WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:10.599 In the winter of nineteen ninety three, the quiet Melbourne 2 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:14.560 suburb of Frankston became the focus of one of Australia's 3 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:19.160 most chilling serial murder cases. Over the span of just 4 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:24.760 seven weeks, three young women were brutally killed, each attack 5 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:30.879 seemingly random but carried out with escalating violence. The man 6 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:35.359 responsible twenty one year old Paul Denier, who would later 7 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:39.000 confess not only to the murders but to a deep 8 00:00:39.079 --> 00:00:43.679 rooted hatred for women that had been building four years. 9 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:48.280 This is the story of the Frankston murders. 10 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:53.600 My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked 11 00:00:53.640 --> 00:00:54.439 and Grim. 12 00:00:54.159 --> 00:01:01.240 A true crime podcast. The following podcast I have material 13 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:04.879 more audience listeners. 14 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:27.359 Haven't had that sound for a while. 15 00:01:27.159 --> 00:01:29.680 Havelf We we haven't. And honestly, don't judge me for 16 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:32.680 this one. This is a breakfast beer, so it's like 17 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:40.239 eleven still, it's technically a breakfast beer five o'clock somewhere exactly. 18 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.920 Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, yep. And 19 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:44.519 that might be have a beer in the morning, and 20 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:47.280 that might be have a coffee with dinner. Hey, just 21 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:51.280 don't judge, right, you do you exactly. This is an 22 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:53.840 interesting case and it actually comes from our patron. So 23 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:55.239 I just want to give you a little quick shout 24 00:01:55.239 --> 00:01:57.760 out to everyone over on Patreon because we did a 25 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.359 live recently and I think we mentioned that last episode. 26 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:03.439 And was this put on the live? It was okay, 27 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:04.079 right on. 28 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:06.000 So we were chatting with them and there's a couple 29 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:07.760 of suggestions thrown around and this was one of the 30 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:08.599 ones that was suggested. 31 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:12.000 Okay, I know if you recommendations came on that live, 32 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:13.400 but yeah, there you. 33 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:16.560 Go, Well this is one of those recommendations and now 34 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:18.759 you know, yeah, and now you're about to learn all 35 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:19.280 about it. 36 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:21.639 Sorry, if my voice sounds a bit off, I think 37 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.240 it's a slightly off, but not much. 38 00:02:23.759 --> 00:02:25.479 You sound a little bit nasally today. 39 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:29.879 Nasally I have a yeah woo woo, woot woot before 40 00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:31.159 we're about to go to town. 41 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.919 Right, and my throat hurts a little bit too, So yeah, 42 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:34.759 I have just passed it. 43 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:38.400 On to me. Thanks, Sorry, but you know what is 44 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:38.759 to come? 45 00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:40.120 Are you really sorry? Though? 46 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.680 Slightly? But also last year you gave me COVID So. 47 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:48.080 Was that last year or the year before? 48 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:51.599 What that was last year? Was it not even like that? 49 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:52.439 Long ago. 50 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:55.240 What are you What are you talking about then at. 51 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:56.599 The when we were in Georgia. 52 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:59.280 Oh well, I mean, we don't know for sure that 53 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:01.840 was COVID. We're just assuming pretty sure. 54 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:04.039 So anyway, I got a pass for life because that 55 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:06.680 was a terrible illness to pass on. This ain't that bad. 56 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:08.759 I don't know if that was COVID. That was a 57 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:10.360 bad case of COVID. I think it was just a 58 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:13.080 really bad fluke. Because there's vomiting and stuff about, we 59 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:16.039 don't need to talk about this. Oh my gosh, we 60 00:03:16.039 --> 00:03:16.599 were sick. 61 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:20.879 Yeah, people get sick. Yeah, it happens. 