Perry Kouroumblis, the 65-year-old dual citizen of Australia and Greece agreed to be extradited to Australia. Kouroumblis was arrested in Italy as part of the Victoria Police Homicide Squad’s investigation into the murder of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett at a property on Easey Street, Collingwood, in 1977.
The suspect was arrested in the early hours of last Friday, Melbourne time, at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport – 47 years after the killings. Kouroumblis who remains in custody, yesterday agreed to being extradited to Australia to face court.
Neos Kosmos asked the Federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus about the suspect in the 1977 double murder known as the Easey St murders.
“I do not comment on extradition matters because that is the arrangements we have in place in extradition treaties and mutual assistance requires that I do not comment.
“Particularly since he is coming back to face legal proceedings, it’s not a matter that I can comment on,” Dreyfus said.
Neos Kosmos reported on the crime that shocked the nation
Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett were brutally murdered in their Easey Street home on January 13, 1977. Both women, aged 27 and 28 respectively, suffered multiple stab wounds. They were last seen alive on the evening of January 10, 1977. When police discovered their bodies, Suzanne’s 16-month-old son was found unharmed and left alone in his cot.
The crime sent shockwaves through the Victorian community, particularly among the local Greek population. *Neos Kosmos*, on January 17, 1977, covered the double murder under the headline “A barbaric murder of two women – known and loved by many Greeks,” describing the act as “horrific and unbelievable.”
Initial reports indicated that both victims had been raped; however, it was later clarified that only one had been. Armstrong was the first to be attacked, and it appeared that Bartlett had tried to defend her friend, ultimately leading to her tragic death at the hands of the assailant.
Victims were well connected to the local Greek community
Reports from *Neos Kosmos* indicate that both women were well-known and beloved within the local Greek community. According to the report, “Armstrong gave birth to her child (a boy) on the island of Naxos, and the father is a Greek man residing there.”
A young Greek student, Charlie Alexopoulos, 18, who had previously studied under the murdered teacher, described her as “a really nice lady.” He mentioned, “At our school, we had a dance group that performed Greek dances, and Bartlett sewed all the costumes in her spare time,” as reported by *Neos Kosmos*.
In a follow-up article on January 24, 1977, *Neos Kosmos* highlighted Susan Bartlett as a prominent teacher at Collingwood High School. The report noted, “She dedicated countless hours to the Greek children she helped form a dance troupe and often attended Greek events and dances. One of her aspirations was to visit Greece in 1977.”
Additionally, the article revealed that “Susan had previously given birth to a child in Naxos during a trip to Greece.” It also mentioned the tragic detail that the young teacher “was found in the middle of the hallway with 40 stab wounds.”
On January 31, 1977, *Neos Kosmos* reported that Victoria Police had requested Interpol to locate and question Armstrong’s “Greek boyfriend.” The article further stated, “Police believe that the Greek father of her child, likely living in Greece, could provide crucial information about Armstrong’s past, which may assist in uncovering her killer.”
Kouroumblis has been suspected for many years
Veteran Melbourne crime reporter John “Sly” Sylvester has revealed that Perry Kouroumblis has long been a suspect in the 1977 Easey Street murders. The 65-year-old fled to Greece after being asked to provide a DNA sample in connection with the case. In January 2017, police announced a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in the deaths of the two women.
Kouroumblis stated that he moved to Greece to care for an ill parent when he left Australia in 2017, shortly after being requested to submit a DNA sample related to the nearly five-decade-old cold case.
According to Neos Kosmos, the two women were known to leave their front door and blinds open, reflecting a different era when people were more relaxed about home security. Homicide detective Peter Hiscock remarked, “It was a different time, and most people were very relaxed about security around the home. It was a time when you knew your neighbors, and these types of crimes rarely happened.”
There has been criticism regarding how the police initially portrayed the two victims as “party girls” with multiple partners, which led the investigation to focus primarily on friends and acquaintances, as well as known sex offenders. At the time, a 17-year-old man was stopped and searched while carrying a knife, but no further action was taken.
Hiscock, one of the first detectives to find the bodies, defended the investigation, noting, “There were all sorts of information coming in, and much of it was unfounded or just rumor. But you must remember, it was a time when there were no CCTV cameras, no DNA evidence, and no database for fingerprints.”
Now 77, Hiscock expressed his astonishment upon learning of Kouroumblis’s arrest in Rome on Friday.
GET MORE NEWS HERE
Leave a Reply