Former lawyer Andrew Fraser to receive part of $1 million reward for his hand in conviction of serial killer Peter Dupas

EX-LAWYER Andrew Fraser has won part of a $1 million reward for helping convict evil serial killer Peter Norris Dupas. | The beast who roamed free.

Peter Dupas

FORMER lawyer Andrew Fraser has received part of a $1 million reward for being a key witness in the conviction of Peter Norris Dupas for the murder of Mersina Halvagis.

The Herald Sun has confirmed Fraser will receive a sizeable chunk of the money after helping secure a conviction against Dupas for murder.

Ms Halvagis, 25, was stabbed to death at Fawkner Cemetery on November 1, 1997, as she tended her grandmother's grave.

Serial killer Dupas, in his late 50s, was convicted in 2007 of murdering Ms Halvagis and sentenced to life without parole.

He was granted a retrial and a second jury found him guilty in November 2010.

Fraser did time with Dupas after the disgraced lawyer was sentenced to jail in 2001 for smuggling cocaine and turned witness against his former cell mate.

Homicide squad detectives told the Herald Sun Dupas could not have been charged without Fraser's evidence. That evidence included Dupas telling Fraser in a jailhouse confession how he stabbed Ms Halvagis to death.

Dupas chillingly recreated the crime for Fraser, acting out how he surprised Ms Halvagis from behind and repeatedly stabbed her.

The beast who roamed free

In 2011, after Dupas's final appeal, Victoria Police activated the process for payment of a $1 million reward.

Six people, including Fraser applied for a share.

The Herald Sun can confirm Fraser got the undisclosed amount after Chief Commissioner Ken Lay recently signed off on the deal.

Mr Lay did so after accepting a recommendation by Victoria Police's rewards committee that Fraser deserved the cash.

Peter Dupas

Dupas left a horrifying trail of destruction

Fraser, who has been diagnosed with life-threatening spinal cancer, declined to comment.

Mersina Halvagis's father George Halvagis, who reportedly still visits his daughter's grave regularly, said he could not comment on the process.

"It is taxpayers' money and it is up to the commissioner what is done with it," he told the Herald Sun.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman confirmed a recommendation had been made.

"The Chief Commissioner has made a determination on the recommendation of the Major Crime Rewards Committee and the details of this determination will remain confidential," she said.

Mersina Halvagis

Dupas is serving three life sentences with no parole for the murders of Ms Halvagis, Nicole Patterson and Margaret Maher.

He appealed against each conviction, with legal aid assistance.

Dupas loses final murder appeal