Australia Australia - Suzanne Armstrong, 28, Susan Bartlett, 27, Collingwood, Vic, 10 Jan 1977

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  • #341
Just thinking further on that, perhaps the DNA sample was taken off the knife all those years ago and stored. But that seems unlikely. Need more facts...
 
  • #342
Cliff Hardy said:
Just thinking further on that, perhaps the DNA sample was taken off the knife all those years ago and stored. But that seems unlikely. Need more facts...
Click to expand...
That's how I understood it: that they took samples at the time and stored them. Years later analysis techniques had improved, so they ran some more tests on the samples and found a match.
 
  • #343
  • #344
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecr...k=cd169f62f2178b2ca57272a077d6c736-1761817181

(Paywalled)

The next day, when investigators questioned Mr Kouroumblis about his whereabouts on January 10, he told homicide detective Douglas Carroll he had gone to visit a friend on Keele St in Collingwood.
Mr Carroll told the court he did not recall seeing any knife wounds or injuries on Mr Kouroumblis.
Days later, on January 19, Mr Kouroumblis went into the police station with his friend, who verified his alibi.

I know that PK’s alibi was described somewhere along the line as solid/water tight (maybe at the Inquest in 77?) but I’d like to know how that could have been when they didn’t even know exactly when they’d been killed. Did he have an alibi showing he was hours away for 2 days?
 
  • #345
KathPlumber said:
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecr...k=cd169f62f2178b2ca57272a077d6c736-1761817181

(Paywalled)

The next day, when investigators questioned Mr Kouroumblis about his whereabouts on January 10, he told homicide detective Douglas Carroll he had gone to visit a friend on Keele St in Collingwood.
Mr Carroll told the court he did not recall seeing any knife wounds or injuries on Mr Kouroumblis.
Days later, on January 19, Mr Kouroumblis went into the police station with his friend, who verified his alibi.

I know that PK’s alibi was described somewhere along the line as solid/water tight (maybe at the Inquest in 77?) but I’d like to know how that could have been when they didn’t even know exactly when they’d been killed. Did he have an alibi showing he was hours away for 2 days?
Click to expand...

If he was in Keele Street that evening, that is only two streets away from Easy Street.

a.webp

Google Maps
 
  • #346
  • #347
SouthAussie said:
Kouroumblis' brother also gave DNA voluntarily in June 2018. I wonder if that was to exclude himself, or if it was to provide familial DNA (or both).

DNA from accused Easey Street killer’s old car links him to 1977 murders
Click to expand...

Unless the police were just requesting DNA randomly in the hope a bow-and-arrow type approach might find a match, I can't see why they would have wanted the brother's DNA.

More likely I'd say, it was familial DNA they were after, in the absence of Kouroumblis himself - who had 'fled' overseas - and wasn't around to be swabbed.
 
  • #348
The next ABC podcast episode is up.

Title is 'Easey Street Murders: The case against Perry Kouroumblis'
 
  • #349
1761873797543.webp

Perry Kouroumblis has been charged with the murder of two women in 1977. (ABC News: Anita Lester)
www.abc.net.au

Former detective reveals horrific crime scene details in Easey St murders

Witnesses, including a former neighbour and a former homicide detective, have told a Melbourne court what they saw at the crime scene following murders in Collingwood nearly 50 years ago.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
''The neighbour who discovered the bodies of Suzanne Armstrong and Sue Bartlett in their Melbourne home in 1977 has been quizzed in court.
Perry Kouroumblis has been charged with the women's deaths and is facing a committal hearing to determine whether the case will go to trial.
The court also heard from a former detective, who told the court he believed one of the victims was sexually assaulted after her death.''

Oct 29, 2025 The Case Of... & Mushroom Case Daily
The prosecution has detailed the graphic crime scene on Easey Street, on the first day of a committal hearing for alleged murderer Perry Kouroumblis.Reporter Alexandra Alvaro joins Stephen Stockwell to talk through the events in court, including a legal battle over whether media could report on DNA evidence allegedly linking accused Perry Kouroumblis to the scene.

