Casefile True Crime - Case 23: The Frankston Serial Killer (Part 1)

Episode Date: June 19, 2016

[Part 1 of 2] Donna had recently received a few prank calls and she was getting nervous. She had a young baby and didn’t like the idea of being alone at night. Her boyfriend Les worked as a pizza delivery driver, and she decided to spend the night driving around in the car with him, rather than stay home alone. The first thing Donna saw when she returned home was her cat on the lounge room floor, dead. The words “Donna you’re dead”, were written in blood up on the wall. In the bathroom were Donna’s two kittens. Both also dead. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-23-the-frankston-serial-killer-part-1

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Music Frankston City is a local government area in Victoria. Located 40 kilometres, 25 miles, south-east of Melbourne. It has a population of about 135,000 people. Frankston City captures many different suburbs including Frankston, Frankston North, Seaford, Lang Warren and others. All of the places you'll hear in this story are part of that Frankston area. We begin this story in Claude Street in the suburb of Seaford, February 1993.

At the unit of Donna Vaines. Donna had recently received a few prank calls and she was getting nervous. She had a young baby and didn't like the idea of being alone at night. Her boyfriend, Les, worked as a pizza delivery driver. And she decided to spend the night driving around in the car with him, rather than stay home alone. As it turned out, Les only worked a very short shift. They were back at Donna's unit in just over an hour.

It was lucky Donna didn't stay home alone that night. The first thing they saw when they walked inside was Donna's cat on the lounge room floor. Dead. There was a picture of a naked woman on top of the cat. The words, Donna, you're dead, were written in blood, up on the wall. In the bathroom were Donna's two kittens, both also dead. Shaving cream had been used to ride on the bathroom mirror saying Donna and Robin. The unit had been ransacked, drawers pulled out, cupboards opened,

her things thrown everywhere. There were knife slash and stab marks on the walls and in the cupboards. In the baby's crib was another picture of a naked woman. The picture had been stabbed through with a knife, resulting in the crib being cut as well. Some of the baby's clothes were also slashed. Donna couldn't think of anybody who would be capable of doing that to her. Her boyfriend, Les, wasn't the father of the child. But the breakup with her ex wasn't that bad.

He was never violent towards her during the relationship and she couldn't see any reason for him to start now. Police later questioned her ex-partner and he had a solid alibi anyway. But why anybody would write Donna and Robin also confused her. Donna didn't know anyone by the name of Robin. Extremely frightened, Donna moved out of her unit and moved in with her sister, Trisha Vaines. One of Trisha's neighbors, Julia, comforted Donna because Julia had experienced a similar thing. When she had gone away on holidays recently, somebody had broken into her unit

and slashed every photo she had in the place. She wore to her engagement party was cut up as well. Just like Donna, Julia had no enemies and had no idea who could be capable of such a thing. It wouldn't have seemed like it at the time, but Donna and Julia would soon come to realize how incredibly lucky they were. 18-year-old Elizabeth Stevens had been living in foster care in Tasmania since she was 14 years old. When she turned 18, she decided to move to Victoria to live with her auntie reader and uncle Paul, arriving in January 1993. They lived together in Patterson Avenue, Lang Warren, in the Frankston area. Elizabeth was quiet and shy, but was extremely friendly to anyone she met.

As she had grown up in Tasmania, she didn't have many friends in the area, and there were definitely no boyfriends. She liked to spend her time reading and mainly hung around at home. Elizabeth was studying at TAFE in Frankston. For those not familiar with TAFE, it is similar to a community college or a technical college in other parts of the world. On Friday the 11th of June 1993, Paul and Rita got home from work to find a note on the kitchen bench. The note was from Elizabeth, saying she had gone to the library at Frankston TAFE to study, and she would be back about 8pm. Elizabeth always let Paul and Rita know where she was. So when it ticked over to 10pm, and Elizabeth still wasn't home, Paul and Rita were panicked.

Paul got in his car and started driving around the streets looking for Elizabeth. Elizabeth didn't drive, so she got to and from TAFE by catching the bus. Paul drove to Frankston TAFE, then drove back to Cranbourne Road, where the bus stop is located that Elizabeth would have gotten off at. It is then only a short walk to Paul and Rita's house from the bus stop. Paul drove the same way the bus would have, and then expanded his search into surrounding streets. But he couldn't find any trace of her. The weather didn't help. It was a shocking night with heavy rain and strong wind, making visibility poor. The police were called and arrived just after 1am.

