Southeast Cold Cases: Samantha Mizzi, Christopher Phillips, The Tynong North Murders and more
These crimes shocked Melbourne, and despite millions in reward money, the cases remain unsolved. Perhaps you have the clue that could bring their families some justice.
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While excellent police work, tips off from the public and even a guilty conscience can lead to detectives breaking open the lock on an unsolved murder, there are still plenty of cold cases waiting to be exposed
Here is five notable cold cases from Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs.
Samantha Mizzi
Castlemaine mother Samantha Mizzi died after she was assaulted outside a property at 333 Brighton Rd, St Kilda in 1994.
Ms Mizzi had travelled to Melbourne in an effort to make some money to support her children.
Leaving her children in the trust of a friend, Ms Mizzi arrived on March 27.
She was last seen alive the following evening in Brighton Rd, near Blanche St, by two people.
Ms Mizzi was speaking with an unknown man.
Local residents reported hearing a woman scream three or four times between 10 and 10.30m.
A passer-by discovered Ms Mizzi at 11pm at the rear of 333 Brighton Rd.
Ms Mizzi died the following morning from her injuries.
Ms Mizzi had been severely beaten with an unknown object and sexually assaulted before being stripped naked.
Her belongings had also been stolen.
Police searched the area but were unable to find the weapon used in the brutal attack.
Witnesses say the man seen with Ms Mizzi on the night of her murder looked between 40 and 45, was Caucasian and had short grey hair parted to the left.
He was thin, about 182cm tall, and was wearing a fawn coloured zip-up jacket and slacks.
Emanuel Sapountzakis
Taxi driver and chemical engineering student Emanuel Sapountzakis was murdered in the Police Paddocks in Endeavour Hills in 1993.
The 26-year-old father was found by a passer-by at 8.30am on March 2, in an area off Greenbank Drive.
Mr Sapountzakis had multiple gunshot wounds and had died from a head injury.
On March 1, the afternoon before his murder, Mr Sapountzakis went to his employer’s house to pick up the cab he would be driving that evening.
After collecting the Ford Falcon EA taxi at 3.30pm in Wantirna, Mr Sapountzakis started his shift with Black Cabs.
Over the course of the evening, he received numerous jobs and was continuously in contact with the Black Cabs’ communication depot.
Almost 12 hours after beginning his shift, Mr Sapountzakis accepted a courier fare from Boronia to Dandenong at 2.03am.
The in-car system indicated the dispatch to be complete at 3.29am. This was the last confirmed contact Mr Sapountzakis made before his murder.
At 7.28am, Black Cabs’ put a call out over its query channel, telling others to contact the company’s communication line if they saw Emanuel’s car.
Around this time, a witness located the blue cab on Mountain Highway in Bayswater outside the Vulcan Australia factory.
Locked and with the dome lights on, the taxi meter was still in operation, showing a fare of $127.80.
Some of Mr Sapountzakis’ belongings were inside the cab, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Multiple witnesses contacted investigators after seeing Mr Sapountzakis’ cab around Scoresby Rd, Bayswater and on Stud Rd in Dandenong, allowing police to structure a timeline of his movements that night.
Witnesses said Mr Sapountzakis was often seen with large amounts of US currency.
Mr Sapountzakis was living with his wife and two-year-old daughter in Clayton when he died. His family migrated to Australia from Brazil in 1971 and he was studying at Monash University while working six days a week.
Three decades on, police have been unable to solve Mr Sapountzakis’ murder.
Homicide detectives want to speak with anyone who saw the victim or his cab around Police Paddocks on the night of his death, or anyone who has knowledge of who may be responsible for his death and why.
Police are hopeful any new information may lead to further avenues of investigation.
Christopher Phillips
Christopher Phillips, 42, was murdered in his own home in 1989, and found by his wife in the evening of May 1.
Mr Phillips, living in Cheltenham at the time of his death, had significant head trauma and lacerations, with two knives covered in blood discovered next to his body.
Investigators said there was no signs of defensive wounds and therefore believe he was first attacked from behind.
Mr Phillips’ house had clearly been rifled through but nothing was stolen.
The back entrance into the house was forced open.
A shoe print found by police was of an ASICS Tiger Gel runner, around a size nine or 10.
Mr Phillips was a quiet man, who worked as an engineer and enjoyed going for runs in the evening.
He was wearing a tracksuit when he was killed, with investigators believing he was about to go for a run when he was murdered.
Mr Phillips’ murder remains unsolved and police increased the initial $50,000 reward to $1m in 2017, in hopes that it might entice someone to come forward with information.
Michele Brown
Police are still searching for Michele Brown’s murderer three decades after her shocking death and are offering $1m for anyone who has relevant information.
Ms Brown was murdered behind a gun shop in Frankston on March 13 in 1992.
