Cold case CCTV clue: Socialite Jeanette Moss’s final moments caught on CCTV before murder
NEW CCTV footage has emerged of murdered Melbourne socialite Jeanette Moss on the day she died — as police step up the hunt for her killer.
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NEW CCTV footage has emerged of murdered Middle Park socialite Jeanette Moss on the day she died — as police step up the hunt for her killer.
Her family are now pleading for a coronial inquest, 3½ years after her body was found in her apartment.
In the previously unreleased footage, the frail 69-year-old grandmother with a terminal lung condition is seen entering the Port Melbourne branch of Coles at 11am on January 14, 2014.
She waits in the foyer as her longtime friend Elsie Johnston drops off a script. The pair then do a brief shop before heading out into busy Bay St on a sweltering summer’s day.
The pair had earlier been to the gym and had coffee at a cafe.
Victoria Police has revealed that detectives began to review the case 11 months ago, searching for any evidence that may have been missed.
Ms Moss’s son Derham is pushing for the State Coroner to get involved, in the hope of identifying the killer or any new leads.
“We live with this every day and we just want answers,” he told the Sunday Herald Sun.
He said of his mum — a former councillor on the board of several charities: “She deserves justice. I want to be able to tell my kids when they get older what happened — it’s a sad thing to say that we don’t know who or why.”
Mrs Johnston told the Sunday Herald Sun about her last moment with her friend of 15 years on that tragic day.
Ms Moss had dropped her off in her green BMW.
“I always gave her a little kiss on her forehead or a kiss on the cheek and said, ‘We will keep in touch’,” she said. “That was the last we spoke together. She was just a darl, a beautiful person, and I think we all miss her the same.”
A day later, on January 15, Ms Moss’s neighbour found the mother of two and grandmother of four dead in her Beaconsfield Pde apartment.
She had a sheet around her neck.
Detectives believe the trusting widow of lingerie baron Hal Moss, who owned the Hilton and Kayser brands, let the killer into her home.
It may even have been someone she knew, as there was no forced entry. Police are yet to find a motive, any conclusive DNA or identify any suspects, despite an exhaustive investigation.
Key to the case are the distinctive jewellery pieces Ms Moss wore.
Her gold and black watch, a gold ring set with a green stone with an etched lion, and a thick gold bracelet have not been found. What baffles detectives is more valuable jewellery and electronic goods were left behind.
Detective Sen-Constable Kirsty Hellebrand of the homicide squad said all potential suspects, including family, friends, neighbours and tradies working nearby on the day, had been eliminated.
“In one sense we are starting off fresh and hope this review and CCTV footage can bring forward a result — it has been quite baffling,” she said.
Police are urging the public to cast their minds back to that day and try to remember if there was anybody strange or anything out of the ordinary that may give a breakthrough.
Mr Moss said the killing made no sense: “Mum didn’t have an enemy in the world. To think that the person who did this is still out there in the community is extraordinary.”
ONE CALL CHANGED MY LIFE
ELSIE Johnston had just been to the city and was on the bus home when her phone rang.
It was terrible news about her good friend Jeanette Moss. She was dead.
“I naturally thought it was from her sickness,” she said.
But the tragedy was something a lot more sinister than Ms Moss’s terminal lung condition.
The mutual friend who had called Ms Johnston, also part of their “ladies who lunch” set, was struggling in her distress to find the words.
“She mumbled out, over crying and everything, ‘No, she was murdered’,” Ms Johnston recalled.
“I didn’t know what to say, do or scream. I said ‘No, no, no’ and I just hung up. I was shocked.”
To hear Ms Moss was killed inside her Middle Park apartment was beyond her comprehension — only hours before a brute struck, the pair had spent the morning together.
Ms Johnston would be the last person to see her alive before the callous attacker murdered the frail grandmother.
The Tuesday that Ms Moss was murdered — January 14, 2014 — had begun in usual fashion, although it was to be an abnormally hot 42C day.
Ms Moss drove to Ms Johnston’s Port Melbourne home and the pair went to the gym about 9.15am.
“I didn’t want to go because it was so hot but she told me we were going — that’s why we called her Bossy Mossy,” she said.
After their workout they went to a cafe, then after about 40 minutes they headed to the Coles supermarket on Bay St. CCTV captures the friends walking in with their gym gear, sunglasses and shoulder bags.
After Ms Johnston dropped a script off to the pharmacist, the pair did a quick shop. Ms Moss finished earlier than Ms Johnston and waited for her to come out. Dozens of shoppers would pass her as she stood waiting, wearing black tights and black T-shirt, gold watch and rings.
They again braved the heat and Ms Moss dropped off her friend at her home nearby. They chatted about a TV show, Ms Moss’s GP appointment the following day and lunch with her granddaughter the day after.
“I said to her, ‘You go straight home, you are not getting your nails done’,” Ms Johnston said.
She said Ms Moss had agreed: “No, it’s too hot, I’m going straight home to put the air conditioner on and have a lazy day because I’m going to be so busy for the next couple of days.”
Ms Johnston said: “I didn’t think that was going to be the last time I saw her. Everything has changed since I lost Jen. I haven’t been to the gym or any of the things we used to do. I miss her terribly, I always will.”
—Anyone who has information about any of the cold cases should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit crimestoppersvic.com.au.