62 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:23.639 It do happen like that sometimes. But are you ready 63 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:24.199 for this case? 64 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:24.639 I am. 65 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:29.879 Okay, let's stop talking about our our well being and stuff. 66 00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:33.280 Let's just get into the story. Okay. So in the 67 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:37.560 early nineteen nineties, the bayside suburb of Frankston, about forty 68 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.960 minutes outside of Melbourne, Australia, was just like any other 69 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:44.680 quiet Australian community. Had the beach, you know, the bush 70 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:47.800 and the kind of low key suburb charm that made 71 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.800 it an easy place to live, especially for families and 72 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:53.960 young people starting out. But in nineteen ninety three, all 73 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:58.479 of that changed. For seven terrifying weeks in winter, something 74 00:03:59.199 --> 00:04:03.000 or rather some one, turned Frankston into a hunting ground. 75 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:07.719 Three women were murdered in broad daylight or early evening, 76 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:12.039 all young, all targeted seemingly at random. Another woman was 77 00:04:12.080 --> 00:04:15.599 attacked but managed to escape. By the end of July, 78 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:19.639 the entire city was on edge. Women stopped walking alone, 79 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:22.759 parents started picking up their kids from school. People double 80 00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:25.480 checked locked doors and looked over their shoulders wherever they went. 81 00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:31.399 The killer didn't leave taunting letters or called police. They 82 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:35.800 didn't have to the brutality of the crimes they spoken 83 00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:40.680 of for themselves. Eventually police would find him. He wasn't 84 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:44.519 a shadowy figure hiding in the hills or some criminal mastermind. Instead, 85 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:47.000 he was a twenty one year old guy named Paul Denyer, 86 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.199 someone who lived in the area, worked odd jobs, and 87 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:53.439 blended in like any other face in the crowd. But 88 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:57.040 what Paul was hiding beneath that average exterior was a 89 00:04:57.160 --> 00:05:03.519 violent hatred of women and a chilling desire to kill now. 90 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.160 Paul was born in April fourteenth of nineteen seventy two, 91 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:10.240 the third of six kids in a working class family 92 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:14.000 that immigrated to Australia from the UK in the nineteen sixties. 93 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:18.240 His parents, Anthony and Marine, had just settled into New 94 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:21.120 South Wales at first, but by the early eighties, a 95 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:25.439 new job opportunity moved them into Victoria, specifically an outer 96 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:29.160 suburb of Melbourne, and that's where things started to unravel. 97 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:32.560 By all accounts, Paul didn't adjust well to the move. 98 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:35.480 He struggled to make friends and never really found his 99 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:40.399 footing in school. His confidence plummeted, his school performance tanked, 100 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:44.600 and he began gaining weight rapidly, all of which isolated 101 00:05:44.639 --> 00:05:49.079 him further and further. But where most kids might act 102 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:52.360 out in a bit of rebellious, you know, teenage type behavior, 103 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:57.680 Paul veered into much darker territory, going right beyond that 104 00:05:57.920 --> 00:06:02.000 into something else completely. When he was just ten, he 105 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:05.000 cut the throat of his sister's stuffed bare Oh and 106 00:06:05.079 --> 00:06:07.959 not long after that, he even killed the family cat 107 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:11.160 in the very same way, and then he strung its 108 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:14.480 body up in a tree for. 109 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:17.759 The family to probably see and find. Yeah, oh my gosh, 110 00:06:17.839 --> 00:06:21.000 could you imagine if your child did something like that, right. 111 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:23.079 And you're talking a ten year old, Oh. 112 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:24.920 Man, I feel like I would just like run for 113 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:27.920 the freaking hills. No kidding, my kid, Like that's terrified. 114 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:30.439 Yeah, well, these aren't things you can just chalk up to, like, hey, 115 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:33.040 it's just a phase or boys will be boys. Some 116 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:34.959 people use that as an excuse this stuff. 117 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.800 He maybe because it could have just been like being 118 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:39.680 rude to their sibling. 