Two Priests Key Suspects In Melbourne Murder Investigation

Two Victorian Catholic Priests Have Been Listed Amongst Four Others As Suspects Into A 1980 Murder.

Laudetur Iesus Christus.

A recent coronial inquest into a 40-year-old murder investigation has revealed two deceased Catholic priests as key suspects in the 1980 Melbourne murder of 38-year-old Maria James.

Father Anthony Bongiorno, a classmate of Cardinal George Pell and Archbishop Emeritus Denis Hart, and Father Thomas O'Keeffe were named by Victoria Police as two of six suspects in Ms James' death.

The Scene of The Murder In Thornbury.

A new inquest began on Monday to examine the circumstances of the murder, identify the killer and assess the police investigation.

This morning the inquest heard from Detective Cliff Hall, who said that minutes after arriving on the scene on the 17th of June 1980, a man dressed in a black cassock and collar arrived at the front of Ms James' bookshop and was "aggressive and domineering".

"He identified himself as Father Anthony Bongiorno; when I told him he couldn't enter because a lady had died, he said he was her priest and needed to go inside to administer last rites," he said.

"He was adamant about getting in and giving last rites, he actually tried physically pushing past me, and I had to physically push him away to keep him out."

"It got pretty heated, and he just wouldn't stop insisting on getting in."

After a "bit of confrontation," Detective Hall said the Priest continued to push him and was placed into a police van "because his behaviour was hindering police".

Father Bongiorno was taken to Northcote police station before being released; however, some time later, he returned to the crime scene and continued to try getting inside.

"I think he just sort of hung around at the front and later disappeared, eventually," Detective Hall said.

Father Bongiorno was later interviewed by homicide detectives, not as a suspect but as the family Priest.

Ms James' sons now want police to exhume the Priest's body in order to get his DNA to prove whether or not he killed their mother in her Thornbury bookshop.

The inquest continues...