Alleged double murderer Ross Judd declares innocence
A man accused of murdering a pregnant woman and beheading her partner in Melbourne’s south-east repeatedly interrupted the hearing by declaring his innocence and complaining that his money and a dog had been stolen from him.
Ross Judd is accused of murdering Athena Georgopoulos, 39, and Andrew Gunn, 50, whose bodies were found at their Mount Waverley unit on August 11 last year.
On Tuesday, Judd, of no fixed address, also complained about the legal process, telling a judge that the trial was taking too long and was extremely unfair to him.
Gunn was arrested by officers at Westall railway station in Clayton South, about four miles from where the couple were staying, at around 1.40am on August 12, hours after their bodies were discovered by a neighbor and police. Gunn was decapitated.
At the time of his arrest, Judd was wearing blood-stained clothing and had two large dogs with him.
During outbursts at a brief hearing in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday afternoon, she appeared to accuse Gunn of stealing her money and a dog and described how long the legal proceedings were taking.
“I think it’s taking too long. It’s taking too long,” he told the court via video link.
“It takes a lot of time and it’s really unfair to me because I’m innocent. For example, he stole my dog and my money.”
Judd also complained that he was unable to hear the hearing properly and repeatedly asked the magistrate if he could speak to the court about his “situation”.
“Please speak louder,” Judd said at one point.
Judge Tim Schocker urged the alleged double killer to seek advice from his lawyers.
“Mr. Judd, talk to your legal representatives about this,” Schocker told him. “I think they’ll be able to arrange a conference with you soon.”
But Judd continued to intervene.
“I’ve already spoken to the lawyer,” he said. “How long will the whole process take?”
Schocker responded: “These are questions you should ask your lawyers… Talk to your legal representatives about these questions.”
Previously, Judd’s lawyer had asked for the case to be postponed until the end of March and told the court that a psychiatric report was needed to determine whether the defendant was mentally disabled and was currently being obtained. The prosecutor’s office did not object to the postponement decision.
Athena Georgopoulos, also known as “Tina” to her friends, was five months pregnant with her first child when she was killed.
Her mother, Petty Georgopoulos, said last year that she was heartbroken and did not believe someone could have killed her daughter, describing her as pixoula, which means lover in Greek.
“Darling, you left life so unjustly that I still can’t believe it,” he wrote on Facebook.
“You were so happy the last few days. We dreamed together of the grandchild you would bring into our lives, but everything turned upside down one night when a murderer took your life and the grandchild you would bring to us in four months. No matter how much they separate us, I will never stop loving you forever. Farewell my daughter, in the light of the angels.”
Neighbor Ben Scott-Sandvik found the couple dead after hearing loud noises and a fight breaking out in the unit.
“No one should come across what I saw there,” he said at the time. “No one needs to live knowing something like this happened to their family.”
Video footage of Judd’s arrest shows officers subduing and arresting the shoeless man, who was wearing a short-sleeved white T-shirt spattered with blood, on the train station platform.
The prosecution had previously asked the court for an additional 20 weeks to prepare a brief of evidence; He noted that it was a complex crime scene and that there was significant DNA that needed to be processed by police.
At the time, investigators were still trying to establish a connection between those involved but believed Judd was known to the couple and suspected it was a targeted attack.
Police were also investigating graffiti outside the unit that read “betrayal” and “enough is enough”.
