Overview
- Magistrate Brett Sonnet struck out the rape count for insufficient evidence and committed Kouroumblis to the Supreme Court on two murder charges, with a not‑guilty plea entered.
- The ruling followed a committal that probed decades‑old evidence practices, including officers not wearing gloves and confusing exhibit packaging and storage.
- Prosecutors have said the case relies largely on DNA, while the defence argued the material is unreliable and sought its exclusion.
- A knife found in Kouroumblis’s car days after the killings was initially deemed too big and rusty to be the weapon, and a later expert could not rule it in or out.
- Cold‑case work excluded several early persons of interest via DNA; Kouroumblis refused a voluntary sample in 2017, later was arrested in Italy, extradited in 2024, and returns to court on December 17 for directions.