A man has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of murdering two women, Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett, whose bodies were found in their home in Easy Street, Collingwood, Melbourne in 1977.
The 65-year-old man, a dual Greek-Australian national, was arrested at Rome airport on Thursday evening AED time.
Victoria Police will seek an extradition order to return him to Melbourne.
Mr Armstrong and Mr Bartlett were murdered in their rented terraced house in Collingwood in January 1977. Mr Armstrong's 16-month-old baby was asleep in another room at the time.
The women's bodies were discovered inside the home on January 13, three days after they had last been seen alive. The child was distressed and dehydrated, but otherwise unharmed.
Police said Armstrong, 27, and Susan, 28, had been stabbed multiple times.
The case, known as the Easy Street Murder, was one of Melbourne's most high-profile unsolved cases and remained unsolved for decades.
In 2017, a $1 million reward was offered to anyone with new information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
The case has been the subject of numerous books and podcasts.
The investigation continues, but Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said in a statement on Saturday that the man's arrest was a “significant development.”
“For more than 47 years, homicide detectives have worked tirelessly to identify those responsible for the deaths of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett,” Patton said.
“It has taken an incredible amount of work from so many people to get to where we are today. This crime struck at the very heart of our community – it happened where two women should have felt safest: in their own home.”
Patton also acknowledged the “indomitable resilience of the Armstrong and Bartlett families after more than 40 years of grief. This will undoubtedly be a very emotional time for them.”
The families of Armstrong and Bartlett requested privacy in a joint statement Saturday afternoon.
“For two quiet families living in rural Victoria, the needless and violent deaths of Suzanne and Susan will never be comprehensible. The gravity of the circumstances surrounding their deaths has changed our lives forever,” the statement said.
“We are forever grateful for the support and understanding we have received from our friends and family over the past 47 years, and we cannot express our gratitude enough to Victoria Police and the many investigators who have worked tirelessly to pursue truth and justice on our behalf for such a long period of time.”
“The perseverance and dedication it took to achieve today's results is truly something to see. We can only thank you for always giving us hope and never giving up.”
