Melbourne cold case crimes: Bung Siriboon, Thomas Cooper, Helen McMahon
Mystery surrounds a woman found dead on the beach, naked, bloodied and wrapped in a towel. She is one of the cold cases tantalisingly close to being solved.
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You can’t put a price on a life, but when it comes to solving cold cases hefty rewards can help police close in on the killer.
The announcement of a reward all but guarantees publicity, thrusting these often decades old unsolved murders or missing persons cases back into the spotlight and providing hope to the families of slain loved ones that police are tantalisingly close to a breakthrough.
Here are some of the Victorian cases where dishing the dirt could earn you $1 million.
DORIS MCCARTNEY AND RONALD SWANN MURDERED IN MOORABBIN
Siblings Doris McCartney, 71, and Ronald Swann, 69, were found dead inside the Moorabbin home they shared more than three decades ago.
A friend of Mrs McCarthy’s found the pair. They had been strangled.
There were no signs of forced entry and nothing had been taken from the Keith St home but it later emerged a key had been kept in the property's fuse box and that others knew it was there.
There was no clear motive for the murders but investigators believe someone had come to the house to meet Mrs McCartney and an altercation had occurred.
Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Newman of the homicide squad told a 1991 inquest that Mrs McCartney had been sexually “used and abused” by men and boys aged 15 to 86 since was widowed 10 years before her death.
A coroner said male visitors included young members of a local cricket club, schoolboys, council workers and men who lived nearby.
A number of people were interviewed at the time of the murders but no one has ever been charged.
Announcing the $1 million reward on March 30 this year, homicide squad detective Inspector Tim Day said someone knew what had happened to the siblings and it was time they came clean.
“Over the years we have followed up a number of avenues of inquiry and interviewed several people,” he said.
“While there are areas I can’t go into, I will say that this is very much an active case – some of those lines of inquiry are still open to us and have only emerged relatively recently.
Mr Day said the siblings’ family have carried around the pain of their unsolved deaths for nearly 32 years and deserve answers.
“This is a family that has suffered the loss of two loved ones in the most horrific circumstances, without ever knowing why,” he said.
“I’m asking anyone out there who does have information about Doris and Ronald’s death, no matter what that information might be, to please come forward and speak to police.
“It is no less than their family deserves after all this time.”
MISSING BORONIA SCHOOLGIRL SIRIYAKORN ‘BUNG’ SIRIBOON
In May, it will be the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of Boronia schoolgirl Bung Siriboon.
Bung, 13, left her home in Elsie St at 8.20am on June 2, 2011, headed for Boronia Heights College, a few minutes’ walk away.
She was seen by a neighbour a short time later in Elsie St, walking towards Albert Ave — and that was the last time she was ever seen.
Police have investigated more than 1200 pieces of information but have been unable to find out what happened to Bung. They have previously said they hold grave fears for her.
In 2013 police investigating Bung’s disappearance twice arrested a man who said he killed the girl in a road accident.
But the then 24-year-old was released without charge.
There have been ongoing media and public appeals and Old Joe’s Creek Reserve was searched in a bid to find any clues.
On the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, while police couldn’t confirm it was Bung, they said the teen was possibly seen in the front seat of a white station wagon on Napoleon Rd in Rowville between 8.45am and 9am the day she disappeared.
Her heartbroken parents Fred Pattison and wife Vanidda previously told Leader they still cling to the hope they will see their daughter again.
An area in their Boronia home paid tribute to their missing daughter, set up like a Buddhist temple with candles and incense.
In 2016, Boronia K-12 College created a special tribute to Bung, who would have been in Year 12 at the school that year.
The school put a plaque in front of a tree in tribute to Bung, with a light to “guide” her home.
HELEN MCMAHON FOUND MURDERED AT RYE BEACH
Helen McMahon loved the solitude of the expanse of beaches stretching along the Mornington Peninsula’s ocean side.
