Dual citizen of Australia and Greece Perry Kouroumblis expected to be brought back to Australia by late October

Accused killer Perry Kouroumblis has appeared before an Italian court and sources in Italy’s border control office say plans to transport him back to Australia are already underway.

Perry Kouroumblis has been held in Regina Coeli prison, Rome’s most notorious jail. Picture: Getty

Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton has cautioned the extradition process of the man accused of the horrific Easey St murders is complex and largely sits with authorities in Italy.

Mr Patton said he was hopeful Victorian homicide members could fly to Italy in little more than a month to give evidence to an Italian court.

But the length of the extradition process will depend on whether Perry Kouroumblis, 65, accepted the extradition, he cautioned.

“It will depend on the approach taken by the suspect that we’ve charged as to whether they accept extradition or contest it,” Mr Patton told ABC Radio Melbourne on Tuesday.

“They’re not straightforward scenarios.”

Perry Kouroumblis was arrested in Rome after he had flown in from Greece for a holiday.

Mr Patton wouldn’t detail the evidence gathered against Kouroumblis but said he expects it to be strong enough to land the man arrested back in Melbourne.

“I would like to think (extradition is likely) — we don’t charge people unless we have significant evidence and in this case I believe that is also the situation,” he added.

“We do have sufficient evidence to justify an extradition but that’ll be a matter for Italian courts to work through… they’re matters for the Italian authorities.”

The Herald Sun can reveal that Perry Kouroumblis, 65, was arrested at Leonardo da Vinci airport in Rome after he had flown in from Greece for a holiday.

It can also be revealed that the dual citizen of Australia and Greece could potentially be brought back to Australia by as early as late October, with sources in Italy’s border control office saying plans to transport him back to Australia were already underway.

Mr Kouroumblis has already appeared before an Italian court where his arrest on an international warrant was validated and the extradition process begun on the grounds he would not be put in danger by the move.

An Italian source told the Herald Sun the “conditions for extradition are optimal”.

The Easey Street home where the murders were carried out. Picture: ABC News

Kouroumblis appeared for his hearing with a court-appointed lawyer and, at that stage, had not sought his own legal counsel.

He has been held in Regina Coeli prison, Rome’s most notorious jail, since landing in the city after travelling from Athens for a holiday on Thursday last week.

Kouroumblis’ extradition is the biggest breakthrough in years in Victoria’s longest running cold case investigation.

Lifelong friends Suzanne Armstrong, 27 and Susan Bartlett, 28 were stabbed to death inside their Easey St home in Collingwood in 1977, in a crime which shocked the nation.

Ms Armstrong, who was stabbed 27 times and also raped, was discovered in her bedroom.

Ms Bartlett, who is believed to have come to her aid, was stabbed 55 times and her body was found near the front door.

Miraculously, Ms Armstrong’s then-16-month-old son Gregory was unharmed.

The killer left semen behind under Ms Armstrong’s body, which was later linked to Kouroumblis after it was matched with one of his close relatives.

Susan Bartlett was stabbed to death in 1977.

Suzanne Armstrong was raped and killed. Her son Gregory was miraculously unharmed.

The development triggered an international manhunt for Kouroumblis, who was 17 at the time of the brutal killings.

Kouroumblis’ extradition comes seven years after he left for Greece without providing homicide detectives with a DNA sample as part of their investigations into the double murder.

Victoria Police’s announcement in 2017 that it would test dozens of DNA samples of people linked to the murders, including Kouroumblis, was not the first time he was connected to the case.

Former homicide investigator Ron Iddles on Sunday said he pulled a teenage Kouroumblis over in his car about two weeks after the murders and found the murder weapon, a 10.5 inch long knife, in the boot.

Kouroumblis told Mr Iddles he had found the knife at a train station near an overpass on Hoddle St.

Following his arrest, those who knew the accused killer when he ran a welding business in Dandenong told the Herald Sun he had mentioned wanting to return to Greece to care for his sick and elderly mother in the years before his departure.

His brother Tony lashed claims his brother fled to escape scrutiny over the deaths.

Originally published as Dual citizen of Australia and Greece Perry Kouroumblis expected to be brought back to Australia by late October