Victorian serial killer Peter Dupas has been named in a hitherto secret report as the murderer of a 95-year-old widow.
Kathleen Downes was killed at her Brunswick aged-care home on New Year's Eve in 1997.
"I am satisfied that the death of Mrs Kathleen Gladwyn Downes was a result of the actions of Mr Peter Dupas," coroner Ian Gray found in 2015.
The coroner's findings naming Dupas were released on Monday after a gag order was lifted.
The original order aimed to prevent the findings being published so it would not prejudice a trial if Dupas were charged.
His trial collapsed last year when the star witness Andrew Fraser became too ill to testify.
The disgraced lawyer's evidence was key to the coroner's findings after he spent time with Dupas in prison.
Fraser was jailed for trafficking cocaine.
Dupas made references to "the old sheila, Downes", how he left no forensic evidence behind with the "old sheila" and "I reckon I'm gonna end up wearing the old sheila, Downes, too", Fraser told the inquest in 2015.
The elderly Mrs Downes was stabbed and her throat was cut during the attack.
It is believed her killer sneaked into the home through a kitchen window.
Dupas is serving three life sentences with no parole for the murders of Mersina Halvagis, Margaret Maher and Nicola Patterson.
Australian Associated Press
