Melbourne Jury Finds Peter Dupas Guilty of Murdering Mersina Halvagis at Her Grandmother's Grave
A former solicitor who shared a cell with Dupas testified that he admitted the killing. The conviction was later overturned, and Dupas was convicted again in 2010.
Published
Mersina Halvagis, 25, was stabbed to death in November 1997 while tending her grandmother's grave at Fawkner Cemetery in Melbourne. In August 2007, a Supreme Court jury found Peter Dupas guilty of her murder.
The jury of eight men and four women took just over 24 hours to reach its verdict after a 22-day trial. Dupas, 54, had pleaded not guilty. A key prosecution witness, former solicitor and convicted drug trafficker Andrew Fraser, testified that Dupas admitted the killing while the two shared a cell at Port Phillip Prison. A woman also testified that she had seen Dupas at the cemetery on the day of the murder. Dupas was already serving life for the murders of Margaret Maher in 1997 and Nicole Patterson in 1999.
On August 27, Justice Cummins sentenced Dupas to life imprisonment and refused to set a minimum term. "You do not suffer from any mental illness," he told him. "Rather, you are a psychopath driven by a hatred of women."
In September 2009, Victoria's Court of Appeal overturned the conviction by a two-to-one majority, ruling that the trial judge's directions to the jury had been inadequate, and ordered a retrial. Dupas was convicted again, and on November 26, 2010, Justice Hollingworth sentenced him to life without parole.
Sources
- Dupas found guilty, The Age
- Life for serial killer Dupas, The Age
- Appeals court overturns Dupas murder conviction, The Age
- Serial killer Dupas to die in jail, The Age
Related News
- August 11, 2004: Peter Dupas, Already Serving Life, Is Found Guilty of a Second Murder, of Margaret Maher in 1997