Thirty-two years ago, 79-year-old Leah Buck was attacked and robbed in Williamstown in broad daylight. The severe injuries she sustained would result in her death the following day. Her attacker remains unidentified and the case is still unsolved with police issuing a $1 million reward for information relating to the murder. Sam Porter looks back on the cold case.
In September 1994, about 150 people attended a service at Altona Memorial Park crematorium to pay their respects to Leah Buck, one week after her tragic murder.
At the service the reverend told of how Mrs Buck, who raised three children on her own, was a courageous woman.
“She was extremely independent. She loved to walk along The Strand to feed the seagulls or have a yarn with someone up the street,” the reverend said, according to a Williamstown Advertiser article at the time.
“She had a big heart and a big welcome for anyone who came. She was a great spirit; a great Australian woman who was loved by all who knew her.”
Advertiser journalist Elisabeth Tarica, who wrote the article, was present at the funeral.
She was invited by Mrs Buck’s family who hoped ongoing media coverage might help lead to the perpetrator’s arrest.
Ms Tarica described the “overwhelming shock and sadness that swept through the community”.
“Everyone present [at the service] seemed to be grappling with the senselessness of Leah’s loss, and there was little conversation as people paid their respects in quiet solidarity,” she said.
“It was clear that the pain ran deep, not just for Leah’s loved ones but for the whole community which was feeling the sadness, shock and anger.”
The previous week, on Tuesday 20 September, about 12.30pm, Mrs Buck mentioned to a family member she had an appointment with a local optometrist.
About two hours later, she was seen by a witness pushing a shopping trolley towards a friend’s home on Dover Road, Williamstown.
Investigators believe she had also just left the optometrist.
At about the same time, a second witness found Mrs Buck, disorientated and bleeding, kneeling against a brick wall along Dover Road, her shopping trolley lying next to her.
Mrs Buck repeatedly told the person something had hit her, according to the witness.
Mrs Buck, who had sustained several severe injuries to the back of her head as a result of the attack, was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.
She fought for her life for 12 hours and then sadly died.
On the day Mrs Buck was attacked, a similar incident was also recorded in the neighbouring suburb of Newport about 30 minutes earlier.
Seventy-three year old Elizabeth Davies was robbed on Newcastle Street, also found lying on the ground with head injuries.
Police were investigating whether there was a link between the two incidents and another in Sunshine that occurred on the same day, according to the news article by Ms Tarica published on 28 September, 1994.
Ms Tarica said the attacks and Mrs Buck’s subsequent death left the close-knit Williamstown community deeply shaken.
“There was a palpable sense of fear, with many genuinely worried for the safety of their loved ones,” she said.
“As a local, I was worried for my own mother and grandmother, whose daily routines – shopping or running errands – mirrored those of the two victims. The community, feeling anxious and vulnerable, began taking extra precautions and looking out for one another.”
Ms Tarica said her colleague was writing about similar incidents in the western suburbs at the time but there was no evidence to connect them.
A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed there was a spate of incidents reported in and around the western suburbs, about the time of Mrs Buck’s death, where elderly women had been targeted in a similar manner.
“In these cases, the victims were struck from behind and had their handbags and purses stolen,” the spokesperson said.
“To this day, investigators have been unable to establish any link between these incidents however it has not been ruled out.”
In the Sunshine Western Suburbs Advocate, Ms Tarica’s colleague Deborah Gough wrote a story about three violent bag snatchings in St Albans and one in Albion that occurred during the same month.
The story appeared the same week Ms Tarica’s article on Mrs Buck’s murder was published.
Of the incidents in Ms Gough’s report, the most serious occurred in Albion where a 67-year-old woman was targeted after catching the train from Sunshine to Albion Station.
The offender hit the woman over the head and stole money from her.
The other attacks on the three women in St Albans occurred in separate incidents, all taking place at the rear of the Safeway (Woolworths) car park after they had finished their shopping.
They were aged 72, 55 and 39 years old at the time.
The 72-year-old was walking home when a man ran past her and snatched her bag, according to the report.
She pursued him however he was able to get away by jumping a fence.
The 55-year old woman was pushed over by an aggressor who demanded she hand over her handbag, Ms Gough reported.
Police at the time believed the three St Albans incidents were linked, according to Ms Gough’s article.
Three decades later and no one has been charged with Mrs Buck’s murder despite significant investigations.
Quoted in the 1994 article by Ms Tarica was Mrs Buck’s granddaughter, Coreena Price.
“You could prepare yourself to cope with her death if it was a heart attack but not something like this. She was bashed senseless,” Ms Price said.
“My nan didn’t have a say whether she wanted to live or die – they made that choice for her.”
Reflecting on the conversation with the family, Ms Tarica said she was grateful to Mrs Buck’s daughter and granddaughter for taking the time to speak with her during their period of grief.
“Both were incredibly generous in sharing their experiences despite the emotional toll and grief. The family wanted to keep Leah’s story in the public eye to encourage someone with information to come forward and I am sad that it is still unresolved,” she said.
According to police, Mrs Buck’s family have never given up hope that the person who attacked their loved one would be found.
Anyone with information that could assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report at www.crimestoppers.vic.gov.au
