THE HAUNTING OF HODDLE STREET

A former Melbourne cop hopes the victims of the 1987 mass shooting are always remembered

- John Burfitt.

On the 35th anniversary of Melbourne’s horrific Hoddle Street massacre, retired policeman Peter Haddow still cannot say the name of the gunman who took seven lives and seriously injured 19 others.

“I won’t say his name because I dislike that people remember his name,” the author of the book Hoddle Street: The Ambush And The Tragedy tells Woman’s Day. “It’s the names of his victims we should remember.

“We should know the names of Tracey Skinner, Vesna Markovska, Robert Mitchell, Gina Papaioannou, John Muscat, Dusan Flajnik , Shane Stanton and the names of those he injured. The murderer – and that is the only name he should be known by – deeply impacted hundreds, possibly thousands of lives with what he did.”

UNPROMPTED CARNAGE

The perpetrator was Julian Knight, then aged 19. Only weeks before the massacre, Knight was discharged from the prestigious Royal Military College, Duntroon after being involved in a stabbing.

His dream of a career in the armed forces was shattered, and upon returning to Melbourne, Knight was dumped by his girlfriend and had problems finding work. It’s believed the combination of these experiences led to the events of August 9, 1987.