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Accused Easey Street killer Perry Kouroumblis was linked to the decades-old cold case by a DNA sample taken from a car he owned in 2018 when he left Australia for Greece.
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.
Susan Bartlett (top) and Suzanne Armstrong were killed in their Easey Street, Collingwood, home in 1977.Credit: Stephen Kiprillis
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.
A court sketch of Perry Kouroumblis.Credit: Anita Lester
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.
Menon said Kouroumblis had lived 230 metres away from the women, on Bendigo Street, with his parents and brothers.
Perry Kouroumblis is charged with murdering two women on Easey Street, Collingwood, in 1977.
Janet Powell, who lived next door to Bartlett and Armstrong, found the two women’s dog in her front yard at 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 at about 11.30pm with her housemate, Ilona Stevens, on the front door. She recalled hearing the phone inside ringing many times.
Between 10.30pm on January 11 and 8.50am on January 13, Menon said three people attended the Easey Street home.
This, the court heard, included Bartlett’s friend, Ross Hammond, who attended her home at 10.30pm on January 11, when he saw the neighbours’ note.
Hammond went around the side of the house and inside, leaving a note for Bartlett.
The following day, Armstrong’s friend, Barry Woodard, visited the home after calling many times.
He arrived about 8.30pm with his brother, the court heard. When the men arrived, they saw the gate and rear kitchen door open, with a light on, and went inside to leave a note on the table and left.
On January 13, Powell and Stevens returned. This time, on entering the home, they found Bartlett’s body in the hallway and Armstrong’s body in her bedroom.
Menon said 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.
Perry Kouroumblis, a 65-year-old dual citizen of Australia and Greece, was arrested in Italy.
A post-mortem found Armstrong had sustained 29 stab wounds, including ones that penetrated her liver and heart.
Bartlett was found with 55 stab wounds, including ones that penetrated her stomach and liver.
Menon said that on January 14 police spoke with Kouroumblis about 8.30pm on nearby Hotham Street, and a knife was found in the boot of his car.
The court heard Kouroumblis told police he found the knife outside the Victoria Park railway station but told his brother and a friend that he stole it.
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 a car the accused had owned and a DNA profile was obtained.
The prosecution allege DNA taken from vaginal swabs was highly likely to belong to Kouroumblis.
Testing on a bloodied towel and wall scrapings returned a similar result.
He 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 nail 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 maintains his innocence.
He 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.
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