LIA’S UNSOLVED G SPREE
Serves 4-6, Prep and Cook: 1 hour, 15 mins
Miller, Ann-marie Sargent, Narumol Stephenson and Joy Summers were all murdered and their bodies dumped in areas across outer Melbourne from
May 1980 to February 1983.
Catherine, Bertha and Ann-marie’s remains were all found in the one area, while the other women were scattered across a 50km stretch.
The women – aged from 14 to 75 – were grabbed seemingly at random from or near main roads. All but one were taken in broad daylight, and yet there were no eyewitnesses. At the various places where their bodies were found, there were no evidence of footprints, tyre tracks or murder weapons.
Despite years of investigation in which an estimated 2000 people have been interviewed, Victoria Police are no closer today to discovering who was behind the killings.
A 1990 review by the Bureau of Criminal Intelligence found that, “the same person or persons were responsible”, and closely examined the suspects. One of the key persons of interest was Harold Janman, a man with a propensity for offering women lifts in his car and had links to the area.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO SOLVE MELBOURNE’S TYNONG NORTH AND FRANKSTON MURDERS
Harold died at age 88 on August 26 last year, and always maintained his innocence. There had never been any hard evidence linking him to the murders.
Despite the years she has been searching for answers, Cheryl admits she has no idea who killed Catherine or any of the other victims.
“I don’t believe it was anyone she knew, and I’m still convinced it was a crime of availability – she was there and they grabbed her,” Cheryl says. “She would have never got into a car with a stranger and would not have been easily taken. Catherine was a fighter and would have fought whoever did this every step of the way.”
The case took a dramatic turn in October 2017 when Victoria Police offered $6 million in rewards – $1 million for each of the six unsolved murders – in the hope of uncovering vital information.
Cheryl represented Catherine on the day of the police announcement, and spoke about her friend who had been taken. Three years on, despite the size of the reward, no new details emerged.
“I thought that amount of money would bring somebody out from under a rock, someone who just couldn’t deal with the guilt anymore,” she says. “I am still amazed that didn’t happen.”
Cheryl knows time is running out, as some of the people connected with the case have since died, and Catherine’s family left Australia years ago.
“I don’t want this to remain an unsolved case,” Cheryl says. “Some people have given up hope this will ever be solved, but you can’t ever give up because one day someone might just say something. And then, we can put an end to all of this.”
• Anyone with information that may assist Victoria Police should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
500g diced pumpkin
2 tblsps olive oil
200g sliced mushrooms 2 cloves garlic, crushed 250g pkt frozen chopped
spinach, thawed, drained 500g tub smooth ricotta
1 cup finely grated parmesan ½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ x 375g pkt (4) fresh
lasagne sheets
500g jar Chunky Tomato
& Herbs pasta sauce Baby rocket leaves, to serve
1 Boil, steam or microwave pumpkin until just tender. Drain. 2 Heat oil in a large frying pan. Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook, stirring, over a medium to high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until mushrooms are soft. Add spinach and half the pumpkin. Cook, stirring, for a further 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in two-thirds of the ricotta,
½ cup parmesan and nutmeg.
3 To make rotolo, lay one lasagne sheet on clean bench with the long side facing you. Spread one-quarter of the spinach mixture across the centre of sheet, then roll up to enclose filling. Cut evenly into six pieces. Repeat with remaining lasagne sheets and spinach mixture.
4 Spread half the pasta sauce over the base of a lightly greased, rectangular ovenproof dish (about 22cm x 32cm). Arrange rotolo, cut-side up, over sauce. Pour over remaining pasta sauce. Scatter over remaining pumpkin. Top with heaped teaspoons of remaining ricotta and sprinkle with remaining parmesan. Cover with greased foil.
5 Cook in a moderate oven (180C) for about 30 minutes. Remove foil. Cook for a further 15 minutes, or until rotolo is tender and lightly browned.
6 Serve with rocket leaves.