A series of murders shakes the town of Frankston (Part 1/2) | Forensic Files

[Music] Frankston city is a local government area in Victoria located 40 kilometres
25 miles southeast of Melbourne it has a population of about a hundred and thirty
five thousand people Frankston City captures many different suburbs including Frankston Frankston North
Seaford Lang Warren and others all of the places you'll hear in this story are part of that Frankston area we begin
this story in Claude Street in the suburb of Seaford February 1993 at the unit of Donna vanes Donna had recently
received a few prank calls and she was getting nervous she had a young baby and didn't like the idea of being alone at
night her boyfriend les worked as a pizza delivery driver and she decided to spend
the night driving around in the car with him rather than stay home alone as it turned out les only worked a very short
shift they were back at Don his unit in just over an hour it was lucky Donna didn't stay home
alone that night the first thing they saw when they walked inside was Donna's cat on the laundry room floor dead
there was a picture of a naked woman on top of the cab the words Donna you're dead were written in blood up on the
wall in the bathroom word Donna's two kittens both also dead shaving cream had been used to write on
the bathroom mirror saying Donna and Robin the unit had been ransacked drawers pulled out cupboards opened her
things thrown everywhere there were knife slash and stab marks on the walls and in the cupboards in the baby's crib
was another picture of a naked woman the picture had been stabbed through with a
knife resulting in the crib being cut as well some of the baby's clothes were also slashed Donna couldn't think of
anybody who would be capable of doing that to her her boyfriend Liz wasn't the father of the child but the breakup with
her ex wasn't that bad he was never violent towards her during the relationship and she couldn't see
any reason for him to start near police later questioned her ex partner and he had a solid alibi anyway why anybody
would write Donna and Robin also confused them Donna didn't know anyone by the name of Robin extremely
frightened Donna moved out of her unit and moved in with her sister Tricia veins one of Trish's neighbors Julia
comforted Donna because Julia had experienced the similar thing when she had gone away on holidays recently
somebody had broken into her unit and slashed every photo she had in the place the dress she wore to her engagement
party was cut up as well just like Donna julia had no enemies and had no idea who
could be capable of such a thing it wouldn't have seemed like it at the time but Donner and Julia would soon
come to realize how incredibly lucky they were [Music] eighteen year old Elizabeth Stephens had
been living in foster care in Tasmania since she was 14 years old when she turned 18 she decided to move to
Victoria to live with her Auntie Rita and uncle Paul arriving in January 1993 they live together in Paterson Avenue
Lane Warren in the Frankston area Elizabeth was quiet and shy but was extremely friendly to anyone she met as
she had grown up in Tasmania she didn't have many friends in the area and there were definitely no boyfriends she liked
to spend her time reading and mainly hung around at home Elizabeth was studying at TAFE in French then for
those not familiar with TAFE it is similar to a community college or a Technical College in other parts of the
world on Friday the 11th of June 1993 Paul and Rita got home from work to find a note on the kitchen bench the note was
from Elizabeth saying she'd gone to the library at Frankston TAFE to study and should be back about 8:00 p.m. Elizabeth
always let Paul and Rita know where she was so when it ticked over to 10:00 p.m.
and Elizabeth still wasn't home Paul and Rita were panicked Paul got in his car and started driving
around the streets looking for Elizabeth Elizabeth didn't drive so she got to and
from TAFE by catching the bus Paul drove to Frankston TAFE then drove back to korean-born Road where the bus stop is
located that Elizabeth would have gotten off at it is then only a short walk to Paul and Rita's house from the bus stop
Paul drove the same way the bus would have and then expanded his search into surrounding streets but he couldn't find
any trace of it the weather didn't help it was a shocking night with heavy rain and strong wind making visibility poor
the police were called and arrived - just after 1:00 a.m. the officer who attended sergeant Webster immediately
had a feeling something wasn't right there are the missing person reports where the kid is a bit of a troublemaker
has a lot of friends might be a partying with a boyfriend or girlfriend or there
might be trouble at home then there are the missing person reports that are completely out of character Elizabeth
was reliable well-behaved and left a note letting her Oney and uncle know exactly where she was and when she would
be home Elizabeth didn't have a boyfriend or many friends at all she wasn't the partying type the police
conducted their own search without success there is not much that could be done at that time and not the TAFE and
library was shut the bus company had finished up for the night there was nobody to go in question a report was
made in instructions left for the day shift to follow it up it was the next day that a local man rod was down at
Lloyd Park located on Cranborne Frankston Road glen warren Lloyd Park is a large area containing playgrounds
barbecue facilities a couple of sporting fields in a vast grass area and is surrounded by scrub and trees it is a
very quiet and isolated spot at night rod had been sent to Lloyd Park by his wife to find a small pine tree they
could use to decorate for their mid-year Christmas party rod walked along one of
the tracks that go in through the trees and scrub trying to find a suitable tree
and it was here he discovered the body of Elizabeth Stevens police were called and set up a crime scene Elizabeth was
the victim of a friends in knife attack multiple stab wounds and a crisscross pattern had been carved into her stomach