Oct 30, 2025 #ABCNEWS #ABCNEWSAustralia #ABCNEWSChannel
The committal hearing for Perry Kouroumblis, the man accused of Melbourne's Easey Street murders, has entered its second day.Two neighbours who discovered the bodies at the crime scene in 1977 have given evidence.Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett were stabbed to death in their Collingwood share house.
 
  • #350
  • #351
  • #352
  • #353
Interestingly, there doesn't seem to have been any further mention of Perry Kouroumblis' name in relation to the disappearance/murder of Julie Garciacelay.

If I remember correctly, when the Australian authorities were pleading their case for Kouroumblis' extradition, they argued he had connections to both the Easey Street and Garciacelay cases.
 
  • #354
Cliff Hardy said:
Interestingly, there doesn't seem to have been any further mention of Perry Kouroumblis' name in relation to the disappearance/murder of Julie Garciacelay.

If I remember correctly, when the Australian authorities were pleading their case for Kouroumblis' extradition, they argued he had connections to both the Easey Street and Garciacelay cases.
Click to expand...
Yeah, one of the many things about this case that gives me a headache. I can’t keep track of all the messy elements involved / not involved, connected/not connected, especially from the bare scraps of information publicly known.

The prosecution also asked for a suppression order and we haven’t heard that it was unsuccessful (unlike the defence one).
Awful lot going on in this case
 
  • #355
KathPlumber said:
Yeah, one of the many things about this case that gives me a headache. I can’t keep track of all the messy elements involved / not involved, connected/not connected, especially from the bare scraps of information publicly known.

The prosecution also asked for a suppression order and we haven’t heard that it was unsuccessful (unlike the defence one).
Awful lot going on in this case
Click to expand...

I guess it's possible the Australian authorities added the Julie Garciacelay case to Kouroumblis' 'rap sheet' just to add weight to the argument he should be extradited?

Then again, it is a completely separate case and if/when it does come up it would be treated completely separately. I guess they have a stronger case against Kouroumblis for Easey Street as they have matching DNA evidence. So it makes sense they would proceed in that direction first.
 
  • #356
  • #357
TootsieFootsie said:
The Weekly Times


Easey Street murders: The cold case thrust back into the spotlight as Perry Kouroumblis faces court


Behind a paywall, I think. Posting it here for those who subscribe.
Click to expand...

Dermott Dann, for Kouroumblis, is trying to create doubt by bringing into focus the police interest in Ross Hammond, who was dating Susan Bartlett at the time of the murders.

I expect we will hear all manner of distraction and deviation from the Crown case from Dann. He will also relying heavily on the length of time the witnesses have had to 'get their stories wrong' or 'inconsistent' and the chain of custody of the DNA evidence and how old it is.
 
  • #358
www.abc.net.au

Easy Street Footage

ABC news Victoria: On three separate occasions, 7PM stories about Melbourne’s Easey Street Murders in 1977 have been broadcast which included incorrect archival vision from the scene of an unrelated double murder in St Albans in 1975.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au


Corrections & Clarifications​


ABC news Victoria: On three separate occasions, 7PM stories about Melbourne’s Easey Street Murders in 1977 have been broadcast which included incorrect archival vision from the scene of an unrelated double murder in St Albans in 1975.
 
  • #359
TootsieFootsie said:
www.abc.net.au

Easy Street Footage

ABC news Victoria: On three separate occasions, 7PM stories about Melbourne’s Easey Street Murders in 1977 have been broadcast which included incorrect archival vision from the scene of an unrelated double murder in St Albans in 1975.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au


Corrections & Clarifications​


ABC news Victoria: On three separate occasions, 7PM stories about Melbourne’s Easey Street Murders in 1977 have been broadcast which included incorrect archival vision from the scene of an unrelated double murder in St Albans in 1975.
Click to expand...

The ABC getting it wrong is a rarity. Or it used to be.
 
  • #360
The next ABC podcast episode is up.

Easey Street Murders: Conflicting memories as witnesses give evidence
 
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