The murders of Margaret Tapp and Seana Tapp, sometimes simply referred to as the Tapp murders, are unsolved crimes that occurred on 7 August 1984. The murders have been described as one of the most notorious unsolved murder cases in Australian history.

Background

Margaret Christine Tapp (3 June 1949 – 7 August 1984), a 35-year-old nurse who was studying law, and her nine-year-old daughter, Seana Lee Tapp (6 March 1975 - 7 August 1984) lived in

Ferntree Gully Ferntree Gully is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, 30 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Kn ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

Investigation

Late on 6 August or early on 7 August 1984, an unknown assailant or assailants entered the home, beating, then

strangling Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that hanging ...

them to death with a section of rope. The victims' bodies were found in their beds in their nightwear the following day. Seana had been raped prior to her murder. The case was investigated but quickly went cold. As there were no signs of forced entry, and the victims were attacked in their beds, the perpetrator(s) were probably known to them and aware of the broken lock on the back door. Other leads included a

Dunlop Volley Volley, formerly known as Dunlop Volley is an Australian brand of athletic shoes manufactured by Brand Collective. Formerly, it was produced by Dunlop Sport (Australia), a sports equipment subsidiary of Pacific Brands, which separated the ''Vol ...

footprint and a red utility vehicle seen parked nearby which was never traced. Potential suspects included work colleagues and acquaintances of the single mother, including a doctor who had been paying the house rent prior to his death. Several suspects were later eliminated via

DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

, although complications in 2008 pertaining to the

contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that spoils, corrupts, infects, makes unfit, or makes inferior a material, physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination W ...

of samples retrieved from the murder scene have cast doubts upon the earlier elimination of some suspects from the police inquiry. In 2015, investigators reopened the case in a cold case review including the help of well known ex-investigator

Ron Iddles Ronald William Iddles is a former Australian police detective. His conviction rate was 99% and he was dubbed "Australia's greatest detective". After a career spanning some 43 years investigating serious crime, he took up the role of Secretary o ...

. In 2017, an 1 million reward was offered for information that could lead to a conviction.

Aftermath

The Tapps are buried in Ferntree Gully Cemetery.

Notes

References

Cited works and further reading

External links

* *
and Seana Tapp''
True Crime Sisters, 9 August 2017
Tapp Tragedy''
Life and Crimes with Andrew Rule, 21 April 2018
Unsolved 1984 Tapp Murders''
Australian True Crime with Emily Webb and

Meshel Laurie Meshel Laurie (born Michelle Laurie 29 May 1973) is an Australian podcaster and author. Comedy career Laurie's first Melbourne International Comedy Festival show was ''Dairy Belles'' which she performed with Corinne Grant. In 1998 she was gra ...

, 24 January 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapp, Margaret and Seana 1980s in Melbourne 1984 murders in Australia Australian murder victims Deaths by person in Australia Deaths by strangulation Female murder victims Murdered Australian children People murdered in Victoria (state) Unsolved murders in Australia Violence against women in Australia Incidents of violence against girls