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In the early hours of July 3, 1981, the lifeless body of Haroula Kipouridou was found trapped in a malfunctioning elevator. The grim discovery occurred around 2:30 a.m., roughly half an hour after her coworkers had dropped her off at her mother’s residence in the Richmond commission flats.
Detective Acting Sergeant Leigh Prados revealed that the young singer had suffered a brutal assault, which included being beaten and strangled, leaving her partially unclothed on the elevator floor. “The attack was vicious—an act of extreme brutality,” Prados stated today.
As a dedicated cold case investigator, Prados is committed to unraveling this 45-year-old mystery, seeking justice for Kipouridou’s family, who remain in search of closure.
“Our motivation stems from the love her family and friends had for Haroula,” Prados explained. “That’s why we persist in our efforts.”
“The people who are left behind, who loved Haroula, that’s why we do it,” Prados said.
It’s one of several cases police are confident they’ll be able to solve.
“We have families out there who have lost loved ones who expect and want to know their investigations is still being looked at,” Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said.
Several suspects have been interviewed and police are not ruling out links to other similar crimes of the era.
But time is of the essence.
“It’s an appeal to a person’s conscience that after 45 years as people get older and we approach our own inevitable end, there may be witnesses who need to reflect on things they know, they saw, they heard or they were told, and to please come forward,” Prados said.
“It really is a case of now or never.”
The 25-year-old was engaged and working as a singer at a Greek tavern on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy at the time of her murder.
While the business no longer exists, investigators are hoping members of the public can cast their minds back to 1981, urging anyone who interacted with her on the night of her death to come forward.
“We will never, ever, stop trying to find you,” Prados said.
“We will keep looking for you, try to hold you responsible for what you did.”
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