Casefile True Crime - Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders

Episode Date: February 19, 2024

47 years ago, on a warm summer’s night in Melbourne, Susan Bartlett and Suzanne Armstrong were stabbed to death in their home in Easey Street, Collingwood. Suzanne’s 16 month-old son was asleep in his cot at the time. The double homicide left the community shocked and detectives rattled, as several promising early leads gradually petered out. Eventually, the case went cold. To this day, the Easey Street murders is still one of Australia’s most confronting cold cases: a frenzied crime shadowed by strange twists of fact and fate. A million-dollar reward for information has failed to lead to an arrest, no one has ever been charged, and critical questions remain unanswered. Did the young women know their killer, or did they die in a brutal, random attack? Why has their murderer never been found? Journalist Helen Thomas has been investigating Susan and Suzanne’s deaths for more than a decade, initially for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Background Briefing programme and then for her book, Murder On Easey Street. Now Helen has delved into the case again for a brand new, original podcast made for Casefile Presents.  In Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders, Helen explores the crime and the investigation that followed. She speaks with the young women’s family and friends, potential witnesses living in Easey Street who were never interviewed by detectives – and the retired police who were first at the crime scene in January, 1977 and remained haunted by it even now. Want to hear more? Search for ‘Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders’ in your podcast app. Or binge the entire series for free, exclusively on the iHeartRadio app. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-casefile-presents-easey-street-149620564/

47 years ago, on a warm summer's night in Melbourne, Susan Bartlett and Suzanne Armstrong were stabbed to death in their home in Easy Street, Collingwood. Suzanne's 16-month-old son was asleep in his car at the time. The double homicide left the community shocked and detectives rattled, as several promising early leads gradually peed it out. Eventually, the case went cold. To this day, the EZ Street Murders is still one of Australia's most confronting cold cases, a frenzied crime shadowed by strange twists of facts and fate. A million-dollar reward for information has failed to lead to an arrest, No one has ever been charged and critical questions remain unanswered. Did the young women know their killer or did they

die in a brutal random attack? Why has their murderer never been found? Journalist Helen Thomas has been investigating Susan and Suzanne's deaths for more than a decade, initially for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's background briefing program and then for her book, Murder on Easy Street. Now Helen has delved into the case again for a brand new original podcast made for Casefire Presents. In Casefire Presents, The Easy Street Murders, Helen explores the crime and the investigation that followed. She speaks with the young women's family and friends, potential witnesses living in Easy Street who were never interviewed by detectives, and at the retired police who were first at

the crime scene in January 1977, and remain haunted by it even now. Search Casefar presents the Easy Street murders wherever you get your podcasts or binge the entire series for free on the iHeartRadio app. Now stay tuned to hear the trailer. One quiet summer night in Melbourne 46 years ago, Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett

were brutally stabbed to death in their home in Easy Street, Collingwood, as Suzanne's young toddler, Layon, is caught. Their killer has never been found and their double homicide remains one of Australia's most chilling cold cases. It would be absolutely fair to say that I'm 75 now. Hardly a day goes by that I don't think about this particular murder. Did they know their killer or was it a random attack? At the time police weren't sure and warned women in Melbourne to lock their doors and windows. Yet they failed to interview a number of witnesses living in the street. One right next door to Sue and Suzanne.

She told me that she was sitting there at the window because it was a hot night and she said she saw a bloke leaving out the back gate. Until this day, until I die, I'm convinced there were two killers, not one. Has the investigation focused on the wrong person? How many men were really there? In the Easy Street murders, we'll talk to forensic and legal experts, as well as Suzanne and Susan's family and friends.

She had a good sense of humour, and the kids loved her because she made them feel real. She wasn't constrained, I should say, by the norms of the time, which 45 years ago a single mother was regarded very poorly by society. And the retired detective who'll never forget walking into the little house in Easy Street. This guy has done something so bad, so bad that humanity just would never even forgive

him no matter who the relative was. What he did to those two girls could never, ever, ever be forgiven by anyone.