119 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:42.519 Fair enough, and you know what, Like, honestly, kids at age, 120 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:45.279 you know, they act out a lot of like different 121 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:48.240 things on pillows or stuffed animals. I remember me when 122 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:50.639 I was a kid, I watched like wrestling. I would 123 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.040 have like full on wrestling matches with my stuff animals, 124 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:55.480 you know what I mean. So it's like doing some 125 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:57.480 stuff with your stuffed animals and like, hey, you know, 126 00:06:57.519 --> 00:06:59.759 tearing its head off because he saw a Rambo movie 127 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:03.279 and like that sort of thing. It's understandable. But when 128 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:05.759 it crosses the line, it's not a stuffed animal anymore. 129 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:08.920 And you literally cut the throat of your family cat 130 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.319 and string it up in a tree, that's fucked. 131 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:14.600 Well, yeah, because it's not even like a neighbor's cat. 132 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:18.199 It's your like your family cat. That is real mess. 133 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:21.360 Yeah. Oh, actually that's a good point because theoretically he 134 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:23.199 should have some attachment to this animal. 135 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:25.439 Yeah, like he should love the animal, it's a part 136 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:26.560 of his daily life. 137 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:30.800 Yeah, so these kind of moments were I mean, I 138 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:35.120 have in my script in hindsight alarm bells, but honestly, 139 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.600 they should have just been alarmed. It's not hindsight. Those 140 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:41.839 are alarms that you ignored. It's not a hindsight. 141 00:07:42.040 --> 00:07:46.279 Yeah that if your kid is killing your cat and 142 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:49.519 hanging it in a tree, you gotta maybe look at 143 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:51.000 some help or something. 144 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:52.920 Yeah, but not much was being done. 145 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:53.920 Oh shit. 146 00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:58.160 Now, by thirteen, Paul had actually already been arrested, once 147 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:01.120 for stealing a car and later for assaulting a classmate 148 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:08.120 in a rather disturbing way. So the incident is h well, 149 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.000 Paul was around fifteen at this time. He was attending 150 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:15.000 high school and he assaulted a classmate. It's not just 151 00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:17.720 physically aggressive, let's put it that way. It was deliberate 152 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:21.920 and it was dehumanizing. Now, according to reports and court records, 153 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:26.720 they referenced what he did, Paul forced another student to 154 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:33.639 publicly masturbate. Yeah, a little bit humiliad. 155 00:08:34.840 --> 00:08:36.120 How do you even do that? 156 00:08:37.399 --> 00:08:40.240 Well, I mean, maybe it's a knife point again, maybe 157 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:42.080 you're going to beat him up. Who knows what he 158 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.240 did to threaten this individual, but they he forced them 159 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:50.480 to public master. Yeah, so it's not just assault, it's 160 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:53.399 forced public humiliation and it stood out later to psych 161 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:59.759 psychologists and investigators as an early indicator of sadistic tendencies. Okay, yeah, 162 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:04.799 this was impulsive. Sorry, it wasn't impulsive violence. It was domination, humiliation, 163 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:08.519 and a desire to degrade another person in a sexually 164 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:13.039 charged and controlling way. Now, for context, this was the 165 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.960 mid late nineteen eighties, so despite how serious this act was, 166 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:20.399 it didn't seem to lead to any meaningful intervention by 167 00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:24.519 any means. He was arrested for this, yes, but there 168 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:26.679 was little in the way of long term mental health 169 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.879 evaluation or reform. So he was formally charged and arrested. 170 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:32.840 But due to his age at around fifteen, he was 171 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:37.080 treated at a juvenile level, right, so in a juvenile matter. 