On March 1, about 12pm, the 25-year-old was driven by a friend from her home in Baxter to another friend’s house in Frankston where she stayed until 7pm that evening.
Ms Brown and a friend walked to the Food Plus store on Dandenong Rd in Frankston. After borrowing 30 cents from her friend, Ms Brown called her brother and asked for her mum to pick her up from Frankston station.
Her friend left her at the store, getting a lift home with other friends passing by.
A witness saw Ms Brown walking away from Food Plus between 7pm and 7.15pm, but it is unknown whether she made it to Frankston station, which was 4km away.
Later that evening, a cab driver reported that he saw a woman he believed to be Ms Brown near the phone boxes at Frankston station between 8pm and 9pm.
Ms Brown’s mother arrived at Frankston station about 8pm, but couldn’t find her daughter.
Her mother searched for a while, before returning home.
Living just a few hundred metres from the station, a witness living near Playne St Frankston, reported hearing two screams shortly after 9pm.
It wasn’t unusual for Ms Brown not to see her family for a few days, and as a result, she wasn’t reported missing until 12 days after her disappearance on March 13.
The following day, a staff member at Miall’s Gun Shop on Playne St, Frankston, discovered Ms Brown’s body in an old shed at the rear of the premises.
The store was about 400m south of Frankston station.
The shed was accessible from the railway line and surrounded by blackberry bushes.
Investigators want to speak with anyone who saw a female fitting Ms Brown’s description in or around the public telephone box at Frankston station between 8 and 9pm on March 1, 1992.
Police are also looking to speak with anyone who noticed anything suspicious or unusual activity in the area around Playne St Frankston, or at the rear of the gun shop/at the vacant block behind it on that night.
Detectives are hopeful that someone will be able to provide information about who was responsible for her murder and why.
The Tynong North Murders
Perhaps one of the most chilling cold cases is the kidnap and murder of six women all found in the Tynong North and Frankston areas.
Differing in age, ethnicity and body type, the women had few things in common. All were last seen walking and all but one were heading to catch public transport.
Police have offered $6m for anyone with information that leads to the solving of these murders.
The victims were Allison Rooke, 59, Bertha Miller, 73, Catherine Headland, 14, Ann-Marie Sargent, 18, Narumol Stephenson, 34, and Joy Carmel Summers, 55.
They disappeared between 1980 and 1981, and with the exception of Narumol, were all found dead in scrubland.
Investigators believe the murderer went to efforts to conceal the locations of the bodies and their identities.
On May 30, 1980, 59-year-old Allison Rooke left her home in Hannah St, Frankston North at 11am.
She intended to catch a bus to the Frankston shops.
Her body was discovered in Frankston by a man walking his dogs in scrubland near McClelland Drive on 5 July.
On August 10, 73-year-old Bertha Miller was seen leaving her home in Kardinia Road, Glen Iris about 10am, intending to catch a tram from Malvern Road and High Street to the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Prahran.
Her body was found with the body of Ann-Marie Sargent on December 6 in 1980.
Ann-Marie Sargent was seen leaving her mother’s home in Cranbourne Dr, Cranbourne, at 9.30am on October 6 in 1980.
The 18-year-old intended to catch a bus to the CES employment office in Dandenong before heading to the Clyde Post Office.
Ms Sargent and Ms Miller’s bodies were found by a local garage owner and his friend, two kilometres north of the Princes Fwy at Tynong North, along Brew Road.
The men were dumping animal remains in scrub near a quarry, when one of them came across the human remains and reported the matter to police.
On August 28, 1980, Catherine Headland was seen leaving her boyfriend’s home on High St Berwick at 11am.
The 14-year-old Berwick schoolgirl was going to catch a bus to Fountain Gate Shopping Centre in Narre Warren.
Ms Headland’s body was found in the same area as both Ms Sargent and Ms Miller on December 7, 1980.
Thai born Narumol Stephenson, 34, disappeared from outside her friend’s home in Brunswick on November 29, 1980.
Her body was the last to be found, on February 3 in 1983 on the Princes Fwy in Tynong North.
A driver had pulled over due to a flat tyre and noticed a bone sticking out of roadside bushes while changing it.
The man took the bone to Warragul Police Station, where investigators confirmed the bone was human, and shortly after, Ms Stephenson’s remains were located.
Joy Summers was seen at a bus stop on Chile St and Frankston-Dandenong Rd in Frankston at 1pm on October 9, 1981.
The 55-year-old was waiting for a bus to go to the Frankston shops.
The bus driver did not recall picking up Ms Summers and she did not make her usual order at the butcher shop.
Six weeks later, on November 22, Ms Summers’ body was found in shrub land near Skye Rd in Frankston North.
A man was collecting firewood in the area when he came across the remains, just three km from where Allison Rooke had been found over a year prior.
Police have urged anyone with any information to contact Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000, or make an anonymous online report here.
gemma.scerri@news.com.au
