Casefile True Crime - Case 207: Suzanne Armstrong & Susan Bartlett

Episode Date: April 16, 2022

In early January 1977, residents of Easey Street in Melbourne’s inner-city suburb of Collingwood noticed they hadn’t seen the tenants at number 147 for several days... --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn This episode's sponsors: Peloton – Learn more about Peloton The Detective’s Dilemma – New podcast from Casefile Presents Truebill – Take control of your finances and save money The Jordan Harbinger Show – Learn the stories, secrets, and skills of the world’s most brilliant and interesting people For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-207-suzanne-armstrong-susan-bartlett

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Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. 147 Easy Street was a typical semi-detached terrace home for Melbourne's inner city suburbs. Its front door opened to a narrow hallway with three bedrooms leading off to the right. A bathroom sat at the end of the hall which also doubled as the laundry. Another door led to a living room and modest kitchen which opened to a small backyard encased by a fence. From the yard, a gate granted access to a side laneway that separated number 147 from a neighbouring property and led out into the street.

On Thursday, January 13, 1977, next door neighbour Janet waited anxiously in the laneway. At her side was a German shepherd cross puppy named Mischka. The dog belonged to the two young women who lived at 147 Easy Street, Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett. Janet and her housemate Alona had found Mischka wandering the street two days earlier, but knocks and calls to 147 had gone unanswered. Janet and Alona had kept Mischka secured in their backyard waiting for the two soos to come looking for her, but no one did. At one stage, Alona peered over the fence into the backyard of 147 and noticed a rear door leading into the kitchen was open and a light was on. Her worries increased the following day when she overheard the distressed sound of crying through the home's shared wall. It was Suzanne's 16 month old son.

It was unusual for his cries to go ignored as Suzanne was a very attentive and affectionate mother. At their wits end, Alona and Janet headed next door to investigate. They bypassed the front door. A note they'd pinned their days earlier informing the women that their dog was loose remained untouched. Once in the side laneway, Janet waited with Mischka while Alona entered 147's backyard and disappeared through the open kitchen door. A short while later, Alona rushed from the house in a panic. Call the police, she said. They're dead. It took two calls to 000 and over 20 minutes before a single police officer finally arrived at 147 Easy Street.

Alona met him outside and led him into 147's backyard via the side laneway along the same route she had taken almost half an hour earlier. Mischka's vacant kennel sat under the kitchen window near the open back door. The officer stepped inside into the narrow kitchen with its bric-a-brac filled shelves and onwards to the living room. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was a couch, television and record player. Everything appeared neat and in order. The officer reached the dimly lit hallway and peered towards the front door. At the end of the hall, lying face down next to the door was the bloodied body of Susan Bartlett. She was fully clothed in a nightdress with numerous stab wounds to her arms, hands, legs and upper torso.

Alongside her, the walls of the hallway were smeared and splattered with blood. Moving towards Susan's body, the officer glimpsed into the front bedroom. Inside, Susan Armstrong lay on the carpet. She was naked except for a red and white nightdress that had been pulled up around her head. Her arms, chest and chin were riddled with knife wounds and her legs were spread wide apart. Grasping the enormity of the situation, the attending officer radioed for backup. A swarm of police cars then descended on Easy Street. The Bartlett family hadn't been too pleased when Susan announced that she was moving to Collingwood in October of 1976.

Located four kilometers from Melbourne's CBD, the semi-industrial area had a checkered past. Even though it was gaining popularity with students and young people looking to take advantage of the cheap rent, it still had a reputation as one of Victoria's roughest suburbs. Crime rates were high and drugs and gangs were an ongoing problem. But for 27-year-old Susan Bartlett, who went by Sue, Collingwood offered everything she needed. There was a milk bar on the corner, reliable public transport nearby, and it wasn't far from the high school where she worked as an art teacher. The house at 147 Easy Street was basic but cozy, and the rent was much more affordable than the place in nearby Richmond where she had been living previously. Furthermore, Sue was looking forward to living with her friend, 28-year-old Suzanne Armstrong.

The two knew one another from high school, having both grown up in the country town of Benalla. The women had a lot in common. Both were intelligent, creative and sociable, and they shared a love of cooking and travel. They'd recently explored the Greek islands together, proving they could live alongside one another without issue. Sue also had a great affection for Suzanne's toddler son, Gregory. By January 1977, Sue and Suzanne had been living in Collingwood together for around two months. Monday, January 10 started normally for both women. They rose early, ate breakfast together, and then went their separate ways. Suzanne bathed Gregory, and the two took off on her bicycle to visit some friends. Sue's mother was in town, and the two met to go shopping in the city.

Afterwards, Sue went home to work on a dress she was in the process of sewing. She was a talented seamstress who made most of her own clothes, and she intended to wear this dress on a date she had planned for Wednesday night. After working on the dress for a while, Sue began to cook dinner in preparation for company. Sue's brother Martin was a regular visitor to 147 Easy Street. Having also made the move to the big city from Benalla, he enjoyed helping his sister with tasks around the house in exchange for a home-cooked meal. Sue's stereo had recently broken, so Martin agreed to come over for dinner and then have a go at fixing it. Martin got the stereo working, and they all listened to some records, but then Sue and Suzanne said they wanted to watch television. One of their favorite shows, The Sullivan's, was about to start, and they were keen to see it once Suzanne put her son down for the night.