172 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.759 So the specific consequences haven't been made publicly made public 173 00:09:41.799 --> 00:09:43.480 because you know, hey, they deal with that sort of 174 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:46.320 stuff behind closed doors and it's not public thing because hey, 175 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:50.159 juvenile and that's basically that. 176 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:53.200 So they're just like chalking all this stuff up to 177 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:57.159 that he's a kid. Figuring out his way, like he's 178 00:09:57.200 --> 00:09:59.200 going to get better, like all this is going to 179 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:01.360 get better essentially. Yeah. 180 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.679 Yeah, And because of all that, there's no record of 181 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:11.720 long term detention, rehabilitation programs, different like psychological treatments that 182 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:13.559 maybe they could be doing. There's none of that. It 183 00:10:13.639 --> 00:10:17.080 was basically like, oh, you did a stupid thing, kid, Yeah, 184 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:18.559 just go home. You learned your lesson? 185 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:19.480 Yeah, I learn from this. 186 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.519 Yeah, That's basically all it really was. They arrested him 187 00:10:22.519 --> 00:10:24.879 for a short time. He was in probably some sort 188 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:26.960 of detention center for a bit, and then just went 189 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:27.559 right back to. 190 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:31.159 Living at home, which isn't great because the poor kid 191 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:33.960 that he did that too, that's going to affect his life. 192 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:37.720 Oh most likely for sure brutal. So yeah, meanwhile he's 193 00:10:37.799 --> 00:10:40.600 just allowed to just Paul's just going home and is hey, 194 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:43.360 violent behavior, It's only going to escalate from there. And 195 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:47.120 that's exactly what happened. So after that, things at home 196 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:50.320 got worse. His parents' marriage that fell apart, and Paul 197 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:53.440 seemed to drift even further off the rails. He dropped 198 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.240 out of school, bounced between jobs that he couldn't keep, 199 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:58.600 and failed to get into the police force, something that 200 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:01.480 he claimed he was passionate about, though no one really 201 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:06.000 understands why because it doesn't reflect who he is. Then 202 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:09.879 there were knives. While working at a boat building company 203 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:13.240 in Seaford in the early nineteen ninety three, Paul started 204 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:17.159 crafting makeshift knives and weapons during his shifts. And he 205 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.320 didn't just do this and hide it. He was open 206 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:23.159 about it, and he even showed coworkers and stuff. One 207 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:25.240 of his bosses even pulled him aside to say it 208 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:28.320 was making people uncomfortable and he needed to stop. 209 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.159 Okay, but he wasn't supposed to be doing this. No, 210 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:34.320 unlike company time and share right. 211 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:36.000 No, it's like you're supposed to be doing your job. 212 00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:39.639 You're making a fucking knife, like, stop it, and it's 213 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:41.519 weirding people out, I guess. 214 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:43.240 But yeah, it's also like get to work. 215 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:47.279 Exactly a few months later, he was reportedly fired for 216 00:11:47.480 --> 00:11:50.600 underperforming at that job. Not surprising because he's not doing 217 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:54.000 his job like you say, yeah, yeah, dinking around. So 218 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.799 it was around the same time that the strange, disturbing 219 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:01.799 incidents in Frankston and Seaford began. Things that back then 220 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:04.440 seemed like random acts of cruelty and violence, but would 221 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:08.480 later be recognized as Paul's first serious step towards murder. 222 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.360 One of the earliest signs was in February of nineteen 223 00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:15.240 ninety three, when he broke into a woman's house someone 224 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:19.039 he didn't know, and completely vandalized the place. Now, when 225 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.679 I say he didn't know them, clearly he does know 226 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:23.679 who they are, but doesn't know them personally. You know 227 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:26.759 what I mean? Now, this person was someone by the 228 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:30.159 name of Donna. Donna was a young mother living in 229 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:33.639 a unit on Claude Street in Seaford, a bayside suburb 230 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:36.559 of Melbourne. She had recently given birth and was home 231 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:40.240 alone much of the time while her partner worked delivering pizzas. 