Australia Australia - Rosemaria Lauria, 68, Frankston, Vic, 9 Oct 2006

[Pert Hornet]

There was a will. However no-one associated with this poor lady profited from her unfortunate demise. In any event neither the will or it's beneficiaries were in any way connected with the despicable crime.

 

[Ausgirl]

Hi again, PH.

I'm not at all offended, by all means play devil's advocate. I often do. However, in this case I'm not entirely clear what 'devil' you're advocating for - I haven't done much other than point out a few things that appear in public documents.

Of course, I am aware of the limitations these offer - it is after all WS policy that we work only from what is available publicly, where no suspect has been named in the media. Are you saying there's no point discussing the case, because all the facts are not known? Just to clarify. If so, well.. discussion is what the forum is for, and it often serves more purpose than seeking to 'solve' a crime, a thing I never personally set out to do anyway. I do, though, like to examine what is available. And speaking for myself, I find the discussion of cold cases both rewarding and at times quite useful. Not always, but often enough...

Are you shy about revealing your own connection to this crime? If so, that's fine, no-one is obligated to reveal anything here. If, however, you wish to claim or hint at 'insider' knowledge, the site does have a policy which requires you to be verified as an 'insider', just FYI. (this is done through site admin, no member has any access to that information, ever)

And as for my conclusions - I have not fully reached any yet, and have not offered any. Yes, I am finding things which don't make a lot of sense, but they are firmly in the realm of 'questions' - for the moment, no conclusions involved. Trust me, had I reached any I would state so quite clearly.

Please do continue to post, I am extremely interested in what, if anything further, you do have to say. As I said previously, discussion in itself is a worthy pastime where cold cases are concerned, in my opinion.

 

[Ausgirl]

There was a will. However no-one associated with this poor lady profited from her unfortunate demise. In any event neither the will or it's beneficiaries were in any way connected with the despicable crime.

So then can we safely assume it is not those beneficiaries mentioned here in the media? - Or was this pure BS from the Herald Sun?

A CARVE-UP of the assets of a woman identified as the Frankston Body in the Bush murder victim was discussed days before it was known she was dead.

Some people close to Rosemaria Lauria, 68, talked of how the proceeds from her Brunswick flat would be distributed even as police were searching for her.

The comments, heard by the Herald Sun, were made in the presence of a police officer.

At that stage, Ms Lauria was listed as a missing person.

The comments were made seven days after Ms Lauria was last seen alive on October 9, after she left her Inverness St flat to go shopping and banking in Coburg.

It was not then known that the charred body found in a Frankston park on the night of her disappearance was that of Ms Lauria.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/twist-in-burned-womans-death/story-e6frg6n6-1111112431518

 

[Ausgirl]

Just a couple of thoughts, nothing astounding..

Rosamaria, according to msm reports, did not use her bank on the day she died. So she must have taken some money with her, enough to play the pokies for a couple of hours. If she did any shopping at all (those bags..another reminder to hunt for info on those..) she used cash, we must suppose. I wonder, if she had every intention of going to play pokies somewhere (as she told a witness in Frankston) why she would say specifically she was going to do "banking" and shopping? That she had ample opportunity to do both, in several locations she visited that day yet did not, supports the statement about her intention being to go play pokies.

As the walk toward the beach was isolated, strange to her and it was getting on for dark and dinner-time, I have profound doubts Rosamaria wandered along that street to the foreshore and across that little bridge without some coercion, either an invitation to dinner at the restaurant, if it was friendly, or perhaps at knifepoint, if not.

She was set on fire when still alive, presumably prior to the accelerant being thrown over her. Even an elderly person would not stand still for that, so I'm supposing she must have been physically restrained, maybe beaten down first. The witness statement that says they heard a scream and then the noise of branches might support this. But how'd they get her into the bushes? Why was she near the dunes at all? The more I think about this, the less I think her being anywhere near the beach was voluntary.

Thanks to Pert Hornet, we now know that Rosamaria did not leave anything to her family in her will. But according to statements by her niece in msm, R lived a quiet, solitary life and they were "all she had". So I'm curious as to whom she did leave her property to, and why not the family if they were all she had?

 

[Bohemian]

Linked?

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...rankston-11-July-1990&p=13602071#post13602071

 

[wrestlingpigs]

$1 million reward offered in baffling cold case murder mystery

$1 million reward on offer since 2017. The male person who rang Frankston police station is definitely who they are targeting, but where is he and what did he have to do with it?

