INTRODUCING: The Case of the Easey Street Murders
In 1977, two women were brutally murdered in their small Collingwood terrace house. Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett were stabbed dozens of times, with Suzanne's baby in the next room.
The crime went unsolved for decades, leaving the community scarred and confused. But now, almost 50 years later, it's going to court.
The Case of the Easey Street Murders will follow the committal hearing of accused murderer Perry Kouroumblis — the first step towards a possible murder trial.
In this season of The Case Of, Stephen Stockwell will be joined by ABC reporters Alexandra Alvaro and Rachael Brown.
Follow The Case Of in the ABC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts so you can get this full story when it drops on Tuesday.
The Case Of is the follow-up to the hit podcast Mushroom Case Daily, and all episodes of that show will remain available in the back catalogue of The Case Of.
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Transcript
These days, you can't throw a stone in Melbourne's inner north without hitting a coffee shop, yoga studio, or renovated pub.
I know, because they're the ones that I go to.
But as with so many inner-city suburbs around Australia, it wasn't like this 50 years ago.
These were often poor, working-class areas, and Collingwood was no exception.
It was in this Collingwood that a brutal double murder led to one of Victoria's longest-running cold cases.
And finally, this case is about to go to court.
The Easy Street murders, as they came to be known, have always been a priority for Victoria police.
In early January 1977, Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett were murdered in the house they rented at 147 Easy Street.
They were both stabbed dozens of times and police will allege Suzanne Armstrong was sexually assaulted, all while her 16-month-old son Gregory was in his cot only meters away.
Exactly what happened in that house in Easy Street, Collingwood that night is part of the puzzle police have still to put together.
It was days before the women's bodies were discovered, but their families have been waiting even longer to find out what happened that night.
Police never found the killer in the years after the murder, but continued investigations.
In 2017, 40 years on, they announced a reward of $1 million for any help solving this crime.
After a breakthrough arrest, Victoria Police are closer to solving one of the state's oldest cold cases.
Late last year, Perry Corumboulos was arrested in Italy in connection with the murders and extradited to Australia.
He has been charged with the murder of both women and the rape of Suzanne Armstrong.
Next week, this case will finally be heard in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Here on the case of the Easy Street murders, we'll follow Corumboulos' committal hearings next week, where some of the evidence against him will be tested to see if it's strong enough to proceed to trial.
There is simply no expiry date on crimes crimes that are as brutal as this.
To tell this story, I'll be joined by Alexandra Alvaro and Rachel Brown.
The committal hearing starts on Monday, so I'll be in your feed on Tuesday with all the details explaining how these proceedings work, what the prosecution is trying to prove, what the next steps are in this 50-year saga.
Make sure you're following the CaseOv podcast to hear how this unfolds.