At around 9pm, Martin bid the women farewell, with the Bartlett siblings making plans to catch up again the following week. It was an enjoyable, albeit uneventful evening. Everyone was in good spirits, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When Martin left, Suzanne and Sue were comfortably settled in front of the television. He would become the last person to see his sister and her friend alive. Given there were no further sightings of either of the women after Martin left, and that dog was found wandering the streets the following day, it was determined they had likely been killed sometime in the early hours of Tuesday, January 11. Neighbors didn't hear or see anything out of the ordinary, although next-door neighbor Alona recalled hearing Gregory crying for a prolonged period on Tuesday morning. This meant that the bodies of Susan Bartlett and Suzanne Armstrong lay undiscovered in their home for three days, while the young boy lay distressed and alone in his cot.

Collectively, the young women had been stabbed a total of 82 times, with Sue sustaining 55 stab wounds to Suzanne's 27. The wounds were deep, having likely been inflicted using forceful rapid thrusts with a 2.5cm wide blade. Suzanne had also been raped post-mortem. However, it didn't appear that any great struggle had taken place. Other than a vase of flowers that had been knocked over, Suzanne's bedroom was in relatively neat order. The blood had pulled on the carpet above her head, several drops of blood stained her bedsheet, and a pair of her underwear lay beside her. The scene indicated that Suzanne had been reading in bed when she got up and encountered her killer, who then launched a brutal and frenzied attack. There were also smears of blood on the lamp and alarm clock next to the bed.

Either Suzanne had reached over in an attempt to grab her bedside phone to call for help, or the killer had reached over to turn the lamp off. The location of Sue Bartlett's body in the hallway, just outside of Suzanne's bedroom, suggested she had likely confronted the killer after Suzanne was already dead. Sue's hands and arms were covered with the fence wounds, which explained the smears of blood on the hallway walls. Investigators believed that after killing Sue, the perpetrator returned to Suzanne's bedroom to rape her lifeless body. The attack had been so quick and savage that neither woman had any time or opportunity to seek help. Gregory was discovered in the middle room between the two women's bedrooms. He was found lying hungry in his cot, his skin pale and nappy soiled. Other than having been dehydrated and distressed for some time, he was alive and unhurt.

His room, which doubled as Sue's sewing room was relatively tidy and didn't appear to have been touched during the attack. Sue's bedroom at the end of the hall was similarly neat and there was no blood. Smudges of blood were discovered in the bathroom, specifically in the bathtub. Blood pooled around the plug hole and small bone splinters were found in the crook of the drain. This suggested that the killer had showered after carrying out the murders, with the bone fragments having likely been washed from their knife. The knife itself was nowhere to be found. Small spots of blood were also found on the lid of the washing machine. The killer might have used the machine or at least considered doing so.

The living room revealed further evidence of the killer's attempt to clean themselves up. A small blood-soaked tower lay on the couch. A second blood-soaked tower was found at a playground 300 metres from number 147 on Wellington Street. As DNA testing wasn't available in the late 70s, it couldn't be determined whether any of the blood belonged to the killer. Sue's blood type was Type O and Sue'sans was Type A, both common blood groups. Only Type A blood was found in Sue'sans bedroom, the bathroom and on the blood-soaked towers, while only Type O blood was found smeared in the hallway. This either meant that the killer wasn't wounded during the attacks or that he shared a common blood type with one of his victims. However, he did leave one undisputable piece of evidence behind.

Seaman was found on Sue'sans Armstrong's body as well as on her bedroom carpet, bedsheets and one of the towers. There were no signs of forced entry into number 147 and when police arrived, both the front and back doors were unlocked. If the women had purposely left the doors unlocked, which they were known to do, the killer might have let himself in uninvited, walked into Sue'sans Armstrong's bedroom and launched an attack. Yet, the top sheet of Sue'sans bed was neatly folded over and a book was facedown on the corner. It appeared as though she'd been reading in bed when her killer entered. If it was a stranger, Sue'sans would have scrambled out of bed in a panic, leaving things in a far more disorderly state than the way they were found. Maybe the killer had knocked on the front door or on Sue'sans window and she had let him inside. Or perhaps she had been expecting a guest and had left the front or back door unlocked so they could let themselves in.

They might have exchanged words or maybe Sue'sans rejected his sexual advances, which had enraged him. Sue'sans family didn't believe she was expecting a visitor. Sue'sans always wore decorative earrings, but at the time of her death she was wearing plain gold sleepers. Her family said she would never wear sleepers if she was expecting male company. Sue was likely in the backyard, kitchen, or possibly doing some laundry at the time, which would explain why she hadn't heard the attack right away. When she realized what was going on, she likely confronted the assailant, who turned his fury to her. Sue had been stabbed almost twice as many times as Suzanne. There were wounds all over her body, including on her buttocks and the back of her thighs.

The killer had continued his attack even after Sue lay incapacitated and face down on the floor. However, the level of overkill Sue endured didn't necessarily mean that she was the killer's main target. The fact that Sue hadn't been sexually assaulted, whereas Suzanne had, indicated that Suzanne was most likely the intended victim. Sue might have been killed in such a vicious way because she took the perpetrator by surprise and he wanted to ensure there were no witnesses. The question remained, who would want to hurt these two young women and why? When investigators initially examined Sue Bartlett's bedroom, nothing appeared noticeably out of place. However, upon closer inspection, they realized something wasn't quite right. Sue's bed sat directly under a window which looked out to the side laneway.

