Schoolgirl killer prime suspect in third murder case
A schoolgirl killer with a Maltese name in Australia is a prime suspect in one of Melbourne's most haunting cold case murders.
Australian media reported that Les Camilleri, who was born in New South Wales, is under scrutiny over the 1992 disappearance of Prue Bird, 13, who disappeared five years before the murders of Bega schoolgirls Lauren Barry, 14, and Nichole Collins, 16, in October, 1997.
He is serving two life sentences after he and his accomplice Lindsay Beckett abducted the girls at Bega, then raped and murdered them by a creek in eastern Victoria.
Investigators have been trying to piece together the movements of Camilleri at the time Ms Bird, who was last seen alive preparing lunch in the kitchen of her mother's house on February 2, 1992, went missing.
"The investigation into the murder of Prue Bird remains unsolved and police urge any person with information in relation to the homicide to contact Crime Stoppers," a police spokesman told the Herald Sun.
Victorian Supreme Court Judge Frank Vincent in 1999 sentenced Mr Camilleri to become one of a small number of Victorian prisoners to be given life in jail with no minimum term.
Camilleri, 39, is serving his term in Victoria's most secure jail, Barwon Prison near Geelong.
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PJ Mifsud
Dec 31st 2009, 10:16
I have no particular problem had the alleged prime suspect bore the same surname as my own. After all, the saying goes that there is a black sheep in each family. If Les Camilleri is of Maltese descent, there's nothing to be ashamed of.
What about the hundreds of thousands of Maltese settlers and descendants who have and are still living a descent life down under that makes them proud bearers of their Maltese ancestry!! Some of them have even achieved noteworthy and merited mentions in honours bestowed upon them both by the Maltese and Australian governments.
My recommendation to my fellow bloggers is to grow up please !!!
Alex Borg
Dec 31st 2009, 01:43
Andrea Camilleri is indeed a fantastic author. For those who can read in Italian, my recommendation is to read his books in Italian, as he writes in a distinctive Sicilian style. He was influenced profoundly by the French detective story writer Georges Simenon. I read an interview some time ago where he declared that his grandfather, who was Maltese, had moved to Sicily.
BTW Camilleri is not as common a surname in Sicily as it is in Malta. And to my knowledge Camilleri is of Arabic origin. Remember that Malta was re-colonised in the eleventh century by Arabs in Sicily after it was abandoned in around 870 after a lengthy and bloody siege (sources: Al Himyari's Account by Prof. Mark Brincat).
Andrew Borg Manduca
Dec 30th 2009, 19:42
funny to see that the majority of comments on this article are written by people called Camilleri.
Michael Neville Cassar
Dec 30th 2009, 10:11
Who ever this person is, his back ground makes little difference, if found guilty to the crime. What ever nationality he came from, he is a disgrace to his family his country and the humane race.
beppe camilleri
Dec 30th 2009, 07:24
Of course Cmilleri is not Maltese it can be from Sicily it is very comon there. !!!!!
Victor Cutajar
Dec 29th 2009, 15:16
I fully agree with you Mark. If you go through the phone book of any one of the Sicilian regions there are hundred of Camilleris. Are they all Maltese?
Mark Camilleri
Dec 29th 2009, 10:35
And why on earth do you think Camilleri is a Maltese surname? There are thousands of Camilleris living in Sicily and many more in mainland Italy. Why? because Camilleri happens to be a common Italian surname. Surely you've heard of the renowned Andrea Camilleri, author of the Inspector Montalbano series? Is he Maltese as well?