Suspect in 1977 “Easey Street murders,” Melbourne’s oldest cold case, arrested in Italy

A man suspected of the brutal killing of two women in Australia nearly a half-century ago has been arrested in Rome on an international arrest warrant, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Saturday.

The 65-year-old suspect, who has dual Greek and Australian citizenship, was detained at Rome’s Fiumicino airport on Thursday after landing on a flight that had departed from Greece, ANSA said. Australia’s Victoria Police said in a news release that the suspect was arrested on Thursday at an airport in Rome. There was a warrant and arrest out for his arrest, police said, and the suspect is currently in custody in Italy. 

Police said they will now work to seek the suspect’s extradition to Victoria.

The man reportedly lived in Greece, where he was protected by the country’s statute of limitations, according to Australian media.

Australian police said on Saturday they would start the process of extraditing the suspect, and Italian courts would set the timeline.

The suspect is accused of killing two friends – Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28 – in a knife attack that shocked Australia in January 1977.

The young women were found dead in their rented house on Easey Street in Melbourne, while Armstrong’s 16-month-old son was left unharmed in his cot in another room. Both Armstrong and Bartlett had been stabbed multiple times.

“This was a crime that struck at the heart of our community – two women in their own home, where they should have felt their safest,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said in a statement. 

The crime, known as the “Easey Street murders,” became Melbourne’s longest and most serious cold case, but no one had been arrested until now.

Victoria Police offered a $1 million reward in 2017 to catch those responsible. That same year, new technology led to a breakthrough in the case, as the suspect became a fugitive following a request for a sample of his DNA.

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