The blind on the window had fallen away at the corner and underneath was a dirty shoe print on Sue's bedspread. After news of the murders hit the press, a tobacco salesman named Colin Fowler, not his real name, showed up at the police station claiming he was the one who left the shoe print. Colin explained that on Tuesday, January 11, he was growing worried about the fact he hadn't heard from Sue in a couple of days. The two had met the previous week and had a date planned for Wednesday evening. Colin had been trying to call Sue to confirm the details, but nobody was answering the phone. He wondered if she might have given him the wrong number by mistake. Colin liked Sue and was eager for their date to go ahead.

On Tuesday night, he had a few too many drinks and decided to stop by Easy Street. Colin was familiar with the house, having spent the night there. He headed down the side laneway and knocked on Sue's bedroom window. There was no reply. Not thinking straight on account of being inebriated, Colin decided to climb in through the window and check Sue's phone to make sure he had been calling the right number. As he clambered through, he knocked the window blind off in the process before leaving his dirty shoe print on Sue's bed.

Colin crept up the dark hallway and into the living room. The light was on in the kitchen, so he managed to find the phone which had its number displayed on the dial. It confirmed that he'd been calling the right number. So where was Sue? Colin didn't poke around any further. He was keen to get in and out as quickly as possible, so he hastily left the house the same way he'd entered.

Had he looked down the hallway, he would have noticed Sue's bloodied body lying by the front door. Whether it was the fold of the alcohol or the darkness, Colin claimed he never saw Sue's body. Colin found out about the murders after a friend read about them in a newspaper and recognized Sue's photo. He was horrified to discover he'd been in the house while the two women lay undiscovered. He also realized this didn't look good for him. Enlisting the help of a lawyer, Colin immediately went to the police station to clear his name. Investigators weren't convinced. It seemed highly unlikely that Colin could have stood mere metres away from Sue's body and not seen her,

nor heard Suzanne's son's weak cries for attention. Colin had also been one of the last people to spend time at 147 Easy Street, having slept over with Sue two nights prior. Witnesses recalled seeing his car parked out the front at the time. It was a white Mercedes and hard to miss. Was it possible that Colin had sneaked in through the window, killed both women, washed himself clean, then quickly fled the area? His story about checking Sue's phone number could be a ruse used to explain away his footprint at the scene. According to Colin, a friend had accompanied him on his late-night trek to Easy Street. He stood watch in the laneway as Colin broke into Sue's bedroom.

The friend vouched for Colin's entire story, confirming he was in and out of the house in a matter of minutes, and made no mention of seeing anything out of the ordinary inside. Yet, Colin Fowler wasn't the only person prowling around 147 Easy Street. In the kitchen, investigators discovered an envelope tucked under an ashtray on a table. A phone number was written on the back of it, along with the message to ring now. It was an urgent request, as the word now was capitalized and had been followed up with an exclamation mark. Alongside the phone number was the name Barry Woodard. 31-year-old Barry Woodard was thrilled when he was set up on a blind date with Suzanne Armstrong late in 1976.

They were introduced by Suzanne's sister, who was going out with Barry's brother. Barry and Suzanne got along great. Although they had only been on three dates, Barry could feel himself falling for Suzanne, and he even began considering marriage. On Sunday, January 9, 1977, Suzanne joined Barry for dinner at his sister's house in the suburb of Northcote, where Barry was staying at the time. He worked as a roving shearer, which meant he was constantly moving around, but he typically stayed at his sister's house on weekends. After dinner, he dropped Suzanne back at Easy Street. Barry was invited inside for coffee, and Suzanne suggested he stay the night. But as he was expecting a call regarding a shearing job early in the morning, Barry declined the offer.

He drove back to Northcote at around midnight. The next morning, Barry didn't get the job call he was expecting. He called Suzanne to let her know that he wouldn't be working after all, but nobody answered the phone. The two had already discussed another dinner date for Tuesday evening, and Barry was keen to lock in the details. He kept calling Suzanne, but the phone continued to ring out. By Tuesday evening, he still hadn't heard from Suzanne to confirm what time she wanted to be picked up that night. Barry tried calling her several more times, but with no success. By Wednesday afternoon, Barry was really starting to worry.

Although he hadn't known Suzanne long, it simply wasn't like her to flake on their plans without being in touch. He shared his concerns with his brother, and the two decided to drop by Easy Street to make sure everything was okay. They arrived at around 8.30pm on Wednesday. It didn't look like anyone was home. No lights were on inside, and there was a note pinned to the front door. The two brothers walked down the side laneway and threw the rear gate into the backyard. A light was on in the kitchen, and the back door was slightly ajar. Barry knocked on the door and yelled out Suzanne's name.

There was no reply. He figured she couldn't be too far away, but the thought of entering the house without permission made Barry feel uneasy. The brothers decided they'd just duck inside quickly to leave Suzanne a note. They went into the kitchen, scribbled Barry's number down on the back of an envelope, and left it on the table. Barry's brother suggested they check the bedrooms, but Barry didn't feel comfortable going any further, so they left via the back door and returned to their sister's house. Had they headed down the hallway, they would have encountered the dead bodies of both women. On Thursday morning, Barry called 147 Easy Street again. Finally, someone picked up the phone.

It was a homicide detective who broke the news about the murders. Barry was in shock. When he identified himself, the detective recognized his name from the envelope on the kitchen table. He immediately sent authorities to Barry's sister's house to bring him to the police station for questioning. Barry insisted he had nothing to hide. He hadn't noticed anything unusual at 147 Easy Street when he visited on Wednesday night, nor had he heard Gregory crying. Barry said that if he had, he would have gone down the hallway to see if everything was all right. As for the night of the murders, Barry told police he and his brother went drinking at a pub before returning to their sister's home where they were both staying.

