Melbourne’s murder houses: From Mornington to East Kew, find out where they are
They’re the unassuming homes that harbour the same dark secret. From shootings and bashings, to frenzied stabbings, these are the crimes that have happened in our neighbourhoods. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
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They might have unassuming facades, but these houses across Melbourne have been marred by tragic murder cases.
From shootings to stabbings, the horrors that have unfolded behind the walls are seriously disturbing:
HARP ST, EAST KEW
Terence “Terry” Hodson and his wife Christine were in 2004 found dead in their two-bedroom unit during Melbourne’s infamous ganglang wars.
Mr Hodson - who became a registered police informant in 2002 following a drug arrest - was tied up along with his wife before they were both shot.
It’s said Mr Hodson was found with a bullet casing perched atop his head.
The career petty criminal was killed just months before her was due to give evidence in a criminal trial against disgraced Victorian former drug squad detective, Paul Dale. Mr Dale was allegedly involved in the burglary of an Oakleigh drug den in 2003, where Mr Hodson and his handler detective David Miechel were arrested.
Underworld figure Carl Williams claimed Mr Dale had paid him $150,000 to have Mr Hodson killed.
Williams claimed he recruited the help of notorious underworld figure Rodney Collins to carry out the killing. It’s believed Ms Hodson was killed due to ill-fated timing.
Mr Dale, and Collins who died in prison last year, were charged with the Hodson murders in 2009. However, the case collapsed in 2009 when Williams was murdered in prison.
PRINCE ST, MORNINGTON
It was behind the charming weatherboard facade of this home that the “Mornington Monster” carried out his heinous crime in 2004.
Fifteen years ago, John Sharpe waited for his pregnant wife Anna Kemp to fall asleep before retrieving a speargun from the garage.
Sharpe returned to the bedroom before firing two spears into his wife’s head. He then dismembered her body and buried it in a shallow grave in the backyard.
But his evil act didn’t end there.
The killer didn’t believe he could maintain his innocent facade if his 20-month-old daughter Gracie was left alive. So several days later, he turned the same powerful weapon on the young girl, penetrating her skull which left her screaming and badly wounded.
It took two more shots to kill her.
Sharpe dumped Anna and Gracie at a local tip, and peddled the lie that his wife had left him for another man.
Several months later, he was arrested and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment.
Sharpe said a loveless marriage led him to murder his wife, but when asked why that meant Gracie had to die too, he replied: “I don’t really know. Irrational bloody madness.”
He will be eligible for parole in 2037.
MALVERN RD, SOUTH YARRA
Behind the shopfront is the one-bedroom apartment where prominent Melbourne interior designer Stuart Rattle was killed in 2013.
Mr Rattle’s partner, Michael O’Neill, hit him over the head with a saucepan, leaving him dazed. He then strangled the 53-year-old designer with a dog lead as he begged for his life.
O’Neill claimed he snapped after Mr Rattle called him a “frigid bitch” when he rejected a sexual advance.
With blood on his hands, O’Neill visited their Daylesford farm which Mr Rattle travelled to regularly, telling friends his murdered partner was unwell.
He then returned to Melbourne and set their apartment alight in an attempt to cover up the crime. Police initially believed the blaze to be the cause of death, but arrested O’Neill after they found inconsistencies with his story.
He immediately regretted killing his partner of 16 years, reportedly apologising to Mr Rattle’s body and even making him a cup of tea.
The court heard O’Neill had a dependent personality disorder.
“[That] explains why you willingly submitted yourself to Mr Rattle’s needs and allowed him to largely control your life; but it also led to feelings of disempowerment and resentfulness,” Judge Hollingworth said.
He was sentenced to 18 years behind bars.
EASEY ST, COLLINGWOOD
The brutal murders that took place at this modest terrace in Easey St remain unsolved 42 years later.
Schoolteacher Susan Bartlett, 28, and her friend Suzanne Armstrong, a single mum aged 27, were found in pools of blood after they were stabbed 84 times between them in 1977.
Neighbours Ilona Stevens and her housemate Janet Powell discovered the gruesome scene two days later after the heard Ms Armstrong’s baby son, Gregory, crying.
It was a sight Ms Stevens said would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Police have described the crime as one of the most frenzied and baffling in Victoria’s history.
Ms Bartlett was found lying face down in the hallway with 55 stab wounds. Ms Armstrong had been stabbed 25 times, and was found on her back with her nightdress pulled up around her neck.
It was suggested one of the woman might have let the killer inside.
A $1 million reward was announced in 2017 to for help to solve the Easey St murders.
Police said a number of people have been subject to DNA-testing as part of their investigation, and some have been ruled out.
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Originally published as Melbourne’s murder houses: From Mornington to East Kew, find out where they are
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