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‘Femme fatales and lethal teens’: The Aussie serial killers you’ve never heard of

These deranged criminals terrorised and shocked – yet fascinated – the nation.
AUSSIE SERIAL KILLERS SAMUEL BOYD, HELEN MOORE AND MICHAEL LAURENCE
There's plenty of lesser-known Aussie serial killers. (Image: Supplied)

From calculated predators like Ivan Milat to shocking Snowtown killers John Bunting and Robert Wagner, there are many very well known Aussie serial killers.

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But they’re not the only ones out there.

Here are the Aussie serial killers you wish you hadn’t heard of.

HELEN MOORE

serial killer Helen Moore
The Sydney high schooler was an unlikely killer. (Image: Supplied)

Sixteen-year-old Helen Moore’s first victim was her half-brother, 14-month-old Andrew, who was found dead in his cot in the Sydney suburb of Claymore in 1978.

He was initially declared a SIDS death as was the murder of 17-month-old Suzanne, Moore’s cousin, who she was babysitting.

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Another child Moore was looking after survived the attempt on his life but she killed two more, including her seven-year-old brother Peter, whom she threw down the stairs.

Moore eventually confessed to the murders, explaining she liked to kill, and was given three life sentences.

She served 13 years and was released in 1993.

REGINA ARTHURELL

Serial killer Regina Arthurell
Regina was released in 2021. (Image: Supplied)
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Seventy-five-year-old serial killer Regina Arthurell, known as Reginald before her transition, spent most of her life in and out of prison for murder and manslaughter.

Her first crime was the killing of her stepfather in 1974, which resulted in five years’ jail.

On release, Arthurell bashed a 19-year-old man to death and spent less than six years behind bars.

In 1995, she was incarcerated following the bashing murder of fiancee Venet Mulhall.

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She was released in 2021, but remains a suspect in additional murders committed in Queensland and NSW in the 1970s.

ANDREW ALBURY

Former abattoir worker Andrew Albury is considered one of the most dangerous criminals in Australia and will never be set free.

In 1983, Albury – who has been dubbed Australia’s Hannibal Lecter – murdered Gloria Pindan in Darwin while in a drunken stupor.

Since his incarceration, he has attempted to kill several inmates.

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He has confessed to a further 13 murders, including the 1983 killing of Patricia Carlton.

However, Albury is unlikely to ever face court due to his “dangerous” nature.

ROBYN LINDHOLM

Serial killer Robyn Lindholm
Femme fatale Lindholm had a habit of getting others to commit her murders. (Image: Supplied)

Robyn Lindholm learned that men would do anything for her, even kill.

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In December 2013, Lindholm persuaded her lover, Torsten Trabert, to murder her ex-partner, Wayne Amey.

Trabert willingly killed Wayne and dumped his body in bushland in Victoria’s Mount Korong.

But this was not the first dead lover in Lindholm’s sordid life.

She also had previous partner George Teazis (pictured above) murdered in 2005.

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Sickingly, it was Wayne who helped her kill Teazis before becoming her next victim.

WORRELL & MILLER

Christopher Worrell and James Miller
Chris (left) and James (right) killed at least seven women. (Image: Supplied)

After meeting in prison, Christopher Worrell and James Miller went on a killing spree, murdering at least seven women between December 1976 and February 1977 in Truro, South Australia.

The women were picked up by the pair in Adelaide and driven to remote bushland, where they were assaulted, killed and buried.

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It was only after Worrell’s death in a car crash that Miller confessed to the murders and took investigators to the burial grounds.

He was sentenced to six life terms and died in prison in 2008.

MICHAEL LAURANCE

Michael Laurance
Michael was given three life sentences for his crimes. (Image: Supplied)

Thirteen-year-old Mark Mott and 11-year-old Ralph Burns were abducted from the 1984 Griffith Agricultural Show by Michael Laurance.

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After abusing both boys, he drowned them and dumped their bodies near Lake Wyangan.

Two years later, eight-year-old John Purtell was abducted in Albury by Laurence from a communal shower block after a game of football.

Again, the child was assaulted before being murdered and dumped.

Laurance was arrested and charged with all three murders and given three life sentences in 1987.

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Laurence would serve less than 10 years, taking his own life in 1995.

ALEX TSAKMAKIS

Alex Tsakmakis
Tsakmakis was murdered by another inmate in prison. (Image: Supplied)

Businessman Alex Tsakmakis died as brutally as he lived.

The killer murdered his first victim in 1978 while on a fishing trip.

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He was sentenced to life for the murder, but being behind bars did not deter the brutal killer, who attacked those he found to be problematic.

He once covered his cellmate in flammable glue and set him on fire.

The additional murder charge added very little to the killer’s life sentence.

Tsakmakis was murdered by fellow inmate Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue in 1988.

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MATTHEW JAMES HARRIS

Matthew Harris
Public outcry led to Harris being handed two life sentences. (Image: Supplied)

Over four weeks in 1998, Matthew Harris went on a killing spree in Wagga Wagga, murdering at least three people during violent home invasions.

Harris strangled his first victim, Peter Wennerbom, in October 1998.

A fortnight later, he killed 33-year-old Yvonne Ford and his neighbour Ronald Galvin.

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Following Ronald’s death, Harris tried to take his own life with an overdose but survived.

He was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to three concurrent terms of 40 years’ jail.

After a public outcry, the sentences were later quashed and he was given two life sentences without parole.

SAMUEL LEONARD BOYD

Samuel Leonard Boyd
Boyd received five consecutive life sentences for his crimes. (Image: Supplied)
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Between September 1982 and April 1983, Samuel Leonard Boyd murdered four people and injured a fifth in south-western Sydney.

The killer’s first victim was mum-of-two Rhonda Celea.

He attacked her in her home and cut her throat.

In April 1983, Boyd spent the day drinking with Gregory Wiles at a Liverpool pub before he decided to kill his friend with a hammer.

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Boyd fled the pub and headed to a local school for children with special needs, where he abducted three women.

After assaulting them, he slit their throats – only one woman survived.

A stand-off ensued, ending in Boyd’s arrest.

He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms without parole for his crimes.

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ANTHONY RICHARD DENT

Anthony Richard Dent
Dent killed a man close to the sport where he murdered two others 37 years prior. (Image: Supplied)

At just 17, Anthony Richard Dent brutally murdered two men in Newcastle’s Passmore Oval in 1977.

The victims were beaten to death and robbed.

For the deaths, Dent was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released in 2013.

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Then, in March 2014, 37 years after the double murder, 56-year-old Dent killed again.

After bashing a man to death a short distance from the original crime scenes, he was again sentenced to life in prison.

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