Russell St bomber and another man charged over rapes, abductions
It’s one of the most shocking attacks in Victoria’s history. Now incredible new evidence has seen one Russell St bomber and another man charged over alleged sex attacks — including one the night before the bombing.
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Astonishing new evidence has emerged about the Russell St bombing, one of the most shocking attacks in Victoria’s history.
Two of the men arrested over the 1986 blast which killed Constable Angela Taylor — Craig Minogue and Peter Reed — were yesterday charged over two alleged abductions and sexual assaults in the mid ’80s.
Detective Senior Constable Tony Benham last night told Melbourne Magistrates’ Court one of the alleged rapes happened the night before the Russell St bombing.
The 19-year-old alleged rape victim was in police headquarters making a statement when the bomb was detonated outside. She was not hurt.
The court heard DNA swabs had been collected from the scenes of both alleged rapes.
Minogue, 56, was yesterday charged with 38 offences, including abduction by force and aggravated rape. He is due to front court on June 14.
Reed, 61, who also goes by the name Peter Komiazyk, was charged with the same 38 offences and was remanded in custody to reappear today after an unsuccessful bail application last night.
Police allege Reed committed the rape the night before the bombing with Minogue and another Russell St attacker, Stanley Brian Taylor, who died in prison.
Reed, who had a large graze on the right side of his face and was wearing a stained grey T-shirt, sat motionless during the hour-long hearing.
The 61-year-old, who is unemployed and on a disability pension, was arrested by Special Operation Group officers yesterday outside his psychologist’s office.
Police opposed bail on the grounds he posed an unacceptable risk to the community.
Magistrate Barry Schultz agreed, saying: “These are matters of such seriousness that I would be hard-pressed to find compelling reasons why his detention in custody is not justified. While these are historic offences, they are offences of the most grievous kind.
“They are some of the most serious examples of sexual offences the courts encounter. Groups of men subjecting women to indignities which they would never recover.”
Defence lawyer Steven Pica argued his client was not a flight risk and needed ongoing care for his “myriad physical health conditions” which he said were aggravated by injuries he sustained during his arrest.
He said his client needed to look after his 13-year-old son.
The court heard Reed had been under investigation since 2017.
The Sunday Herald Sun recently revealed police were following new leads over the alleged rapes.
Reed and Minogue are charged in connection to an alleged rape on November 22, 1985 and police are still looking for a suspected third offender.
“We would again encourage anybody to come forward with information,” Detective Inspector Steve Wilson said yesterday.
“The reward is still available to anybody who provides information that identifies that person and brings them before the court.”
In a brief statement to the media, Inspector Wilson said he could not comment further on the two arrests.
“While we appreciate these are significant arrests, we are very mindful of the fact that this is only the start of what is likely to be a very long and involved court process.”
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton on Friday said DNA testing of samples taken at the time of the sexual assault, before DNA testing was commonplace, were key in last night’s development.
“Our forensic scientists were pretty forward thinking then,” Mr Ashton said.
“It was starting to emerge as a science and our officers stored DNA in the hope that one day we would have not only the capacity to do DNA but we would have new and emerging techniques to be able to identity offenders from that DNA.
“They (detectives) have taken a cold case from more than three decades ago, they’ve worked tirelessly on it, and they’ve been able to bring hopefully a process forward where they’ll be able to bring justice for our victims.”
Mr Ashton was in contact with Constable Angela Taylor’s family last night to let them know about the update.
“No doubt again they would have been revisited by those terrible events all those years ago,” he said.
Constable Taylor, 21, died three weeks after the Russell St bombing, after she was hit by the massive explosion outside Russell St police headquarters on March 27, 1986.
Two others, Magistrate Iain West and Constable Carl Donadio, were seriously injured in the car bombing. Sources close to the bombing case said it was a coincidence that the alleged rape victim was at police HQ at the time.
The investigation remains ongoing and detectives have appealed to anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au.