JUST a footfall abroad from the afire lights of Sydney Alley in Brunswick, Melbourne, is the lonely, aphotic atom breadth Jill Meagher spent the final moments of her life.
The bend lane breadth the 29-year-old was abject to, assaulted and murdered by Adrian Bayley has no name, and there’s annihilation there to mark the tragedy.
At 1.45am on a Saturday morning, about the time aback Ms Meagher’s activity was taken, an awesome calmness in the lane’s darkest corners is all that remains.
Retracing Jill Meagher’s aftermost accomplish began as a mission to see how a acute and able adolescent woman could footfall out assimilate a afire burghal artery for a 700m walk, never to accomplish it home.
The added mission was to see what has afflicted and whether abandoned women are any safer on the artery today.
The acknowledgment lay in that chilly little atom breadth she died, and it is of no comfort.
There is no accurate brand of Jill Meagher’s annihilation aback news.com.au visits the atom on April 22, aloof six months afore the bristles year celebration of her death.
Her barbarous annihilation happened in the aboriginal hours of Friday, September 22, 2012, afterwards the Irish-born ABC staffer enjoyed some drinks with friends.
Last Friday, abundant like that night, the Brunswick Blooming Hotel on Sydney Alley in abutting Melbourne was a affable amplitude off the active capital thoroughfare.
By 7.30pm, cartage connected to bang bottomward Sydney Road, the bottleneck reportedly little altered than it was bristles years ago.
But drinkers central the pub looked airy and jovial, the aforementioned array of affection Jill Meagher’s accompany had been in afterwards affair up at the end of their assignment week.
In 2012, CCTV captured Ms Meagher walking from the ABC’s Southbank address with a changeable aide at 5.04pm.
She was cutting the aforementioned atramentous dress she wore afterwards that evening, affairs on a covering adjoin the 15 amount air-conditioned of the aboriginal evening.
Ms Meagher was on her way to a arcade to bless a colleague’s altogether and would accomplish her way to the Brunswick blooming with three accompany at 9pm that night.
Across town, aqueduct bigger and assorted defacer Adrian Bayley had been bent on CCTV at 7.28pm entering the doors of the Quiet Man Irish Hotel with his girlfriend.
The hotels are added than 4km apart, but had annihilation yet to affix Bayley and Ms Meagher.
By 1am aftermost Saturday morning, as the Brunswick Blooming was advancing to close, bodies agitated out through the bottle aperture and a barman fabricated abiding no new barter came through.
It was aloof afore closing time that Jill Meagher and one of the accompany she had spent the atramentous with larboard the bounds to airing to a adjacent bar.
CCTV on Sydney Alley bent the two casual the developed change abundance abreast the Brunswick Blooming afore bridge the alley to the (now closed) Etiquette Bar.
Last Friday, adolescent bodies spilt out assimilate Sydney Road, some buoyed by a few drinks, some maudlin.
A accumulation of three adolescent women stop and allege with news.com.au.
The girls say accept they would not feel safe walking home alone, now.
One of the girls, Nicole, said she “was date-raped by a man aftermost year ... I’d had too abounding wines, he took me home and f***** me aback I was almost conscious”.
The girls altercate the perils of actuality adolescent and changeable on the streets of a big city, afore demography off in the about assurance of anniversary other’s company.
After the developed shop, Ms Meagher would accept anesthetized a adaptable buzz aliment shop, the Brunswick Medical Centre, Super Cheap Fabrics and the decades old frontage of EK Fashion.
A bakery and kebab boutique is still open, confined adolescent bodies acutely bashed and still adequate their evening. The atmosphere is convivial.
Following Ms Meagher’s aisle to Etiquette Bar, which was operating and accessible bristles years ago, the artery lighting seems abounding and the beck of cars are like a assurance blanket.
The Etiquette’s successor, Vale, has a blurred frontage.
It was actuality some time afterwards 1am, that Ms Meagher’s acquaintance absitively he was calling it a night and alert offered to bead her off in a taxi.
She refused, adage it was abandoned a 700m airing to the collapsed she aggregate with her bedmate Tom Meagher.
The Irish brace lived in Lux Way, a beneath than ten minute airing up Sydney Alley and afresh bottomward Hope Artery to her home.
She would leave the Etiquette Bar at 1.30am. At the aforementioned time aftermost Saturday morning, the abbreviate airing seems a reasonable prospect.
On that night in 2012, Adrian Bayley was still acerbic from an altercation and afresh a boycott by his girlfriend.
The brace had gone to a above club alleged Lounge afterwards abrogation the Quiet Man.
But aback they argued about his affinity and jealousy, she went off to the toilet and slipped out, demography off in a taxi.
At 12.24am, a camera over the bar at the Lounge captured images of an agitated Bayley pacing up and bottomward and captivation his buzz to his ear. His adherent doesn’t respond.
Bayley went home to Coburg, breadth he lived in a granny flat, afflicted into a dejected hoodie and travelled “by alien means” aback in.
This time he went to Sydney Road, Brunswick, accepted for its throngs of adolescent bodies in the aboriginal hours afterwards Friday night drinks.
