The article discusses the arrest of a suspect in the case of the Easey Street murders that occurred in 1980 in Melbourne, Australia. The scene had been extremely bloody, and a forensic examination revealed that the killer had taken a shower while the victims lay on the floor. The arrest of a 65-year-old dual citizen of Australia and Greece in Rome was a great relief for former detective Ron Hiscock, who had thought he would never see the case solved. The suspect turned out to be a 17-year-old at the time of the murders, which came as a surprise to many, as the victims were known to leave their doors unlocked due to their trusting nature.
Hiscock had previously suspected crime reporter John Grant to be the likely killer, as he was staying next door and had been one of the last people to see another missing woman. However, a DNA test conducted years later cleared Grant of any involvement in the murders. The investigation at the time lacked modern technology such as CCTV, phone pings, or DNA testing, making it a different type of investigation compared to today. The suspect arrested in Rome had been checked near Easey Street around the time of the murders as a teenager, carrying a knife but was released by authorities. Hiscock explained that a Greek teenager carrying a knife at that time would not have been deemed suspicious due to the prevalence of crime in the area.
The case of the Easey Street murders had haunted Hiscock for years, leading him to walk the streets and knock on doors in extreme heat to find answers. He expressed his gratitude towards the current homicide detectives for their outstanding work in solving the case. Hiscock emphasized the importance of police documents from the time of the murders, believing that the answer to the case would be found within those files. The article also mentions the presence of standover men in the area at the time, driving around in a car and carrying knives for protection while robbing Greek traders riding bicycles.
Overall, the arrest of the suspect in Rome brought closure to a long-standing cold case that had remained unsolved for decades. The case of the Easey Street murders had remained a mystery for many years, with various suspects including crime reporter John Grant. The lack of modern investigative tools at the time of the murders had posed challenges for solving the case. The arrest of the 65-year-old suspect, who was a teenager at the time of the murders, shed light on the nature of crime in the area during that period. The work of the current homicide detectives in solving the case was praised by former detective Ron Hiscock, who had dedicated years to finding answers.
