True Crime: How a depraved serial killer terrorised a seaside suburb | 60 Minutes Australia

should a convicted serial killer ever be released from prison it's a vexing question most people would say no but even still it's one Victorian authorities have to address and it's all because of Paul denier he is an awful man evil beyond measure in 1993 he randomly murdered three young women when he was caught he happily admitted his crimes taking Glee in the Act of Killing but now 30 years on he's eligible for parole Dennis already applied for his freedom once and been rejected but there's nothing to stop him trying again unless the law is changed go the streets of Frankston were under siege I've heard some people describe it as almost a lockdown except it was like a lockdown for women the whole town was terrified under the cloak of Darkness this Seaside Melbourne suburb was being stalked by a serial killer murders happen every day but serial murders it's it's phenomenon over a period of seven short weeks three young women were picked out at random and murdered without Mercy and that's one of the reasons he killed them been fantasizing about killing women since he was 14 years of age the killer was Paul Denia an unemployed Frankston local who would reveal himself to police as the embodiment of Pure Evil I grabbing it could pushed it up like that yeah it's a fresh course aside [Music] dania's disturbing confessions were a brutal insight into the mind of a serial killer and a Diet blood away being here all over my hands on my plants blood all over the place but perhaps even more confronting than the horror of his crimes was the blase way he described them without the slightest flicker of emotion he boasted of threatening his victims with a makeshift gun and slitting their throats with homemade knives can you tell me rarely your tattoo on that lot from your sword what made to it to send to set the feeling in my soul what sort of feeling can you personally you do this Quran we had this feeling this would have wanted just wanted to kill [Music] me it's inconceivable to the families of denia's victims that 30 years on the man who terrified Frankston could have any possibility of freedom but the fact is Paul Daniel is now eligible for parole outrage has galvanized the fight to keep him behind bars led by Victorian MP David limbrick that's what's driving us to talk about this we don't want any possibility of him harming another girl do you think he will get that opportunity think he'd ever been given I don't know Freedom um I don't know no one can say for certain and that's that's the problem the fear is given the chance this monster will strike again what he was diagnosed with what happens back then what led him to kill those elements are still present today forensic psychologist Carla Ferrari has poured over the letters Dania has written from the confines of his cell to help assess the mindset of this killer after three decades in jail is it an explanation for the Savage murders he committed absolutely not she sees no evidence of remorse or reform what he has been diagnosed with there is no treatment for even with intensive treatment gains would probably be modest at best are you seeing any gains in what you've read Paul denier's Killing Spree began on Friday the 11th of June 1993. on that evening 18 year old Elizabeth Stevens would become his first victim going missing after getting off a bus to make the short walk home how did she get this location that was the challenge for us veteran detective Charlie bezina led the investigation into her murder what did Paul Daniel do what do we know what happened to Elizabeth that night he sees not knowing who she was sees Elizabeth get off the bus it was a horrible night it was raining he then comes up from behind holds a makeshift pistol that he made from a little barrel and a piece of wood holds that to her and tells it as do not scream out or I'll kill you she doesn't scream and she didn't scream in the dark and the rain driven by an urge to kill denyer forces the 18 year old to walk to a nearby park and to her death I started choking it up with my hands and uh when she touched it after a while working in football standard many times in Australia really [Applause] dania's continued stabbing of Elizabeth long after she died was a telling clue to his sadistic nature postmortem once he was dead is when he inflicted a number of stab wounds to the upper body and then inflicted marks on the Torso like a bit Tic-tac-toe noughts and Crosses right so naughts and crosses on her torso was this a game he just saw her as a piece of meat and that's what's so chilling about this killer as with his other victims there was no evidence of sexual assault denya's deadly impulse was driven by an inexplicable loathing of women you can explain why we were victims the Hayden so after his killed killdebeth Dania drags her down here and what leaves her in this water she's lying there and you spend some time looking at it trying to recreate the scene in your own mind as an investigator at this point you're investigating a single murder yep initially this is a single murder and we treat it as such nothing to indicate anything more Sinister than that as horrific as the scene was the homicide detectives this was just another routine investigation as they were to discover they couldn't have been more wrong they would soon be on the hunt for a serial killer those words serial killer it's terrifying it is it sends chills down your spine here we had one in our midst in our neighborhood [Music] Darren Russell knows firsthand the savagery Paul Denia inflicted on those he murdered and is convinced he should never be allowed out of jail a 30 year old doctor at the time he identified the body of one of denyer's three victims unimaginably it was that of his own 17 year old sister Natalie you have not spoken about this before publicly do you feel a need to do that now it's important that we keep talking about this that we keep it in the Public's mind was an extremely callous dangerous and I don't use this word lightly evil person we've got no reason to believe that's changed I've got behind us with the best chance for him and about we'll start the garden of the head yes and um I said shout out to our place I could hit off back in the winter of 1993 Paul denier was only just getting started he had the taste for blood and a compulsion to kill four weeks after his first murder he tried to grab a woman walking home from work she managed to escape if she hadn't fought so hard if she hadn't run