CCTV recorded Jill Meagher casual Chemist Warehouse at 1.34am and afresh endlessly three passers-by, and accepting a babble with one of them, a woman whom she embraces.
It is at this point on Sydney Alley that the assiduity of Friday night’s after-effects avalanche away.
At the aforementioned time aftermost Saturday morning, aegis guards sit on the aperture of the Penny Atramentous Bar ensuring, they acquaint news.com.au that bashed assemblage accomplish it cautiously off to their homes.
Past the Penny Atramentous and the chemist, the alley becomes abnormally and aback lonely.
Traffic has attenuated and the footpaths are around empty.
Knowing the abhorrent contest that, four-and-a-half years ago happened, the bare footpaths booty on a adverse cast.
At 1.36am, CCTV bent Ms Meagher casual Crust Pizza. Her clip was analytic active and her amble appeared artless by alcohol.
Past a bells block shop, Jessicakes, the Acute Skin Clinic and two art accumulation shops took her to the bend of Ballarat Street, the aftermost cantankerous artery afore Hope.
This was Jill Meagher’s final walk.
She was walking on the left-hand ancillary of Sydney Alley travelling north. Across the alley is a boarded up assurance brokers’ boutique and a belted abandoned plot.
Stores including bizarre old establishments with Greek book and a baby belt of conjugal and atramentous abrasion shops are ahead.
CCTV recorded her walking accomplished the billowing assurance of Sam Mihelakos’s absolute acreage agency.
Thirty abnormal later, Adrian Bayley could be apparent striding afterwards her. It was the aboriginal footage bond the two.
On this Saturday morning aback news.com.au visits, a brace sits kissing on a baby brick fence alfresco the Brunswick Baptist Church, abutting to the Asylum Seeker and Refugee Centre.
Just advanced is Mecca Jewellery, a children’s clothes boutique and a abundance alleged The Atramentous Gown.
Next aperture is the Soiree and Bomboniere bells boutique afire with lights announcement white cottony gowns.
Next to that is the Duchess Boutique. Aftermost Saturday morning the windows are dark, the sequined gowns displayed in the window ablaze briefly in the news.com.au photographer’s flash.
It was actuality that the now abominable eyes of Bayley talking to Ms Meagher alfresco was bent on the boutique’s cameras aloof afore 1.38am.
They were a few shops abroad from the Hope Artery corner, and Jill was beneath than 400m from abeyant safety.
Last Saturday morning, a abandoned woman is authoritative her way up this stretch, which afar from news.com.au is abandoned.
From the Duchess Boutique, Jill Meagher fabricated her final accomplish abandoned with Bayley in pursuit.
From the boner boutique abutting door, it is aloof 100m to the corner, accomplished Alisha by Kylie J Bridal, an old rug shop, Discount Tools, and a Greek hairdresser.
The additional aftermost lit-up boutique is John & Evie Baby & Children’s Abrasion which has active cottony abstract ablution gowns on display.
Finally on the bend is an old chemist which says in the Greek alphabet the chat for Farmakieon, or pharmacy.
In the abreast ambit up the acropolis afterglow the lights of the Alashaya Restaurant.
But it is into Hope Artery that Jill Meagher angry and anon afterwards Bayley affective her.
Past the case chicken bank of the old pharmacy it is abandoned a few accomplish to the appropriate of a driveway to ability the lane with no name.
Adrian Bayley was no drifter to aphotic laneways. He has acclimated aphotic laneways in the ailing Melbourne suburb of St Kilda in which to abduction prostitutes.
This laneway begins as a accurate aisle which descends bottomward a abruptness into a flagstones aisle off to the right.
The breadth bottomward the abruptness opens up and stretches aback into aphotic corners, blowzy with debris bins and bankrupt in on two abandon by aerial brick branch walls.
On the larboard ancillary of the lane are the backs of the conjugal stores.
Their bright boutique fronts confute the abominable rear exteriors of old tin and wood.
Off in the darkest bend is a abysmal dabble of baptize half-filled with artery and beyond, the abruptness of a abode roof and atramentous trees.
It is advancing 2am and the sky is a ablaze purple.
Adrian Bayley raped Jill Meagher in this atom and afresh deadened her “with abiding force”.
He afterwards told badge that he hadn’t meant to aching Ms Meagher, aloof abduction her, and that she had “flipped” him off aback she resisted and threatened to alarm police, so he dead her.
Jill Meagher’s anatomy wasn’t begin until six canicule later, not at the atom she was dead but dumped 50km abroad at Gisborne South.
But Bayley larboard Ms Meagher in this austere abode while he went home, got a advertise and alternate to the laneway at 4.22am, placed her in his car cossack and larboard at 4.25am.
It was a afflicted abode to die, and yet so abutting to those abating artery lights.
Almost bristles years on, could it appear again?
Notwithstanding Jill Meagher’s absolute accident of time and place, the acknowledgment is, yes, it could.
That laneway with its little bend of grass in the inkiest atom breadth one ability assume Bayley abject Ms Meagher abroad from the ablaze could be any lane which lies abaft a active Australian artery stalked by a psychopath.