DNA from accused Easey Street killer’s old car links him to 1977 murders

Accused Easey Street killer Perry Kouroumblis was linked to the decades-old cold case by a DNA sample taken from a car he owned when he left Australia for Greece in 2017.

Kouroumblis faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in person on Wednesday for the first day of a committal hearing, where evidence against him is being tested for the first time.

Police say DNA tested in 2018 linked Kouroumblis to the murder of two women in Collingwood in 1977, eventually leading to his arrest last year.

His lawyers attempted to keep details of the alleged DNA evidence against him suppressed but were unsuccessful after a fight from media outlets, including this masthead.

Defence barrister Dermot Dann argued the DNA evidence was so “explosive” that it could remain in the minds of potential future jurors even if it was excluded as part of the court process.

He said his client would plead not guilty and wanted to explore the possibility that any DNA samples collected may have been degraded or contaminated over the 50 years since the women were killed.

Kouroumblis is charged with two counts of murder and one count of rape.

Crown prosecutor Zubin Menon said police allege that between January 10 and January 13, 1977, Kouroumblis entered the home of Suzanne Armstrong, 27, and Susan Bartlett, 28.

While in the house, he allegedly murdered the women by stabbing them repeatedly with a knife. He also allegedly raped Armstrong.

Bartlett was a teacher at Collingwood High School and Armstrong the mother of an 18-month-old boy.

The court heard that after attempts to contact the women, three friends and neighbours went to the house to check on them between the night of January 11 and morning of January 13.

Janet Powell, who lived next door to Bartlett and Armstrong, found the two women’s dog in her front yard about 5pm on January 11. When she knocked on their door, there was no answer.

She later knocked eight different times before leaving a note about 11.30pm with her housemate, Ilona Stevens, on the front door. She recalled hearing the phone inside ringing many times.

On January 13, Powell recalled hearing Armstrong’s child crying through the shared wall of their two properties, prompting her and Stevens to run into the home fearing something was wrong.

She found the toddler distressed in his room.

“He was like a little koala bear hanging on,” Powell told the magistrate.

“That’s when Ilona called out and said ‘don’t come any further’.”

The court heard a crime scene examination found Bartlett laying face down near the front door of the home. Armstrong was found face up in a pool of blood with her nightgown pulled up over her chest.

A post-mortem found Armstrong had 29 stab wounds, including some that showed penetration of her liver and heart.

Bartlett was found with 55 stab wounds, including into her stomach and liver.

Barry John Woodard, now aged 80, had been set up on a blind date with Armstrong in the days before her murder.

The court heard that after dropping her home after their date, he had tried to call but she didn’t answer.

It prompted him and his brother to visit the Easey Street home on January 12, when they walked to the back of the property and inside through on open kitchen door.

But when no one responded, they placed a note on the kitchen table and left, maintaining they never saw the women’s bodies.

“They blamed me all the time, but it wasn’t me I tell you now,” Woodard said.

“I wouldn’t have the guts enough to do that, God almighty.”

Menon said that on January 14, police spoke with Kouroumblis on nearby Hotham Street, and a knife was found in the boot of his car.

The court heard Kouroumblis told police he found it outside the Victoria Park railway station, but told his brother and a friend that he stole it.

Menon said Kouroumblis had lived 230 metres away from the women, on Bendigo Street, with his parents and brothers.

Sperm samples were found on Armstrong and semen samples on the carpet under her, Menon said.

Decades later, further testing and investigations took place.

In June 2018, Menon said Kouroumblis’ brother, Antonios, gave police a sample of his DNA in his brother’s absence.

Police also seized a “tissue sample” from inside a car the accused had owned and a DNA profile was obtained.

The prosecution alleges DNA taken from vaginal swabs was highly likely to belong to Kouroumblis.

Testing on a bloodied towel and wall scrapings returned a similar result.

Kouroumblis was excluded from being linked to a sperm sample found on bedsheets. There was also insufficient evidence to forensically link the accused to the knife, the court heard.

DNA samples also allegedly linked Kouroumblis to fingernail scraping samples taken from Armstrong.

The prosecutor said Kouroumblis initially agreed to provide a voluntary DNA sample in January 2017 but left for Greece without providing DNA.

He was arrested in September 2024 when he travelled to Rome and extradited to Australia.

Kouroumblis, who maintains his innocence, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in person, dressed in a suit and tie.

The committal hearings will be held across October and November following the late addition of defence barrister Dermot Dann to the case.

On Wednesday, Dann said a key part of the defence team’s case would examine any evidence of alternative suspects in 1977.

Possible degradation and contamination of DNA samples also needed to be explored, he said.

Dann said he may ask that the rape charge be thrown out at the end of the committal.

The hearing continues.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.