Man charged with murder after 81-year-old woman allegedly stabbed to death

A man has been charged with murder after an 81-year-old woman died from stab wounds at a home in Victoria’s rural south-west.

Police were called to house in Pilleau Street in Coleraine, about 35 kilometres north-west of Hamilton, following reports a woman was injured about 1.10am on Saturday.

Police are investigating after a woman was stabbed to death at Coleraine in Victoria’s rural south-west.

Officers arrived and found the local woman, but she died at the scene.

Homicide squad detectives travelled to Coleraine to investigate the circumstances, and later charged an 81-year-old Coleraine man with murder.

He was remanded in custody to front Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Police tape cordoned off the home on Saturday as forensics officers photographed the scene and collected evidence.

Forensics officers comb the scene for evidence.

A red Nissan Tiida was parked in the driveway of the home, which is opposite a public swimming pool.

The man and woman lived in the Pilleau Street home. A former neighbour described them as “loners” and “very private people” who were not active in community activities or clubs.

“They stuck to themselves … [but] we got on well with them as neighbours,” said the former neighbour, who did not want to be named.

“I got the impression [the man] didn’t like visitors.”

Police occasionally drove along the street as part of their routine patrols, another neighbour said.

“Most people in Coleraine would be pretty shocked because it’s a small town, and everyone knows everything because of that,” said that neighbour, who also did not want to be named.

A police spokeswoman said the man knew the dead woman.

Homicide detectives are investigating five deaths across Victoria in the past two weeks.

Athan Boursinos, who was part of a street crew controlled by tobacco kingpin Kazem “Kaz” Hamad, was shot dead in a laneway at Wollert in Melbourne’s outer north just before 9am on Thursday.

Neighbours said police frequently patrolled Coleraine.

On Wednesday, police shot dead a 45-year-old man at Yarra Junction when they found him strangling his sister, after he partially severed her arm with a samurai sword.

The woman remained in a critical condition at the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Saturday.

Police are also investigating the deaths of an elderly couple, after a woman was found dead inside a home on Kaye Court at Dandenong North in Melbourne’s south-east about 1.30pm on July 25. A man later died in the property’s driveway.

“The deceased were an 81-year-old man and an 80-year-old woman,” a police spokeswoman said. “The deaths are being treated as murder-suicide.”

On July 20, a man died shortly after he was arrested in his front yard in Moore Street in Traralgon, in the Latrobe Valley. The homicide squad launched an investigation into his death, which is being overseen by Victoria Police’s Professional Standards Command, as is standard procedure for deaths in custody.

Police are yet to determine the exact circumstances of the Traralgon man’s death, the spokeswoman confirmed on Saturday.

Officers urged anyone with information about the woman’s death at Coleraine to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or submit a confidential report online at crimestoppersvic.com.au.

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