(ANSA) – ROME, SEPTEMBER 21 – After almost half a century of investigations, a breakthrough has been made in a double homicide that shocked the Australian city of Melbourne in 1977. The alleged perpetrator was arrested in Rome, on the other side of the world. He is a 65-year-old Greek-Australian accused of killing two young friends by stabbing them dozens of times. He was stopped by the police on Thursday evening at Fiumicino airport where he had landed on a flight from Greece for a holiday in the eternal city. He had been wanted internationally for seven years. Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28, were found dead in January 1977 in the apartment they shared in a suburb of Melbourne. They were in a pool of blood. Their bodies bore the marks of dozens of stab wounds. “Australia will now begin extradition proceedings for the suspect, a Greek-Australian citizen who was living in Greece where he was protected by the statute of limitations,” Victoria State Police Chief Shane Patton announced at a press conference. Patton described this ‘cold case’ as the longest and most serious in the Australian state. In 2017, police had also offered a reward of one million Australian dollars (680,000 US dollars) for information leading to an arrest of the person responsible for the double homicide described by the police chief as “absolutely gruesome, horrific and frenetic”. (ANSA).
2024-09-22 04:59:35