what would have happened to her well she would have been deceased no problem in the world that is homicide detective Charlie bazina says Paul denier was intent on killing someone anyone that night because the urge was that strong I need to kill and today's the day I'm going to kill another woman and he did foreign if there was any doubt his next murder would show just how cold-blooded and evil he truly is new mum Debbie frame had left her 12-day-old baby at home with a friend while she popped to the shops driving to The Milk Bar just 650 meters from her home in that moment Dania sees his chance and takes it Debbie had dug down here for a carton of milk in the one minute she was in the shop denier who had spotted her as she crossed the road sneaked into the back of her unlocked car as the young mum jumped in to make the short drive home she had no idea of the monster so close the monster just lying in weight cheating singing in the back truly and I waited for her to start up the car so no one could hear a scream or anything threatening her with his homemade gun Daniel forces her to drive right past her home and out into the back roads on the outskirts of Frankston she wasn't just confronted with the torture of her own potential demise but she was so close to home she was so close to her little baby son who she must have been thinking I will never see again I mean the torment that led up to her death it meant nothing to him it's like looking into the eyes of a shark there's nothing there it's void and this is what this person is can you see this and she just put her hand up to ground it to feel it and when she did that I just yanked on it real quickly we had her neck been Debbie's mutilated body was found by a farmer four days later marking a frightening realization for police and the people of Frankston we knew we had a serial killer amongst us and that put really the pressure on us because serial killers just don't stop Russell could never have imagined that his 17 year old sister Natalie would be Daniel's next and final victim what are your happiest memories of your little sister probably her kind of impish smile and sense of humor she was a gentle good soul with a good heart on Friday the 30th of July 1993 three weeks after the murder of Debbie frame Natalie took the track she used as a regular shortcut home his a 17 year old girl that went to school who never made it home and this is the first one the Denia planned and it's in the middle of the afternoon as he told and showed police Daniel thought he'd calculated everything he'd pre-cut holes in the fence to drag his victim away from prying Eyes Only to return later parking at the head of the track to lie in wait for a female any female to walk into his trap but what Dania didn't know is he'd been spotted a postal worker happens to see a motor car with an individual sit in the driver's seat slouched down that was suspected enough she then went to a house and made a call to the police [Music] unaware police are now on their way Denia sees Natalie Russell take the track as she heads home he follows and quickly overtakes her and puts his despicable plan into action so he's hiding here and what Matt walks apart and that walks past and he's looking out Caesar walked past and he puts himself out and comes walking behind her did she see it as you turn around whilst this saw me and I'm stuck about 10 meters behind her until I got up to the second Hall Ikea and just where I got to that hole I walked up behind her it's like my left hand around it yeah hail the knife to his throne I won't go into details but the Savage of it was so significant that he must have been in a frenzy he then goes out walks back to the track to his motor car but his hands are covered in blood and then walking back he tells us he sees two police officers at his motor car what did you do cool as cool can be I put my blood soaked hands in my pocket and I walk past the police till they left they left I came back and I drove home chilling stuff [Music] within a few hours of reporting Natalie missing her family's worst fears were realized at 10 30 last night Searchers found a young woman's body in Bushland just off a bike path short distance from her home the police I remember them a couple of detectives coming in to pull me aside to to let me know that that found who they thought was Natalie and and she passed away and then my job was to inform the rest of the family the discovery of denia's car at the location of Natalie's murder finally delivered police a suspect and again I warn you that you're not advised Society unless you wish to and anything that started maybe you nervous detectives swooped on Daniel's home and hauled him in for questioning the serial killer had been caught obviously Natalie's death marked the end of ten years hunting spree how does that sit with you I was the only little source of light that it was because of Natalie's death that Daniel was caught she did a good thing sorry that's okay why does that aspect of it upset you It's upsetting because there's the the evil that he did and it's kind of the the good that Natalie was able to do out of an evil act her death meant that no one else needed to die no other family needed to suffer [Music] but 30 years on Frankston is again Riven by fear that Paul denier could walk free and kill again he enjoyed the killings he said that himself to those violent fantasies ever go away 21 years old I was born on the 14th of April 1972. we'll see just 32 hours after he killed 17 year old Natalie Russell Paul denier was being grilled by Detectives they were convinced they'd caught the serial killer who terrorized the community of Frankston for seven weeks when we saw her down in your flat this afternoon I noticed a number of cuts on your fingers can you just um put your hands he still has blood under his fingernails there yeah it'd have to be the case because he was absolutely soaked in it in killing Natalie it's quite confronting to see that given we know what happened here you are you know touching the hands of of the hands of a killer who's killed three women homicide detective Charlie bazina is still in disbelief about what unfolded during a break more than two hours into questioning and away from the police camera denya suddenly confesses and just out of the blue I think his words were I did the three of them three of what all those three women you've been asking me about I'll kill them you were told to get to have a lot and that you were responsible for the murders of the three the three women is that