Friday, August 10, 2007

A murder conviction

The murder of Mersina Halvagis at the Fawkner Cemetery in 1997 was a haunting event. It was a senseless act of brutality. I remember seeing on a television newscast the anguish of her father Mr. George Halvagis after the murder. His obvious pain sent a message to every father who was watching. Mr Halvagis still visits his daughter's grave every day. It is a unending, loss for him and the whole Halvagis family.

Finally, yesterday, after 10 years, mutiple murder Peter Dupas was convicted of the murder. It will hopefully give some closure to the family to these tragic events.

Central to the verdict was the sworn testimony of convicted drug trafficer, Andrew Fraser, who was in jail with Dupas and who recalled in court conversations he had with Dupas. Fraser is eligible for a $1 million reward for helping to secure the conviction and has already applied for the reward. The jury who convicted Dupas knew that he had been convicted for the murders of Nicole Patterson in 2000 and Margaret Maher in 2004. The judge in the case told jurors to ignore past convictions.

Dupas is a terrible man who deserves no sympathy and the Halvagis family deserve compassion and, by any reasonable standard, need closure.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

'Closure' - so important. And yet Dupas, a serial killer who did not stop at the three he has yet been convicted of can appeal...not say a word in court, watch people suffer, lie and know that his appeal makes no difference. He lies. He does not face his own actions. He is pure evil. it is not 'over' and there is no closure until it has been clearly demonstrated that he did not 'get away with' any of the crimes he commited. God bless the Halvagis family and the rest of the people, family and friends who have been touched by the horrendous crimes of one who should never have been free to live amongst us.