Inspector Claude Minisini was taken on a tour through all the relevant locations to get a feel for the area where the killings and Debbie Fream's abduction had taken place. Given access to all the available data, Minisini was asked to put together a profile. From the evidence, he had little doubt that the same killer was responsible for both murders. He felt it was highly unlikely that two separate killers both killed in the same geographical area within a month of each other, both taking their victims to isolated spots, both using strangulation as a form of control and both inflicting knife wounds to the neck and face areas.
Studying the information, Minisini began to form a profile of the killer. Each serial killer has an individual signature about his crimes and the expert worked to identify this killer's signature. Considering the murder of Elizabeth Stevens, especially the strange marks carved into her chest, Minisini felt that the killer had fulfilled a strong fantasy that could have been festering for years. Fantasies are the first in a number of stages that the killer passes through. When the fantasy of killing is no longer fulfilling, the killer begins selecting then stalking women before moving into the fourth phase, which is the actual killing.
Because serial killers in the United States had reported their fantasies as overwhelmingly intense, Minisini suggested that the Frankston killer wouldn't be able to hold down a job or that if he did, it would be a menial one. Like children who daydream at school and spend their time staring out the window, killers with such a strong fantasy life could concentrate on little else. All his energy would go into planning the next murder. He would probably have a sporadic work record because killing was the only thing he was serious about.
The evidence suggested the killer showed a great familiarity with the areas of Frankston and Langwarrin, and Minisini supposed that he walked comfortably around those areas without standing out. He would probably be an average looking person - not sinister or threatening otherwise people would notice him.
It was also likely that the killer would live alone or not be accountable for his time. Because he inflicted neck wounds to his victims, he would be covered in a substantial amount of blood after each killing. Minisini figured that the killer would need to live in a place where he could arrive home covered in blood and remain undetected.
It was important for the FBI-trained expert to consider why Elizabeth Stevens had become a victim. He knew that she had left her home in Langwarrin, had been seen in Frankston and that her body had been found the following day at Lloyd Park after heavy rains. Minisini discounted theories that Elizabeth hitched a ride back to Langwarrin. It was contrary to her known victimology. Her relatives said that she would never have hitched a ride so Minisini thought it most likely that Elizabeth Stevens did catch the bus back to Langwarrin and that she was probably targeted as she got off the bus by someone on foot who followed her as she walked.
Minisini also surmised that the weather conditions were important to the crime and the killer. The area wasn't isolated; the bus stop was near a group of shops. Not only would the rain wash away any forensic evidence after the murder, but when the killer first approached the victim, anyone nearby would take little notice. People caught in heavy rain tend to hurry along with their heads bowed. In the rain, people could pass the killer on the street and the chances of anyone looking closely at him would be slim. If this summation was correct, then Elizabeth Stevens was a victim of opportunity.
The killer had passed out of his fantasy stage and was obviously ready to act out his fantasies and begin killing. He had armed himself with his weapon of choice, a knife, and had walked around prepared, should the right victim present herself.
Significant to Claude Minisini was the fact that both Elizabeth Stevens and Debbie Fream had petechial or pinpoint haemorrhages around their eyes suggestive of strangulation, yet neither woman had been strangled to death. If strangulation was used in both cases, yet not to cause death, Minisini figured that it was part of the killer's pattern. He used strangulation to control his victims before inflicting the fatal injuries.
Both women had defence wounds which meant they had fought their killer so perhaps he had subdued them initially but still took pleasure in the women being conscious for the fatal blows. These aspects all formed part of his signature.
Of interest to Minisini was the fact that Debbie Fream had a cord mark around her neck and Elizabeth Stevens didn't, yet both women had been strangled. It was likely that the killer had used his hands to strangle his first victim and had refined his killing techniques by bringing a cord to the next murder.
Another facet of the control favoured by the killer was the isolated locations to which he took his victims. He could virtually do whatever he wanted and the women were powerless to fight against him. Isolation also gave him the opportunity to spend time with his victims undisturbed.
Minisini studied the strange criss-cross patterns made on Elizabeth Stevens's chest. Of great significance to the expert was the fact that the markings were post-mortem and that the neck area of Elizabeth's grey windcheater was blood soaked. The killer had obviously cut her throat while she was still fully clothed. This was very telling. Feeling inadequate with women, the killer only removed her top after death and used his victim in a voyeuristic, almost childlike way. He may have had a bad experience with women in the past or was intimidated by them.
Sexually motivated nonetheless, the killer had chosen a non-traditional way to show it - as a voyeur. When Minisini first looked at the crime scene photographs of Debbie Fream's murder, he was momentarily confused. He saw the peri-mortem stab wound in her stomach and the fact that her top was off. Had the killer lifted her top before she died? It could alter his theory about the killer only feeling comfortable with his victims after they were dead. But when Minisini examined the bloodstained windcheater carefully, he noticed a knife cut in the middle corresponding exactly with the stab wound to her stomach. His theory still held. The killer had stabbed her first and then, after she was dead, removed her top.