the killer had also stomped on her face breaking her nose a post-mortem would reveal that Elizabeth was choked
unconscious prior to being stabbed although her top had been removed the bottom half of her clothing was intact
there was no evidence of sexual assault Lloyd Park was only a short walk from Elizabeth's bus stop police believed
Elizabeth had caught the bus from Frankston tafe gotten off at a usual stop and that's when she was attacked
either by someone who followed her off the bus or someone who saw her get off the bus Paulin read his house actually
backed onto Lloyd Park they could see the flashing lights and numerous police cars gathered about 350 meters away over
their back fence they knew before the police knocked on their door that Elizabeth had been found a forensic
examination turned up nothing it had rained heavily all night and was still raining that day washing away any
evidence there may have been the search of the area turned up a piece of the knife blade such was the extreme force
of the attack The Killers knife broke but no prints or other evidence were found on the blade Elizabeth's bag and
the top half of her clothing were found nearby both were soaking wet and also contained no evidence as well as there
being zero forensic evidence nothing useful came out of the extensive interviews police conducted no
disgruntled ex-boyfriends no troubles at home no troubles at TAFE every student who attended Elizabeth's TAFE was
checked out there were some names that popped up that raised a few eyebrows based on prior criminal history but they
were eventually eliminated from the investigation police set up a roadblock near Elizabeth's bus stop they displayed
a mannequin dress very similar to what Elizabeth was wearing they also handed out pamphlets with
information about the case appealing for witnesses to come forward many people did come forward and police did get a
lot of tips but nothing that helped them point to a suspect the bus driver couldn't remember
Elizabeth the librarians couldn't remember Elizabeth appeals for other passengers on the bus to come forward
didn't produce any witnesses either no forensic evidence no witnesses no suspects no leads at all
it was four weeks later on Thursday the 8th of July 1993 that 41 year old Rosa Toth got off a train at Seaford station
the time was 5:50 p.m. a short distance from the station is Seaford north reserved not as big as nearby Lloyd Park
but a similar area a grass reserved with children's playgrounds barbecue areas in
sporting fuels surrounded by scrub and trees Rosa walked along railway parade taking her past Seaford north reserve
she noticed a me in standing next to the toilet block she didn't think too much of it although it was dark there were
other people in the area other passengers who had gotten off the train who were still back in the carpark and
there was the odd car driving past Rosa didn't think anything was going to happen but she was wrong the man she
walked past quickly ran up behind her covered her mouth and forced her to the ground he dragged her from the footpath
down past for toilet block into the grass the reserved area the attack was quick
there was dark the train station suddenly seemed a million miles away nobody saw a thing browser kicked and
struggled and tried to break free from her attacker but she couldn't he then pressed something up against her head he
told her he would blow her head off if she didn't stop fighting but Rosa could tell it wasn't a gun the object felt
wouldn't Rosa stop struggling and her attacker relaxed thinking the threat of the gun had worked it was then that Rosa
took her opportunity and grin she ran straight out onto the road screaming as loud as she could her attacker didn't
follow he ran off in the opposite direction through the reserve and spoiling fields Rosa ran in front of a
car and the driver stopped and gave her a lift home [Music] roses right leg was badly grazed her
clothing had been ripped and some of her hair had been pulled out she described her attacker as male 18 to 20 years old
wearing a black jacket and a beanie 180 centimeters tall which is just under six
feet with a round face and blue eyes [Music] elsewhere that same night only a short
distance away in cannon or calves anew also in Seaford was Debbie frame Debbie was 22 years old and had just
given birth to a son he was only 12 days old her boyfriend Gary Blair was at work and
Debbie was cooking dinner for a long-term mutual friend of theirs Russell Hayes Russell hadn't seen Debbie
since her child's birth and both were looking forward to the catch-up Debbie started preparing dinner she was cooking
an omelet and realized there was no milk Debbie told Russell she had to quickly drive up to the shops and she would only
be gone two minutes her son was asleep at the time so Debbie said she would leave him at home
it was 7 p.m. when Debbie left the house Russell sat down and watched TV as five
minutes turned to ten and ten turned to 20 Russell started getting concerned where is Debbie she said she would only
be gone two minutes Russell didn't live in the area so he wasn't sure what shop Debbie would have
gone to and he couldn't leave to go and look for her anyway Debbie's 12 day old son was inside
asleep after an hour had gone by he called the police and the local hospital to see if there had been any accidents
in the area there hadn't been he called Debbie's boyfriend Gary Blair Gary arranged to leave work early he
also called one of Debbie's friends who went to the house to look after the baby
Gary and Russell then drove around trying to find Debbie or her car which was a gray pulsar Gary directed Russell
to the local shop where Debbie would have gone and they drove around the surrounding streets there was no trace
of her or the car they decided to drive the Frankston police station to report her missing
they say anxiously throughout the night waiting to hear from Debbie or from the police with some information as to where
she was but they didn't hear anything Debbie had vanished police visited all of the local shops in the area but
nobody could remember serving Debbie it didn't take detectives long to link the attack on Rosa Tov which happened