They ate a late dinner, had some more drinks, and watched television. Barry said he went to bed around midnight and didn't get up until early the next morning. His sister verified this alibi. She had stayed up until 2am and didn't recall seeing Barry leave the house at any point. When she got up at 6.30am, she brought Barry a cup of coffee. There was nothing unusual about his appearance or demeanour. Barry was heartbroken by the news of Suzanne's death. He declared his love for her via the press, saying he was very fond of Suzanne's son and would happily adopt him.

Investigators weren't so sure. Barry's own admissions had placed him at the scene of the crime before the bodies were discovered and it seemed a bit strange that he wouldn't have checked the entire house if he was that worried about Suzanne. They also couldn't rule out the possibility that he had sneaked out of his sister's house during the night without anyone noticing. Given he was dating Suzanne at the time of the murders, he was an obvious suspect. Investigators weren't entirely sure what to make of the situation. While it was highly unusual that two men who were romantically involved with the victims had entered the crime scene, it didn't mean either of them were guilty. As police began questioning friends and associates of the two women, they learned that Barry Woodard wasn't the only man that Suzanne Armstrong had recently been involved with. Described as, quote, very attractive with the personality to match, Suzanne had several admirers.

Some friends described her as too trusting and said she'd recently been spending time with some questionable people. On occasion, she had invited them to Easy Street, which had made Sue feel uncomfortable. One such person was a former police officer who had been kicked off the force for sexually assaulting female motorists while on the job. He had attended a housewarming party the two Sues had thrown just weeks before the murders and some guests recalled he'd been watching Suzanne very closely. Investigators questioned the former officer, who gave contradictory statements when asked about his whereabouts on the week of the murders. Something about his behaviour seemed off. Then there was an ex-boyfriend that Suzanne's family believed could be involved. A violent alcoholic with a criminal record, this man was reportedly drinking in a Collingwood pub on the night of the murders, just blocks away from Easy Street.

His girlfriend vouched for his whereabouts, saying the two were together the entire night. Working on the theory that Suzanne may have rejected the sexual advances of a former lover or someone she had recently been spending time with, several other men were added to the suspect pool. Investigators also had to consider whether the killer could have been motivated by revenge. Suzanne was a romantic at heart. It was while she was visiting the Greek islands that she met a local fisherman named Manolis. The two fell in love and Suzanne stayed in Greece for a while. She soon became pregnant and she and Manolis decided to get married. Foreign bureaucracy complicated their plans and they ultimately felt it was too much hassle.

After giving birth, Suzanne was homesick for Australia, but Manolis didn't want to leave. Knowing that he wouldn't agree to let her take their baby boy away for good, Suzanne told Manolis she was simply returning to Australia for a visit. When she reached Melbourne with baby Gregory, she sent Manolis a letter saying she wouldn't be coming back to Greece. Manolis was heartbroken. He thought Suzanne was the love of his life and he struggled to come to terms with the abrupt separation. While this could have given Manolis a motive to want to hurt Suzanne, police confirmed he never left Greece. Some speculated whether Manolis might have had ties to the strong Greek community in Collingwood and sent someone to pay Suzanne a vengeful visit on his behalf. But there was no evidence to support this theory.

While evidence indicated that the killer targeted Suzanne Armstrong, this couldn't be said with absolute certainty. It was possible that the crime was a random opportunistic attack committed by a dangerous predator. Two pubs were within close walking distance of 147 Easy Street, both of which closed at midnight. This gave a reason for men who didn't necessarily live nearby to be in the area late at night. Police couldn't discount the possibility that someone unknown to the victims had committed the crime in a drunken rage. Detectives got to work at gathering the names of all known sex offenders, both locally and interstate. Witnesses who saw anything out of the ordinary in the early morning hours of Tuesday, January 11 were urged to come forward. Dry cleaners who may have laundered blood-stained clothing were also told to contact the authorities.

A police spokesperson said, The killer can't have washed off all the blood, someone must have seen him, a friend or a relative probably, or maybe someone in the street, just so long as that someone tells us. This man is sick, very sick, and unless we catch him, he will strike again. Then came a promising discovery. Shortly after the double homicide, a police officer was searching a car in relation to a separate matter. In the boot of the vehicle, he found a leather sheath that held a blood-stained knife. It was 26 centimetres long, with a small curve at the tip of the blade that could have been caused by hitting something solid, like bone. The vehicle's owner strongly denied having anything to do with the Yeezy Street murders.

He insisted he had found the knife on the platform of the Victoria Park railway station, 450 metres northeast of the murder scene. He'd come across it on Monday, January 10, sometime between 10.20 and 11pm. Although this seemed highly suspicious, the owner of the vehicle was quickly ruled out. Not only did he have an alibi for the night of the murders, others also vouched for his story about finding the knife. Investigators ultimately discounted the knife as the murder weapon, given that it was found only 90 minutes after Sue Bartlett's brother, Martin, left Yeezy Street. It didn't seem possible that the killer could have conducted such a frenzied attack, spent time in the house cleaning himself up, and then made it to Victoria Park station in such a short time frame. Respected journalist Tess Lawrence covered the Armstrong and Bartlett case at the request of police. She attended 147 Yeezy Street when Suzanne and Sue's loved ones were permitted to enter the house to collect their belongings.