correct and when we learned that the Elation was out of this world you remember it oh you okay you know having been at the crime scenes what these women would have gone through and then now to have the person who's admitting to it and a job was done basically at that stage then it was going to be up to the courts to convict him I think we went to the pub at seven in the morning had one beer just one beef we're exhausted mentally and physically given the gravity of his crimes it seems unbelievable the Paul Denia now has a shot at Freedom in 1993 he pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to life with no minimum a sentence that was overturned on a technicality allowing him to apply for parole after 30 years and that's what denya did this year as soon as he was eligible he was refused but under the current laws he can in theory apply again and again as a criminal that you've come face to face with and investigated how do you rate Paul Denia I wrote him in one of the highest categories of a killer that I've ever dealt with without remorse or Mercy that's why it's so important for the government to legislate specifically to keep this killer in jail made so-called one-man laws to ban parole for Mass shooter Julian Knight and the Russell Street bomber Craig Minogue but much to the disappointment of his victims families it ruled out doing the same for Paul Denia opposition MP David limbrick was Natalie Russell's boyfriend at the time of her murder all these years later he's determined to keep her killer Behind Bars so it seems that the fight will continue from your end at least yeah until we get some sort of reassurance that you know we're satisfied that he can't harm another woman then we have to continue that fight like all prisoners Paul denyer is banned from writing to his victims families but earlier this year he cruelly exploited a loophole to send a letter to the MP prisoners are allowed to write to lawyers and members of parliament so I received a letter in it Dania pleaded for his freedom I am not a danger to society insisting he has rehabilitated I will never go back to the Frankston Lang Warren area and making the ludicrous suggestion that David might want to take up his cause he had this idea that I might become an advocate for him which is pretty concerning in itself that anyone might think that um and sort of just led me to believe that you know he really is just as dangerous now it just shows that you know that lack of empathy and Humanity uh is still there any part of you believe that he could be reformed I don't think so no this is where he starts the letter is among one of many that forensic psychologist Carla Ferrari has assessed she believes it reveals much about denia's prospects for rehabilitation there was no real evidence of change and normally you would expect to see someone explaining you know I've had all this time to reflect I have you know spent 30 years you know delving into myself what was going on at that time for me there was none of that I'm no expert of course but from what you're saying he sounds dangerous still say that's fair in 2003 10 years into his sentence the unremorsful killer of women declared he wanted to be one series of letters penned from prison detailed how denya identified as a transgender woman called Paula he explains that it was something he'd suppressed for so long and then he goes on to say that you know committing these crimes was to try and destroy those feelings that he had which doesn't really make make sense because they never came up in the psychological evaluation in the psychiatric evaluation in the police interview but even if he had suppressed it for all those years never mentioned it to anyone is it an explanation for the Savage murders he committed absolutely not [Music] whether denier truly felt trapped in the wrong body no one will ever know for sure but it's clear one of his goals was to be moved to a women's prison it was a strategy that ultimately failed and so in 2014 Paula reverted back to Paul well he signed off the letter to David as Paul Paula doesn't exist Darren Russell older brother to denia's last victim Natalie finds that baffling he's a doctor who just happens to be a leading expert in transgender health he's changed back and that is not a common thing for a transgender person to do it's very unusual so again he said that he hated women and that's one of the reasons he killed them he'd been fantasizing about killing women since he was 14 years of age he'd been actively stalking women for some years he's a man who detested women and now he was becoming a woman I couldn't understand that [Music] as the sight of his sister's murder this is a place Darren has understandably chosen to avoid but today to Mark the 30th anniversary of her death his return to Nat's track the path that was named in his sister's honor she would have been 47. this year and you know may have had a family of her own so it's it's the fact we'll never have that [Music] for all the families of Paul denier's victims their loss can never be replaced foremost in their minds now is that this serial killer be denied the possibility of ever again inflicting the pain they've suffered then yeah was diagnosed with a sadistic personality disorder so he has shown himself today take Delight in other people's suffering in hurting other people in tormenting other people and torturing other people that's how he got his kicks we've got no reason to believe that's changed so Denia Still Remains a risk in your mind I think history tells us that these individuals generally don't redeem themselves and it's only when they're physically no longer capable of harm that we should be thinking of of releasing them from custody hello I'm Tara Brown thanks for watching 60 Minutes Australia subscribe to our Channel now 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Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

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Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Tara Brown, Tom Steinfort, 60Mins, Amelia Adams, news, world news, news australia, investigative journalism, 60 minutes australia youtube, 60 minutes youtube, 60 minutes episodes, 60 minutes australia episodes, 60 minutes australia, 60 minutes, serial killer, crime, investigation, murder, frankston, melbourne, australia's worst serial killers, paul denyer, 1990s murder case, victoria police, parole, criminal law, jailed for life

Id: Y5hgpO0qiys

Length: 27min 23sec (1643 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 10 2023