Man is arrested for the cold case murder of a brother and sister strangled in their home in 1989


Man is arrested for the cold case murder of a brother and sister strangled in their home in 1989 – a week after $1 million reward is offered

  • Doris McCartney, 71, and Ronald Swann, 69, were found strangled in their home
  • There were no signs of forced entry, nothing was stolen and no clear motive
  • On Thursday morning, a 58-year-old man wearing a baseball cap was arrested

A man has been arrested for the double murder of two siblings in a cold case that has baffled police for 31 years.

Doris McCartney, 71, and Ronald Swann, 69, were found dead in a home they shared on Keith Street in Moorabbin, Melbourne’s south-east, on October 22, 1989.

The brother and his deaf sister were assaulted and strangled to death, but there were no signs of forced entry, nothing was taken, and there was no clear motive.

Detectives offered a $1million reward for information on the siblings’ murders last week, before a 58-year-old man in a baseball cap was arrested on Thursday morning.

Pictured: Doris McCartney, 71

Pictured: Ronald Swann, 69

Doris McCartney and Ronald Swann (pictured) were found strangled to death in their home in 1989

A 58-year-old Rowville man was arrested on Thursday and photographed in a police car covering his face with a baseball cap (pictured)

A 58-year-old Rowville man was arrested on Thursday and photographed in a police car covering his face with a baseball cap (pictured)

Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia the man, from Rowville in the city’s outer south-east, is in custody and will be interviewed on Thursday afternoon.

He was photographed in a police car covering his face with a baseball cap. 

A number of people were interviewed by police after a friend discovered the grizzly scene three decades ago, but no one was charged. 

Homicide Detective Senior Sergeant Paul Newman told a 1991 inquest that Mrs McCartney – a mother-of-three – had been ‘used and abused’ by men and boys between the ages of 15 and 86 since her husband died 10 years earlier.

A coroner described a revolving door of male visitors, including members of a local cricket club, schoolboys, council workers and neighbours.

More to come  

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