232 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:43.639 Around the time of the incident, Donna had received threatening, 233 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:47.039 anonymous phone calls. They unnerved her to the point that 234 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:49.360 she asked her partner if she could actually tag along 235 00:12:49.480 --> 00:12:53.399 during his delivery shifts, bringing their newborn baby with them, 236 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:59.080 to feel safe. It turned out that decision would save 237 00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:00.279 her life. 238 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:04.879 Oh seriously, I just love when people like listen to 239 00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:06.960 their guts because it's hard to it is. 240 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:10.440 So, while Donna and her partner headed off to go 241 00:13:10.519 --> 00:13:14.039 deliver some pizzas, for his job. They were gone for 242 00:13:14.159 --> 00:13:17.679 less than an hour, and in that time Paul broke 243 00:13:17.799 --> 00:13:22.919 into their home. The level of destruction and psychological cruelty 244 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:26.240 he inflicted to their empty home is hard to overstate. 245 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.720 So to start with, though he killed their pet cat. 246 00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:34.159 He slashed the pet's throat and dissected its body, and 247 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:37.120 the cat's body was then posed on the kitchen floor 248 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:41.519 and written in the animal's blood above the stove were 249 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:48.200 the words quote, Donna, You're dead. He also murdered two kittens, 250 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:52.240 again cutting their throat and placing them in the bathtub. 251 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:56.200 Oh my gosh, this guy is a piece of shit. 252 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:59.919 There were also pornographic images that were slashed and pasted 253 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.759 on mirrors and the wardrobe, and most disturbingly, inside the 254 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:05.960 crib where they baby actually slept. 255 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:06.879 Wow. 256 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:10.559 Shaving cream was sprayed all over the bathroom mirror, furniture 257 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:14.120 was slashed and cut open. Rooms were trashed. I cannot 258 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:18.200 describe what he did in there enough now. When Donna 259 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:20.279 and her partner returned and saw the blood on the floor, 260 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:23.840 they immediately called police and what they found was, Yeah, 261 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:27.879 this deliberate, hateful scene of psychological warfare. 262 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:31.679 Basically, you almost would have wondered, you know, she might 263 00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:34.320 not have been safe, but I also think, like her baby, 264 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.480 he might have killed the baby too, very much. 265 00:14:37.320 --> 00:14:43.279 So possible. Yeah, now terrified, Donna understandably refused to return 266 00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:46.200 to that unit. She and her family moved out that 267 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.639 very same night and moved in ironically with her sister 268 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:51.639 who lived right next door to Paul. 269 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.159 Oh yeah, cool. And they had no idea who it was. 270 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.200 They had no idea it was. They had no idea 271 00:14:58.240 --> 00:15:01.080 who was responsible. And it wasn't until months later, after 272 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:04.320 Paul was actually arrested for many other things that we'll 273 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:08.559 be getting into that it actually came to light. And 274 00:15:08.679 --> 00:15:10.679 at that time, you know, after the fact, when he 275 00:15:10.759 --> 00:15:14.320 was arrested, he was asked, well, I guess no, he asked. 276 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:17.720 He just admitted on his own about what would happen 277 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:21.960 if Donna was home that night. Huh. And he, quote verbatim, 278 00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:28.519 said I would have killed her. So yes, going out 279 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:32.039 on that pizza delivery with her her hobby saved her life. 280 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:32.639 Dang. 281 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:36.200 So it was clear now that Paul was testing his 282 00:15:36.279 --> 00:15:39.120 limits at this time. He didn't just want to scare someone. 