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Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders

Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders

Released Monday, 19th February 2024
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Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders

Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders

Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders

Casefile Presents: The Easey Street Murders

Monday, 19th February 2024
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Episode Transcript

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0:02

47 years ago, on a warm summer's

0:04

night in Melbourne, Susan Bartlett and Suzanne

0:06

Armstrong were stabbed to death in their

0:09

home in Easy Street, Collingwood. Suzanne's

0:11

16-month-old son was asleep in his

0:13

cot at the time. The

0:16

double homicide left the community shocked

0:18

and detectives rattled, as several promising

0:20

early leads gradually peed it out.

0:24

Eventually, the case went cold. To

0:27

this day, the Easy Street Murders

0:29

is still one of Australia's most

0:31

confronting cold cases, a frenzied

0:34

crime shadowed by strange twists of

0:36

facts and fate. A

0:38

million-dollar reward for information has failed to

0:40

lead to an arrest, no

0:42

one has ever been charged, and

0:45

critical questions remain unanswered. Did

0:48

the young women know their killer, or

0:50

did they die in a brutal, random

0:52

attack? Why has their

0:54

murderer never been found? Journalist

0:57

Helen Thomas has been investigating

0:59

Susan and Suzanne's deaths for

1:01

more than a decade, initially

1:03

for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's

1:05

Background Briefing Program, and then

1:08

for her book, Murder on

1:10

Easy Street. Now

1:12

Helen has delved into the case

1:14

again for a brand new original

1:16

podcast made for Casefile Presents. In

1:19

Casefile Presents, The Easy Street Murders,

1:22

Helen explores the crime and the

1:24

investigation that followed. She

1:26

speaks with the young women's family and

1:29

friends, potential witnesses living in Easy Street

1:31

who were never interviewed by detectives, and

1:33

the retired police who were first at

1:35

the crime scene in January 1977, and

1:40

remain haunted by it even now.

1:44

Search Casefile Presents, The Easy Street

1:46

Murders, wherever you get your podcasts,

1:49

or binge the entire series for

1:51

free on the iHeartRadio app. Now

1:54

stay tuned to hear the trailer. in

2:00

Melbourne 46 years ago, Suzanne

2:02

Armstrong and Susan Bartlett were brutally stabbed

2:04

to death in their home in Easey

2:07

Street, Collingwood, as Suzanne's young toddler

2:09

lay in his court. Their

2:11

killer has never been found and

2:13

their double homicide remains one of Australia's

2:15

most chilling cold cases. It

2:19

would be absolutely fair to

2:21

say that I'm 75 now. Hardly a day goes by

2:26

that I don't think about this

2:28

particular murder. Did

2:31

they know their killer or was it a random

2:33

attack? At the time

2:35

police weren't sure and warned women in Melbourne

2:37

to lock their doors and windows. Yet

2:40

they failed to interview a number of witnesses

2:42

living in the street, one

2:45

right next door to Sue and Suzanne. She

2:48

told me that she was sitting there at the

2:50

window because it was a hot night and

2:52

she said she saw a bloke

2:54

leaving out the back gate. Till this

2:56

day, until I die, I'm convinced

2:59

there were two killers, not one. Has

3:01

the investigation focused on the wrong person?

3:04

How many men were really there? In

3:07

the Easey Street murders we'll talk to

3:09

forensic and legal experts as well as

3:11

Suzanne and Susan's family and friends. Instead

3:14

of a good sense of humour

3:17

and the kids loved her because

3:19

she made them feel real. She

3:22

wasn't constrained I should say by

3:25

the norms of the time which

3:27

45 years ago a single

3:30

mother was regarded

3:33

very poorly by society. And

3:36

the retired detective who'll never forget walking

3:38

into the little house in Easey

3:40

Street. This guy has

3:42

done something so bad, so

3:45

bad that you

3:47

know humanity just would

3:49

never even forgive him no matter who

3:51

the relative was. What he did to

3:53

those two girls could

3:55

never ever ever be

3:58

forgiven anyone. you

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