Crime Immemorial

Shortly before noon, Maria called her ex-husband, John James, and left a message asking him to call her back, noting that someone was in the shop with her. When John returned her call not long after, Maria asked him to “hold on” and was overheard speaking to someone else before a scream was heard. Alarmed, John rushed to the bookshop, arriving about fifteen minutes later. There, he discovered Maria’s body in the bedroom of their home. She had been stabbed 68 times in a ferocious attack that left her dead in a pool of blood. The violent and frenzied slaying was later described by her son Mark as “ritualistic.”

Two witnesses reported seeing a man fleeing the scene shortly after the murder. A police sketch of this individual was released, but despite extensive appeals, he has never been identified. The brutality of the attack, combined with the public nature of the crime scene—a bookshop in broad daylight—stunned the community and set the stage for a complex and troubled investigation.

From the outset, the investigation into Maria James’s murder was marred by significant errors. Victoria Police faced a flood of information and false leads, compounded by a $50,000 reward offered in 1980. However, critical mistakes in evidence handling severely hampered progress. Key pieces of evidence, including Maria’s clothing and two pillowcases, went missing, and a blood-soaked quilt from the crime scene was unaccounted for until its rediscovery in 2021. Most notably, a blood-stained pillowcase, initially thought to be from Maria’s home, was used in 2003 to rule out several suspects. But in 2017, it was revealed that this pillowcase belonged to an unrelated case, costing the investigation, as counsel assisting the coroner Sharon Lacy noted, “fourteen years of potential progress.”

The 1982 inquest into Maria’s death returned an open finding, unable to identify her killer. Over the years, six main suspects were identified by homicide detective Leigh Prados. These included Anthony Bongiorno, a Catholic priest who spoke with police outside the bookshop on the day of the murder. He was named a “significant person of interest” by the coroner but died before further investigation could be pursued.

There was also Peter Keogh, a convicted murderer who later killed his ex-girlfriend Vicki Cleary. The coroner also named him a significant person of interest, though police failed to rigorously verify his alibi.
A third possibility was Peco Macevski, a real estate agent who lied about a sexual relationship with Maria. He is the only suspect still alive but did not testify at the 2021 inquest due to ill health.

Another person of interest was Thomas O’Keefe, a priest accused by Adam James of abusing him. This allegation added a potential motive linked to Maria confronting the church about the abuse.

A man named Mario Falcucci, a customer who argued with Maria in the bookshop hours before her death, was also considered, as was Lyle Perkins, a man seen in Thornbury who later kidnapped two hitchhikers in 1980.

The mishandling of evidence and lack of rigorous scrutiny of suspects’ alibis were described as “disgusting” by Maria’s son Mark, who, along with his brother Adam, has been vocal about their frustration with Victoria Police’s errors.

The case went cold for decades until the ABC’s Trace podcast, launched in 2017, uncovered new information that prompted a fresh coronial inquest in 2021. The podcast revealed critical details, including the mishandled pillowcase evidence, sparking renewed public and police interest. The 2021 inquest, conducted by Deputy State Coroner Caitlin English, examined both the circumstances of Maria’s death and the adequacy of the original police investigation. Over three weeks, thirty-seven witnesses provided testimony, and more than 3,600 pages of evidence, including crime scene photos, police notes, suspect interviews, and witness statements, were reviewed.

Despite these efforts, the inquest delivered another open finding in March 2022, with Coroner English concluding that Maria’s murder was caused by “a person unknown.” However, she highlighted Bongiorno and Keogh as significant persons of interest and criticized the police for their “gravest” failing—the loss of key evidence. English recommended that police continue searching for missing exhibits and review their evidence management policies. She also noted the potential for mitochondrial DNA testing on hairs found on the rediscovered quilt, which could be compared to a sample from Bongiorno’s sister, collected in 2014.

In June 2024, ahead of the forty-fourth anniversary of Maria’s death, Victoria Police announced a $1 million reward for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of those responsible for her murder. The reward, a significant increase from the original $50,000, reflects the police’s ongoing commitment to solving the case. Despite the incentive, however, the brutal murder of Maria James remains unsolved.