Blind date initially blamed for Easey Street murders
Emily Woods |
A man who dated one of two women killed almost half a century ago has been questioned on his visit to their home around the time of the Easey Street double murder.
Barry Woodard, now aged 80, on Wednesday claimed Victorian police tried to “intimidate” and force a confession from him in 1977 over the murders in Collingwood.
He had gone on a blind date with Suzanne Armstrong, 28, in the weeks before she was found dead next to her housemate and long-term friend Susan Bartlett, 27.
“I wouldn’t have the guts to do that, God almighty,” he told Melbourne Magistrates Court, via video link.
Mr Woodard was questioned by defence barrister Dermot Dann KC over several hours on the first day of a committal hearing for the man police eventually charged over the 1977 killings, Perry Kouroumblis.
He said he tried calling Ms Armstrong on January 12, the day before the women’s bodies were found, then went to the home with his brother and left a note with his number on it, but said he did not go inside the home.
Mr Woodard said police interviewed him three or four times over the deaths – once for six hours and another time for four – but he repeatedly denied any involvement.
Homicide detectives told him “you killed that bloody girl, you know it and I know it and every bloody detective working this case knows it”, Mr Dann claimed.
“It’s a lot of bloody bulldust,” Mr Woodard told the court on Wednesday.
The defence barrister asked Mr Woodard if detectives had “tried to intimidate” him and force a confession.
“Yeah, they were trying to say I’d done it,” he replied.
Mr Dann said identity was the main issue in the case against his client, 66-year-old Kouroumblis, who was extradited from Italy in December 2024 to face two murder charges and one count of rape.
He said Mr Woodard was “just one example of a person being falsely accused by police of these terrible crimes”.
Kouroumblis would plead not guilty to the two murders if committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court, Mr Dann said.
Mr Dann will also argue the rape charge against his client should be discharged at the end of a committal hearing, which began on Wednesday.
Kouroumblis’ defence will also challenge DNA evidence held in storage after being collected from the crime scene in 1977, and how samples were taken from their client.
Prosecutor Zubin Menon earlier said Ms Armstrong and Ms Bartlett’s next door neighbours found their bodies and called police.
Neighbour Janet Powell said she rushed to the home with her housemate after hearing Ms Armstrong’s toddler crying, and found the back door was wide open.
“I picked him up. He was like a little koala bear. I took him to our place and he was still hanging on,” she told the court.
She saw Ms Bartlett’s body in the hallway before her housemate Ilona Stevens, who walked ahead of her, called out: “Don’t go any further.”
Ms Armstrong was found in her bedroom with 29 stab wounds, her nightie pulled above her chest and lying in pools of blood with semen stains on the carpet underneath, which prosecutors allege was linked to Kouroumblis.
Ms Bartlett suffered 55 stab wounds and was found fully clothed, lying near the entry to Ms Armstrong’s bedroom.
Three more acquaintances of the two women visited their Easey Street home in the following days including Mr Woodard with his brother Henry, who was dating Ms Armstrong’s sister Gayle at the time.
Gayle sat in the second row of the court room as Henry spoke about his visit to the home on January 12.
He said Mr Woodard told him not to go down the hallway, and claimed police had also pointed the finger at him as a suspect.
“Well of course they would’ve been blaming me and Barry, because we went around there that night and put a note on the table,” Henry said.
The committal hearing will continue on Thursday.
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AAP