Published in the Herald newspaper, Tess's article detailed the layout of the house and the items within. Shortly after it ran, Tess received a phone call at work from a man whose voice she didn't recognize. He began dissecting the details of her article line by line and criticized Tess for not being very observant. Tess had mentioned there was a record player in the living room, the one Martin Bartlett had stopped by to fix on the Monday night, but she didn't mention the names of any of the records. The caller pointed this out. He then mentioned the name of one record, claiming it was on the turntable at the time. During the early days of the media coverage, it's believed that police intentionally fed journalists several incorrect details, so they'd be able to identify any misinformation or false confessions that might come through. Not only was it falsely reported that Sue Bartlett had also been raped, but a layout of the murder scene published in newspapers purposefully included a few minor discrepancies. When Tess Lawrence's article about the crime was published, she deliberately omitted the name of the record that was on the living room turntable at the time the murders were carried out.

Tess was left stunned when the mysterious caller correctly named this record. She scrawled a quick note to a colleague asking to try and have the call traced, while simultaneously trying to keep the caller on the line. He refused to identify himself, but claimed to work at the Victoria Barracks. The caller said he'd phoned back before abruptly ending the call. Tess immediately reported the incident to the police. This was just one of thousands of tip-offs received in the first two weeks of the Armstrong-Bartlett murder investigation. At the time, Victoria's Homicide Squad only had 16 detectives. In the first 21 days of January alone, 11 murders had been committed throughout the state for an average of one murder every second day.

It was the largest number of murder cases on record since 1955. Resources were stretched incredibly thin. While the Easy Street Murders was one of the most brutal sex crimes in Victoria's history, investigators had several other unsolved cases vying for their attention. The owner of a massage parlor was shot to death outside his home, while another man had been stabbed in the throat with a broken beer bottle. A husband and wife were shot during a home invasion. The woman survived, but the man wasn't so lucky. None of the other murders were thought to be linked to the deaths of Sue and Suzanne, but those critical of the investigation believed the spiking crime meant the Easy Street case wasn't getting the undivided attention it deserved. Surely a case of that nature, which had terrified young women all over the city, should be top priority.

What the press and public didn't know was that investigators had already set their sights on a promising person of interest. 21-year-old crime reporter John Grant worked at the same newspaper as Easy Street resident Alona. Although the two colleagues weren't particularly close, they had gone out together on the night of Monday, January 11. Alona felt sorry for John. He'd been having a tough time lately. There were some rumours circulating about him at work, and he had a difficult home life. They ended up back at 149 Easy Street having drinks and playing pool in Alona's lounge room until the early hours of the morning. By 2am, it was too late for Grant to make his way home, so he decided to sleep on the couch. The next morning, he got a lift to work with Alona. Two days later, Alona went next door, where she discovered the bloodied bodies of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett. When John Grant was questioned by police, he maintained he hadn't heard anything next door on the night he slept at Easy Street.

While this wasn't suspicious in and of itself, there was something about John Grant's presence in the neighborhood that immediately raised a red flag. 18 months earlier, a 19-year-old American woman named Julianne Garcia-Salay went missing from the flat she shared with her sister in North Melbourne. On the night she disappeared, Julianne invited three men whom she had recently met over to her flat to discuss the possibility of opening a restaurant. The men claimed that Julianne left at around 10.30pm to make a phone call from a public pay phone and never returned. They eventually got sick of waiting and decided to leave. Police weren't convinced of their story. Not only were several items missing from the flat, including $125 cash and a carving knife, but a blood-soaked towel was also found and a pair of Julianne's underwear was on the floor. Furthermore, one of the men who had visited Julianne that night was a known career criminal named Joseph John Power, who had faced prior murder allegations. One of the other men was John Grant. Grant was the kind of crime reporter who mingled with both police sources and criminal contacts, whatever it took to get a good story.

His gift of the gab and hard drinking ways meant he could work both sides, but this time his close connections with the criminal world had left him in hot water. Grant claimed he had left Julianne's house before the other two men. He remembered it specifically because he'd called his editor and asked for permission to take a taxi home that could be reimbursed as a work expense. Police didn't necessarily think that Grant was involved with Julianne's disappearance. They did, however, suspect that Joseph John Power had something to do with it. The problem was that Power had recently made allegations of misconduct against Victoria Police after they accused him of another murder and an inquiry into his complaint was currently underway. Because of this, police were wary of investigating him for Julianne's disappearance and they didn't pursue the matter any further. John Grant claimed it was an unfortunate coincidence that he was with Julianne on the night she disappeared and next door to Suzanne Armstrong and Sue Bartlett on the night they were killed. Police interrogated him for an entire day, but he staunchly maintained his innocence. Alona said she didn't hear Grant get up or leave the house after he went to bed.

Her flatmate Janet was reading in bed until 4am and didn't hear anything either. When Alona woke up the next morning, Grant had already showered and was wearing the same clothes as the night before. They were clean and dry with no visible stains. There was nothing unusual about his behaviour that day or in the days following. Although there was no evidence to suggest that John Grant was involved with the Easy Street murders in any way, that didn't stop the speculation. After all, what were the chances that one crime reporter could be in the wrong place at the wrong time on two separate occasions? Police also believed the Easy Street killer had knowledge of forensic procedures which Grant did given his line of work. Furthermore, both the Easy Street crime scene and Julianne Garcia-Selaise flat shared a similarity. The presence of a blood-soaked towel and a pair of women's underwear left on the floor. Given Grant's association with the Joseph John Power, some wondered whether it was possible that Power had followed Grant to Easy Street on January 11 for an unknown reason.