The officer who attended Sergeant Webster immediately had a feeling something wasn't right. There are the missing person reports where the kid is a bit of a troublemaker, has a lot of friends, might be at partying with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or there might be trouble at home. Then there are the missing person reports that are completely out of character. Elizabeth was reliable, well behaved, and left a note letting her auntie and uncle know exactly where she was and when she would be home. Elizabeth didn't have a boyfriend or many friends at all. She wasn't the partying type. The police conducted their own search without success. There is not much that could be done at that time at night.

The tape and library were shut. The bus company had finished up for the night. There was nobody to go in question. A report was made and instructions left for the day shift to follow it up. It was the next day that a local man Rod was down at Lloyd Park, located on Cranbourne Frankston Road, Lang Warren. Lloyd Park is a large area containing playgrounds, barbeque facilities, a couple of sporting fields, and a vast grassed area. It is surrounded by scrub and trees. It is a very quiet and isolated spot at night. Rod had been sent to Lloyd Park by his wife to find a small pine tree they could use to decorate for their mid-year Christmas party. Rod walked along one of the tracks that go in through the trees and scrub, trying to find a suitable tree. And it was here he discovered the body of Elizabeth Stevens.

Police were called and set up a crime scene. Elizabeth was the victim of a frenzied knife attack. Multiple stab wounds and a crisscross pattern had been carved into her stomach. The killer had also stomped on her face, breaking her nose. A post-mortem would reveal that Elizabeth was choked unconscious prior to being stabbed. Although her top had been removed, the bottom half of her clothing was intact. There was no evidence of sexual assault. Lloyd Park was only a short walk from Elizabeth's bus stop. Police believed Elizabeth had caught the bus from Frankston Tafe, gotten off at her usual stop, and that's when she was attacked. Either by someone who followed her off the bus, or someone who saw her get off the bus.

Paul and Rita's house actually backed on to Lloyd Park. They could see the flashing lights and numerous police cars gathered about 350 metres away, over their back fence. They knew before the police knocked on their door that Elizabeth had been found. A forensic examination turned up nothing. It had rained heavily all night and was still raining that day, washing away any evidence there may have been. A search of the area turned up a piece of the knife blade. Such was the extreme force of the attack. The killer's knife broke. But no prints or other evidence were found on the blade. Elizabeth's bag and the top half of her clothing were found nearby. Both were soaking wet and also contained no evidence. As well as there being zero forensic evidence, nothing useful came out of the extensive interviews police conducted.

No disgruntled ex-boyfriends, no troubles at home, no troubles at Tafe. Every student who attended Elizabeth's Tafe was checked out. There were some names that popped up that raised a few eyebrows based on prior criminal history, but they were eventually eliminated from the investigation. Police set up a roadblock near Elizabeth's bus stop. They displayed a mannequin dressed very similar to what Elizabeth was wearing. They also handed out pamphlets with information about the case, appealing for witnesses to come forward. Many people did come forward and police did get a lot of tips, but nothing that helped them point to a suspect. The bus driver couldn't remember Elizabeth. The librarians couldn't remember Elizabeth. Appeals for other passengers on the bus to come forward didn't produce any witnesses either.

No forensic evidence, no witnesses, no suspects, no leads at all. It was four weeks later on Thursday the 8th of July 1993 that 41 year old Rosa Toth got off a train at Seaford Station. The time was 5.50pm. A short distance from the station is Seaford North Reserve. Not as big as nearby Lloyd Park, but a similar area. A grass reserve with children's playgrounds, barbeque areas and sporting fields, surrounded by scrub and trees. Rosa walked along Railway Parade, taking her past Seaford North Reserve. She noticed a man standing next to the toilet block.

She didn't think too much of it. Although it was dark, there were other people in the area. Other passengers who had gotten off the train who were still back in the car park. And there was the odd car driving past. Rosa didn't think anything was going to happen, but she was wrong. The man she walked past quickly ran up behind her, covered her mouth and forced her to the ground. He dragged her from the footpath down past the toilet block into the grass reserve area. The attack was quick. It was dark.

