Police offer reward to solve brutal Frankston murder
STEPPING onto the wrong train at Flinders Street station set Rosemaria Lauria on a path to tragedy. Police now hope a $1 million reward can solve one of Melbourne’s most sadistic murders.
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THE Frankston foreshore and the drug dealers who lurk in its tea tree scrub were a world away from Rosemaria Lauria’s comfortable Brunswick unit.
So her sister — worried sick by her sudden disappearance — never considered the charred body discovered on the far side of the city could be her Rosemaria.
Ms Lauria’s horrific death and the bid to solve it is a tale of what ifs and near misses.
What if Ms Lauria had not stepped onto the wrong train?
Related: Hope $1m rewards will expose murderers
Would she still be alive if she had walked into Frankston’s town centre instead of heading to the foreshore?
And who is the mystery man who tantalised police with crucial information before disappearing?
Victoria Police now hope a $1 million reward will flush out crucial details needed to solve the murder.
Ms Lauria, 68, headed out for groceries on the afternoon of October 9, 2006, telling sister and next door neighbour, Natalie, “I’ll see you tonight.”
Firefighters found her body — burned beyond recognition — five hours later when called to a scrub fire at the beachside reserve around 8pm.
“It was a horrific scene. There was some degree of burning from the tea tree above the deceased, but I could clearly see it was centralised on the body,” the original homicide investigator Sergeant Kayne Josephs told Million Dollar Cold Case.
“There was soot found in her nasal cavity, her death would be a horrific one considering she would’ve been alive when she was burned.”
Once extensive DNA tests had confirmed the body was that of Ms Lauria, detectives scoured hours of CCTV footage to answer the question plaguing her sister: how did Ms Lauria come to suffer such a brutal death so far from home?
“What was Rosie doing in Frankston when her life as we knew it was in Brunswick?” Detective Leading Senior Constable Matt Tuininga told Million Dollar Cold Case.
Police say a mistake at Flinders St Station set Ms Lauria on a course to tragedy.
After catching a tram from Brunswick to Flinders Street station, Ms Lauria stepped onto a Frankston train.
CCTV footage captured Ms Lauria at Frankston Station and police were able to track her route from the station to the town centre.
A woman told police a “distraught” Ms Lauria had approached her in Frankston for help.
“That conversation indicated she got on the wrong train and through no fault of her own found herself in the Frankston CBD and was asking advice on how to get to the bus stop,” Sgt Josephs said.
A lost and distressed Ms Lauria then sought comfort on the pokies, a favourite hobby, in the Pier Hotel.
CCTV footage showed Ms Lauria had little interaction with anyone in the hour and a half she spent in the hotel.
Upon leaving at around 6.30pm, Ms Lauria found herself with a choice at an intersection; turn back toward the Frankstown township or head to the foreshore.
“If Rosie had turned right instead of left when she left the pokies venue, she’d still be alive today,” Sgt Josephs said.
“The Frankston foreshore is a well known area for drug dealing, and those who are hanging around are usually up to no good.”
The accounts of several people on the beach that evening describe a group of men in the area where her body was discovered.
“Witnesses heard a female scream,” Sgt Josephs said.
“They saw one of the males appear to ignite a flame in one way or another, and another male exit from that immediate vicinity.”
Other witnesses saw two males turn their backs when they noticed people looking at them.
Police believe the suspects likely saw a vulnerable Ms Lauria as an easy target, potentially carrying cash or jewellery.
But the brutality of her death baffles police.
“There’s no real explanation as to why you would burn someone like that,” Det Tuininga told Cold Case Murder.
Police came within seconds of a potential breakthrough in the case when a man called Frankston Police Station from a public phone box with details of how Ms Lauria died.
He told police he wanted to continue the conversation, but requested they pick him up from a Dandenong shopping centre.
CCTV cameras at the shopping centre capture the man, wearing a distinctive red jumper, leave the area just moments before police arrive.
It’s a frustrating near miss that still haunts investigators.
“He holds information that in the end is probably only known by the killer,” Det Tuininga said.
It’s hoped the $1 million reward will encourage this man or others with information on Ms Lauria’s death to come forward.
Anyone with information on the murder of David Beer should contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000 or at crimestoppers.com.au.
Million Dollar Cold Case airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 7.