Pyjama Girl
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The Pyjama Girl, possibly Linda Agostini, was a murder victim whose body was discovered near the Australian city of Albury on September 1, 1934. She was shot or battered to death. The name was given both because her identity could not initially be established, and because one of the most distinctive features of the remains was that it had been dressed in silk pyjamas. The murder victim was formally identified ten years later, but recent research strongly suggests that this identification was wrong.
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[edit] Discovery and initial investigation
The victim's body was discovered by a local man named Tom Griffith. Griffith had been leading a prize bull along the side of Howlong Road near Albury when he saw the body in a culvert running under the road. Slightly concealed and badly burnt, the body would not have been visible to anybody driving by.
It soon became apparent that the body was of a petite woman in her 20s, but her identity could not be established. After the initial investigation failed to identify her, the body was taken to the New South Wales state capital of Sydney where it was put on public exhibition. With the strong publicity surrounding the case, it was hoped that somebody might identify the corpse.
Several names were suggested for the identity of the dead woman, among them being Anna Philomena Morgan and Linda Agostini. Both women were missing, both bore a likeness to the pyjama girl and both were of the right age. However, New South Wales police satisfied themselves that neither of the missing women was the pyjama girl and she remained unidentified.
[edit] Reopening of the case
In 1944, ten years after the body had been discovered, the forensic evidence was re-examined. The dental analysis of the victim was found to be faulty, and to have not discovered two porcelain fillings. It was then found that forensically, the pyjama girl's dental records were a match with Linda Agostini's.
The police commissioner, William MacKay, knew Linda Agostini's husband. Tony Agostini, a Fascist, had recently returned to Sydney after being held in Internment Camps at Orange, Hay and Loveday from 1940 to 1944. Noticing that Agostini seemed to be in a nervous state, MacKay asked him what had come over him. Agostini then confessed to killing his wife.
In his statement, Agostini admitted that he had accidentally shot and killed his wife when they were living in Melbourne. Worried that he might be accused of murder, he had driven the body over the state border to Albury and had dumped it in the culvert. He had poured petrol over the body and set fire to it, to destroy the evidence.
The arrest of Agostini was a sensation, as it meant that the pyjama girl had been identified. He was charged with murder and was extradited to Melbourne, where he was tried for murder. Surprisingly, he was acquitted of murder but found guilty of manslaughter instead, and was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was released in 1948 and deported to Italy, where he died in 1969.
[edit] New evidence
The case might have been left there, but new evidence recently uncovered by Richard Evans, a Melbourne historian, casts doubt on the conclusion of the case. As detailed in his book "The Pyjama Girl Mystery", Evans has pointed out discrepancies with the evidence. The pyjama girl had a different bust size to that of Linda Agostini. Linda Agostini had a different shaped nose. Most tellingly, the pyjama girl had blue eyes whereas Linda Agostini had brown eyes. In light of these discrepancies, there is some possibility that the dental evidence identifying Linda Agostini as the pyjama girl was fabricated, and that the Pyjama Girl's real identity therefore remains unknown.
[edit] References
- Evans, Richard (2004). The Pyjama Girl Mystery (1st ed.). Scribe Publications Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-920769-36-6.
- ABC Television: Rewind - 01/08/2004: The Pyjama Girl Mystery
- Historic Houses Trust, Justice and Police collection - photo of plaster model of the Pyjama Girl's face
- Australian Dictionary of Biography entry for Linda Agostini
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