She would have had every right to think there was nothing to fear there, apart from the treacherous surf and rips on this exposed coastline.
The 47-year-old could not have suspected the peaceful area, where she sunbathed among the dunes, would be the hunting ground of a killer.
On February 13, 1985, Ms McMahon headed for the Rye area to take in the summer sun.
Later that day, her battered body, naked but with a towel placed over it, was found.
Had she known what we now know about Peter Dupas, she might have had second thoughts about the beach visit.
Dupas was serving a jail sentence for rape at the time but was out on prerelease day leave the day of the McMahon murder.
He went back inside to finish his stretch but, by early March, was behind bars again.
This time, Dupas had followed then raped a young woman at knifepoint at Blairgowrie, also on the Peninsula’s ocean side.
Dupas has long been a suspect in the murder of Ms McMahon, but has never been charged.
He was questioned but denied having anything to do with the crime.
Since then, his horrific propensity for murder has been exposed during a series of murder trials and inquests.
He has been convicted over the murders of Margaret Maher, found dead and mutilated at Somerton in 1997, Mersina Halvagis who was stabbed to death at Fawkner Cemetery the same year and psychotherapist Nicole Patterson, fatally stabbed in her Northcote home in 1999.
CLUNES NURSE NINA NICHOLSON
Young nurse Nina Nicholson was found murdered on the veranda of her home in Clunes, in 1991.
There was no apparent motive for the killing of the kind 22-year-old who “would not hurt a fly”.
Nina worked in the children’s ward of Ballarat’s St John of God Hospital where she was a respected and popular figure.
Nina’s mother, Ann Jones, said Nina was a wonderful daughter who did nothing to deserve what had happened.
“She absolutely loved her job (as a nurse) and children,” she said.
“She was hoping one day to have some of her own.”
There was no indication robbery was a factor in the brutal bashing, as Nina’s handbag, containing cash and credit cards, lay undisturbed near her body.
One noteworthy element for investigators was that she had a year earlier called her parents, who lived a few hundred metres away, in a terrified state at midnight.
Detectives were later to explore a theory that a peeping Tom had been prowling around the property at times when her husband Nick was away.
Nick, a semi-trailer driver, was travelling the Adelaide route on the night his wife was fatally attacked.
Nina ate dinner at her parents’ home on the evening of September 10 then headed home at 8pm in preparation for a 9.30pm shift in Ballarat.
Ten minutes after she had been due to clock on, a colleague rang the Joneses to say Nina had not arrived.
Driving past her house minutes later, Nina’s father Spike and his son Andrew saw her white Nissan outside, indicating she had not left.
They found her lying in a pool of blood on the veranda.
Nina appeared to have just locked the house and was heading to the Nissan when the killer struck.
Now, 30 years later, a reward is still being offered for any information which leads to police catching the callous killer.
It is unclear whether one man, reportedly regarded as a strong suspect, remains on their radar.
That individual was interviewed more than 10 years ago but never charged.
Detective Senior Sergeant Boris Buick said in 2015 that somebody knew who killed Nina.
He said it was high time the perpetrator was brought to justice.
“Nina’s body was found by her father and brother and all indications are that she was involved in a violent struggle with the offender. I can’t even begin to imagine the impact this has had on her family,” he said.
“She didn’t deserve to die in this manner, and her family didn’t deserve this to be the last memory they have of her.”
SLAIN SEX WORKER TRACY CONNELLY
Tracy Connelly was brutally slain inside the van she called home while it was parked on Greeves St, St Kilda.
The sex worker’s badly beaten body was found by her long-term partner Tony Melissovas on July 21, 2013.
Police believe Ms Connelly had entered her white Ford Econovan at 2am and was killed before 2.30am.
Her handbag and mobile phone were stolen, and police at the time investigated whether it was a burglary gone wrong.
Detectives have a DNA sample from the crime scene, but have been unable to find a match.