 

[Marg from Oz]

Interesting. That is a lot of money. I must have missed that. Unfortunately Frankston is not a good place to get murdered. The perpetrators seem to get away with it. Sarah McDermot for one and the daughter of old school friends Michelle Brown who has a case on here. Many years have passed with nothing happening . As it involved drugs maybe the perpetrators have Overdosed and are no longer with us. JMO

 

[Matlock]

I remember that night. I live up the adjacent street, in Gould Street. We were going out for tea and I saw that the police and/or fire brigade had just arrived, it was not long after 7. Later on the way back from the restaurant it was lit up with a floodlight and crime scene tape everywhere.

I had no idea what had happened and went straight to bed when I got home. Not long after going to bed I heard voices across on the lower creek bank opposite (our house is right on Kananook creek and my bedroom faces the creek). There were about three or four males in a very tense discussion. I can usually hear word for word if I go to our back door but I was extremely tired and just wanted to sleep.

The discussion got so tense and sounded very threatening, not necessarily loud but extremely serious and threatening. I again considered going to the door because of how it sounded and I regret that I didn't. In normal circumstances I would have but my dog had recently died and my sleeping was almost nil most nights so I was pretty exhausted.

The discussion went on for quite a while and I can say to this day that it it is still the most threatening argument I've ever heard. It was also in front of a block of units where a guy used to shoot his hand gun across the creek but I don't think that was connected.

I still think it (the discussion) was connected but as I didn't go to the door to listen, I will never really know. Sadly I really wish I had.

 

[Matlock]

R said goodbye at 2.15 and said "See you tonight" to her sister in law (I think she used to often have dinner with her family next door?) so if she planned to go to Frankston to play the pokies she should have realised that to get from Brunswick to Frankston and back would take at least 3 hours, add the walks in between to get to the train and the hotel etc. then it wouldn't have left much time for the pokies. On the other hand if she got on the wrong train she would have realised after a few stations and gone back the other way.

Also, if she got lost and ended up in Frankston then you wouldn't think 'oh well I'll go and play some pokies somewhere.'

Overall, I think she probably went there on purpose, probably to go out of the area maybe because she was a bit more of a pokies addict than what her family realised and she didn't want any of them or her friends catch her play the pokies in her local area. Or maybe she just liked to explore a bit after her new found freedom after nursing her mother for years.

I think she kind of knew how to get to the Pier Hotel but she likely went down Station Street Mall which is opposite the station entrance (and buses) and she would have ended up near the Balmoral Arcade entrance where she asked the witness for directions. She would have been looking for Wells St. Which led to Nepean Hwy. where the hotel was. She probably asked the witness where the bus station (train station same spot) was to get her bearings. Then she would have likely gone south down the Shannon Street Mall.

So turning right from Shannon Mall into Wells St. she would have then passed the NAB which used to be in Wells St. back then. She would have then continued towards Nepean, crossed the road and turned left south towards the hotel.

On the way back she headed north from the hotel and was seen on CCTV footage at 6.35. So she must have then likely gone down Playne St. and over the bridge to the reserve towards the beach.

She obviously by this time must have known that her family would wonder why she wasn't home for dinner (I think they were expecting her that night?) So it seems odd that she was taking her time.

She might have wanted to have a look at the beach before leaving as it was so close or she might have seen the sun setting which enticed her down, which I often do myself. In any case it would have taken her around 5-7 minutes walking and she was killed only 3-5 minutes later going by the witness statement from 6.45. So she must have come across the offenders almost immediately.

A little way up Gould St. There is Emu Grove a well known haunt for drug users and chromers. I think particular people were known to the police from around here and that there is a possible connection with the RL case.

There was a fire at No. 160 Gould St. Around 6 months (I think) before the RL case in which an elderly man was killed and I heard that police suspect it was the same person/people involved in both murders.

I have seen previously some young men at the end of Emu Grove getting high chroming and once a young woman staggering around in Gould St. not knowing where she was and holding a bag with blue paint in it. Chroming can make people very violent. So likely paint or paint thinners or something else they were sniffing was the accelerant used in the fire and that's why they had it at hand.

There was another very violent murder in Seaford years ago by some very young chromers too. Chroming in the Frankston area probably still exists but doesn't seem as prevalent or has been pushed somewhere else. Maybe the shops now keep all that stuff behind the counter.

The fact that chroming makes people so dangerous and angry maybe explains why the murder was so incredibly quick and so violent.

This is all IMO.

 

[Marg from Oz]

I think she has gone in the "too hard basket" . The same as Michelle Brown.
And there were rumours around Frankston that the murderer of Sarah McDermot died from an overdose.
$1million didn't get any takers but then people involved may not read papers or watch t,v. Too busy getting high....MOO