THE PYJAMA GIRL MYSTERY - Richard Evans
THE PYJAMA GIRL MYSTERY is less about resolving who killed her, and more about how the police investigation at the time proceeded. The book lays out all of the circumstances around the location of the body; the steps taken to try to identify the body; and ultimately the trial and manslaughter verdict against Antonia Agostini.
The body had been ultimately identified as Agostini's wife - Linda. But was that a valid identification (and I've got to say from the photos included I'd have to have my doubts), and did Agostini really kill his wife (whose body has never been found), and who is the Pyjama Girl.
Fascinating for the analysis of the police investigation; enlightening about crackpots through the ages; one of the really interesting things about this book is the glimpses into 1920's / 30's and 40's Australia.
The Pyjama Girl was an unknown woman, found dumped by a road near Albury in 1934. She had been brutally murdered. Who she was, and who killed her, became Australia's great unsolved crime for decades.
The body was preserved in formalin, her image circulated around the world. The mystery fascinated the nation and, for some, became an obsession
Ten years later, the body was identified and a man was convicted of her manslaughter. The case, it seemed, was neatly solved.
But this 'solution', advanced by the police, accepted by the courts and the media, and since repeated endlessly, was a lie. Behind the lie is a troubling story of murder and obsession, of a wild conspiracy theory, of police corruption and a miscarriage of justice and of a real killing which floated free from reality and became a myth.
Review | THE PYJAMA GIRL MYSTERY - Richard Evans | Karen Chisholm
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Wednesday, March 26, 2008 |
Blog | Currently Reading - The Pyjama Girl Mystery, Richard Evans (True Crime) | Karen Chisholm
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Monday, March 24, 2008 |
I've just read this book, and couldn't put it down. I've read other accounts but think the author is persuasive in casting into doubt the identification of the victim. I don't think it was Linda Agostini at all. I can accept that Tony Agostini's confession to killing his wife, Linda, was authentic, but that the PJ Girl was not Linda. So, my question is, where is Linda Agostini's body?