Men [of God] at work in Australia....
Michael Newton
By John Silvester
Detectives have identified a "deeply religious" man, described as a prude,
who they believe murdered at least six women 20 years ago.
The suspected serial killer, 68, has failed two lie detector tests when
questioned about the murders.
Police from Task Force Lyndhurst have spent more than two years
reinvestigating the 1980-81 murders of six women.
Four of the bodies were found in the Melbourne suburbs of Tynong North and
two were killed in Frankston. The cause of their deaths is still unknown.
Detective Senior Sergeant Clive Rust said: "It is fair to say that we now
believe that one man is responsible for the Tynong North and Frankston
murders. We are confident we know his identity. We are confident in the
direction our investigation is heading. We are focusing on the one suspect."
The six women were all abducted while walking along Melbourne streets or
while waiting for public transport.
Allison Rooke, 59, was abducted from the Frankston-Dandenong road on May 30,
1980, and Joy Carmel Summers, 55, was grabbed from the same street 15 months
later. Their bodies were found in scrub off nearby Skye Road.
The bodies of one girl and three women were found dumped in bush at Tynong
North. They were
Catherine Headland, 14, Ann-Marie Sargent, 18, Bertha Miller, 73 - the aunt
of former Victorian police
chief commissioner Mick Miller -
and Narumol Stephenson, 34.
The prime suspect, dubbed Harry Brown by police, was able at the time to
provide an alibi for his movements when Catherine Headland was murdered, but
detectives now believe new information casts doubts on the alibi.
They have gathered evidence which links the man to both spots where the
bodies were found. He has also admitted regularly trying to pick up women,
including along the Frankston-Dandenong road.
Police reopened the investigation in February 1999 after Mr Miller told
senior police he believed leads in the case had not been exhausted.
Suspects, including a relative of Mr Miller and convicted double murderer
Raymond Edmunds, were investigated and finally cleared.
But new evidence was gathered on the prime suspect, who lives in North
Frankston and once lived and worked near Tynong North.
He was approached and agreed to undergo two polygraph tests. He failed both
when asked about the six murders.
The father of three attends a strict church in Melbourne's outer east and
people who claim to know him say he is a prude who used to turn girlie
pictures to the wall at work, saying they were offensive.
He claims to be deeply religious, but has been arrested twice for trying to
pick up street prostitutes.
For 20 years, some police have been convinced the man, who lives in a modest
house and likes to offer people lifts, is a serial killer.
The circumstantial case against this quiet and strange man has always been
compelling.
Several women gave statements to police that they had been approached by a
man in a black van offering them lifts.
One said she was waiting for a bus. When she said no, he said: "You don't
know what you're missing."
Police say the man told them 19 years ago of his attempts to pick up women:
"Most people do not accept lifts from me and I would say my success rate is
about 2 to 3 per cent."
During one police interview in December 1981, he said: "I am not a sex
maniac. I never play around and I resent the implication that I ever would."
There is a $150,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of the killer.
The Sun-Herald
debby
clergy. It's just an abduction murder story. Faith has nothing to do with
it. Debby S.<sarg...@infi.net>