Maybe he'd caught a glimpse of Suzanne Armstrong in her front bedroom and acted on impulse. Power was known to be a violent, dangerous criminal and he was physically capable of overpowering two unsuspecting women. It was a bit of a far-fetched theory, but every possibility had to be considered now that the investigation wasn't shaping up to be as straightforward as initially anticipated. The major hindrance was that nobody had witnessed anything suspicious around 147 Easy Street on the night of the murders. Or had they? Gladys Coventry was a veteran of Easy Street, having lived in number 145 since 1963. According to the book Murder on Easy Street by Helen Thomas, the elderly Gladys made a habit of sitting in her kitchen late on summer nights to take advantage of the cool evening breeze. Tuesday, January 11, 1977, was no different. But as Gladys enjoyed the fresh air on that hot night, she peered outside and noticed something at number 147.

Her home was on the opposite side of the laneway to Sue and Suzanne's and from her vantage point, Gladys could see directly into their kitchen. There was a man standing at the sink, washing his hands repeatedly. It also looked like he was scrubbing on a piece of clothing. Gladys had never seen the man before, or if she had, she didn't recognise him. She didn't think anything of it. After all, her neighbours often had visitors, and from the casual, unhurried way the man moved about the house, nothing raised any alarm. It was only when Gladys heard about the murders several days later that she was reminded of the sighting. She approached a homicide detective to report what she had seen, but he didn't seem interested. At the time, the homicide squad had a reputation for being arrogant, and it wasn't until the case started to go cold that they realised they might have been too quick to dismiss Gladys' sighting. Detectives approached the elderly woman again, but she was offended that they didn't take her report seriously the first time, and she no longer wanted to speak to them.

Detectives were so interested in the sighting that they even sent a doctor to Gladys' house under the guise that he was performing a welfare check, in the hopes he could get her to talk. But there was no fooling Gladys, who quickly sensed that he was with the police. The detectives realised that they had missed their chance to get a description of the man Gladys claims to have seen in the kitchen of 147, but instead of persevering, they accepted it and moved on. Had they taken Gladys' Coventry's sighting seriously from the start, they may have been able to get a physical description of the killer and an identity kit could have been drawn. But she wasn't the only neighbour who was overlooked by the police. 21-year-old Peter Sellers lived with his family at 139 Easy Street. On the night of Monday, January 11, he had a friend named Ray stay over while the rest of his family were travelling interstate. According to the book Murder on Easy Street, at around 2.30am both Peter and Ray thought they heard a front door slamming.

Moments later, they heard what sounded like two car door slamming before the car quickly took off. When police doorknocked the area once the murders were discovered, Peter wasn't home. However, his mother was there and she told them that her son had information that might be of interest. Police took a note of his name, but never returned to ask Peter what he had seen. Peter just assumed they weren't interested, so he did an attempt to follow it up. The failure to interview key witnesses was just one problem in a long list of failures in the investigation. One of the overriding issues was that the case was overseen purely by the State Homicide Squad, and Collingwood's criminal investigation branch was never brought in to assist.

Had a local police been involved, their specialised knowledge of the area might have led to more possible persons of interest. It didn't help that days had already passed before the crime scene was discovered. This gave the perpetrator plenty of time to dispose of evidence or flee Melbourne. Secondly, although the crime scene was secured as soon as officers descended on the property, things were done differently in the 70s. Police were free to move through the crime scene without wearing any protective clothing. One officer had even washed his hands in the bathroom sink. Failure to maintain the integrity of the crime scene meant crucial evidence might have been missed.

Complicating matters further was the fact that several detectives seemed convinced they already had their killer within sights. Many believed that John Grant's connection was too coincidental, and it would be a matter of time before evidence linked him to the crime. Others had the same feelings about Barry Woodard, the man Suzanne was dating at the time of her death. This tunnel vision meant that other persons of interest were potentially overlooked. During the short amount of time that Sue Bartlett and Suzanne Armstrong were living on Easy Street, major construction was taking place in the area. Not only was nearby Hoddle Street being widened in conjunction with the New Freeway,

but a new community health centre was being built right behind the women's home. Construction workers and other tradies were in and out of the site constantly. Was it possible that one of them had glimpsed into the backyard of 147 Easy Street and caught sight of Sue or Suzanne lounging in their backyard? Perhaps they'd taken an unhealthy interest in one or both of the women and returned to the property after dark. Similarly, concreting work had only recently been done outside of number 147. Could one of these workers have peered in through the front window, taken note of Suzanne and returned to approach her at the property later?

Many of these workers were employed short-term and moved around often, so with police chasing other avenues in the early days of the investigation, it would have been easy for any of them to fall through the cracks. On top of the lackluster investigation, the Armstrong and Bartlett families weren't happy with how they were treated by the authorities. They were constantly chasing updates themselves rather than being kept in the loop with how things were progressing. Suzanne's family was never even interviewed by police.

