[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
A pregnant woman and her partner were murdered in a Melbourne, Australia apartment… and it’s one of the most brutal, savage crimes we’ve ever read about.
On Monday night, residents in the Mount Waverley area of Melbourne began hearing awful screams in their neighborhood. They called the cops, who arrived to find two people murdered at a gruesome scene.
The victims were identified as 39-year-old Athena Georgopoulos (pictured above) and her 50-year-old partner Andrew Gunn, who reportedly lived at the scene of the crime, per Australian media reports. The assailant was nowhere to be found.
But about four hours after the discovery of the bodies, a 34-year-old man named Ross Judd was arrested at Westall train station in Melbourne where he was found with his two dogs. He was taken into custody and charged with two counts of murder. Cops say he is homeless — but he wasn’t a stranger. He was apparently known to the victims.
Related: Teen Murders Random Uber Driver Just ‘To Let Some Steam Off’ — WTF!
Police spokesperson Dean Thomas told Australian media outlets:
“Police were called at about 9:20 p.m. in relation to a welfare check at the address based on some yelling that was heard from the property. A second call was then made that suggested it was perhaps more urgent than what the first call was and police arrived minutes later, and obviously they found the male and female inside the premises deceased.”
The two victims were not just deceased, either. According to reports that cited neighbors who rushed to the scene, Gunn’s head had been cut clean off his body and had been driven through by a spike. Seriously. WTF…
Regarding Judd, who was found at that train station later, Thomas added that cops already think there is a connection between the alleged killer and his victims:
“We believe he may be of no fixed place of abode. It appears to be targeted and our suspect is known to the address. … We believe that there is a link between our suspect and the address.”
Connected to the address? There was a ton of weird and unsettling graffiti at the apartment where Athena and Andrew were killed, as well. The Herald Sun and others report that some of the scrawled messages included:
“Karma is not a menu.”
“Meat is murder”
“Betrayal”
“Unpredictable”
“Inevitable”
“U R Gay”
“Enough is Enough”
Chilling…
The officer told media outlets:
“Police are aware of graffiti on the property in Mount Waverley where the bodies of two people were located last night. Homicide Squad detectives will work to determine if the graffiti is relevant to the murder investigation.”
That said, cops do not have a clear picture yet on a possible motive. According to The US Sun, investigators believe the case may be drug-related, but they’re not sure.
Tragically, Athena was five months pregnant when she died. She and Andrew had been looking forward to having the baby so much — in part because she had thought it wasn’t possible. Her aunt Patty Dilveridis told the Herald Sun:
“She was so looking forward to having a baby, because she was 39 [and] she never thought she could have one.”
So sad…
Neighbors in the area are understandably still in shock days later, too. Ben Scott-Sandvik, the first neighbor on the scene who made the awful discovery, told that outlet:
“I mean, no one should have to come across what I saw down there, and nobody needs to live knowing that this sort of thing has happened to their families.”
A second local identified as Dimmi said she had known Athena when she was much younger, as a child, and remembered her being so sweet as a little girl:
“I don’t know much about the girl who passed away, but I knew her when she was young. They used to come to my house all the time. She was a lovely girl. A very nice girl. I’m so, so sad.”
And a third neighbor named Mary also reflected on her shock at the grisly murders:
“Everybody is shocked here. It’s amazing that it’s just happened so close. I’ve spoken to others in the street and they said they didn’t hear anything.”
Just awful.
We send our condolences to Athena and Andrew’s friends, family members, and loved ones. Rest in peace…
[Image via Athena Georgopoulos/Facebook]