only in the hour before Debbie freem disappeared Debbie lived right near cannon or train station which is the
first station south of Seaford station where Rosa was attacked it was only two kilometers away just over a mile and it
was only a short drive over to Lloyd Park in the nearby suburb of Lange Warren where Elizabeth Stephens was
found but even without linking the other two attacks Debbie friend's disappearance was
treated as sinister from the very start she had dinner cooking and a guest waiting and she left a 12-day old son at
home a search was organized of nearby cannon or Creek divers were called in to search the water and the surrounding
thick bush and scrub were also searched nothing was found this time an appeal to
the public did reveal some important information several people came forward reporting that they saw a great pulsar
the same car is Debbie's driving erratically swerving and flashing its lights at passing cars was Debbie trying
to signal for help it was the next day Friday when detectives who were working on the case happened to drive past a
gray pulsar parked outside a Christian Center on Madden Street and seafood only two kilometers away from where Debbie
disappeared they did some checks and discovered that it was Debbie's car that they had just found the front passenger
side door was unlocked and there was a dent in the center of the bonnet the damage looked recent Gary Blair later
confirmed the car hadn't been damaged prior to debbie's disappearance a forensic examination was quickly
arranged and traces of Debbie's blood were found inside another thing that stood out was the
driver's seat was pushed right back Debbie was only short so there's no way she would have had the seat back that
far it was four days later Monday the 12th of July when a farmer by the name of Fred was out working on his farm on
Taylor's Road carom downs carom D and is also part of the Frankston area it is east of Seaford and there's about a
15-minute drive from where Debbie disappeared Taylor's Road was in the middle of
farmland a very quiet and isolated spot nothing around but paddocks although it was part of the Frankston area it seemed
like it was in the middle of nowhere it was in the afternoon that Monday when Fred was driving around checking in the
fence line on his farm making sure there are no holes or other damage that livestock would be able to get through
underneath a couple of large fern tree leaves along his fence line on Taylor's Road fred saw what he thought was a pile
of rubbish somebody had dumped as he got closer he started smoking it was a mannequin one of his neighbors was
playing a trick on him good one he thought as he got closer still he froze it was only that morning that Fred had
read a front page newspaper article about the disappearance of Debbie frame Fred knew he had just found her police
arrived and set up a crime scene the scene was very similar to that of Elizabeth Stevens Debbie was the victim
of a frenzied knife attack there were no signs of sexual assault and a post-mortem would reveal she had been
strangled as well Debbie had numerous defense wounds on her arms and hands and just like the Elizabeth Stephens crime
scene not one shred of forensic evidence was found the media was running wild with the story
the Frankston area was completely gripped by fear the recent attacks were linked to the murders of two other women
in the area sara McDormand who disappeared from canada train station in 1990 bloodstains were found next to her
vehicle as well as drag marks to this day her body has never been found however a coroner has ruled she met with
fair play a 1 million dollar reward is on offer for any information to help solve her case these days it is not
believed her cases linked to the Frankston serial killer but it was a different story back then Michelle
Brienne was found murdered in Frankston in 1992 there is a $50,000 reward on offer for her case which is now believed
to be drug-related and also not linked to the Frankston serial killer but again at the time the media considered all of
the cases to be linked the whispers of a serial killer on the loose were no longer whispers the
headlines were constant to avoid confusion I won't mention the mcdee mend or pre-owned cases anymore
it's just to give you an idea of what was happening at the time what was being reported however the papers were still
right there was a serial killer on the loose the murders of Elizabeth Stevens and Debbie frame and the attack on Rosa
Toth were definitely the work the same person police warned women to avoid traveling alone and to avoid going to
their vehicles alone especially at night in quiet spots detectives conducted a search for anyone
with a history of violent attacks against women who lived in the Frankston area 500 names were spat out of the
computer that list was eventually narrowed down to 30 they were all checked out thoroughly but all were
eventually cleared detectives sought the help of a fellow officer who had trained
in profiling for 14 months at the FBI Academy in Quantico he put together a profile suggesting it was highly likely
Debbie frame and Elizabeth Stevens were killed by the same person this was due to the time between the killings the
geographical location the nature of the killings and the fact the bodies were left in quiet isolated spots the profile
suggested that the killer was male who had acted out on a strong fantasy that had been building up for years he was
likely unemployed but if he was employed it would be a menial job the killer lived in and was very familiar with the
Franklin area he would be aged between 18 and 24 average-looking and he would live alone
as is the case with any profile it was only a guide it could apply to many people
detectives are encouraged not to discount anybody just because they didn't fit the profile people living in
the Frankston area started changing their habits many didn't venture out at night and most didn't venture out alone
at all people couldn't help but cast the suspicious eye everywhere they went just
wondering is that person the killer it led to some people putting their houses on the market and moving out of the area
