In Love and Murder: Crimes of Passion That Shocked the World
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is…deadly? For the people in this book, that’s certainly the case. They acted out of love and performed some of the most hideous acts of passion in the history of romance.
This short book follows several cases of deadly passion, from the celebrated French woman who had enough of her husband's blatant cheating to the woman who made her husband a few inches shorter. These deadly divas and wannabe studs shocked the world and proved that love can be fatal!
This short book follows several cases of deadly passion, from the celebrated French woman who had enough of her husband's blatant cheating to the woman who made her husband a few inches shorter. These deadly divas and wannabe studs shocked the world and proved that love can be fatal!
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Excerpt
Introduction
Crimes of passion have long fascinated us because they twist the most basic and desirable of emotions into evil and violence. When people kill or try to kill for love, it strikes straight to our hearts and makes us question our most basic beliefs. We like to associate love with peace and compassion, but it often generates violence.
Unlike most murderers, we can often sympathize with the perpetrators in crimes of passion. In many cases, they are the victims of callous lovers and sociopaths. At one time, French law even recognized the killing of a cheating spouse as justifiable homicide.
The emotions it raises are what make crimes of passion so hard to understand or to prosecute. Yet those emotions are what make such crimes so fascinating.
Antonio Agostini and the Pajama Girl
Some crimes of passion are so sensational that they can capture the imagination of an entire nation. A classic example of such a crime is Australia’s legendary “Pajama Girl” mystery from the 1930s. The mystery was so engrossing that it actually diverted Australians’ attention from the Great Depression that was then hitting their nation hard.
The case first attracted attention in August, 1934 when a man named Tom Griffith was moving a bull near the town of Albury, New South Wales. As he tried to lead a bull down a road, Griffith noticed something in a ditch and went to take a look. To his horror, Griffith discovered that the thing in the ditch was a woman wearing silk pajamas, hence the term Pyjama Girl (in Australia, pajama is spelled the British way with a Y). The body was soaked in kerosene and burned in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Part of the reason the case attracted so much attention was that nobody could identify the girl. Forensics wasn’t very advanced in 1934, and police were unable to identify the victim. The body was even put on public display in an attempt to identify the victim. During the initial investigation, at least two missing women were listed as possible identities for the victim, Linda Agostini and Anna Philomena Morgan. Unfortunately, police couldn’t make a positive identification.
The pajamas themselves added a note of sensationalism to the crime. At the time, respectable women in Australia were not supposed to wear pajamas. Silk pajamas, like those worn by the girl, were equated with loose women and prostitutes.
It Took 10 Years to Solve the Crime
Astoundingly, it took 10 years to solve the crime and bring the perpetrator to justice. The Pajama Girl’s body was preserved in a tank of chemicals for future police work and stored at the University in Sydney and later at police headquarters. In 1944, the preservation work paid off when the girl in the pajamas was finally identified.
By examining dental records, investigators determined that the girl was Linda Agostini, an English immigrant who had disappeared in 1934. The identity also gave investigators a suspect, Linda’s husband Antonio (or Tony) Agostini, an Italian immigrant. Agostini was arrested in Sydney and extradited to Melbourne to stand trial for murder; he and Linda had been living in Melbourne at the time of her disappearance.
Incredibly, Sydney’s police commissioner William McKay knew Agostini, who had worked in the cloakroom at one of his favorite restaurants, Romanos. McKay asked Agostini to come over to his office for a chat. During the chat, Agostini confessed to the crime and made the questionable claim that he had accidently shot and killed his wife. He also admitted that he poured gasoline over the body and tried to burn it. Agostini even admitted he had moved the body to another state in an attempt to evade detection.
Antonio Agostini: Murderer or Victim of Wartime Hysteria?
Despite the confession, prosecutors were unable to convince a jury that Agostini was guilty of murder. That meant he could not hang for his crime. Instead, Agostini was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison. After his release, Agostini was deported to Italy, where he died in 1969.