283 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:44.080 He wanted to control, hurt and terrorize them. It was honestly, 284 00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:48.639 almost a dry run for what he would soon do next. 285 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:52.159 It was the kind of night you stay indoors, cold, 286 00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:57.799 wet and blistery, even by Melbourne's winter standards, but eighteen 287 00:15:57.879 --> 00:16:01.159 year old Elizabeth Stevens had plans. On the evening of 288 00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:03.919 June eleventh, nineteen ninety three, she left a note for 289 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:06.720 her aunt and uncle, the relatives she was living with 290 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:10.919 in Langwarren. She said she was headed to the taff 291 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:15.600 Tafe Cafe library and would be home by eight p m. 292 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:19.639 Elizabeth had only been in Melbourne for a few months, 293 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:23.159 having moved from Tasmania to study. She wanted to join 294 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.720 the armed forces and saw education as her ticket in now. 295 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:29.320 She was smart, driven and independent, the kind of person 296 00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:33.720 who didn't mind walking home alone. Langworin was familiar and 297 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:36.480 it felt safe to her. She caught the bus as 298 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:39.759 usual and got off near Patterson Avenue. From there it 299 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:43.919 was a short walk home, five minutes maybe less. However, 300 00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:47.480 the distance didn't matter because she would never make it home. 301 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:52.360 As Elizabeth turned onto her street, Paul spotted her. He 302 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:55.879 hadn't been following her, at least not intentionally, but he 303 00:16:55.919 --> 00:16:58.679 did see this opportunity and for Paul. That was all 304 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:02.240 he needed. It was enough. He approached her from behind, 305 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:07.039 pulled out a makeshift fake pistol he'd crafted from scrap materials, 306 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:10.200 and told her not to scream. Then he took her 307 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.759 by the hand, and quite literally took her by the 308 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.160 hand and walked her down the street as if there 309 00:17:15.160 --> 00:17:18.920 were just two people headed home together. At least one 310 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:23.000 other passerby saw them, and because of the fear overwhelming Elizabeth, 311 00:17:23.559 --> 00:17:26.200 that person didn't think twice. They just seemed like two 312 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:32.160 regular people holding hands. Paul continued and led Elizabeth to 313 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:36.839 Lloyd Park. Lloyd Park Reserve, a stretch of open land 314 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:39.599 and trees not far from where she lived with her 315 00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:44.920 aunt and her uncle. The area itself wasn't isolated, but 316 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:49.279 on a cold, windy, rainsoaked night like this, it may 317 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:52.119 have well been in the middle of nowhere, because no 318 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:55.279 one was around and no one would hear her scream 319 00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:59.039 if she had. Once they reached a more secluded area, 320 00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:02.440 away from the path and hidden by trees, Paul stopped walking, 321 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:04.880 and it was here he began to talk to her, 322 00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:07.640 not like someone who was about to kill her, but 323 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.839 almost like he was trying to play some twisted fantasy. 324 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:13.799 He told her she didn't have to be scared. Then, 325 00:18:14.359 --> 00:18:16.839 out of nowhere, he asked if she wanted to have sex. 326 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:19.720 It was a genuine It wasn't a genuine question. It 327 00:18:19.799 --> 00:18:23.440 was a power move, a moment designed to confuse her, 328 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:26.160 to disarm her, maybe to make her think this was 329 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:30.240 about something else entirely, according to his later confession, he 330 00:18:30.279 --> 00:18:35.359 claimed he had only made this question about sex to 331 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:39.480 test her reaction, as if this entire counter was encounter 332 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:42.559 with some sort of game he was playing, and when 333 00:18:42.599 --> 00:18:45.039 she didn't respond or give him the answer he wanted, 334 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:48.920 he followed up with a bizarre reassurance. He told her 335 00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:51.920 he wasn't a sexual threat and she didn't have anything 336 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:55.279 to worry about. But of course the truth was she 337 00:18:55.319 --> 00:19:01.039 most certainly did. Elizabeth never ran, She didn't scream. She 338 00:19:01.400 --> 00:19:04.119 allegedly screamed once, but that was about it, and some 339 00:19:04.200 --> 00:19:06.799 believe she may have sensed that it would only escalate 340 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:10.200 things if she did again. Others think she froze, still 341 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.559 trying to figure out if this was robbery, a mugging, 342 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:16.240 or something worse, But Paul later admitted that she stayed 343 00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:19.839 