Stalkers, rapists and murderers: Melbourne’s biggest creeps in the north
Melbourne may be one of the world’s most liveable cities, but it certainly has its fair share of creeps — and the north is far from immune. But while the likes of Adrian Bayley and Codey Herrmann may be well-known, others are less so.
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They’re the stories that make Melburnians’ skin crawl and the reason people tell their loved ones to stay safe when venturing out at night.
Rapists, sexual deviants, catfishers and downright creeps, every city has them and unfortunately it seems Melbourne’s northern suburbs have had more than their fair share.
These are some of the faces of the city’s sordid underbelly of sex pests, online stalkers and jealous wannabe lovers.
Some are well-known, others less so. Here’s the list.
Adrian Bayley
It was the crime that shocked Melbourne.
ABC employee Jill Meagher, 29, went out for work drinks in Brunswick with colleagues on September 21, 2012, but never made it home. Her husband, Tom Meagher, called police when he woke the next morning to find her missing, and weeks later police investigations led to the arrest of Coburg man Adrian Ernest Bayley, then aged 41. CCTV footage captured Bayley trailing Ms Meagher before he followed her around a street corner and she was never seen alive again. Bayley later pleaded guilty to Ms Meagher’s rape and murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 35 year non-parole period. He’s also believed to have raped up to two dozen other women, making him one of Victoria’s worst sex criminals.
Lydia Abdelmalek
Whether it was a cruel prank or a twisted way to pass the time, Lalor woman Lydia Abdelmalek’s years’ long stalking charade had devastating consequences and left one woman dead. Abdelmalek, 30, assumed the identity of Aussie soap star Lincoln Lewis in an elaborate catfishing plot to stalk and harass her victims. She tricked the women into thinking she was in a relationship with Lewis through a series of online messages and phone calls, and strung her along for years. She even sent explicit pictures of a victim, who Abdelmalek stalked for four years from May 2011, to the victim’s father, mother and brother-in-law. The experience left the 29-year-old so traumatised she took her own life in 2018. Another victim told the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court last year she felt “ashamed” and “unworthy” and blamed herself for “my own stupidity” after becoming embroiled in Abdelmalek’s malicious scheme. She also told the court she suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and every time she saw pictures of Lewis or his famous dad, rugby league legend Wally Lewis, in magazines or on TV, she felt her condition was triggered. Abdelmalek was sentenced to two years’ and eight months’ jail last year but appealed her sentence. She is free to live in the community until her appeal is finalised.
Jake Wood
Jake Wood, aged in his 20s, had a fetish for women’s clothing, which wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t break into strangers’ homes to steal them. The man, who lived in Tullamarine during the period of his offending between 2015 and 2018, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of stalking, trespass and theft at the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court in February this year. The court heard his offending began in 2015 when he stole leggings belonging to his sister and a pair of his mother’s underwear while moving out of the family home. While living in Tullamarine he also became enamoured with two of his female neighbours, leaving them love letters and trying to break into their homes when they weren’t there. Wood later told police he was trying to gain entry to the women’s properties so he could try on and steal their clothes for sexual pleasure. He also admitted to stalking a female supermarket colleague by trying to follow her home from work and made multiple attempts to contact her on social media. Most worryingly, Wood told police he was worried he couldn’t stop himself reoffending. Wood was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order.
Ravitega Vakkalagadda
Love and relationships can be difficult to navigate, especially when the person you thought you were in a relationship with gets a new partner. This was the case for Indian exchange student Ravitega Vakkalagadda, 23, who was so incensed when his flatmate — who he thought was his girlfriend — got a boyfriend, he planted hidden cameras in their bedroom to film them in bed. The trio lived in shared accommodation in Pascoe Vale and the victims only became aware of the cameras after Vakkalagadda showed his female housemate some footage taken from one of the devices hidden at the foot of her bed. Naturally she flipped out and the couple reported the matter to the police. Vakkalagadda pleaded guilty to a number of charges at the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court including using a secret filming device, stalking and capturing footage of another person’s genitalia without their consent.
Codey Herrmann
Aiia Maasarwe, 21, was walking home from a tram stop in Bundoora in the early hours of January 16, 2019, after a night out in Melbourne’s CBD when she was attacked by 21-year-old Codey Herrmann. The Arab-Israeli international student was on the phone to her sister when she was jumped by Herrmann and struck four times from behind with a metal pipe. Herrmann dragged Ms Maasarwe off the pathway and raped her before bashing her again with the pipe and setting her body alight in an attempt to hide his crime. Ms Maasarwe’s death reignited conversations over women’s safety in Melbourne, which were initially sparked following the brutal death of Jill Meagher just over six years earlier. In sentencing Herrmann, who pleaded guilty to rape and murder, to 36 years’ jail last year, Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingsworth said Herrmann’s actions robbed a loving family of their daughter and sister and deprived Ms Maasarwe of leading the full life she had ahead of her. Herrmann must serve at least 30 years’ of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Tanya Maree Quattrocchi
The love people have for their favourite TV personalities is real, but for some it can get a little too real. Tanya Maree Quattrocchi, of Oak Park, was so infatuated with 2004 American Idol contestant Diana DeGarmo she hacked her MySpace account and intercepted her emails. Quattrocchi, then aged 23, pleaded guilty to stalking the entertainer and was jailed for 26 months in 2009. That wasn’t her first brush with the law. She’d earlier been warned by a court to stay away from the starlet in 2007 when she was handed a community-based order for stalking the star online in 2006. All up Quattrocchi made DeGarmo’s life hell for three years, texting her hundreds of times. She even sent emails to her victim’s relatives and workmates detailing explicit fictional accounts of DeGarmo’s sex life.
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