The Frankston Murders - Vikki Petraitis

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woman’s urging, went inside with her and telephoned the police to report the vicious attack. Roszsa Toth’s right leg was badly grazed and her head was aching where the man had pulled her hair out in the struggle.

      Michaela waited for Mrs Toth’s son to come home and after exchanging names with the woman she had rescued, left the family to wait for the police.

      Senior Constable Danny Hower and Constable Michael Lynch were working the 6pm-2am shift out of Frankston on routine patrol when a call came over the radio: ‘Report of man having assaulted a female at a toilet block, Seaford North Reserve on Railway Parade. Victim at her home address. Offender solid build wearing a beanie. Offender decamped through fields behind toilet block. Minutes old.’

      Michael Lynch wrote down the details on his running sheet. It was officially a job for the Chelsea station, but their officers were tied up so Hower and Lynch took the call, heading straight to the toilet block at the Seaford Reserve. This was a lights and siren job. The offender could still be in the area.

      Further down Railway Parade, the soccer field was lit with bright overhead lights, but when the two officers pulled up at the toilet block, it was in total darkness. Hower parked the police divisional van outside the block and left the high beams on, lighting up a wide area.

      The officers grabbed their police batons and made their way over to the toilet block. Attacks in this district were frequent, usually drug addicts in search of easy money. Shining their torches around, they saw no sign of anyone and walked over towards the toilets. Hower took the women’s side and Lynch took the men’s.

      Details about the attack were sketchy and the officers didn’t know what type of offender they were looking for, but if it was a drug addict, he could be spaced out inside the toilets. Lynch experienced a vague feeling of apprehension as he walked through the dark doorway, breathing out heavily against the smell common to such public conveniences. His baton hung at his side, the end of it sitting in a leather loop on his belt. He held his torch in his left hand and his right hovered next to his firearm – just in case.

      The area containing the basins was empty and Lynch stepped further inside and turned towards the closed doors. Behind any one of them could be the man who had attacked the woman earlier. Rather than use his hand to push the doors, Lynch stood further away and kicked open the first one. It was empty. Adrenalin pumped through his system and quickened his heartbeat. He repeated the procedure on the other cubicles but they were all empty so went back outside to see if his partner had any more luck. Hower hadn’t found anyone either, so both men walked around the back of the block and shone their torches around. There was no one there.

      It was important to speak to the victim as soon as possible and the officers made the short drive to Roszsa Toth’s home.

      Hower and Lynch pulled into the driveway of the Seaford home and a young man who looked to be in his late teens came out to meet them. As the officers got out of the van, he introduced himself as Roszsa Toth’s son. On the way to the house he explained that his mother had been attacked as she walked along Railway Parade.

      Michael Lynch’s first impression of Roszsa Toth was that of an attractive woman with long black hair, who looked to be in her early thirties. He was mildly surprised when she said she was forty-one. Immediately obvious to the officers was the fact that Mrs Toth, with her thick Hungarian accent, was very difficult to understand. Danny Hower noted that she was sitting calmly on a chair and it was at first difficult for him to grasp the severity of the attack. She did most of her speaking through her son who translated for the police officers.

      Mrs Toth indicated the graze to her knee and told them she thought the man could have been someone desperate for money. She had calmed down considerably once she got home and she explained that the man hadn’t really hurt her although she knew that the matter must be brought to the attention of the police. She didn’t want to make a fuss. Lynch and Hower admired her strength in the way she was coping with the aftermath of the attack.

      As the interview progressed, Lynch took down the details. Mrs Toth described her attacker as being between eighteen and twenty years of age, wearing a black jacket. She told the officers that he was around 180 centimetres tall with a round face and blue eyes. He had been wearing a light-coloured beanie.

      Painstakingly leading her through her statement, Hower heard Mrs Toth mention a gun. Through her son, he learnt that the attacker told her that he had a gun and that she had felt something hard pushed against her head. She explained that it may not have actually been a gun because it didn’t have the cold feeling of metal.

      This put a different light on the attack. In most of these types of offences, it was common for the attacker to be either unarmed, or armed with a knife. A gun was different. Danny Hower considered bringing in a police dog, but he realised that by the time the nearest dog could attend, it would be too late for it to be of any assistance.

      One thing that disturbed Michael Lynch was the fact that Roszsa Toth had offered the attacker her expensive ring during the attack and he had refused it. If the attacker was a drug addict after money, he would have taken the opportunity to grab the ring and run. Most attacks that Lynch had investigated were snatch-and-grab types. He had anything up to five or six a month. This attack was different. There seemed to be no reason for such a violent attack on the middle-aged woman.

      Hower and Lynch stayed at Roszsa Toth’s house taking her statement for an hour then headed back to the Frankston police station to fill in the reports and alert the CIB detectives of the attack.

      9

      A YOUNG MOTHER VANISHES

      On the night of Thursday 8 July 1993, Russell Hayes had a dinner invitation. His friend Debbie Fream had just given birth to a son, and she had invited him over for dinner to catch up and to see her new baby. Russell had worked with Debbie whom he called ‘Dee’ and they had established a close platonic friendship. They talked regularly both at work and on the telephone and would often go to the same nightclubs together; Russell would drink and Debbie, who rarely drank, would drive them both home.

      Debbie Fream had left the small country town where she had grown up to take a job as a data-entry worker at a business in Clayton. Her boyfriend, Garry Blair, had stayed behind while Debbie had opted for the city with its bright lights and good job prospects. Initially Debbie shared a flat with a friend in Mordialloc and then Garry joined her and they both moved to Kananook Avenue in Seaford. Debbie would often tell Russell how happy she was with Garry.

      Not long after Debbie Fream began the job in Clayton, she discovered she was pregnant. A doctor had told her that she might have problems conceiving and although the pregnancy came as a surprise, it was a happy one. Debbie continued working into the fifth month of her pregnancy, but fatigue soon overcame her and she had resigned to await the birth of her baby.

      Russell Hayes had not seen Debbie since before her son Jake was born in Frankston Hospital twelve days earlier. Finishing work in Clayton around 5pm, he clocked off and drove straight to Seaford. When he arrived at Kananook Avenue, Debbie’s car wasn’t in the driveway and the house lights weren’t on so he waited in his car. Debbie had told him that she had a bit of shopping to do and he knew that she wouldn’t be long.

      Five minutes later, when Debbie’s grey Pulsar pulled into the driveway, Russell got out of his car and gave his friend a congratulatory hug. Russell unloaded the shopping, leaving Debbie to carry Jake into the house. She joked about how many extra things she needed to carry around since the baby arrived.

      Baby Jake was asleep and Debbie gently lifted him out of the baby capsule, showed him to Russell and then carried him to his cradle in the bedroom.

      Alone in the lounge room, Debbie and Russell chatted about the baby, life in general and the omelette she was going to make for dinner. Debbie was in good spirits; she told Russell that although a lot of people had told her it was difficult coping with a new baby, she was finding it really easy. Debbie also explained that Garry was working an afternoon shift so it would just be the two of them for dinner.

      As the time went on, the two friends moved into the kitchen and Debbie began peeling vegetables and cracking eggs for the

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