In 2014 the sample was tested against samples from 192 countries, via Interpol, but without a breakthrough.
Homicide squad detective Inspector Tim Day said the sample was still on file for future testing.
“DNA technology only gets better and better with each passing month,” he said.
“It’s a numbers game in some ways and one we absolutely believe we can win.”
In a public appeal in the weeks after Ms Connelly’s death, Mr Melissovas fought back tears as he begged for anyone with information about her murder to come forward, describing his girlfriend of 19 years as a “beautiful angel”.
“First and foremost, Tracy was a human being and regardless of what she had done for a job, she deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, just like anyone else,” he said.
“Tracy is a beautiful and kind, caring, loving person who deserves justice and not to be forgotten or disrespected by anybody.
Mr Melissovas died of a suspected drug overdose in 2019.
He was Ms Connelly’s “spotter” and would usually stand nearby while Ms Connelly worked, noting down the registration numbers, makes and models of customers’ cars.
However, on the night she was killed, Mr Melissovas was in hospital. He had been ruled out as a suspect.
Insp Day hoped the million-dollar reward would lead to justice.
“I hope whoever is responsible for Tracey’s death thinks about it every day; I hope it weighs heavily on their mind along with the expectation that one day, police are going to catch up with them,” he said.
“We always say that people’s circumstances can change over the years and someone who may not have wanted to provide information to police previously may now feel ready to do so.”
MURDERED BALLARAT GRANDMOTHER KATHLEEN SEVERINO
Ballarat grandmother Kathleen Severino was savagely assaulted by an intruder while she lay asleep in her bed at her Drummond St home in 1987.
The 70-year-old’s daughter, Glenda, found her mother’s body the next day.
“This murder has ruined so many lives, it has broken my family,” Glenda said.
“There are so many happy times that have been taken away from us. It was very hard when I lost mum, I felt so empty.
“When I smile, I feel guilty. Behind it is so much sadness for mum. She was such a good person, she deserves to be at peace.”
Ms Severino’s Ballarat home was ransacked between 10.30pm and 11.30pm on the night of the murder but nothing was reported stolen.
Around that time, a witness reported seeing a male and female near her home.
In 1990, a then 19-year-old man was charged with murder but the charges were withdrawn before trial after a witness revoked their evidence.
That man died in 2017 but he and a former associate remain persons of interest in the investigation.
Detectives are also working with the theory those responsible may not yet have been identified.
“Mum was no threat to the killer, but it was a frenzied attack,” Glenda said.
“Why was she singled out? She was in bed asleep and didn’t have a chance to defend herself.
Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper from the homicide squad said police were hopeful the reward would help solve the cold case.
“While 34 years have passed, it is not too late for her family to get the justice they deserve,” he said.
“We know people who commit or are part of horrific crimes will often disclose their actions to someone.
“Police will not stop until we get closure for Kathleen’s family, which can only be achieved by holding the individual or persons responsible to account.”
Glenda too has refused to give up in seeking justice.
“If somebody is going to say something, let it be now, there has got to be people who know,” she said.
“We’ve been robbed, our son never got to meet his grandmother. We’ve waited for so long, it is just cruel. The pain doesn’t go away.”
THE LOVERS’ LANE SHOOTING OF THOMAS COOPER
It was dark when 18-year-old Thomas Cooper parked his HQ Holden sedan at the Ricketts Point car park in Beaumaris on August 18, 1980.
He and his 16-year-old girlfriend went there about 7.15pm to have a serious discussion about where their relationship was headed.
But shortly after arriving at the popular lovers’ lane carpark, the apprentice plumber was shot dead as he frantically tried to drive away from his killer.
His now dead girlfriend, whose name has been suppressed by the Coroner, graphically described the horror attack in her 1980 statement to police.
Desperate to evade their attacker, she steered the car from the passenger seat with her left hand while leaning over to use her right hand to press the leg of the dead Mr Cooper on the accelerator.
