One year after sex worker Tracy Connelly was murdered, many have returned to the place where she died to commemorate her.
About 100 people stood holding candles outside sex worker support group St Kilda Gatehouse’s headquarters on Monday night.
Ms Connelly’s partner, Tony Melissovas, found her body in the van where they lived, parked on Greeves Street on July 21, 2013.
Mr Melissovas has been cleared as a suspect because he was receiving treatment for a hand injury on the night of her death.
He was also at the event on Monday, which doubled as a tribute to other women who had been victims of violence.
Police believe that Tracy was killed by one of her clients, and that robbery may have been a motive.
They have yet to charge anyone with her murder, but are looking through thousands of number plates of cars in the area which Mr Melissovas recorded.
Detective Senior Sergeant Stuart Bailey, who was at the memorial on Monday, said police had spoken to several people there who gave them information about new people they could speak to in their investigation.
He urged the public not to assume that a year on police did not need more information.
While they had investigated tips from people who had already called police he urged those who had information and not called police to do so.
“If you have information but wish to remain anonymous, if you feel you can’t come forward and be identified because of the location you’re in, you can also speak to us anonymously,” Detective Senior Sergeant Bailey said.
Two men seen on CCTV in the area about the time she was believed to have been killed have also never come forward, despite being cleared as suspects in her murder.
One man was walking near Greeves Street and another was driving a Ford ute. Police also have CCTV footage of a man and woman, believed to be Ms Connelly and her killer, walking towards the van.
Tracy’s black handbag, mobile phone and Bendigo Bank credit card were stolen, and have not been found since she died.
“It’s one year on and we still feel her loss,” Sally Tonkin, chief executive of St Kilda Gatehouse said.
The crowd at the memorial – who Ms Tonkin said were mostly St Kilda residents – listened to a local band play and placed flowers lanterns and candles on a fence near Gatehouse as a makeshift shrine to Ms Connelly, where a sign read: “Still Loved”.
Ms Tonkin said a review of coroners reports, police notices and media reports showed about 67 women had been killed inAustralia since Ms Connelly died. Many of their names and the circumstances of their deaths were also listed at her shrine.
“We wanted to hold the service to honour and remember Tracy, but that’s the message we want to get out there, that it’s still happening, it’s still an issue and as a community we need to start doing something about it,” she said.
The community needed to shift its focus from blaming victims of violence – citing other women who have been killed in public spaces- to understanding the motivations of perpetrators, including the way sexist attitudes contributed to violence against women, she said.
“As we know it can be anyone, it can be the young woman (Renae Lau) walking to work the other morning, Jill Meagher walking home from the bar, Tracy working on the street or someone in their own home,” Ms Tonkin said.
“It doesn’t matter what the woman is doing, the focus needs to be on where this violence is coming from.”
She said: “The women now realise there’s a community around them who care for their wellbeing and that came as a result of the vigil last year and some of the media (reports of Ms Connelly’s murder) at the time.That’s been really powerful.”
Tracy Connelly. Photo: Supplied