Wartime hysteria might have played a role in Agostini’s conviction. World War II was raging and Australia was in the thick of it. In 1940, Agostini and many other Italian immigrants in Australia had been placed in internment camps after Italy declared war on the British Empire. The prejudice didn’t disappear when the Italians were released in 1944.
Is the Mystery Solved or Not?
There are several big questions in the Pajama Girl case that have not been answered. The first is a motive: none was given, and even Antonio Agostini claimed not to have one.
Linda Agostini’s friends and relatives gave one possible motive: they claimed Agostini was a controlling man, while Linda was something of a free spirit. Agostini had moved to Melbourne from Sydney to get Linda away from her friends before her disappearance. Another might be infidelity, and evidence suggests that Linda was promiscuous before the marriage. She may have continued cheating, which might have enraged Agostini. Since details of the couple’s marriage are not available, it is impossible to verify such speculations.
Was Linda Agostini the Pajama Girl or Not?
There are even historians that doubt that Linda Agostini was the Pajama Girl. Melbourne historian Richard Evans, who has studied the case, claims the Pajama Girl had a different bust size from Linda Agostini. Evans even wrote a book listing what he claims are discrepancies in the evidence.
Even if Evans is right, it doesn’t mean that Antonio Agostini was innocent. It is possible that Agostini believed that the police had found his wife’s body. He might have also felt guilty and simply wanted to confess. One intriguing possibility is that Agostini murdered his wife and did such a good job of hiding her body that it was never found.
Even if Linda Agostini was not the Pajama Girl, Antonio Agostini did fit the profile of the kind of person who committed a crime of passion. He was controlling, domineering, and possibly obsessive with his wife. He wanted her all to himself, and if he couldn’t have her, nobody could. It is doubtful that the truth about the Pajama Girl mystery will ever be solved, although it appears to be a classic crime of passion.
Bibliography
Australia Today . "Australia Today the Pyjama Girl Murder Case (1939)." 1939. aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels. Vintage newsreel from 1939. 21 February 2013.
DeSouza, Poppy. "Australia Today The Pyjama Girl Murder Case (1939." n.d. aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels. Curator's Notes to Vintage Newsreel from 1939. 21 February 2013.
Pennay, Bruce. "Agostini Linda (1905-1934)." n.d. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/agostini-linda-9966. Entry in Australian Dictionary of Biography. 21 February 2013.
Wikipedia . "Linda Agostini ." n.d. en.wikipedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 21 February 2013.
Crimes of passion have long fascinated us because they twist the most basic and desirable of emotions into evil and violence. When people kill or try to kill for love, it strikes straight to our hearts and makes us question our most basic beliefs. We like to associate love with peace and compassion, but it often generates violence.
Unlike most murderers, we can often sympathize with the perpetrators in crimes of passion. In many cases, they are the victims of callous lovers and sociopaths. At one time, French law even recognized the killing of a cheating spouse as justifiable homicide.
The emotions it raises are what make crimes of passion so hard to understand or to prosecute. Yet those emotions are what make such crimes so fascinating.
Antonio Agostini and the Pajama Girl
Some crimes of passion are so sensational that they can capture the imagination of an entire nation. A classic example of such a crime is Australia’s legendary “Pajama Girl” mystery from the 1930s. The mystery was so engrossing that it actually diverted Australians’ attention from the Great Depression that was then hitting their nation hard.
The case first attracted attention in August, 1934 when a man named Tom Griffith was moving a bull near the town of Albury, New South Wales. As he tried to lead a bull down a road, Griffith noticed something in a ditch and went to take a look. To his horror, Griffith discovered that the thing in the ditch was a woman wearing silk pajamas, hence the term Pyjama Girl (in Australia, pajama is spelled the British way with a Y). The body was soaked in kerosene and burned in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Part of the reason the case attracted so much attention was that nobody could identify the girl. Forensics wasn’t very advanced in 1934, and police were unable to identify the victim. The body was even put on public display in an attempt to identify the victim. During the initial investigation, at least two missing women were listed as possible identities for the victim, Linda Agostini and Anna Philomena Morgan. Unfortunately, police couldn’t make a positive identification.