Four decades later, the killer remains at large, though police are optimistic the $1 million bounty will see the murderer caught.
Mr Cooper’s girlfriend wrote to Victoria Police in 2016 pleading for the force to post a $1 million reward to help solve the case.
While there have been a few suspects over the years, Victoria Police homicide squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas stressed detectives were keeping an open mind about who pulled the trigger.
Insp Thomas said the motivation for the murder remained unclear.
“There are a number of possibilities, including that the shooting was sexually motivated and the girl in the car may have been the target,” he said.
“We know that many couples regularly went to this location so the offender may have been stalking the area in the lead up to the shooting.
“Police have spoken to a number of people over the years in relation to Thomas’ murder, however we are absolutely keeping an open mind with regards to this case.
“There is no one answer to this that we’re focusing on.
“The one thing we do know is that someone out there will know who is responsible for shooting Thomas and we’re hopeful that after four decades, this person is ready to come forward and assist us with bringing his family some justice.”
At the time of Mr Cooper’s 1980 murder, police released a digital composite image of a man they wished to speak to in relation to the incident. It was based on the description Mr Cooper’s girlfriend gave of the gunman.
This image has been forensically updated and aged to show what this man might look like in 2020.
Police are also considering whether the offender wore a hat on the night as a disguise.
Insp Thomas said detectives are keen to hear from anyone who can provide information regarding the identity of the man shown in those images.
“I want people to consider whether these digital images show a person they know or can identify for us,” he said.
“That person may not necessarily be from the Beaumaris or Ricketts Point area and they may not necessarily have regularly worn a hat.
“We’re hopeful that there is someone out there who can tell us who this person is or has other information about the murder.
JENNY ROSE NG KILLED IN RICHMOND HOUSING COMMISSION FLAT
Mother of four, Jenny Rose Ng, was savagely stabbed to death in a frenzied attack inside her Richmond housing commission flat in 1982.
The cold case homicide squad detectives are convinced Ms Ng, 39, knew her attacker and let him into her home on the 19th floor of the Elizabeth St building.
A witness reported hearing someone knock on Ms Ng's door about 10.30am on April 23 and then Ms Ng say something in either Macao or Cantonese dialect.
Noises were later heard coming from the flat, which sounded like furniture being moved around or falling over.
Shortly afterwards the noises stopped and the door to the flat slammed.
The witness said the man said something in English as he left.
Ms Ng’s body was found about two hours later when her daughters, then aged 9 and 8, came home from school for lunch.
“I saw mummy on the floor. She had her face on the floor and there was a lot of blood around her,” the eight-year-old told detectives just three hours after discovering her mother’s body.
“I called and yelled at her. I yelled ‘mummy, mummy, but she wouldn’t wake up.”
Ms Ng’s 11-month-old daughter was in her cot when her mother was stabbed to death in the next room.
Ms Ng’s husband Kam Hor Ng, frequently lived apart during their rocky marriage and separated for good just over a year before Ms Ng was murdered.
Mr Ng was initially considered a suspect in the matter but he is no longer under suspicion.
Cold case homicide squad Detective Senior Sergeant Peter Trichias said police were “comfortable on the evidence in hand there is nothing to suggest that he murdered Jenny, but until somebody is charged he will remain a person of interest as we have to keep an open mind”.
Ms Ng’s son was 11 when his mother was brutally slain. He said not knowing why she had been killed was the hardest thing.
“Given how violent the offence was, it’s about wanting to understand why,” he said.
“Why did it happen in the way it did? Why was it so violent? Why her?
“We hope the $1 million reward will lead to those questions being answered.”
Sen-Sgt Trichias said identifying the mystery man was key to solving the case.
“We are hoping for two main things. Either somebody who knows that male who goes to the flat, somebody who may have seen that person leave and for whatever reason has never come forward, or this male may have said something to somebody and because of their relationship that person has never spoken about that conversation,” he said.
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