Looking for an approximate age of the killer, Minisini thought that he would probably be between 18 and 24 - the age when most serial killers began killing. In this case, Minisini considered it likely that the killer would be around the same age as his victims; late teens, early twenties. It was unlikely that the killer was older and had killed before because there were no other unsolved murders with the same signature.
Another significant factor of the crimes was the way the killer concealed his victims - enough to partially cover them, but not enough to ensure they remained hidden. The reason for the partial concealments was that the killer felt it necessary to only hide his victims long enough for him to leave the crime scene safely. Elizabeth Stevens was found the day after she was killed and Debbie Fream would have been too if Fred Michelmore had checked his paddock as he usually did on a Friday. If a killer made little effort in concealment, it meant he wasn't concerned if the bodies were found. He didn't necessarily want to shock by leaving them in the open; he just wanted to get away safely. He may even have wanted his victims to be found so he could bask in the glory of yet more screaming headlines. Minisini believed that the killer lived in the Frankston area and that he had most likely been on foot for both the crimes. He wouldn't want to walk any great distance covered in blood and it would be important for him to get home as soon as possible after the murders.
Minisini studied a map of the local area. He marked the spot where Elizabeth Stevens was found, the milk bar from which Debbie Fream was taken, the location where her car was dumped, and Taylors Road where Debbie's body was found. He then outlined an area which was the likely primary location of the killer's home. He figured that the killer would live close to Madden Street, where the car was dumped.
Minisini drew a triangle on the map from a little past Madden Street to the freeway exit towards Skye Road. He figured that the killer wouldn't drive the car past the area where he lived; he would pull up short and walk the rest of the way, thus discounting the area of
the Frankston-Dandenong Road before Madden Street. On the other side of the triangle, the Frankston Freeway formed a natural border confining the possible location to a smaller area.
A second likely area for him to live was the other side of the freeway closer to Kananook railway station. Because most of the activity had taken place in the Frankston area, Minisini figured that the killer had been drawn to Langwarrin for either family or business and therefore, if he had been stopped or challenged, he would have a reasonable explanation as to why he was in the area.
He had killed Elizabeth Stevens because the opportunity had presented itself but, because he would have been covered in blood, he probably used a series of back streets and lanes to make his way back to Frankston. Minisini figured that he would also know that area well, mostly because it was unlikely that a killer would grab a victim without a clear idea of where he was going to take her.
By looking at the crimes from such an analytical perspective, Minisini aimed to narrow the pool of suspects. Directing police to be alert to an unemployed man in his late teens or early 20s who lived, possibly alone or not accountable for his time, in the general area near where Debbie Fream's car was found.
The advice was only an aid; it wouldn't replace the other investigations but it could be used as a statistical guide. Minisini was careful however, to advise detectives not to discount anyone if they didn't fit the exact profile.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Operation Reassurance
From the moment Debbie Fream's body was discovered, the media had a field day. To frightened Frankston residents it seemed that every edition of the Herald Sun featured yet another aspect of the murders. Not only was the community under siege with a killer in its midst, but it was also under siege from the media.
One young man was walking along a street in the Pines Estate in Seaford when a car of journalists slowed down beside him. 'Did you know her?' one yelled out the window. The man ignored them and walked away in disgust.
The fear was palpable and residents were faced with little choice but to lock themselves in their houses and only go out at night if absolutely necessary.
Journalists chose young mothers to feature in their articles, with headlines like, 'The Face of Fear'. They wrote emotively about women whose lifestyles had been grossly altered since the murders.
The media barrage gathered momentum and, almost a fortnight after the discovery of Debbie Fream's body, a full-page story on page seven of the Herald Sun cried: 'Neighbourhood in the Grip of Terror'.
Featuring an unnamed mother photographed peering tentatively out through her Venetian blinds, the article began:
Imagine being so gripped with fear you don't feel safe to walk past your front gate. You are suspicious of every stranger you pass walking down a street you've been down a thousand times before. Feeling on edge, you constantly look over your shoulder at an unfamiliar car driving slowly down your street, you no longer feel safe catching the train, you shelter in your house…
While it made for good reading, this melodramatic prose did nothing to comfort the residents of Frankston and its surrounding suburbs. Some people were so afraid, they put their houses up for sale and made immediate plans to leave the area. Real estate agents noticed an immediate drop in sales, rentals and house prices; Frankston was not a popular place.
Once known for its large shopping malls, its cinemas, restaurants and pubs, this gateway to the Mornington Peninsula now became the place of the serial killer. Where once neighbours would chat about the mosquito problems or the new McDonalds store in Seaford, they now talked about how the killings had changed their habits and their lives. Where once people would browse over the new releases in the video stores, they now looked sideways at the man browsing down the aisle and wondered: Is that him?