They had to make their own appointment to go down to the station and provide information. By July, six months had passed and police were no closer to making an arrest. An inquest into the murders was held at the Melbourne Coroners Court, but no new evidence was presented. The coroner concluded that Suzanne Armstrong and Suzanne Bartlett had been brutally killed by an unknown person or persons and shared no light on who that person might be. Suzanne's sister Gail was given custody of young Gregory,

and in December, her family applied for victims of crime compensation on Gregory's behalf. This was a standard payment of up to $5,000 issued by the Victorian Crimes Compensation Tribunal for dependents of victims who were injured or murdered in a crime. In another blow to the Armstrong family, the tribunal rejected the application on the basis that Gregory was legally considered an illegitimate child because Suzanne hadn't been married to his father.

When words spread about the rejection, the people of Australia were outraged. They rallied behind Gregory with the Victorian Premier announcing he'd make sure Gregory received compensation even if he had to change the laws to do it. The following year, the law was updated and Gregory received $5,000 compensation paid into a trust that he could access on his 18th birthday. The one-year anniversary of the murders passed

with no breakthroughs in the case, despite a $50,000 reward for information being announced. The public and investigators alike found it difficult to believe that the perpetrator continued to go undetected. Surely there must have been something in their behaviour after the crime that tipped somebody off. Perhaps this person had been a heavy drinker who avoided alcohol abruptly following the crime.

Maybe their mental health had taken a sudden downhill turn. It was also hard to believe that someone would commit a crime so brutal and then never re-offend. Suzanne's sister Gail told the media, We'll never really get over this until the fellow is caught. You walk around not knowing who did the murder. It could be the bloke next door. One week later, the Armstrong family were again devastated

when Suzanne's father died from severe burns he had recently sustained from battling a bushfire. His was yet another life tragically lost within the Armstrong and Bartlett families in the aftermath of Suzanne's and Sue's murders. Sue's father had a fatal heart attack upon learning that his daughter had been killed. The next day, one of Sue's aunts also had a heart attack and passed away.

Investigators kept an eye out for similar crimes that could potentially be linked but Easy Street remained in a league of its own. Some thought the killer might have already passed away perhaps by suicide or had been jailed for an unrelated offense. With no new information and other cases demanding attention the case went cold.

Cursed by its reputation as the murder house No. 147 Easy Street remained empty for six years as still and silent as the investigation itself. The house eventually sold at a discounted price and the new owner renovated it extensively tearing out the old wooden floorboards. Decades after the double homicide, the case was reopened. The new detectives casting their eyes on it for the first time

were expecting to have boxes of information to sift through. However, when they asked for the documents all they were given was a skinny manila folder containing a few flimsy statements. By the late 90s, forensic technology had improved dramatically and cold cases were starting to be solved using DNA. Victoria police were hopeful these advances would reveal the identity of the Easy Street killer once and for all. There were still eight key suspects on their list

including Barry Woodard and John Grant and each one of them agreed to provide a blood sample. DNA from their blood was tested against the semen of the killer. None were a match. This outcome was a major blow. For years investigators and the Armstrong and Bartlett police had held out hope that DNA would be the clue that finally held the answers. New leads had long since dried up

and now that the physical evidence eliminated the major persons of interest it seemed increasingly unlikely that the case would ever be solved. Then in September 1999 a postcard arrived at various media outlets across the city Postmarked from the town of Bright in northeast Victoria the writer of the postcards claimed to know who was responsible for the murders. The cards were forwarded to the Homicide Squad who wrote them off as a hoax.

Then in early 2004 a series of letters arrived at the home of Suzanne Armstrong who was the head of the police department and a series of letters arrived at the home of Suzanne Armstrong's mother and stepfather. Written in scrolling cursive they were from the same person who'd authored the postcards four and a half years earlier. His name was Peter Collier and he openly criticised the police for not taking his previous claims seriously.

As reported in the book Murder on Easy Street Peter had been a patient at Melbourne's La Rundle Psychiatric Hospital in early 1977. In late January his friend 30-year-old Anthony Thomas Christie was also admitted after attempting to end his own life. Christie spent 10 days in a coma before regaining consciousness. Three weeks later Peter was sitting in a group therapy session with seven other patients including Christie when Christie made a startling revelation.

After having sex with women he felt an overwhelming desire to kill them with a carving knife. Peter was stunned. He started to put two and two together. He knew Christie had a criminal past and the timing of the suicide attempt had him questioning whether Christie could have committed the Easy Street murders and then tried to take his own life because of it.

In one of the letters to Suzanne's family Peter wrote This is only guesswork but I knew Christie and it's the only thing that makes sense to me. I don't believe for a moment that Suzanne was raped. It's possible but highly improbable. If you're capable of butchering two women you're capable of making out that one of them was raped.

A far more likely scenario is that Suzanne and Christie were involved in pillow talk. He's told Suzanne that he's killed a couple of crimps. He'd hinted that to me. The women have decided to get rid of Christie and they have threatened him with the police. He's lost control. They're dead. What would have made him lose control?

He's hatred for the police. Peter explained that he didn't speak up at the time because he was suffering from poor mental health himself. He couldn't believe that the staff at La Rundle had failed to pass the information on to the relevant authorities. It haunted him to this day bolstered by the fact that Christie had since passed away without facing any consequences. In another letter, Peter wrote There is one way to get the truth out

and that is to put it out on the internet that Anthony Thomas Christie is the Easy Street Killer. That would put some pressure on the creeps covering up the truth. Suzanne's family reported the information to police who dismissed Peter Collier's theory. Apparently this wasn't the first time he'd made these kinds of claims to bereaved family members. It wouldn't be the last time either. In November 2005, Easy Street was a buzz

when several residents found a letter in their mailboxes from Peter. Written in black texta in all capitals, it read La Rundle Hospital protected Anthony Thomas Christie for the Easy Street murders for years. While it was clear that Peter had an ongoing fixation with the case there was no evidence to back his claims. Although if the killer was being held in a mental health facility that would explain why no similar crimes were committed after Suzanne Armstrong and Sue Bartlett's murders. That's one element that continues to baffle investigators.

