Issue 29: The Frankston Murders
CW: Mentions of pet death
Parole is a contested issue within prison reforms within Australia. Whether this story was one you followed when it happened or one we have heard of along the way, it should be one that people in Melbourne should take note of. It is the commonly believed that Paul Denyer should not be released, to understand why - we need to go back to the beginning.
This year will mark 30 years since Paul Denyer pleaded guilty to murdering 3 women between 11 June and 30 July 1993. Originally, he was sentenced to life without parole; however, upon an appeal to The High Court the life without parole was overturned and instead he was given a 30 year minimum parole period. This means that this year Paul will be eligible for parole. I know from the podcast, The Frankston Murders, that he has already started his application.
Frankston, 1993
Frankston is a southern suburb in the city of Melbourne. Though areas around Frankston at the time would go through an amalgamation in 1994, during the times of the murders Cranbourne and Springvale were shires in their own right. After 1994, Cranbourne and Springvale were abolished and merged into the new City of Frankston.
In today's world we understand the seriousness of stalking. It is because of this lack of understanding by police that allowed Denyer to fly under the radar and begin following women. We now know that his first attack was in February 1993 when he broke into a unit of a neighbour named Donna Vanes. She was lucky to be alive, as she had been at home with her baby while her boyfriend delivered pizzas, she usually went with them. It was half way through the night when she called her boyfriend that she was bored and for him to come and get them. It was between the boyfriend picking them up and returning home that Denyer had broken in. Unfortunately the couples pets were not as lucky as he had killed them.
There were more reports of him stalking different women. It wasn't till after his eventual arrest that they realised they narrowly escaped with their lives. The Frankston Murders podcast goes into more detail about these, and also has interviews with the victims family and friends.
Elizabeth Stevens - Friday, 11 June 1993
Elizabeth was originally from Tasmania. She had been a ward of the state but was trying to put that part of her life behind her. Although still having contact with her family she made the move to Melbourne to start again. She had been accepted into TAFE Frankston. Tafe is similar to a technical college in other parts of the world. Her uncle and aunt lived in Langwarrin, which was a bus ride away from the tafe.
It was a Friday after Tafe at around 7pm that she got off the bus on Cranbourne Road which was the closest stop to where she was living. It was as she turned into her street that she was grabbed from behind. She was threatened with what she believed was a gun. Due to heavy wind and rain her screams were not heard. She was escorted down the street by Denyer and witnesses who saw them believed they were a couple.
Denyer took her to Lloyd Park Reserve where he propositioned her before strangling her. He further stomped on her face, breaking several facial bones before dragging her into a bush and leaving her there.
Her family had expected her home at around 8pm. After a few hours of waiting and Elizabeth not appearing, her uncle began searching around 10pm. Her body was found the following day in the park which was directly behind where she had lived.
Rosza Toth - Thursday, 8 July 1993
It was around 5.50pm Rosza was walking in a park. It was as she noticed a man loitering around a toilet block, feeling unnerved she sped up. She soon realised he was following her. He caught up to her and grabbed her before dragging her back to the park.
Rosza's fight-or-flight response kicked in and a struggle broke out between the two. He held a fake gun to her head, trying to gain control. Finally she broke free and ran for her life to a nearby road. With clumps of hair missing she saw a car coming towards her and waved it down. The car slowed down and assisted her to getting to a nearby police station.
Deborah Fream - Thursday, 8 July 1993
Deborah was out of milk for the recipe she was making with a friend. Her first son had been born 12 days ago and she was settling into motherhood. Saying she would just pop up the street for milk she left her son with her friend, expecting not to be very long. She left around 7pm.
As the clock moved to 8pm and Debbie having not returned the friend started to worry. Deborah's boyfriend arrived home soon after and leaving the baby with another friend that had seen her that afternoon, they began searching. Driving up and down the street there was no success with finding Deborah. They headed to Frankston Police Station and reported her missing.
It was on The Frankston Murders podcast that author Vicki Petraitis explains that the police were starting to worry that they had a serial killer on the loose.
Deborah's body was found on Monday, 12 July 1993.
Natalie Russell - Friday, 30 July 1993
Natalie was in year 12 at John Paul College. She was a good student and was new into a relationship. As the other attacks happening earlier in the month, the school had done some safety talks with the students. They had advised the students to not use the shortcut that was located between 2 golf courses.
Despite all the warnings students, including Natalie still used the shortcut. On that Friday a witness saw a man walk into the shortcut, shortly after she saw a girl matching Natalie's description enter. Another witness had seen a man in a yellow Toyota Corona without number plates, it was reported and police went to check it out. They noted down the car and a few details, but the man who had been seen in the car wasn't there. Unfortunately the police were called away on another job before he returned.
It wasn't until the forensic investigators began their investigations later that they found the holes cut in the wire fence that ran either side of the shortcut. On one of the holes there was blood traces. Natalie's body was found inside the gate with traces of skin and hair that didn't belong to her. By this time they had traced the details of the car and found the owner, Paul Denyer.
Investigation
The detectives then went to the unit that was Denyer's home address. It was one he shared with his girlfriend. It is not a coincidence to note that their next door neighbour was Donna Vanes' sister. He made the statement that he had been in the vicinity of the Fream and Russell murders at the time they were committed. This lead him to being taken down to the station for further questioning.
The interview started at 9.30pm. Throughout the inyerview he was unable to adequately explain the cuts and scratches on his hands. He further admitted to being in the vicinity at the time of the Stephens attacked. The police collected his DNA as they wanted to check it against the samples left at the Russell scene.
Realising the gig was up, early in the morning of 1 August, Denyer confessed to the stalking of multiple women. He then further confessed to the murders of Elizabeth, Deborah and Natalie; and the attack on Rosza. He said that if she hadn't escaped that she would have been killed. He said that the motivation for the crimes was a desire to kill from the age of 14 and a general hatred of girls and women.
The Appeal
Paul Denyer had been sentenced on 20 December 1993 to three consecutive life sentences with no parole period. However, it was on 31 December, lodged an appeal. The appeal was heard in July 1994 which chose to grant him a non-parole period of 30 years, which leads us to today.
Upcoming Parole Hearing
As mentioned earlier, Denyer has already began his parole application. Though there may be a very small chance he is released, there is still that chance. Writer, Vicki Petraitis dedicated the final episode of The Frankston Murders podcast, Episode 11: The Ever After to this exact thing, the synopsis for the episode reads; 'When Denyer’s reign of terror was over, he left devastation in his wake. Family and friends struggle to make sense of the crimes. Debbie Fream’s son, now nearly 30 speaks of his loss. With the parole bid looming, we all need to be warned.'
Update As Of 10th May
Yesterday, Denyer’s application for release was turned down by the Victorian Parole Board.