By Kristian Silva, ABC court reporter
Perry Kouroumblis is set to be interviewed by police and could face court later this week if he is charged. Photo: ABC/Supplied
The prime suspect in the 1977 Easey Street double-murder investigation, Perry Kouroumblis, has landed in Melbourne.
Under police guard, Kouroumblis touched down at Melbourne Airport late on Tuesday night after flying from Italy, via Qatar.
With Kouroumblis's extradition from Europe now completed, police are set to interview and charge him over the alleged murders of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett.
The pair were found dead in their Collingwood share house in January 1977, in what Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton described as "an absolutely gruesome, horrific, frenzied homicide".
Armstrong's niece, Wendi Selkrig, said it was "a surreal feeling" for the family to know that the extradition had been completed.
"I think that just knowing that this seems to be a promising lead is comforting as well," she told the ABC.
"I don't think we've ever given up hope, because the police have been fantastic the entire time. They certainly have never forgotten the case."
Selkrig said the biggest question her family wanted answered was why two young women in the prime of their lives were killed.
"It's devastating to so many families, including the suspect," she said.
"Whoever's done this, they've lived with this in the back of their mind their whole life."
Susan Bartlett and Suzanne Armstrong were killed in their Collingwood home almost half a century ago. Photo: ABC/Supplied
Armstrong, 27, and Bartlett, 28, were high school friends living together in the Easey Street property. Police allege the pair were stabbed multiple times, and Armstrong was sexually assaulted.
Armstrong's then-16-month-old son Gregory was left unharmed in a cot and was found days later.
"Suzanne was a mum to a really little baby at the time. She was a brilliant person. Susan was a school teacher. They both came from really good families," Ms Selkrig said.
"As more and more time goes by, it's forgotten that they were real people."
Kouroumblis, 65, is an Australian-Greek dual national who had been living in Greece since 2016.
He was detained in Italy on an Interpol Red Notice in September, after arriving on a flight from Greece.
"He had no idea he could be stopped and was surprised to be stopped for something that went back to 1977 in Australia. So he did not give any resistance. He did exactly what the police told him," his lawyer Serena Tucci previously said.
Selkrig acknowledged Kouroumblis was innocent until proven guilty, and said she was encouraged by the fact that he had cooperated with police since his arrest.
Suzanne Armstrong's niece Wendi Selkrig said her family never gave up hope in the long-running cold case. Photo: ABC News: Lucy Loram
Potential trial could be years away
In September, Patton described the killings as Victoria's "most serious cold case and longest cold case".
In 2017, police announced a A$1 million reward and said they had looked into about 130 potential suspects.
If Kouroumblis is charged, it is likely he will be taken to the Melbourne Magistrates' Court for a filing hearing on Wednesday or Thursday.
Typically, a magistrate hears basic details about the charges during a filing hearing. Police provide the court with a timeline of how long it will take to compile their brief of evidence and make it available to the defence legal team.
An accused person is not required to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty during a filing hearing.
Kouroumblis will be detained in custody if he is charged with murder, and will only be able to apply for bail if his lawyers front the Supreme Court in a separate hearing.
Any potential trial before a jury of 12 ordinary Victorians could be years away.
Prosecutors will first need to convince a magistrate that there is sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to a Supreme Court trial, at a hearing called a committal.
An accused person is required to formally state how they wish to plead to the charges at the end of the committal process.
If a person is committed to stand trial, months of administrative and legal argument hearings generally occur in the Supreme Court before the case is put in front of a jury.
- ABC
