The prime suspect in the gruesome Easey Street murders in Melbourne looks set to be extradited to Australia after the Italian government signed off on the Australian government's request.
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00:00Well, this story broke back in September when 65-year-old Perry Karamboulos was arrested
00:07at Rome airport on a Interpol Red Notice.
00:11The Australian government has been trying to extradite him for several years now, but
00:16given he was living in Greece, that country's statute of limitations means that they can't
00:22actually extradite him for a crime that was committed more than 20 years ago.
00:27So they waited for him to leave the country.
00:30Victorian police believe that he is the prime suspect in the murders of Suzanne Armstrong
00:36and Susan Bartlett in 1977.
00:40These two women, who were in their 20s at the time, were brutally murdered, stabbed
00:44to death in their Collingwood home.
00:47Ms Armstrong's 16-month-old son was found in his cot alone in the aftermath.
00:54This case rocked Melbourne during the late 70s and went cold until 2017, when police
01:01offered a million-dollar reward for new information.
01:04Mr Karamboulos was among a long list of people that police looked at again, some of which
01:11had died, but they took DNA evidence from those that they could, including Mr Karamboulos.
01:17And at the time of the murders in 1977, he was just 17 years at the time, and he was
01:24living 300 metres away with his parents.
01:28Shortly after giving his DNA sample in 2017, he then moved to Greece.
01:34So this was the latest step, the Italian government giving its approval for the extradition of
01:39Mr Karamboulos.
01:40The next process will be that a judge in Rome's Court of Appeal also has to give approval.
01:47That is likely to come under an executive order, which we do expect will happen this week.
01:54After that, Victorian police will have 15 days to move him from Rome to Australia, where
01:59authorities are expected to lay charges.
02:03So there's still a bit of a process to go, but as I spoke to his lawyer today, he's very
02:08much looking forward to clearing his name in an Australian court and still maintains
02:13his innocence.
02:14I saw him this morning in the prison.
02:16He's lucid.
02:17He's very attentive to what's being told to him, and he's prepared to face his trial in
02:21Australia.
02:22However, when he was stopped at Fiumicino, he did not.
02:27He really didn't expect it.
02:29It completely took him by surprise.
02:31He had no idea he could be stopped and was surprised to be stopped for something that
02:34went back to 1977 in Australia.
02:38He did not give any resistance.
02:40He did exactly what the police told him.
02:42And then he's just been taking it day by day, trying to work out the logistics of how best
02:47to face his upcoming trial.