Half a million dollar reward offered to catch knife-wielding rapist 'worse than an animal' who left a mother in intensive care for two months
Victoria Police are offering a $500,000 reward to find a 'monster' rapist that put a woman in hospital and left her with lifelong injuries 35 years ago.
A man broke into the woman's Burnley apartment, in Melbourne's east, late one night in 1985 before threatening her with a knife and assaulting her.
The 69-year-old woman, who had been home alone reading a book, remained in intensive care for eight weeks following the attack by a man described as having blonde hair and blue eyes.
Several items were stolen, with a second person potentially involved in the incident.
Sexual Crimes Squad detectives on Tuesday announced the reward for information, hoping the money could persuade someone to help solve the attack.
A man broke into the woman's Burnley apartment , in Melbourne's east, late one night in 1985 before threatening her with a knife and assaulting her
Police on the case at the time said the rapist was 'worse than an animal'
The deceased victim's now 77-year-old daughter, known as Bev, said she hoped the offender could be brought to justice within her own lifetime.
'To me they aren't human - they're unfeeling, uncaring and callous,' Bev told reporters on Tuesday.
'She did nothing to deserve this and I can't imagine why anyone would do such a horrible thing to a woman of her age.
'I'm running out of time, I'm not young... I just want it solved before I go, otherwise nothing is ever going to happen.'
Bev's mother was unconscious and hooked up to a breathing machine in hospital when her daughter first got to see her after the assault.
The 69-year-old woman was not expected to live.
'It destroyed her life and she was never the same,' Bev said.
'Her health just went completely downhill after that and she didn't go out, she didn't have a social life.'
The woman spoke to The Herald Sun from her hospital bed shortly after the attack in the hopes her story would help police find who attacked her.
The woman spoke to The Herald Sun from her hospital bed shortly after the attack in the hopes her story would help police find who attacked her
'I don't want him doing this to anyone else - he could easily kill,' she said.
'I thought I was going to die… I can't walk yet and I'm frightened that I'll become an invalid confined to four walls.'
Police on the case at the time said the rapist was 'worse than an animal'.
'I wouldn't even call this person an animal - I love cats and dogs and I wouldn't degrade an animal by associating them with this man,' Commander Phil Bennett said in May 1985.
'It sickens me that there are people in there community who will stoop to this act.'
Victoria Police Detective Inspector Juliann Goldrick said the assault was 'prolonged and vicious'.
Victoria Police Detective Inspector Juliann Goldrick said the assault was 'prolonged and vicious'
'It was extremely violent in nature - we haven't seen another one like that,' she said.
Det Insp Goldrick said the offender would now be aged between 55 and 65 and that she hoped the 'life-changing' amount of reward money would encourage anyone with information to come forward.
'We are committed to holding perpetrators of sexual assault to account - it doesn't matter how long it takes,' she said.
'If that person is still alive and in the community and we haven't ever held them to account, that's extremely concerning.'
Police have started to re-examine the exhibits retained from the crime scene, with the cold case labelled 'definitely solvable'.
It has never been linked to any other offences.
The $500,000 reward will be paid at the discretion of the Victoria Police Chief Commissioner for information leading to the apprehension and subsequent conviction of the person or people responsible.