Australia Australia - Margaret, 35, & Seana Tapp, 9, Ferntree Gully, Vic, 8 Aug 1984

[Paul B.]

@they'll get you the murderer left his hair (brown dyed with grey roots) all over Seana. If he was grey haired in 1984, it's not looking good for him still being alive 35 years later.

 

[Paul B.]

Bumping for Marg and Seana...

 

[Pi Thoughts]

@Paul B. I've been looking at this today. It appears like it's been bungled from day dot. Unfortunately Herald Sun articles are paywalled but I've tried to piece it together elsewhere.

A podcast from January 2019 featuring Andrew Rule, investigative journalist who has followed this case for years, is really informative. The Unsolved 1984 Tapp Murders with Andrew Rule | Australian True Crime Podcast
Andrew Rule was recently contacted by the son of a paedophile who lived only 8 or 9 minutes from Margaret. He played night tennis on Tuesday nights (night of the murder) and also wore volley dunlops. The son has only just possibly linked his father with this crime. We don't have a name for this POI but Andrew is looking very closely at him now.

Another POI was a now deceased ex policeman who had personal links with Margaret, somehow he was able to enter the crime scene after the event and retrieve a book and or letters he had given Margaret.

A further POI is the partner/friend of Kaye B-S. He was a paedophile and the story goes that Mrs B-S hired him to kill Margaret. This came about because Margaret was having an affair with a Dr who owned the house Margaret lived in. When the Dr died Margaret went to court to retain the house but was awarded 1/2 along with the late Dr's wife and eventually buying the Dr's wife out. Wife then had bad blood about this and also allegedly found a sex tape with her late hubby and Margaret.
Oh, How Peculiar!
MURDER SEX TAPE LINK – Wednesday March 20 2013

Then to complicate things, there was dna found on Seana's gown but along the way it appears to be compromised with a man wrongfully being charged of their murder and then the charges withdrawn.
Newspaper NOW-Exposed: Unsolved Tapp Murders mother and daughter 1984 Ferntree Gully

Andrew Rule tracked Justin, Margaret's son, to England but when he got there Justin was deceased. Andrew did speak with Justin's estranged partner and children. It appears Justin could never cope with the murder of his mother an sister and felt that if he had been at home at the time of the murders somehow he could have prevented them.

How terribly sad. I know there were a lot of POI but it looks highly likely that one of the above POI's is the murderer. MOO

 

[Paul B.]

One of the podcasts rightly says there are many reasons someone would want to kill Margaret, but why Seana? And why was Seana sexually assaulted?

 

[Via Marple]

A bit of tennis history here, regarding the Dunlop Volley ...

No. 14 - Dunlop Volley International
Year: 1975

Australian tennis player Mark Edmondson made these popular when he won Wimbledon in 1976 as a nobody. The Volley International are as simplistic as it gets. The canvas upper makes for a lightweight feel on the court and the toe cap help keep the foot remain stable. The outsole is made of the popular herringbone pattern for traction and are still sought after in Australia 'til this very day.

The Best Tennis Sneakers of the '70s

 

[Via Marple]

@they'll get you the murderer left his hair (brown dyed with grey roots) all over Seana. If he was grey haired in 1984, it's not looking good for him still being alive 35 years later.

Is this info in one of the podcasts? Sorry I haven't listened yet.

 

[Paul B.]

@Via Marple the information about the tinted male hair left all over Seana's nightdress comes from one of the paywalled articles.

As Seana's friends have told me on Facebook, she was "Shauna", not "Seeanneuh" and they don't like it when dim-bulbs in the media don't say her name right and show disrespect to their dead friend.

 

[ediethedog]

the murder house was surprisingly not demolished. However, although there is still a 13 Kelvin Drive, it has been heavily renovated inside and out to discourage both "ghoul tourism" and so its modern-day owners can cope with living at an address where people were murdered.

i thought it had been demolished and rebuilt until today.....i had a closer look and you are absolutely correct. The equally brutal and forgotten Nanette Ellis murder house is quite recognisable.....even with a slight number change. I drive past every day and wonder how the hell they live there. I shudder at the thought .....they must know. Maybe people aren't as superstitious as I am. I can't unsee the murder file and crime photos i stupidly looked at. Both in same area , both beautiful women and both unsolved. All in the same year.

 

[ediethedog]

@Via Marple the information about the tinted male hair left all over Seana's nightdress comes from one of the paywalled articles.