completely but there was a problem trying to sell houses nobody wanted to move into the area our
sales dried up and rental houses remained vacant people started arming themselves with hockey sticks and
cricket bats women carried oven cleaner in their handbags to spray in the eyes of any attacker enrollments in
self-defense classes skyrocketed in response to the public hysteria police commenced operation reassurance the
Frankston area was flooded with extra police it was a high visibility operation designed to make the public
feel safe but also to try and deter further attacks [Music] on Friday the 30th of July just three
weeks after the murder of Debbie freeing a postal worker was delivering mail on her motorbike along sky Road in
Frankston sky road is only a short distance drive from the other crime scenes they were all within an 8
kilometer radius 8 kilometers being 5 miles about 2:30 p.m. the postal worker noticed an old rusted yellow toyota
corona with no number plates it was parked opposite the entrance of a bike track which runs up between two golf
courses on Sky Road the bike track is used as a shortcut to get from sky road to Frankston north the boy truck was
overgrown and had a high wire fence running down each side overgrown trees and thick scrub and grass pushed up
against the fence it was a quiet isolated track not visible from the road the track was invisible from the golf
course either due to the trees and heavy thick scrub the postal worker saw a man with a
chubby face sitting in the driver's seat of the Toyota he was wearing a dark-colored cap and was looking down
sky road as she rode past him the men slouched down in his seat as if he didn't want to be seen given what was
happening in the area the postal worker decided to call the police she sensed something was off she pulled into a
nearby driveway and knocked on the door asking to use a phone as she knocked on the door she noticed a schoolgirl
walking along sky Road headed up towards the track the schoolgirl was 17 year old
Natalie Russell who was in year 12 at john paul college a school located just off skye road natalie finished the day
with a free period so she left school early to go home and study for an upcoming exam only two days earlier the
principal of the school had warned the students at an assembly that it would be safer to avoid any shortcuts home making
specific mention of the bike track on skye road Nataly wasn't the only one to ignore the
warning plenty of kids were still using it but because she had left school early
she was the only one there Neal it was a much quicker way for her to walk home to
Frankston north not only was being watched through a pair of binoculars as she walked up Sky Road realizing where
she was headed the men stopped watching her ran up the by track and waited the short time later not only walked
past the old yellow Toyota nobody was in it she made her way under the track [Music]
police responded to the call to check out the suspicious mail in the yellow Toyota when they arrived there was
nobody in the car they did a door knock of nearby houses but didn't really get anything useful
by this time school had ended for the day and there were kids starting to appear everywhere scattering off in all
different directions when a call for an armed robbery came over the radio police
had to leave to respond to that a few kids ventured under the bike check that afternoon one noticed the shoe laying in
the middle of the track right next to where there was a hole cut in the fence that led into the trees and thick scrub
another notice the men walking hurriedly towards him along the track the fear that overcame the child quickly passed
when the men kept walking without saying anything keeping his head down and his hands shoved into his pockets at 8:00
p.m. that night Natalie Russell's family reported her missing they called Frankston police station and
needless to say the report was treated with greater urgency Natalie was always home before dark and she always called
her parents to let them know where she was she had never run off before she was a good kid quiet well-behaved with a
close circle of good friends police questioned her parents and learn about the bike track off sky Road she used to
walk home a search of the track was quickly arranged there were several holes that
have been cut along the wire fence it was through the third hole deep into the scrub and trees they found Natalie's
body Natalie was also the victim of a frenzied knife attack she had numerous defensive injuries she put up a hell of
a fight there was no sign of sexual assault there was no question her murder was related to those of Elizabeth
Stevens and Debby frame the search of the crime scene and the forensic examination was put off until the next
day the police didn't want to risk losing any evidence in the port light and organizing flood lighting in the area
would increase the amount of foot traffic which in turn would increase the chances of a contaminated crime scene it
was a good move because this time they came up with a lot of forensic evidence there was blood on the outline of the
hole that had been cut in the fence a small piece of skin was located in one of Natalie's wounds the piece of skin
seemed foreign although there was no way of knowing for sure until test results came back but the pathologist believed
the killer may have cut himself in the attack about ten small dark hairs that did not belong to Natalie were found in
her hand she had gripped some of the killer's area to leather straps with blood on them were also found at the
scene plus the cuts in the fence could be matched to a tool owned by the suspect if one was ever identified there
was a lot to work with as the forensic examination was being conducted the two police who attended to the call to check
out the suspicious male in their toyota the day before on skye road approached detectives
there was nobody in the car and the car had no number plates but there was a registration sticker attached and the
police had recorded the registration details did they finally have the breakthrough they desperately needed or
was it another dead end find out next week in part 2 of the Frankston serial killer
[Music] you [Music]

