[ad_1]
The final steps in the extradition of the main suspect in the Easyy Street murders are expected to take place within days after the Italian government approves the process.
Perry Kouroumblis’ attorney in Rome, Serena Tucci, told 9News that Italian Justice Minister Carlo Nordio approved the move on Oct. 30, but the 65-year-old was not told until Friday.
The decision takes him one step closer to formally facing charges in Victoria for the alleged double murder of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett in their Melbourne home in 1977.
“So now the extradition is confirmed, okay. Now we’re waiting on [confirmation] judge of the Court of Appeal in Rome,” she said.
“And then the Australian police can take Perry back to Australia.”
Tucci said she expects Rome Court of Appeals Judge Aldo Morgini to give final approval in the coming days.
He declared his innocence, his lawyer said at the time.
Tucci said the 65-year-old was “good” but “a little worried” when she spoke to him on Monday.
Before his arrest, he had been living in Greece – where he could not be arrested due to the statute of limitations – since leaving Melbourne in 2017, when he was a person of interest in the case.
Armstrong and Bartlett, 27 and 28, were found dead in their homes on Easyy Street in Collingwood on January 13, 1977.
Both were stabbed several times, and Armstrong was raped.
In the week after their discovery, police found Kouroumblis with a knife. He was considered an interesting person, but was never charged.
In the re-investigation of the crime, he agreed to provide DNA, but then fled to Greece.
Armstrong and Bartlett were last seen alive on January 10, 1977.
Armstrong’s 16-month-old baby was found alive and unharmed in her crib when police found the women’s bodies.
Tucci said she was in regular contact with the lawyer representing Kouroumblis in Australia, but he did not want to be identified at this stage of the process.
[ad_2]