‘No-one could locate him': Grisly story about man accused of double murder in Melbourne
Ross Judd, 34, has been accused of the gruesome murders of Athena Georgopoulos and her partner Andrew Gunn at a block of units in Mount Waverley, 16km southeast of the Melbourne CBD.
The pair were found late on Monday night in the second-from-last townhouse on Adrienne Crescent. Mr Gunn, 50, had been decapitated and his head was reportedly mounted on a spike.
Ms Georgopoulos, 39, was five months pregnant with her first child.
Mr Judd, a homeless man who was well known in the Mount Waverley area, allegedly walked two kilometres from the crime scene to McDonald's after the killings and ordered food.
Employees say he was covered in blood and accompanied by two German Shepherds — dogs that reportedly never left his side.
He was arrested, barefoot and bloodied, at a nearby train station and charged with two counts of murder.
Locals who spoke to news.com.au say they are shocked by what happened in their sleepy suburb. But one said Mr Judd was well known and had been linked to a separate incident a year earlier.
'No one could locate him'
News.com.au was told that a year before the alleged double murder, Mr Judd's two dogs were involved in an incident that led locals to erect signs around a popular walking track.
'The homeless guy who is said to have killed those two people is well known in the area, especially around the Fairway Reserve walking track,' the local said.
'His two off-lead German Shepherds killed a Maltese dog last year. No one could locate him for a while and there were signs all along the path to tell people to be wary of two off-leash German Shepherds.'
Fairway Reserve, which borders the popular Scotchman's Creek, is a 23-minute walk to Adrienne Crescent where the couple were found late on Monday night.
The two dogs have formed part of the investigation into what led to the alleged murder.
It was reported earlier this week that neighbours of Mr Gunn noted what they thought were tensions over Mr Gunn's beloved dogs.
Police have been told that Mr Judd was seen around the area earlier on the evening that Mr Gunn and Ms Georgopoulos were killed with his two canines in tow.
According to the Herald Sun, Mr Gunn and Mr Judd may have been involved in an argument about the sale and ownership of other dogs.
Mr Gunn and his pet dog, a German shepherd called Dragon, were inseparable.
Friends of Mr Gunn said: 'That's what spun me out when I heard about (the deaths), because he and his dog went everywhere together and Dragon wouldn't let anyone near him.'
Dogs waited outside for Mr Judd 'soaked in blood'
It comes as chilling footage appears to show Mr Judd in the hours before and after the couple's deaths.
The Australian reports that Mr Judd was seen by locals at a bottle shop about 9.48pm on Monday.
He purchased a number of items while his two dogs waited outside. Staff could reportedly be heard in CCTV footage saying he was 'soaked in blood'.
Mr Judd fronted Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Wednesday for a brief administrative hearing, charged with two counts of murder.
Flanked by two guards, he stumbled as he entered the court.
'I beg your pardon, yeah I'm all good,' he said.
Mr Judd was wearing a dark-coloured T-shirt and sported a short beard and hair spiked up in a faux-hawk.
At one point, he smiled and winked at members of the media.
The court was told police were seeking an extra 10 weeks to prepare a brief of evidence in the case.
Police allege the accused was known to the couple, and that one of the victims lived in the unit.
Friend did not know she was victims' neighbour
Dimmi, a woman who lived less than 100m from where the killings occurred, told news.com.au this week that she was awake until midnight on Monday and did not hear a thing.
She found out about the alleged murders the following day and the realisation hit her that she knew the victim.
Dimmi said she was close friends with Ms Georgopoulos' mother and knew the victim as a young girl, but in a bizarre twist she was not aware that they had recently become neighbours.
'I didn't even know she lived there,' she said. 'I'm Greek too, so I was so close to her mother, but didn't see her for about 10 months.
'I've been here for 25 years, I walk along this street all the time but never saw her.
'I'm going to ring her mum, I'm in shock now. They used to come to my house all the time.
'She was a lovely girl. A very nice girl. I'm so, so sad.'
Another neighbour, Mary, said she too had also never seen Ms Georgopoulos despite living several doors up the road.
'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,' she said.
The alleged motive remains unclear.
Detectives said they are not seeking anyone else in relation to the killings and confirmed a weapon, although not a firearm, was used in the alleged murder.
Graffiti was visible on the couple's home the day after the killings, with one message reading 'Karma is not a menu'.
Other phrases were also visible including 'betrayal, unpredictable, inevitable'.
'Police are aware of graffiti on the property in Mount Waverley where the bodies of two people were located last night,' a police spokesperson said.
'Homicide Squad detectives will work to determine if the graffiti is relevant to the murder investigation.'
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