by Luke Voogt
Almost 28 years since the alleged murder of Geelong West woman Annette Steward, police have made a major breakthrough in the cold case.
Police arrested Darren John Chalmers, 52, in the Perth suburb of Wembley on Monday in an operation by Victorian and West Australian detectives linking two alleged murders.
Mr Chalmers appeared in a Perth court on Monday after West Australian Homicide Squad detectives charged him with the alleged 2019 murder of Dianne Barrett.
The 59-year-old woman Medina woman’s body was found on Monday in Karrakup, southeast of Perth, after she disappeared in last May.
Victorian Homicide Squad detectives also interviewed Mr Chalmers in relation to the murder of Ms Steward in Geelong West in 1992, a WA police spokesperson confirmed.
“At this stage police are not seeking anyone else and the investigation remains ongoing,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
A former flatmate found Ms Steward, 29, dead with an electrical cord around her neck in the bedroom of her Hope St property on 18 March, 1992.
She had also suffered head injuries. A post-mortem revealed she died as a result of strangulation.
In 2015 Victoria Police offered a $1 million reward for information in relation to the 29-year-old’s death.
State Government, through Victoria Police, announced the sum for “information leading to the apprehension and subsequent conviction of the person or persons responsible for the death of Annette Maree Steward”.
Mr Chalmers was refused bail until his next court appearance in February.
