By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A BREAKTHROUGH in DNA research has led police to link an unsolved rape in Dandenong to a suspicious cold case death in Caulfield – more than 25 years after both crimes.
Detective Senior Constable Jess Mastroianni from the Cold Case Missing Person Squad called on the public on Friday to help solve the rape at Baden Powell Drive, Dandenong, in 1988, and the suspicious death of a woman in Caulfield in 1989.
DNA was retained from both crimes in the hope that new technology would eventually lead to a breakthrough in the investigation.
Now a review of cold cases, starting in 2012, has resulted in a potential link between the two.
The sexual assault occurred in the early hours of Monday 15 August 1989.
Police have been told a then 21-year-old woman was out in St Kilda with a male friend the night before when they hailed a taxi in Fitzroy Street and headed to Mandate night club in Barkly Street.
The fare came to $10, however the taxi driver told them not to worry about paying.
Sometime later around 2am on Monday, the woman and her friend went to Timmy’s Cafe on Fitzroy Street, where they saw the same taxi driver.
He bought the pair coffees and offered to drive them home as he’d finished his shift and said he was also going to Noble Park, where the woman lived.
The taxi driver was now using a different car, believed to be a dark blue Holden Kingswood or similar.
He dropped off the male friend in Doveton before telling the woman he would take her to her home in Noble Park.
But instead he drove to the police paddocks in Baden Powell Drive, Dandenong, where he raped her before dropping her outside the South Eastern Hospital.
She reported the attack to police the next day.
The driver at the time was described as European or Lebanese, in his mid-thirties, 160 centimetres tall, with a heavy build and a big stomach, and had short black and grey hair.
It’s believed he had an accent but spoke English well, and was often seen at Timmy’s cafe.
Seven months later, on 21 March 1989, police investigated a suspicious death in Caulfield.
The body of 21-year-old Nichala Barber was found on Malakoff Street about 6.30am. Detectives, who said her body was dumped from a car, retained DNA from the scene but no suspects were ever identified.
Police believe the man implicated in both incidents may be named Khalid but may have used the names Carl or Carlo. He may also have been dealing drugs in the St Kilda area at the time.
The man is now believed to be aged in his sixties or seventies.
“We haven’t been able to identify a suspect or person of interest at this point,” Det Sen Const Mastroianni told reporters.
“We’ve gone back over the original investigation notes, and spoken to the original informants.
“We’ve identified one particular person of interest who was a taxi driver in the area at that time.
“We’ve obtained a DNA sample from him and, unfortunately, it wasn’t him so we’re now appealing to the public to see if they have any other information as to who this male could be.”
Nichala Barber and the rape victim weren’t known to each other, with Ms Barber having only recently moved to Melbourne from New South Wales at the time of her death.
Det Sen Const Mastroianni said police had been unable to locate Ms Barber’s family since the case was reopened.
“We believe at the time they resided in New South Wales and we have no information to suggest that they’ve moved but we’ve been unable to contact them so we’d love to appeal to them to come forward and speak to us,” she said.
Anyone with information in relation to the assault is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or submit a confidential report to www.crimestoppers.com.au.