The train station suddenly seemed a million miles away. Nobody saw a thing. Rosa kicked and struggled and tried to break free from her attacker, but she couldn't. He then pressed something up against her head. He told her he would blow her head off if she didn't stop fighting. But Rosa could tell it wasn't a gun. The object felt wooden. Rosa stopped struggling and her attacker relaxed, thinking the threat of the gun had worked. It was then that Rosa took her opportunity and ran.

She ran straight out onto the road, screaming as loud as she could. Her attacker didn't follow. He ran off in the opposite direction through the reserve and sporting fields. Rosa ran in front of a car and the driver stopped and gave her a lift home. Rosa's right leg was badly grazed. Her clothing had been ripped and some of her hair had been pulled out. She described her attacker as male, 18 to 20 years old, wearing a black jacket and a beanie. 180cm tall, which is just under 6 feet, with a round face and blue eyes. Elsewhere that same night, only a short distance away in Cannonoke Avenue, also in Seaford, was Debbie Freem.

Debbie was 22 years old and had just given birth to a son. He was only 12 days old. Her boyfriend Gary Blair was at work and Debbie was cooking dinner for a long-term mutual friend of theirs, Russell Hayes. Russell hadn't seen Debbie since her child's birth and both were looking forward to the catch-up. Debbie started preparing dinner. She was cooking an omelet and realised there was no milk. Debbie told Russell she had to quickly drive up to the shops and she would only be gone two minutes. Her son was asleep at the time, so Debbie said she would leave him at home. It was 7pm when Debbie left the house.

Russell sat down and watched TV. As 5 minutes turned to 10 and 10 turned to 20, Russell started getting concerned. Where was Debbie? She said she would only be gone two minutes. Russell didn't live in the area, so he wasn't sure what shop Debbie would have gone to. And he couldn't leave to go and look for her anyway. Debbie's 12-day-old son was inside asleep. After an hour had gone by, he called the police and the local hospital to see if there had been any accidents in the area. There hadn't been. He called Debbie's boyfriend Gary Blair. Gary arranged to leave work early. He also called one of Debbie's friends who went to the house to look after the baby.

Gary and Russell then drove around trying to find Debbie or her car, which was a grey pulsar. Gary directed Russell to the local shop where Debbie would have gone and they drove around the surrounding streets. There was no trace of her or the car. They decided to drive the Frankston police station to report her missing. They sat anxiously throughout the night, waiting to hear from Debbie or from the police with some information as to where she was. But they didn't hear anything. Debbie had vanished. Police visited all of the local shops in the area, but nobody could remember serving Debbie. It didn't take detectives long to link the attack on Rosa Toth, which happened only an hour before Debbie Freem disappeared.

Debbie lived right near Cannonook train station, which is the first station south of Seaford station where Rosa was attacked. It was only two kilometres away, just over a mile. And it was only a short drive over to Lloyd Park in the nearby suburb of Lang Warren where Elizabeth Stevens was found. But even without linking the other two attacks, Debbie Freem's disappearance was treated as sinister from the very start. She had dinner cooking and a guest waiting and she left her 12 day old son at home. A search was organised of nearby Cannonook Creek. Divers were called in to search the water and the surrounding thick bush and scrub were also searched. Nothing was found. This time an appeal to the public did reveal some important information.

Several people came forward reporting that they saw a Great Pulsar, the same car as Debbie's, driving erratically, swerving and flashing its lights at passing cars. Was Debbie trying to signal for help? It was the next day, Friday, when detectives who were working on the case happened to drive past a Great Pulsar parked outside a Christian centre on Madden Street in Seaford, only two kilometres away from where Debbie disappeared. They did some checks and discovered that it was Debbie's car that they had just found. The front passenger side door was unlocked and there was a dent in the centre of the bonnet. The damage looked recent. Gary Blair later confirmed the car hadn't been damaged prior to Debbie's disappearance. A forensic examination was quickly arranged and traces of Debbie's blood were found inside.

