It was one of the worst cases of serial rape Melbourne has ever seen.
In the mid-nineties, a thirty-something man would linger outside nightclubs until the last beat dropped and the lights flickered on. As the patrons streamed out, he’d approach young women and offer them a lift home in his Ford Falcon or Commodore. He’d stop at the convenience store and buy them a hot drink, into which he’d slip the date-rape drug Rohypnol.
This chilling assault method earned him the moniker “the hot chocolate rapist”; the method also meant that his victims suffered severe memory less, making it an endless struggle to catch and charge the predator.
Now, the prime suspect, Harry Barkas, 54, has died in jail.
Barkas was sentenced to a minimum of nine years in prison in 2010 for raping three women, but is believed to be responsible for at least 22 more attacks.
While the cause of his death is today unknown, the real mystery will remain unsolved: was he the notorious “hot chocolate rapist”?
Source: Herald Sun
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