Name: Husband charged in decades-long Melbourne cold case murder
Uploaded: 2025-11-05T12:28:23.093Z
Duration: 1 min 34 s
Description: 34 years after Melinda Freeman was found dead, homicide squad have charged her husband with the murder. Craig Freeman claimed that she had been killed in a break-in.

34 years after Melinda Freeman was found dead, homicide squad have charged her husband with the murder. Craig Freeman claimed that she had been killed in a break-in.

Melbourne

Authorities in Melbourne have charged Craig Freeman with the 1991 murder of his wife, Melinda Freeman, after a cold case investigation spanning more than three decades. Melinda Freeman, a 27-year-old mother, was found dead in her Whittlesea home after attending a family reunion, with the case remaining unsolved despite multiple leads and a $1 million reward offered in 2022.

Craig Freeman, who has consistently been a primary suspect and was found to have been having an affair at the time of his wife's death, appeared in court and was remanded to reappear in March. Prosecutors have been given four months to prepare evidence for a case that dates back over thirty years.

Husband charged in decades-long Melbourne cold case murder

34 years after Melinda Freeman was found dead, the cold case investigation into the crime made a breakthrough. This morning, Homicide Squad detectives charged Melinda's husband, Craig Freeman, with her murder. Detectives say the 27-year-old mother of one was killed on October 4, 1991. The couple had spent the day at a family reunion, before Melinda went back to their Whittlesea home early to study. When her husband returned, he claimed the front door was open. The house was ransacked, and Melinda's body was on the first story landing. I walked out, hopped in the car, and she just waved to me through the window there at the burnt night. Right. That's the last time I saw her. Multiple leads in the investigation failed, and the case went cold. In 2022, police offered a $1 million reward for information, and three years on, Mr Freeman, who is now aged 63 and living in Greensboro, has faced court. Craig Freeman has always been a primary suspect in his wife's murder. A 1997 coronial inquest into Melinda's death found that he was having an affair with one of her friends at the time she was killed, but it ultimately found there was insufficient evidence to prove he was responsible. The magistrate's court heard Mr Freeman has never been in custody before. He was remanded to face court again on March 11, giving prosecutors four months to prepare their brief of evidence, dating back more than three decades. Sophie Jacobsen, 10 News.

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