Another thing that stood out was the driver's seat was pushed right back. Debbie was only short, so there's no way she would have had the seat back that far. It was four days later, Monday the 12th of July, when a farmer by the name of Fred was out working on his farm on Taylor's Road, Carrom Downs. Carrom Downs is also part of the Frankston area. It is east of Seaford and is about a 15 minute drive from where Debbie disappeared. Taylor's Road was in the middle of Farmland, a very quiet and isolated spot. Nothing around but paddocks. Although it was part of the Frankston area, it seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere. It was in the afternoon that Monday, when Fred was driving around checking the fence line on his farm, making sure there were no holes or other damage that livestock would be able to get through. Underneath a couple of large fern tree leaves along his fence line on Taylor's Road, Fred saw what he thought was a pile of rubbish somebody had dumped.

As he got closer, he started smirking. It was a mannequin. One of his neighbors was playing a trick on him. Good one, he thought. As he got closer still, he froze. It was only that morning that Fred had read a front page newspaper article about the disappearance of Debbie Freem. Fred knew he had just found her. Police arrived and set up a crime scene. The scene was very similar to that of Elizabeth Stevens. Debbie was the victim of a frenzied knife attack. There were no signs of sexual assault and a post-mortem would reveal she had been strangled as well. Debbie had numerous defence wounds on her arms and hands. And just like the Elizabeth Stevens crime scene, not one shred of forensic evidence was found. The media was running wild with the story. The Frankston area was completely gripped by fear.

The recent attacks were linked to the murders of two other women in the area. Sarah McDermond, who disappeared from Kennedook train station in 1990, blood stains were found next to her vehicle as well as drag marks. To this day, her body has never been found. However, a coroner has ruled she met with foul play. A $1 million reward is on offer for any information to help solve her case. These days, it is not believed her case is linked to the Frankston serial killer. But it was a different story back then. Michelle Brown was found murdered in Frankston in 1992. There is a $50,000 reward on offer for her case, which is now believed to be drug related and also not linked to the Frankston serial killer. But again, at the time, the media considered all of the cases to be linked. The whispers of a serial killer on the loose were no longer whispers. The headlines were constant. To avoid confusion, I won't mention the McDermond or Brown cases anymore. It's just to give you an idea of what was happening at the time, what was being reported. However, the papers were still right. There was a serial killer on the loose. The murders of Elizabeth Stevens and Debbie Freem and the attack on Rosa Toth were definitely the work of the same person.

Police warned women to avoid travelling alone and to avoid going to their vehicles alone, especially at night, in quiet spots. Detectives conducted a search for anyone with a history of violent attacks against women who lived in the Frankston area. 500 names were spat out of the computer. That list was eventually narrowed down to 30. They were all checked out thoroughly, but all were eventually cleared. Detectives sought the help of a fellow officer who had trained in profiling for 14 months at the FBI Academy in Quantico. He put together a profile suggesting it was highly likely Debbie Freem and Elizabeth Stevens were killed by the same person. This was due to the time between the killings, the geographical location, the nature of the killings, and the fact the bodies were left in quiet, isolated spots. The profile suggested that the killer was male, who had acted out on a strong fantasy that had been building up for years. He was likely unemployed, but if he was employed, it would be a manual job.

The killer lived in and was very familiar with the Frankston area. He would be aged between 18 and 24, average looking, and he would live alone. As is the case with any profile, it was only a guide. It could apply to many people. Detectives were encouraged not to discount anybody just because they didn't fit the profile. People living in the Frankston area started changing their habits. Many didn't venture out at night, and most didn't venture out alone at all. People couldn't help but cast a suspicious eye everywhere they went, just wondering, is that person the killer? It led to some people putting their houses on the market and moving out of the area completely. But there was a problem trying to sell houses. Nobody wanted to move into the area. House sales dried up and rental houses remained vacant.

People started arming themselves with hockey sticks and cricket bats. Women carried oven cleaner in their handbags to spray in the eyes of any attacker. Enrollments in self-defense classes skyrocketed. In response to the public hysteria, police commenced Operation Reassurance. The Frankston area was flooded with extra police. It was a high visibility operation designed to make the public feel safe, but also to try and deter further attacks. On Friday the 30th of July, just three weeks after the murder of Debbie Freen, a postal worker was delivering mail on her motorbike along Sky Road in Frankston. Sky Road is only a short distance drive from the other crime scenes. They were all within an eight kilometre radius, eight kilometres being five miles.