It just didn't seem plausible that someone could commit such an extreme brutal murder then go on to live a normal life without ever killing again. By January 2017, four decades had passed and police were still no closer to making an arrest. If anyone other than the killer knew who was responsible they had either taken their secret to the grave or continued to live with the knowledge. In the hopes of enticing someone to talk

Victoria Police announced a $1 million reward for information as well as possible indemnity against prosecution for anyone who came forward. A police spokesperson said we believe after 40 years someone out there knows something and it is time for them to come forward. These unsolved murders have been extremely devastating on these two young women's families and after all this time we would like to provide them with closure. For Suzanne Armstrong's family it was too little too late.

Suzanne's sister Gail was still disappointed about the way the case was handled from the get-go but she was grateful that the investigation was still active after all these years. She told reporters This reward should have been offered 39 years ago and it would be solved and we wouldn't be doing all this now. I hear the miracles that police do solve cases and I think Suzanne will be next. They will do it.

They will find this person. There were still 130 persons of interest on the list and a team was tasked with going through each individual in a bid to eliminate them once and for all. This was no easy task. Given how much time had passed 41 of those individuals had since passed away while others had relocated or changed addresses. Those who were able to be tracked down were encouraged to submit a voluntary DNA sample. The original eight suspects who had previously been cleared by DNA were also retested.

Once again there were no matches. Despite the age of the DNA evidence it still holds the key to solving the Easy Street murders. Investigators in Victoria haven't yet turned to genealogy testing to solve cold cases but hope remains that the perpetrator could finally be identified via an ancestral link. Veteran journalist Tess Lawrence who visited Easy Street as family members packed up Suzanne and Sue's belongings has never revealed the name of the record that was on the turntable in the living room at the time of the murders. She has this information safely stored away on the off chance it might ever be useful to the investigation. Collingwood today is not the suburb it was back in the 1970s.

It's now considered one of Melbourne's hippest areas. The old terrace homes remain but the warehouses that once defined the area have since been converted into trendy offices, bars and cafes. With its neighbouring house having since been demolished, number 147 Easy Street now stands alone. The house has changed hands multiple times over the years. When it sold in 2011, the real estate agent responsible for the sale found themselves in hot water after describing the house in their marketing campaign as part of Melbourne's folklore. A spokesperson for victim advocate group Support After Murder described this campaign as absolutely disgusting and accused the real estate agent of trying to capitalise on the tragedy. In their defence, the agent claimed they were just trying to fulfil disclosure requirements as discreetly as possible. At the time, Victorian law dictated that real estate agents only had to tell a prospective buyer about any violent crimes that occurred in a property if they were asked.

Since then, the laws have changed so that agents must disclose these details no matter what. In 2017, 147 Easy Street sold again. The real estate ad described the house as, quote, enjoying a revitalised identity with a contemporary makeover while retaining its period luster. For years after Suzanne and Sue were killed, curious onlookers drove down Easy Street wanting to catch a glimpse of the infamous murder house. Teenagers would hang out of car windows while pointing and laughing, which upset the local residents who continued to be haunted by the crime. The notoriety of the gruesome crime itself often overshadows the fact that at the heart of the tragedy, two innocent young women lost their lives in the most brutal way imaginable, and their loved ones never received the closure they desperately sought. Sue Bartlett was well-liked with both students and colleagues at the Inner City High School where she worked.

Dedicated to her job, she always went the extra mile to organise out-of-hours events for the kids such as school dances and other activities. If a faculty member was leaving, Sue was the one who hustled funds to buy them a farewell gift. In the wake of the murders, a former co-worker of Sue's rallied to raise funds in Sue's honour. The money was used to buy a painting of the Australian bush which hangs on the wall of the high school in memory of the popular and dedicated teacher. The co-worker remarked, When Suzanne Armstrong's son Gregory turned 18, he was finally able to access the $5,000 compensation payment that had been put into a trust. The money had been invested wisely, and by the time Gregory accessed it, it was worth almost $27,000. He used it to complete his education.

Gregory doesn't speak publicly about his mother's murder, but in 1996 he formed a friendship with crime writer Tom Pryor, who penned a book about the case titled, They Trusted Men. Speaking to Tom, Gregory said, Everyone loses out on something. I've lost out because my mother was murdered. It has taken me a long time to realise how much I missed her. From all accounts, the last thing my mother could be described as was ordinary. I miss her. I wish I could meet my mother again, even just once. Suzanne's vibrant, inquisitive personality is forever captured in the letters she wrote to friends and family during her travels.

While visiting Florida, he also wrote a letter to his mother. I think there are basically two ways to live your life, yours at home, and mine. Neither is really satisfactory 100%. It is just what you make of it. Happiness can only really bring happiness back to you. I think there are two ways to live your life, yours at home, and mine. Neither is really satisfactory 100%. It is just what you make of it. You only come from inside you, and you have to know people. I haven't found such happiness, but I am getting to know myself, and that is an interesting experience.

Life is really crazy, but I do believe there is a purpose to everything. Whatever it is, I can't say. But I suppose I will find out. Soon enough. Thank you for watching.