relatively calm, which only made what happen next even more 344 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:24.920 disturbing because Paul then attacked. He choked her until she 345 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.640 passed out, and then he drug her deeper into the park, 346 00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:31.279 and when he was sure she couldn't fight back, he 347 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:34.960 pulled out a knife. You know those makeshift ones that 348 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.920 he fashioned himself. Yeah, possibly at the boathouse or whatever, right, 349 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.599 but he used that knife and he stabbed her multiple 350 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:46.000 times in the throat, causing her to bleed out. The 351 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:49.359 autopsy later confirmed that the actual cause of death was 352 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:52.640 aspiration of blood and hemorrhaging from stab wounds to the 353 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:56.240 neck combined with the effects of the strangulation. So essentially, 354 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:58.680 she died from choking on her. 355 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:02.799 Own blood, and she was just in the wrong place 356 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:04.640 at the wrong time, really exactly. 357 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:09.680 However, though the attack didn't stop here after she was 358 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:13.480 already dead, Paul inflicted additional wounds to Elizabeth's body, and 359 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:16.720 these included stab wounds and deep slashes across her torso 360 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:19.839 and her chests. A criss cross pattern kind of carved 361 00:20:19.839 --> 00:20:22.400 into her skin, akin to like potentially a sort of 362 00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:25.880 signature that baffled investigators at the time. Her face was 363 00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:29.319 also stomped on, breaking several facial bones, which showed the 364 00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:34.240 intent not just to kill, but to brutalize her remains. Still, 365 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:39.480 there was no evidence of sexual assault, either during, before 366 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:46.200 or after the attack, which highlights anger towards. 367 00:20:46.119 --> 00:20:52.279 Yeah, what the actual shit? So he was just like playing. 368 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:55.240 With her after, yes, basically. 369 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:57.640 Exploring basically like what he could do with this knife, 370 00:20:57.720 --> 00:20:59.440 and like, I don't. 371 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.400 Know, I think he was. I think you're right. He 372 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:03.319 was kind of like playing with her in a certain sense. 373 00:21:03.359 --> 00:21:07.440 But I think it was not a happy like, oh, 374 00:21:07.519 --> 00:21:09.839 I'm enjoying playing with this. I think it was a 375 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:13.279 strict power thing. He hated women, which we'll get into. 376 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:16.200 He hated women, and he was using that as a 377 00:21:16.279 --> 00:21:18.400 means of like, I'm gonna stomp on your face. I'm 378 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:20.359 gonna do whatever the fuck I want with you, and 379 00:21:20.359 --> 00:21:21.799 I carve you up sort of thing. 380 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:27.400 You know, she's already dead and he's stomping on her face. Yes, Oh, 381 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:28.880 this is so disturbing. 382 00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:31.839 Now. Once he was done, he drugged her body into 383 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:34.839 a culvert nearby, where he dumped tree branches on top 384 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:38.000 of her and left her. Her body was found the 385 00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:40.440 next day by a man who is collecting pine branches 386 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:43.839 in the park. She was located just two hundred and 387 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:45.480 fifty meters from her home. 388 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:47.480 I bet he didn't expect to find that. 389 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.759 No, the community was shocked, but still thought it might 390 00:21:51.799 --> 00:21:54.640 be an isolated case, a one off, a tragedy, yes, 391 00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:57.839 but not a pattern, at least not right now. But 392 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.880 that illusion wouldn't last long. Just under a month after 393 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:06.160 Elizabeth's murder, things in Frankston took yet another dark turn, 394 00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:10.079 and this time the pace picked up fast. Pace pickened, 395 00:22:10.359 --> 00:22:14.440 picked picked up, fast, picked up, picked up, it picked 396 00:22:14.519 --> 00:22:18.680 up fast. It was Thursday, July eighth, nineteen ninety three, 397 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:22.839 still midwinter, and yes, if you're curious, because Australia, their 398 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:27.680 winter is our summer, and vice versa. Just before six pm, 399 00:22:27.960 --> 00:22:30.480 Rosa Toth, a forty one year old woman, got off 400 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.400 the train and see at the Seaford station and started 401 00:22:33.400 --> 00:22:37.279