About 2.30pm the postal worker noticed an old rusted yellow Toyota Corona with no number plates. It was parked opposite the entrance of a bike track which runs up between two golf courses on Sky Road. The bike track is used as a shortcut to get from Sky Road to Frankston North. The bike track was overgrown and had a higher wire fence running down each side. Overgrown trees and thick scrub and grass pushed up against the fence. It was a quiet, isolated track, not visible from the road. The track wasn't visible from the golf course either due to the trees and heavy thick scrub. The postal worker saw a man with a chubby face sitting in the driver's seat of the Toyota.

He was wearing a dark coloured cap and was looking down Sky Road. As she rode past him, the man slouched down in his seat as if he didn't want to be seen. Given what was happening in the area, the postal worker decided to call the police. She sensed something was off. She pulled into a nearby driveway and knocked on the door asking to use a phone. As she knocked on the door, she noticed a schoolgirl walking along Sky Road headed up towards the track. The schoolgirl was 17-year-old Natalie Russell, who was in year 12 at John Paul College, a school located just off Sky Road.

Natalie finished the day with a free period, so she left school early to go home and study for an upcoming exam. Only two days earlier, the principal of the school had warned the students at an assembly that it would be safer to avoid any shortcuts home, making specific mention of the bike track on Sky Road. Natalie wasn't the only one to ignore the warning. Plenty of kids were still using it, but because she had left school early, she was the only one there now. It was a much quicker way for her to walk home to Frankston North. Natalie was being watched through a pair of binoculars as she walked up Sky Road.

Realising where she was headed, the man stopped watching her, ran up the bike track and waited. A short time later, Natalie walked past the old yellow Toyota. Nobody was in it. She made her way onto the track. Police responded to the call to check out the suspicious male in the yellow Toyota. When they arrived, there was nobody in the car. They did a door knock of nearby houses, but didn't really get anything useful. By this time, school had ended for the day, and there were kids starting to appear everywhere, moving off in all different directions.

When a call for an armed robbery came over the radio, police had to leave to respond to that. A few kids ventured onto the bike track that afternoon. One noticed a shoe laying in the middle of the track, right next to where there was a hole, cut in the fence that led into the trees and thick scrub. Another noticed a man walking hurriedly towards him along the track. The fear that overcame the child quickly passed when the man kept walking without saying anything, keeping his head down and his hands shoved into his pockets. At 8pm that night, Natalie Russell's family reported her missing.

They called Frankston Police Station, and needless to say, the report was treated with great urgency. Natalie was always home before dark, and she always called her parents to let them know where she was. She had never run off before. She was a good kid, quiet, well-behaved, with a close circle of good friends. Police questioned her parents and learned about the bike track off Sky Road she used to walk home. A search of the track was quickly arranged. There were several holes that had been cut along the wire fence. It was through the third hole, deep into the scrub and trees, they found Natalie's body.

Natalie was also the victim of a frenzied knife attack. She had numerous defensive injuries. She'd put up a hell of a fight, and there was no sign of sexual assault. There was no question her murder was related to those of Elizabeth Stevens and Debbie Freem. The search of the crime scene and the forensic examination was put off until the next day. The police didn't want to risk losing any evidence in the poor light, and organising flood lighting in the area would increase the amount of foot traffic, which in turn would increase the chances of a contaminated crime scene.

It was a good move, because this time they came up with a lot of forensic evidence. There was blood on the outline of the hole that had been cut in the fence. A small piece of skin was located in one of Natalie's wounds. The piece of skin seemed foreign, although there was no way of knowing for sure until test results came back. But the pathologist believed the killer may have cut himself in the attack. About ten small dark hairs that did not belong to Natalie were found in her hand. She had ripped some of the killer's hair out. Two leather straps with blood on them were also found at the scene.

Plus, the cuts in the fence could be matched to a tool owned by the suspect if one was ever identified. There was a lot to work with. As the forensic examination was being conducted, the two police who attended to the call to check out the suspicious male in the Toyota the day before on Sky Road approached detectives. There was nobody in the car, and the car had no number plates. But there was a registration sticker attached, and the police had recorded the registration details. Did they finally have the breakthrough they desperately needed, or was it another dead end? Find out next week, in part two, of the Frankston serial killer.