Case 23: The Frankston Serial Killer (Part 1)

[Part 1 of 2]

Donna had recently received a few prank calls and she was getting nervous. She had a young baby and didn’t like the idea of being alone at night. Her boyfriend Les worked as a pizza delivery driver, and she decided to spend the night driving around in the car with him, rather than stay home alone.

The first thing Donna saw when she returned home was her cat on the lounge room floor, dead. The words “Donna you’re dead”, were written in blood up on the wall. In the bathroom were Donna’s two kittens. Both also dead.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research and writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://www.casefilepodcast.com/case-23-the-frankston-serial-killer-part-1

Brief Summary

The episode details the brutal murders linked to the Frankston serial killer, highlighting fear in the community and forensic breakthroughs.

Key points

The Shocking Discovery. Donna returns home to find her cat dead and a chilling message written in blood.
Elizabeth's Disappearance. Elizabeth leaves a note before vanishing, prompting a frantic search by her family.
Fear Grips Frankston. The media links the murders of two women, igniting fear in the community.
Natalie Russell's Disappearance. Natalie, a 17-year-old student, goes missing after ignoring a school warning.
Forensic Evidence Found. Investigators discover crucial evidence at the crime scene linked to Natalie's murder.
Suspicious Car Leads to Breakthrough. Police find a registration sticker on the suspicious Toyota, raising hopes for a lead.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was lucky Donna didn't stay home alone that night.

Donna's decision to leave her home leads to a shocking discovery.

1:17WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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