Murders of Margaret and Seana Tapp

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 when an unknown assailant or assailants broke into the home of the Tapp family in Ferntree Gully, Victoria, Australia, beating, then strangling to death a 35-year-old nurse named Margaret Tapp before murdering her nine-year-old daughter, Seana. Both victims were strangled with a section of rope. The victims' bodies were found the following day.[1]

Murders of Margaret and Seana Tapp
LocationFerntree Gully, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Date7 August 1984
Attack type
Murder
Deaths2
VictimsMargaret and Seana Tapp
Died7 August 1984
Cause of deathStrangulation
Reward amount
A$1,000,000 (US$ 769,231)

Seana's body was found upon her bed; she had been raped prior to her murder.[1][2]

Several suspects have been eliminated via DNA analysis, although complications pertaining to the contamination of samples retrieved from the murder scene have cast doubts upon the earlier elimination of some suspects from the police inquiry.[1][2]

The murders have been described as one of the most notorious unsolved murder cases in Australian history.[1][3]

History

The double murder of Margaret Christine Tapp (3 June 1949 - 7 August 1984) and Seana[lower-alpha 1] Lee Tapp (6 March 1975 - 7 August 1984) has been described as one of the most notorious unsolved cases in Australian history.[1][3]

Margaret Tapp and Seana Tapp are buried in Ferntree Gully Cemetery.[5]

Several suspects have been subsequently cleared by DNA testing.[1] In 2008, a prosecution collapsed when it was revealed that evidence had been contaminated.[6] In 2015, investigators reopened the case in a cold case review.[7] In 2017, an A$1 million reward was offered for information that could lead to a conviction.[8]

Other leads include a Dunlop Volley footprint and a red utility vehicle seen parked nearby which was never traced.[8]

See also

Notes
  1. Seana is the female form of the name Sean and is pronounced "shawn-uh", not "see-anne-uh" as it has been mispronounced in some television and radio accounts of the Tapp murders.[4]

References
  1. "A mother, her daughter and a murder case that got away from all". The Age. Melbourne, Victoria. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  2. "Sex tape clue in double murder Margaret and Seana Tapp in cold case files". Herald Sun. Melbourne, Victoria. Archived from the original on 20 July 2016.
  3. "It's one of our worst unsolved cases, so why have we forgotten Margaret and Seana Tapp?". Herald Sun. Melbourne, Victoria. 22 April 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  4. "Son says father could be mother-daughter Tapp killer". Sky News Australia. 18 August 2018.
  5. "Ferntree Gully Cemetery Register" (PDF). Knox City Council. 1 July 2016.
  6. Peter Gregory; Richard Baker; Tom Arup (6 August 2008). "DNA blunder sinks kill trial". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  7. "Murder mystery could a pair of dunlop volleys lead to the killer". Herald Sun. Melbourne, Victoria. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
  8. "Want to be a millionaire? Help the police find a cold case killer". The New Daily. 15 March 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2018.

Cited works and further reading
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