The murder of Dimitrios (James John) Pinakos (1959-89)
Among the more unusual homicide cases connected with Brighton General Cemetery is that of Dimitrios (James John) Pinakos, whose 1989 murder became widely known for its rare murder weapon. Killed by a crossbow bolt and concealed in sand dunes at Rye Beach, the case would eventually lead to the conviction of fellow insurance agent Ronald Victor Lucas and become remembered as one of Victoria’s most unusual murder investigations.
Born on 23 November 1959 in Myrina, Lemnos, Greece, Pinakos later settled in Melbourne and was working as a life insurance consultant while living in Windsor. Cemetery records identify him as Dimitrios Pinakos, while contemporary reports variously referred to him as James John Pinakos, James Pinakos, and occasionally John Pinakos.
In early 1989, Pinakos was a familiar figure within Melbourne’s Greek community and insurance industry. Newspaper reports described him as divorced and noted that he had recently returned from a trip to Canada shortly before his disappearance. Friends and associates knew him as a successful insurance salesman who appeared comfortable lending money and dealing in valuable jewellery.
Pinakos vanished around 20 April 1989.
For almost three months there was no public explanation for his disappearance. The mystery took a grim turn in July when human remains were discovered buried in sand dunes at Rye Beach on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. Recoveries made on 18 and 19 July 1989 established that the victim was Pinakos. The remains had been concealed in two separate packages buried approximately 85 metres apart, turning what had begun as a missing-person enquiry into a major homicide investigation.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Pinakos had been killed by a crossbow bolt, an exceptionally rare murder weapon in Australian criminal history. The unusual method of killing, combined with the efforts taken to conceal the body, ensured that the case attracted widespread public and media attention.
Investigators quickly focused on Ronald Victor Lucas, another insurance agent and business associate of Pinakos. Evidence presented during court proceedings revealed financial dealings between the two men, including a reported request by Lucas for a substantial loan. Trial evidence also referred to jewellery belonging to Pinakos which became part of the prosecution case.
The Crown case included significant forensic evidence. Prosecutors alleged that Pinakos had been killed and/or dismembered in a garage owned by Lucas’s father. Investigators discovered a smear of human blood on a wall in the garage and subjected it to DNA profiling. Samples obtained from Pinakos’s parents were compared with the bloodstain, and the Crown argued that the results established, to a high degree of probability, that the blood belonged to Pinakos or a close relative. The admissibility of this evidence became the subject of the Supreme Court decision R v Lucas [1992] 2 VR 109, one of Victoria’s early reported cases involving DNA profiling evidence. [victorianr…rts.com.au]
During his trial, Lucas denied involvement in the killing, dismemberment, concealment or burial of the body. In an unsworn statement, he claimed Pinakos had visited him on 20 April 1989 before leaving after receiving a telephone call. However, the prosecution also relied upon fingerprint evidence linking Lucas to tape used to bind the packages in which the remains had been concealed. [trove.nla.gov.au]
The case attracted widespread media attention because of both the unusual murder weapon and the disturbing attempts to hide the crime. Contemporary reporting consistently described Pinakos as an insurance consultant or salesman, while the prosecution case centred on personal and financial dealings between the victim and Lucas. Although later retellings occasionally connected the case with Melbourne’s criminal underworld, contemporary reports focused on the business relationship between the two men.
A persistent piece of Melbourne underworld folklore surrounds the case. According to legend, future gangland identity Alphonse Gangitano placed a newspaper death notice mourning Pinakos and stating that he would be missed “from the bottom of my heart”. Some later retellings claim the phrase was an intentional reference to the manner of his death. While the story has circulated for many years, the original notice has not been located and its wording remains unverified.
After a Supreme Court trial in June 1991, a jury found Ronald Victor Lucas guilty of the murder of James Pinakos. The conviction brought an end to one of Victoria’s more unusual homicide investigations and ensured that the case was not remembered as an unsolved mystery, but as a successfully prosecuted murder.
Pinakos was interred at Brighton General Cemetery on 2 August 1989 in grave CofE Y 952. His burial record lists the cause of death simply as “Murdered”.
Today, the grave of Dimitrios (James John) Pinakos serves as a reminder of a tragic case that combined disappearance, forensic investigation, pioneering DNA evidence and a rare crossbow murder, while also illustrating how myth and speculation can sometimes become attached to real historical events.
Sources:
Brighton General Cemetery burial register and headstone record for Dimitrios (James John) Pinakos.
Trove, The Canberra Times, 21 July 1989, “Rye murder baffles police”.
Trove, The Canberra Times, 4 June 1991, “Man denies knowledge of killing”.
R v Lucas [1992] 2 VR 109, Supreme Court of Victoria (DNA profiling evidence ruling).
The Age, June 1991 coverage of the murder trial of Ronald Victor Lucas.
The Canberra Times, 16 June 1991, report of the guilty verdict against Ronald Victor Lucas.
Trove, The Canberra Times, 17 June 1991.Trove, The Canberra Times, 18 June 1991.
Contemporary newspaper coverage from 1989-1991 relating to the disappearance, discovery of remains, investigation and prosecution.