As Seana's friends have told me on Facebook, she was "Shauna", not "Seeanneuh" and they don't like it when dim-bulbs in the media don't say her name right and show disrespect to their dead friend.

people seem to get it wrong at an alarming rate......poor darling . I have put flowers on their grave a couple of times.....I hate the thought of it never being solved, and as i am a local ( and a mum) it really upsets me....so close to home.

 

[ediethedog]

Paul that’s what pedophiles do, they groom the family first and then move in on the child.

and I totally agree with TGY .....I have spent countless hours probably days honestly, researching the Ellis and Tapp murders. I came to the same result. local chat at the the pub ( a regular who has lived in kelvin drive since before the murders is the sorce) says the police absolutely know who did it....have never made anything stick. God how frustrating that must be as a cop. and its a local who was rounded up when bung vanished.

 

[ediethedog]

A lengthy report about the case....

August 09, 2014

After 30 years, the killer might expect to take his secret to the grave. But how has he got away with it this long? Is it luck — or did the investigation veer off course in the first days, the “golden hours” when most murders are solved? That’s the question that torments the dwindling group of family and friends who wonder how a vile crime fell between the cracks.

POLICE aren’t the only ones who sometimes get it wrong. Reporters do, too. When the Tapps were killed in their house in Kelvin Drive, Ferntree Gully, on the night of August 7, 1984, this reporter was one of those working the crime beat at the old Russell Street police headquarters.

We wondered why the double killing didn’t become one of Victoria’s biggest murder mysteries but, after a few brief stories, we let it fade away — unlike the Easey Street murders and the disappearance of Eloise Worledge or the Mr Cruel abductions. And unlike the murder of Nanette Ellis in nearby Boronia the same year which preoccupied the same homicide crew — and the media — far more.

Category: | Herald Sun

Did Nanettes murder overshadow the Tapp one? I have heard the opposite, not to disagree , just curious. I wasn't living in melbourne back then ,but I live around the corner from both houses now, and have gone through local news papers in the library obsessively.....I have spoken to locals and ex police officers, i have always thought that Nanette was pretty much forgotten about.....we must not let either be forgotten , ever. They have to be solved. I am desperate for a result in my lifetime. There is so much information in Nanettes files. The answer has to be there. I have struggled to find much on poor Nanette in the media. So it is interesting to hear that..........

 

[Paul B.]

An aside: I wasn't familiar with Little Tapp's first name so I did some Sherlocking. Seana/Shauna/Shawna is apparently a common mid-seventies to early eighties name. A baby name r*ddit commentator says it gave her the image of a woman with big hair, big , big butt and no muscle tone who smokes.

 

[they'll get you]

An aside: I wasn't familiar with Little Tapp's first name so I did some Sherlocking. Seana/Shauna/Shawna is apparently a common mid-seventies to early eighties name. A baby name r*ddit commentator says it gave her the image of a woman with big hair, big , big butt and no muscle tone who smokes.

That’s Shazza!

 

[Via Marple]

Did Nanettes murder overshadow the Tapp one? I have heard the opposite, not to disagree , just curious. I wasn't living in melbourne back then ,but I live around the corner from both houses now, and have gone through local news papers in the library obsessively.....I have spoken to locals and ex police officers, i have always thought that Nanette was pretty much forgotten about.....we must not let either be forgotten , ever. They have to be solved. I am desperate for a result in my lifetime. There is so much information in Nanettes files. The answer has to be there. I have struggled to find much on poor Nanette in the media. So it is interesting to hear that..........

For your safety I hope those suspects are now very old and feeble, or dead... You don't want them still living in the area, and get wind of your research!

 

[ediethedog]

I feel so very deeply about these two cases....not only did they happen a couple of streets away, so its personal in a way....the families deserve some sort of answers. Nanettes poor sons and their families need answers....margarets sister and extended family and friends deserve a result too. So many questions and little public information. I have been to the PROV here in vic and looked at Nanettes file, I have been too scared to look at the Tapp one, as I don't know if I can cope with clinical details of a childs murder and rape.....I wish I hadn't seen nanettes file now as I will never unsee the brutality and violence of her death. All vic pol files are publicly available if prior to 1985. I am positive that the answer is in the many interviews in there. If anyone is after more info pm me, as we need to find answers. I have copies of a couple of interviews.
The brain power in this group has a pretty good chance of dredging up something relevant I'm sure.
As an artist I want to do portraits for next years victim of crime week ( with families approval of course)....the more publicity the better. More pressure on police and more public awareness is crucial. The other case , solved but so tragic, is Theresa crowe. She is a forgotten death always overshadowed by the other crimes her murderer committed. The lack of info on her is heartbreaking. She deserves to be remembered, not for the horrible way she died, but for the beautiful young soul she was.

