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At a rough estimate, I have written more than 5 million words on crime in the past 45 years, but there is one story that reminds me that good can, and does, triumph over evil.
It is a story of a serial killer, an innocent victim, her family who would fight for decades for justice, a group of detectives who refused to give up, and a system that chose justice ahead of economic realities.
And it was a man hated by police who helped make their case.
Christina and George Halvagis hold a picture of their murdered daughter, Mersina.Credit: The Age
Mersina Halvagis, 25, knew the drive well along Seventh Avenue at Fawkner Cemetery as she headed to her grandmother’s grave, who had died 18 months earlier aged 86.
As was her habit, she stopped at the florist for flowers and a drink, then walked to the grave of her grandmother, also named Mersina.
It was the Saturday before the 1997 Melbourne Cup. She got to the cemetery around 3.45pm and walked past 32 graves before reaching the dark grey headstone of her grandmother.
As she was about to put water in the matching vase, she was attacked from behind and stabbed to death.
On the first weekend of November, crew one of the homicide squad was on call. They worked full-time on the case for more than three months. The seven investigators, aged from 29 to 40, chased down 400 leads and interviewed 1500 people.
The government offered a $50,000 reward, then $100,000 and finally $1 million, but it wasn’t a member of the public who would provide the breakthrough.
George Halvagis at the Fawkner Cemetery grave where Mersina was murdered. Credit: The Age
Mersina’s parents, George and Christina, built a loving family of two boys and two girls and a series of successful businesses through dedication and hard work.
George was in the Greek merchant navy when he jumped ship at Melbourne’s Station Pier in 1956.
He cut cane in Queensland, picked pears in Shepparton and grapes on the Murray, built railways and bridges and cleared scrub from Hamilton to Edenhope. He drove taxis in Melbourne and taught himself English by listening to his fellow workers.
Christina migrated to Australia in 1964, met George and married in 1968. The next year, they bought a milk bar in Warracknabeal – the first of several businesses, including a restaurant and a bakery.
Then their daughter died. I remember visiting their house, with carefully tended flowers and fruit trees in the garden. The formal dining room to the right was now a shrine to Mersina with photographs, teddy bears, a condolence book, the cross from her coffin and paintings of Christ.
Christina and George Halvagis erected a shrine to Mersina at their home.Credit: The Age
George, a strong, self-sufficient man, was standing in the middle of her room, tears rolling down his cheeks. Christina clutched at dresses in her daughter’s wardrobe and buried her face in the clothes. She sobbed: “The bastard, the bastard … why? Why us? What did we ever do to deserve this?”
George taught himself to be a one-man lobbyist, pushing police and politicians not to allow his daughter’s case to be archived. He became a regular presence at the Supreme Court, becoming a source of strength to the families of murder victims.
There was the initial investigation, a second investigation and eventually a taskforce. A suspect emerged, serial sex offender and multiple murderer, Peter Norris Dupas.
Dupas had already been convicted for the stabbing murders of two women and sentenced to two life sentences with no minimum.
In 2000, he was convicted of killing psychotherapist Nicole Patterson, stabbed to death at her Northcote home in 1999.
In 2004, he was convicted of the stabbing murder of drug-addicted sex worker Margaret Maher, whose body was found at a Somerton industrial estate in 1997 — one month before Mersina’s murder.
Peter Dupas murdered Margaret Maher, Nicole Patterson and Mersina Halvagis.
Dupas was a regular at the pub across the road from the cemetery and was suspected of stalking other women there. The case against Dupas was strong, but not strong enough. The Office of Public Prosecutions would not lay charges.
Then one of the fresh investigators, Paul Scarlett, made a phone call more in hope than expectation. It was to former criminal lawyer Andrew Fraser, who was serving a sentence for drug use and possession.
Fraser was hated by the cops. They thought he ran too close to the crims and were delighted when he crashed and burned through a cocaine addiction.
Placed in prison protection, he was stuck with some of the most repulsive inmates in Victoria and ended up doing regular gardening duties with Dupas. When Dupas was brought out of prison for a police interview, he refused to comment, leading detectives to believe he had been schooled by Fraser.
Even so, Scarlett rang and asked Fraser if he had information on the Halvagis case. The ex-lawyer responded: “What took you so long?”
Fraser made a statement that Dupas had mimed the attack on Halvagis, which included details never publicly released.
Former lawyer Andrew Fraser gave evidence.Credit: Craig Abraham
With the new information, police went back to Director of Public Prosecutions Paul Coghlan (later Supreme Court Justice Coghlan.)
Remember: Dupas was serving life and would never get out of jail. It would have made economic sense to refer the matter to the coroner to seek a finding that Dupas was the killer.
Instead, Coghlan authorised the prosecution. His sense of justice to the community – and sense of compassion for the Halvagis family – demanded it.
Nicole Patterson’s mother, Pam O’Donnell, left, leaves the Supreme Court with Christina and George Halvagis after Peter Dupas was given a life sentence without parole.Credit: Paul Rovere
In 2007, Dupas was convicted of the Halvagis murder. He appealed, and the conviction was overturned. Coghlan authorised a second prosecution and in 2010, he was convicted again.
The Halvagis family was there to see justice done.
There are few jurisdictions where the case of Mersina Halvagis would have resulted in a conviction. Firstly, because most police forces would have shelved the investigation after the initial three-month probe, and secondly, because prosecutors would have rationalised that as the offender was in jail for life, it was a waste of time.
As long as we have people like Scarlett and Coghlan working for us, then those like Dupas will rot in jail. That is what makes us a civilised society.
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