Inspector John Noonan was sitting in his small, cluttered upstairs office at the Frankston police station when the phone rang. On the other end of the line, a woman sounded worried. She explained that she had been put through to him because she had been enquiring about personal protection for the women's group she represented. She and her friends were terrified in the present climate, and they all wanted to know what they could do to keep themselves safe. John Noonan arranged for her to come to his office to discuss the issues of concern. He telephoned the Frankston mayor, Dennis Shaw and asked him to come to the meeting too. When the three met, they discussed personal safety and the importance for women to do everything possible not to put themselves at risk.
Ideas of martial arts and carrying weapons were bandied around, but John Noonan assured the woman that the best weapon was a scream. If any woman was grabbed, it was best to scream and struggle before anything happened. To give in to a man with a weapon, to go quietly, could spell disaster - especially with this killer.
The injuries to the hands and arms indicated that Elizabeth Stevens and Debbie Fream had put up a fight, but nobody had heard screams on the nights they had been killed. As far as the police knew, Roszsa Toth, the only victim to escape the killer - if it had been him - had struggled and screamed and her attacker had run away.
Weapons, the inspector explained, could be quickly taken from a potential victim and used against her. Parking at night in places that were well lit was important as was locking an unattended car and always checking the back seat before you got in.
The woman was so impressed with the inspector's simple but sensible advice that she suggested John Noonan speak to her group to reassure them as well. The idea was good. There was an obvious need in the community for reassurance and a public meeting could help quell the growing fears. It was from this hour-long meeting with one concerned group that Operation Reassurance was born.
John Noonan talked to the mayor about possible locations for such a public meeting, and they decided on the Seaford Community Hall. As he was heading downstairs for a press conference which had been scheduled for that afternoon, Noonan offered the woman the opportunity to announce the public meeting to the bank of television cameras in the foyer. Initially reluctant, she soon saw the importance of the decision that had just been made and agreed to appear on camera. This was the first time that a meeting of this nature was held in Victoria. Then again, it was the first time there had been such a spate of killings.
Chief Superintendent John Balloch returned from an overseas holiday on Sunday 18 July. Planning another week off, he envisaged himself recovering from jet lag at his leisure. It was not to be.
When he rang his temporary replacement for an update, Balloch was told about Debbie Fream's murder and the forthcoming public meeting. He returned to work the following day and was briefed further by Rod Wilson and his fellow homicide detectives working from the offices of Taskforce Pulsar, which was now housed at the newly-opened state-of-the-art Frankston police complex.
Chief Superintendent Balloch called in Mayor Dennis Shaw to discuss the best way to handle the public meeting. From the beginning, the two men decided that it was best to be as candid with the public as possible. The evening meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 21 July.
On the afternoon of the meeting, Balloch wondered whether the meeting would be a fizzer. Were people really that interested? It turned out that they were - 800 people turned up to the small venue and another 200 had to be turned away. A recurring sentiment from the huge crowd was that people felt it necessary to lock themselves in after dark and not go out for any reason.
John Balloch tried to explain that those kind of measures were unrealistic. It was safe to walk the main streets in Frankston after dark as long as people stayed in crowded places. It was unsafe to walk around lonely streets at night, but the reality was that it was always unsafe.
To the chief superintendent, the huge irony was that many people only thought about personal safety when something like this happened. Safety measures such as locking car doors and checking the back seat before you got into a car were things that should be done all the time.
One member of the assembly called for the re-
introduction of the death penalty but Balloch explained that it wouldn't help police solve this case and more importantly, it wouldn't stop this killer - he had already killed twice; more victims would mean nothing in that respect.
When Balloch told the assembly that he had all available officers working on the case, one woman stood up and said that she had seen a speed camera on the way to the meeting. She demanded to know why the camera operator wasn't helping in the hunt for the killer.
Ironically, the Frankston road toll in 1993 was 27. The murderer had taken two victims. The reality was that a member of the scared crowd had more chance of being killed in a car accident than of being murdered. The humble camera operator was trying to save their lives as much as the hundred detectives working on the serial killer case.
It was at this meeting that John Balloch first heard a strange rumour that was spreading at an alarming rate. Someone said that a friend's sister had been shopping and returned to her car to find an old woman sitting in the passenger seat. Apparently the friend's sister had spoken to the old woman before realising that it was in fact a man dressed as a woman. She had run off to get a shopping centre security guard but when they both returned the old 'woman' was gone. The story went that police had finger-printed the car and the prints belonged to the notorious child kidnapper, Mr Cruel.
John Balloch assured the woman that he had heard of no such story, but it was one of those urban-myths which persisted and Balloch felt that the public didn't believe the police denials. He had a strong feeling that people thought the police were trying to conceal the facts from them. The reality was that the police had no idea who the kidnapper dubbed 'Mr Cruel' was, and they certainly didn't have his fingerprints on file.
So huge was the turn-out that another meeting was scheduled for the following day. People attending Wednesday's meeting donated $1,500 dollars to the fund set up for Debbie Fream's baby Jake.
The Frankston Serial Killer Page 10
