Florence Linda Agonstini (12 September 1905 - 27 August 1934) (known by her middle name) was a woman whose burnt body was found on a road in Albury, New South Wales, Australia in 1934. She was identified in 1944. Prior to her identification, Agostini was known as the Pyjama Girl.
Case[]
On 1 September 1934, a man was walking with his prized bull on Howlong Road near Albury discovered a body in Splitter's Creek in a culvert that ran under the road, where the body was not visible to anyone driving by. The woman's head was wrapped in a towel and had been shot and badly beaten. The woman had been badly burned and partially concealed. The man noted a strong smell of kerosene. The woman was wearing yellow silk pajamas with a Chinese dragon pattern, which would later be the source of her namesake. This detail was significant because in Depression-era Australia, such clothing was considered to be luxurious.
The body was taken to Sydney and put on public exhibition after initial investigation failed to identify her, where she was preserved in formalin at the Sydney University Medical School. She remained preserved until 1942 when her body was transferred to the police headquarters, where it remained until 1944.
Several women were considered to be the Pyjama Girl, among them being Anna Philomena Morgan and Linda Agostini, both of whom were missing and bore a resemblance to the woman and were around the estimated age range. Despite this, New South Wales police were adamant that neither were the Pyjama Girl, and she remained unidentified.
In 1944, the forensic evidence was re-examined, where the dental analysis of the woman was matched to Agostini. Shortly thereafter, Agostini's husband, Tony, was interviewed by the police commissioner, where he noted Tony as being in a nervous state. After asking what came over him, Tony then confessed to murdering Linda. Tony stated that he had accidentally shot Linda while they were living in Melbourne. Worried that he would be accused of murder, he then drove over state lines to Albury and dumped her in the culvert. He then poured kerosene on her body and set it on fire to destroy the evidence.
Tony was then charged with her murder and extradited to Melbourne. He was acquitted of murder but was instead found guilty of manslaughter, where he received a six year prison sentence. After being released in 1948, Tony was deported to Italy, where he died in 1969.
Gallery[]
Sources[]
- Linda Agostini on Wikipedia
- Linda Agostini at Find a Grave