 

[ediethedog]

For your safety I hope those suspects are now very old and feeble, or dead... You don't want them still living in the area, and get wind of your research!

I have no hope of solving it on my own unfortunately....which is why I need everyone on here. I wish I could , there are so many people locally who do actually know and they won't say for exactly that reason.......so frustrating. They know. How can they not go to police baffles me. I got a bit of info but they are holding so much more......they all drink at Ferntree Gully Hotel....regulars I'm told, that know more than they are saying.

 

[ediethedog]

Don't get me started on our other local tragedy , a vanishing that now has vanished from media. Bung. What on earth has happened with the investigation there?
The public has a short memory, she is largely forgotten about which breaks my heart. Even locally, people just kinda shrug.......nobody seems to want to keep it upfront and in the media.

 

[ediethedog]

@Paul B. I've been looking at this today. It appears like it's been bungled from day dot. Unfortunately Herald Sun articles are paywalled but I've tried to piece it together elsewhere.

A podcast from January 2019 featuring Andrew Rule, investigative journalist who has followed this case for years, is really informative. The Unsolved 1984 Tapp Murders with Andrew Rule | Australian True Crime Podcast
Andrew Rule was recently contacted by the son of a paedophile who lived only 8 or 9 minutes from Margaret. He played night tennis on Tuesday nights (night of the murder) and also wore volley dunlops. The son has only just possibly linked his father with this crime. We don't have a name for this POI but Andrew is looking very closely at him now.

Another POI was a now deceased ex policeman who had personal links with Margaret, somehow he was able to enter the crime scene after the event and retrieve a book and or letters he had given Margaret.

A further POI is the partner/friend of Kaye B-S. He was a paedophile and the story goes that Mrs B-S hired him to kill Margaret. This came about because Margaret was having an affair with a Dr who owned the house Margaret lived in. When the Dr died Margaret went to court to retain the house but was awarded 1/2 along with the late Dr's wife and eventually buying the Dr's wife out. Wife then had bad blood about this and also allegedly found a sex tape with her late hubby and Margaret.
Oh, How Peculiar!
MURDER SEX TAPE LINK – Wednesday March 20 2013

Then to complicate things, there was dna found on Seana's gown but along the way it appears to be compromised with a man wrongfully being charged of their murder and then the charges withdrawn.
Newspaper NOW-Exposed: Unsolved Tapp Murders mother and daughter 1984 Ferntree Gully

Andrew Rule tracked Justin, Margaret's son, to England but when he got there Justin was deceased. Andrew did speak with Justin's estranged partner and children. It appears Justin could never cope with the murder of his mother an sister and felt that if he had been at home at the time of the murders somehow he could have prevented them.

How terribly sad. I know there were a lot of POI but it looks highly likely that one of the above POI's is the murderer. MOO

I don't believe the wife paid the partner, she may have held a huge grudge but the bank statments just dont add up. She and the Dr owned an incredible house in Ferny creek...the most fantastic and very valuable property....so she had the funds , but the "friend" that was paid, paid it back prior to the murder, with 18% interest. The dr I believe was racing to a birth at the angliss hospital when his sports car lost it on a notorious bend...Glenfern Rd I'm told. He lived life hard, and the wife had lots of issues with his extra curricular activities. So she was bitter as hell, but did she orchestrate it? Margaret wasn't the only nurse he was involved with either. Only one who he bought a house for though. She stayed in the area .....Ferny Creek Mt dandendong , her whole life , if she had something to do with the deaths you'd think she would have left. The Hills are one small gossipy area. Large in geography, but everyone knows everyone.

 

[Paul B.]

@ediethedog I don't understand P.C. Plod's focus on Margaret's lovers when it's obvious from the evidence that Seana was the man's target and they should be looking for paedophiles.

 

[ediethedog]

Couldn’t agree more!
Not too many “normal “ psycho spurned lovers like young children- heavy inverted commas on “normal”..... it is a very sick person indeed to do that . Clearly she was the target. Margaret unfortunately was in their way . If we see that , how do they not?