Why Australia’s baffling Pyjama Girl mystery can’t be solved
In 1944 a man was jailed for the horrific murder of the “Pyjama Girl”. But startling evidence suggests police got it wildly wrong, and now the woman’s identity – and her killer – may never be known.
Cold Cases
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cold Cases. Followed categories will be added to My News.
In 1934, the badly burnt body of a young woman wearing distinctive yellow silk pyjamas was found dumped in a culvert near Albury.
The case baffled police, and in a desperate bid to crack the case, the preserved body was put on display at Sydney University for years, becoming a macabre tourist attraction of sorts.
Eventually, authorities declared the woman, dubbed “the Pyjama Girl”, was Linda Agostini, from Melbourne.
Her husband, Antonio Agostini, confessed to killing his wife and was jailed for manslaughter.
Case closed. Or was it?
The Pyjama Girl is the subject of the latest episode of the free In Black and White podcast on some of Australia’s forgotten characters, available today.
The story is told by Chris Adams in the True Crime Volume 1 edition of the Grave Tales series of books.
Adams believes the mystery is far from solved, and there’s no way the Pyjama Girl could be Linda Agostini.
If he’s right, the identity of the woman – and her killer – remain a mystery 85 years after her murder.
“Officially, it is resolved, but when you start to look at the story more closely, I think it is fair to say that it is unresolved,” Adams says.
Adams says one sticking point is that while Agostini confessed to killing his wife and dumping her body, he saw the body of the Pyjama Girl and denied that was her.
But the clincher for Adams is the startling physical differences between Linda Agostini and the Pyjama Girl.
“The Pyjama Girl had blue eyes, but Linda’s were brown,” Adams says.
“The Pyjama Girl was small-breasted, but Linda had larger breasts.
“Expert witnesses were able to convince the Coroner that Linda’s eyes could have turned blue after death and her breasts could have shrunk due to the fire, even though they could give no evidence of either circumstance happening before.”
Linda Agostini was buried at Preston Cemetery in 1944. Adams says she had no family or friends there, so four journalists acted as pallbearers.
Adams doubts the mystery will ever be solved.
“Lots of questions, and I guess the big one is: Who is lying in that grave in Preston Cemetery?” he says.
Play the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters on iTunes here or Spotify here or on your favourite platform.
Listen to previous episodes with Chris Adams from Grave Tales including Dan Kelly, the bushranger who came back from the dead, the surprise twist behind the story of Whelan the Wrecker, and the man who may have been Australia’s first serial killer.
Buy the Grave Tales books in book shops or at gravetales.com.au.
And check out In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper Monday to Friday to see more stories from Victoria’s past.
inblackandwhite@heraldsun.com.au
Originally published as Why Australia’s baffling Pyjama Girl mystery can’t be solved
Elite squad to track elusive murderer and cold case fugitive
It’s been almost a year since a confirmed sighting of one of Queensland’s most wanted men, cold case fugitive and convicted murderer Keith Lees, and police are stepping up the hunt.
‘Last ray of hope’ snuffed out with no charges over crayfish farm shooting
The family of a young scientist shot dead while working at a crayfish farm say they lost their “last ray of hope” after an inquest failed to result in charges against two people named by a coroner.