Man, 65, arrested in Rome over Easey St murders that took place 47 years ago

Police describe the brutal killing of two women in their home as ‘absolutely gruesome, horrific, frenzied double murder that left a child motherless’.

A man has been arrested 47 years years after the alleged brutal murder of two women, which “left a child motherless”, police have confirmed.

Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28, were found dead in their Easey St home in Collingwood on January 13, 1977.

The women, who were last seen alive three days earlier, had been stabbed multiple times.

Ms Armstrong had a 16-month-old son who was found unharmed in his cot by police when they located the bodies of the two women.

After nearly 50 years, authorities on Thursday night arrested a 65-year-old man in Rome in connection to the brutal murders.

Police are seeking to extradite the Australian-Greek citizen to Australia.

Suzanne Armstrong was murdered in Collingwood in 1977.

Her housemate Susan Bartlett also killed in the attack.

Victoria Police commissioner Shane Patton told reporters it was one of the state’s longest and most serious cold cases that had ever been solved.

“That’s why it is such a significant achievement,” he said on Saturday.

“This was an investigation that struck at the very heart of the community.

“Two women who should have been safe in their own home were brutally murdered.”

Commissioner Patton said a 65 year old Australian-Greek national was arrested at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome on a Interpol Red Notice over the alleged

“absolutely gruesome, horrific, frenzied double murder”.

The commissioner told reporters warrants had been out for the accused killer’s arrest for two counts of murder and one count of rape.

He said the 65-year old man had been a person of interest in the women’s deaths for a number of years, and there had been many suspects in the case but it was a matter of narrowing down the evidence and tracing every lead.

Commissioner Patton said detectives from Victoria would travel to Europe to seek extradition in about a month.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said the 65-year old man had been a person of interest for many years and warrants had been out for his arrest for two charges of murder and one of rape. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

“They have been looking for him for a number of years, and knew him as a person of interest,” he said.

“The fact that the investigation, though, has spanned such a long duration, just merely adds to the reward in actually being able to bring it to conclusion through an arrest.”

The commissioner said the Armstrong and Bartlett families were “speechless and overwhelmed” when they were told about the arrest.

Commissioner Patton said the detective senior sergeant in charge of the case since 2015 had made a promise he would personally tell the families when there was a breakthrough.

“He and his crew went up to country of Victoria this morning, where they broke that news to them,” he said.

“That was a promise he’d made, and he fulfilled that promise.

Suzanne Armstrong with her son Gregory who was 16 month’s old when his mother was murdered at their Collingwood home in 1977. Picture: Supplied

“He described the families as being emotional, speechless, overwhelmed, but appreciative that they hadn’t been forgotten that over five decades.

“To be able to deliver that update is an amazing feeling for an investigator, and it’s something that he was very proud of being able to do, representing five decades of investigators.”

The commissioner told reporters the families had grieved for almost five decades waiting for answers.

“They have missed them and they continue to miss them,” he said.

In a statement, the women’s families said the violent circumstances of their deaths were impossible for “two quiet families from country Victoria” to comprehend.

“The gravity of the circumstances surrounding their deaths changed our lives irrevocably,” they said.

“We will be forever grateful for the support and understanding shown to us by our friends and family over the past 47 years.”

The families of two women who were murdered in their Collingwood home 47 years ago said it has always been “impossible” for them to understand the “needless and violent” manner in which the women died.

The families praised the “perseverance and dedication” of Victoria Police officers and investigators who “tirelessly pursued answers and justice for us over such a long period of time”.

“For always giving us hope and never giving up, we simply say, thank you,” the families said.

Front page of newspaper The Herald in 1977.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said the Easey St murders have always been a priority for Victoria Police.

“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,” he said.

“While we still have some way to go, this arrest is an important breakthrough.

“I also want to recognise the enduring resilience of both the Armstrong and Bartlett families, who have grieved for over four decades and no doubt this will be a very emotional time for them.

“I hope this arrest brings you closer to the answers you so richly deserve and have waited so long for.”

The chief commissioner thanked officers from homicide squad and specialist staff who have all “been wholly committed to finding answers and holding those responsible for these deaths to account.”

The home on Easey St in Collingwood. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

DNA technology eliminates suspects in the case

In January 2017, police announced a $1m reward for information that led to the arrest and conviction of any one responsible for the deaths of the women.

Victoria Police began using DNA technology to eliminate suspects in the case two years earlier narrowing their list of persons of interest.

The Herald Sun reported at the time, police believed the killer was aged anywhere between 60 and 80 and could be dead or alive.

Homicide Squad detective inspector Michael Hughes told reporters in 2017 that 41 of the 131 people of interest in the case had died and they believed the killer was one of the suspects named in the case file.

“We have good DNA evidence and we obviously believe that is the key to the investigation,” he said.

“We haven’t got a match. If we did I’d be knocking on someone’s door and making an arrest.

“We’ve got to the stage where we have been working through a lot of persons of interest.

“They come from a variety of sources. We’ve narrowed the field considerably.

“If you look at the brutality of the murders it is likely he has come under police notice again.”

The home on Easey Street Collingwood where Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett were brutally murdered in 1977. Picture: Supplied

Murder theory

Police believed the killer was let in or entered the women’s home without force, the Herald Sun reported in 2017.

He raped Ms Armstrong then stabbed the 27-year old single mother to death in her bedroom.

Police believed Ms Bartlett, an art teacher, likely heard the attack and went to investigate.

She was also stabbed to death and left in the hallway.

Police told reporters the killer probably “knew at least one of the women and was in the house for some time.”

Reporters were told the women had lots of friends and acquaintances, including a man one of them had started seeing only weeks before the murder.

“(She) met someone just prior to her death. It was early days in the relationship,” detective inspector Hughes said.

The backdoor of the Easey Street, Collingwood home where Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett were found murdered. Picture: Supplied

Facts and evidence

The two women grew up in country Victoria and became friends in school, police told reporters in 2017.

They had lived together in the house for four months before the murders.

Two notes were left at the house before their bodies were discovered.

One note was “pinned to the front door by neighbours who had found their dog wandering the street,” News Corp reported.

Another note was left in the kitchen by Ms Armstrong’s boyfriend.

He had entered the house through the back door with his brother a day after the killings, and left a note for Ms Armstrong to call him.

The bodies of the women were down the hallway behind a closed door, they were dressed in nightwear.

The women were in bed at the time of the first attack, their bedcovers were turned down, lights were left on and the blinds drawn.

Neighbours found the pair on January 13 after they heard Ms Armstrong’s 16-month old son crying out and went to check.

The women had been stabbed a total 84 times.

Knives were stored in police evidence files, including a knife found nearby at the railway station in Victoria Park, but police did not believe they had the murder weapon.

Originally published as Man, 65, arrested in Rome over Easey St murders that took place 47 years ago