Unsolved - Dark Stories True Crime Tours

1934: The Pyjama Girl: A Body in a Culvert and a Mystery That Lasted Decades

On 1 September 1934, the body of a woman with a bullet through the neck was found in a culvert beneath near Albury, New South Wales.

Dressed in silk pyjamas, she remained unidentified for a decade, preserved in formalin and viewed by thousands before police named her as Florence Linda Agostini, an English-born woman who had lived on Darlinghurst Road in Kings Cross and later moved to Melbourne with her husband Tony Agostini.

Tony Agostini confessed to killing Linda and was convicted of manslaughter, sentenced to six years. He served just over three years before being deported to Italy.

Photograph of Linda Agostini(Linda Platt) - Pyjama Girl Mystery

⬅ See all events from 1 September

Albury Australia Cold Case Darlinghurst Kings Cross Manslaughter Melbourne Murder NSW Sydney Trial Unsolved VIC

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1888: Jack the Ripper Claims His First Victim in Whitechapel

Mary Ann Nichols, known as Polly, was 43 years old, a divorced mother of five, and homeless on the night she died. In the early hours of 31 August 1888, she went to the streets of Whitechapel, London, to earn money for a bed. Her body was found before 4 a.m., her throat slashed with a long-bladed knife and her abdomen deeply cut. There were no witnesses.

Nichols became the first of at least five women murdered in and around Whitechapel between late August and early November 1888 by the killer who would become known as Jack the Ripper. Her death ignited intense press and public interest in both the murders and the desperate living conditions of London's East End.

Despite countless theories, the killer Jack The Ripper, has never been identified.

Illustration of PC Neil discovering the body of Mary Ann Nichols with his lantern. Unknown artist, 1888. Published in Famous Crimes Past and Present, c.1903. Public domain.

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Cold Case Europe London Murder Serial Killer UK Unsolved

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1803: Constable Joseph Luker: the First Police Officer Killed on Duty in Australia

Constable Joseph Luker, a British convict transported to New South Wales on the Third Fleet in 1791, served out his sentence and joined the Night Watch, the colony's fledgling police force. On the night of 25 August 1803, he was called to investigate a robbery at Mary Breeze's brothel on Back Row East in Sydney, telling Breeze he believed he knew who was responsible.

His body was found before dawn behind the establishment, bearing sixteen wounds to the head. The guard of his own cutlass had been driven into his skull, and nearby lay a bloodied barrow wheel and the stolen desk. Surgeon John Harris concluded at least four weapons had been used. Though some of his fellow constables were implicated, no one was ever convicted of his murder. Luker remains the first police officer killed in the line of duty in the history of Australia.

⬅ See all events from 26 August

Australia Cold Case Murder NSW Police Sydney Unsolved

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1973: Two Girls Vanish from Adelaide Oval in One of South Australia's Most Infamous Cold Cases

On 25 August 1973, Joanne Ratcliffe, aged 11, and Kirste Gordon, aged 4, disappeared from the Adelaide Oval during an Australian rules football match between Norwood and North Adelaide. Witnesses saw the girls in the company of a man in an Akubra hat and grey checked sports jacket. One witness, a confectionery vendor, watched the man carry Kirste in one arm while Joanne kicked and screamed at him to let her go. He dropped his reading glasses in the struggle, grabbed Joanne by the arm, and dragged her toward the southern gates. Bystanders assumed he was simply a parent.

Police believe both girls were abducted, and their disappearance has never been solved. South Australia Police and media have long linked the case to the 1966 disappearance of the Beaumont children, also from South Australia. The case remains one of the most haunting unsolved crimes in the country's history.

Football Game at the Adelaide Oval - the ground in 1973 still had the old stands and the 1911 scoreboard seen here.

⬅ See all events from 25 August

Adelaide Australia Cold Case Kidnapping Missing Persons Murder SA Unsolved

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