The pajamas themselves added a note of sensationalism to the crime. At the time, respectable women in Australia were not supposed to wear pajamas. Silk pajamas, like those worn by the girl, were equated with loose women and prostitutes.
It Took 10 Years to Solve the Crime
Astoundingly, it took 10 years to solve the crime and bring the perpetrator to justice. The Pajama Girl’s body was preserved in a tank of chemicals for future police work and stored at the University in Sydney and later at police headquarters. In 1944, the preservation work paid off when the girl in the pajamas was finally identified.
By examining dental records, investigators determined that the girl was Linda Agostini, an English immigrant who had disappeared in 1934. The identity also gave investigators a suspect, Linda’s husband Antonio (or Tony) Agostini, an Italian immigrant. Agostini was arrested in Sydney and extradited to Melbourne to stand trial for murder; he and Linda had been living in Melbourne at the time of her disappearance.
Incredibly, Sydney’s police commissioner William McKay knew Agostini, who had worked in the cloakroom at one of his favorite restaurants, Romanos. McKay asked Agostini to come over to his office for a chat. During the chat, Agostini confessed to the crime and made the questionable claim that he had accidently shot and killed his wife. He also admitted that he poured gasoline over the body and tried to burn it. Agostini even admitted he had moved the body to another state in an attempt to evade detection.
Antonio Agostini: Murderer or Victim of Wartime Hysteria?
Despite the confession, prosecutors were unable to convince a jury that Agostini was guilty of murder. That meant he could not hang for his crime. Instead, Agostini was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison. After his release, Agostini was deported to Italy, where he died in 1969.
Wartime hysteria might have played a role in Agostini’s conviction. World War II was raging and Australia was in the thick of it. In 1940, Agostini and many other Italian immigrants in Australia had been placed in internment camps after Italy declared war on the British Empire. The prejudice didn’t disappear when the Italians were released in 1944.
Is the Mystery Solved or Not?
There are several big questions in the Pajama Girl case that have not been answered. The first is a motive: none was given, and even Antonio Agostini claimed not to have one.
Linda Agostini’s friends and relatives gave one possible motive: they claimed Agostini was a controlling man, while Linda was something of a free spirit. Agostini had moved to Melbourne from Sydney to get Linda away from her friends before her disappearance. Another might be infidelity, and evidence suggests that Linda was promiscuous before the marriage. She may have continued cheating, which might have enraged Agostini. Since details of the couple’s marriage are not available, it is impossible to verify such speculations.
Was Linda Agostini the Pajama Girl or Not?
There are even historians that doubt that Linda Agostini was the Pajama Girl. Melbourne historian Richard Evans, who has studied the case, claims the Pajama Girl had a different bust size from Linda Agostini. Evans even wrote a book listing what he claims are discrepancies in the evidence.
Even if Evans is right, it doesn’t mean that Antonio Agostini was innocent. It is possible that Agostini believed that the police had found his wife’s body. He might have also felt guilty and simply wanted to confess. One intriguing possibility is that Agostini murdered his wife and did such a good job of hiding her body that it was never found.
Even if Linda Agostini was not the Pajama Girl, Antonio Agostini did fit the profile of the kind of person who committed a crime of passion. He was controlling, domineering, and possibly obsessive with his wife. He wanted her all to himself, and if he couldn’t have her, nobody could. It is doubtful that the truth about the Pajama Girl mystery will ever be solved, although it appears to be a classic crime of passion.
Bibliography
Australia Today . "Australia Today the Pyjama Girl Murder Case (1939)." 1939. aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels. Vintage newsreel from 1939. 21 February 2013.
DeSouza, Poppy. "Australia Today The Pyjama Girl Murder Case (1939." n.d. aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels. Curator's Notes to Vintage Newsreel from 1939. 21 February 2013.
Pennay, Bruce. "Agostini Linda (1905-1934)." n.d. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/agostini-linda-9966. Entry in Australian Dictionary of Biography. 21 February 2013.
Wikipedia . "Linda Agostini ." n.d. en.wikipedia.org. Online Encyclopedia Entry. 21 February 2013.
