Perry Kouroumblis has been ordered to stand trial in the Supreme Court on two counts of murder over the 1977 Easey Street killings, after a magistrate ruled there was sufficient evidence to put the case before a jury.
Kouroumblis, now 66, is accused of fatally stabbing Suzanne Armstrong, 28, and Susan Bartlett, 27, inside their Collingwood home on January 13, 1977. He pleaded not guilty to both charges during Wednesday’s hearing.
Magistrate Brett Sonnet struck out a separate charge of “carnal knowledge without consent,” the 1970s equivalent of rape, finding there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction.
A homicide detective had testified that Ms Armstrong appeared to have been sexually assaulted after she was already dead, leading the magistrate to rule the charge could not be proven.
Kouroumblis, who was 17 at the time of the killings, will remain in custody and is due to return to the Supreme Court on December 17 for a directions hearing.
Source: ABC.
