Hello again, Pert Hornet, good to see you back. You haven't mentioned if you're a local, or have a personal interest in the case?
Most interesting is mention of 'three suspects' whom the police did not have enough evidence on to arrest... so it seems they do have a few people in their sights. That is good to know. I wonder if they're making any progress.
Not so much reaching conclusions, yet, as still looking at the questions.
It seems fairly obvious that an accelerant was used, witnesses report a sudden, large flare of flames and one reported seeing a man 'throwing something' just before the flare. What was the accelerant, I wonder (it produced a distinctly red flame, where some produce blue or other colours) and where'd it come from - did the perp just happen to have that at hand?
The little bit of research I've done on accelerants might indicate petrol or kerosene, a hydrocarbon fuel like that, which is known to produce red-hued flames.
Just talking aloud to myself here, really, as I look a bit harder at the timeline as given in the inquest report.
2.19: Rosamaria (R) leaves home (ostensibly to do some shopping locally) and boards a tram to the city.
2.49: R's tram arrives at the tram stop near Flinders St and she then heads to the Flinders St. train station.
2.59: R boards the Frankston train.
*** Okay. This just seems a bit odd, to me -- according to articles, she is reported as saying she's going to do a little shopping and banking in Coburg.
And yet, R then boards a tram going in the *opposite direction* to Coburg (which is just a very short distance north of Brunswick). Instead of going north, she has caught a tram on the opposite side of the street, one that was going south, to the city. Now, it just defies belief that a long-term local would mix those two trams up, nor the directions.
Thus, I believe R was NOT intending to travel to Coburg at all, but directly to the city.
R then gets off her tram at Flinders St and then heads *directly* to the Frankston train and boards it. If you take into consideration that R pretty much *must* have intended to travel to the city that day, I do not see why she'd arrive in the city, then neglect to any banking or shopping at all but instead head *directly* for the Frankston train. Even if she had caught the wrong tram, why not simply catch one back?
Thus, I believe R was intending to travel to somewhere by train, other than Coburg that day.
Back to the timeline:
4.04 PM R is observed arriving at Frankston station (this is quite a long journey from the city). There, she sits down at a nearby bus station and has a cigarette (as most smokers would, after a long train journey). Five minutes later, she crosses the road in Young St and heads west along "the main street" (what st?) toward Nepean Hwy (observed there at 4.15.)
4.30 PM - R stops a young woman near the Bayside shopping centre entrance on Balmoral Walk ( a 5-min walk from the station, maybe 15 for an old lady) and asks where "the bus station" is (witness is very sure this is what R said) stating she was lost, had intended to play the pokies but had caught the wrong transport (the witness stated she could not recall R's exact wording on anything but "bus station") and had not intended to come to Frankston.
***Why 'the bus station' and NOT the 'train station', if she was intending to get the train back to the city? I have a feeling the bus station was maybe a 'landmark' for her. Given to her by someone? Is what I am thinking --- it should be noted here, R does not head for said "bus station" but rather heads -- in the opposite direction (and in the direction she was generally heading in, toward the Nepean)-- for the pokies venue.
So I am wondering if R was trying to check with this witness that she's on the right track (from the landmark bus station) and then gets her bearings and ends up going to where she was headed (the pokies).
*** She is seen carrying two bags from somewhere around this time, it's not clear exactly where and when they were first observed in the inquest report - so I'm not clear where she got those from? R had very little time indeed to do any shopping. Maybe 15 mins spent at Bayside? Still, not a lot of time at all, if you take her slow walking and the times involved. So where'd she get those bags?
4.49: (I think this is meant to be 4.39?) R is seen on CCTV passing Robin Hood Tavern on Nepean Hwy.
4.45: R arrives at the Pier Hotel and enters the gaming area. She is not seen to speak to anyone, and does not consume any alcohol.
6.30 PM: R leaves the Pier Hotel and walks back past Robin Hood Tavern at 6.35. This is the last time Rosamaria is seen alive.
** Police have assumed R turned off into Playne St, crossed a footbridge over Kananook Ck and entered the reserve from that point. I am not sure how far along the reserve she was found. There is NO earthly reason I can think of as to why R would head there. Even if lost, it's a highly unlikely direction to take.
6.45 (approx) - Witnesses walking their dog on the Reserve foreshore hear a scream, then see a man standing beside a fire in some ti-tree scrub. The man was observed 'throwing something' on the fire. The fire is then seen to flare up suddenly.
6.45 - 6.55 - Witnesses observe two men acting suspiciously and rummaging through a dark coloured purse or wallet in the vicinity of where R was found.
6.55 (approx)- Witnesses at a nearby restaurant with a view of the beach (Waves on the Beach?) observe a fire, and then a large and sudden flare of 'red' coloured flames on the foreshore.
7.04: A witness calls 000 to report a fire on the foreshore.
*** This is all very strange. Rosamaria was likely attacked *immediately* that she entered the Reserve (given witness statements re a fire, just 10 mins after R's last CCTV sighting at the Robin Hood) , very quickly indeed if indeed she walked (for some inexplicable reason) over the bridge. Even given that the location is well-known for 'undesirables', it beggars belief that the local junkies were just sitting there with a can of petrol, waiting to pounce on some random, unwitting victim in order to snatch her purse and then burn her alive.
***Something just truly does not add up to me here, from the moment Rosamaria left home to 'go shopping in Coburg' (but made a beeline for Flinders St and Frankston... and that 'bus station'...) to her inexplicable entry into the reserve, to the very quick attack which followed, in which she is burned alive most probably with an accelerant.
That is where I am at with this case.
