aug 11 2023 rbbm
''A surfie driving a distinctive car may hold the key to solving the murder of Italian tourist Victoria Cafasso in Tasmania nearly 30 years ago.

The 20-year-old’s body, with multiple stab wounds, was found on the beach at Freshwater Creek, Beaumaris on October 11, 1995.

Witnesses have told police they saw a man driving a light coloured Subaru station wagon in the area at the time of the murder.

The man was described as being in his 20s, with blond hair, about six feet (180cm) tall, slim build, but very fit, with suntanned legs and arms and the appearance of a surfer.

A person matching that description was also seen running onto the beach where Ms Cafasso’s body was found.''

''Despite a $500,000 reward, the case still remains unsolved.

But detectives investigating the case have now released reconstructed images of a vehicle spotted at various locations in the Beaumaris area including at Freshwater Creek at the time of Ms Cafasso’s murder.

The distinctive light coloured Subaru station wagon was a vehicle of interest in the early stages of the investigation, and police are now following a specific line of inquiry in relation to that vehicle.''

 

[dotr]

Police divers called in after new tip emerges on cold case murder of Victoria Cafasso

Police divers have been called in to search an area near the East Coast town of St Helens for clues in the long-unsolved murder of a young Italian tourist.

www.abc.net.au

By Susan Oong
Posted 1h ago1 hours ago, updated 12m ago rbbm
''Police search and rescue crews, including divers, will today conduct a land and water search near St Helens, following a major development in the long-unsolved murder case of an Italian tourist on a Tasmanian beach.

Police say the search operations in a previously unsearched area come in light of new information received from witnesses regarding the movements of a light-coloured 1970s Subaru station wagon.

Victoria Cafasso, 20, was staying with family and had been in the state for barely a week in 1995 when she was stabbed 17 times in broad daylight on a popular beach on the state's East Coast.

The young traveller had arrived in Tasmania on October 6 to stay with her cousin after deferring her law studies in Italy, and after spending time in England.''

 

[Tintenbar]

https://www.news.com.au/national/crime/tasmanian-police-launch-new-search-in-cold-case-murder-of-victoria-cafasso/news-story/55cefcbe4d7acc3586eae9bfc7aafba2

 

[Tintenbar]

There is instructive information in this newspaper article. Hilda Jackson says that she had sympathized with Victoria. : Fifty people visited the beach where Victoria lay murdered — but no-one saw a thing

 

[dotr]

There is instructive information in this newspaper article. Hilda Jackson says that she had sympathized with Victoria. : Fifty people visited the beach where Victoria lay murdered — but no-one saw a thing

from link.. rbbm So bizarre!

''Cafasso's bikini bottoms were missing, with the top intact above her breasts, but there were no obvious signs of sexual penetration.''

''A post-mortem at the Royal Hobart Hospital later found two objects were used in her murder — a blunt object that knocked out three of her teeth and possibly rendered her unconscious, and a knife.

Her blue and white floral bikini bottoms have never been found.

Neither have her distinctive T-shirt — which was emblazoned with an image of a wolf — trousers, towel or missing teeth.

Her bag with valuables, including $509 and a Sony Walkman, were found 50 metres from her body, on "disturbed sand" that looked like a site of struggle.

Although 50 people visited the beach that day, no-one saw or heard anything.''

 

[australianwebsleuth]

I am new to this forum but find the whole story a little unbelievable.
She is from the Italian Riviera which has quite warm temps in September. Wonderful beaches, water warm.
She goes sun baking. The temp was between 7 and 13 degrees that day. She was sunbaking in Tasmania in early to mid October. I don't actually believe this story.

If she was attacked on the beach, where are her teeth? Was a big puddle of blood found on the Beach. The idea that this girl was killed on the Beach is highly suspect without some corroboration. She just may have been placed there as was her belongings.

Who was the person sun baking on the Beach? Perhaps someone who looks like her.
Where did she actually die, maybe not on the beach.

What's interesting about the case is that the Coroner Jones has stated that he feels he knows who did this and more than one person is involved. The police have stated that her murder is not related to the disappearence of Nancy Grunwaldt. If they are unaware of the Murderers of Victoria then they could not possibly state this. The investigating detective has also stated the murderer is no longer is in Tasmania.

My conclusion is that they know who was responsible for her death, they just can't prove it beyond reasonable doubt.