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Anna Philomena Morgan / The Pyjama Girl murder case //
References: https://ezramagazine.com/anna-philomena-morgan-the-pyjama-girl-murder-case/
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This story, like many unsolved and missing person’s cases, involves various authorities, persons of interest, local towns, newspapers and a long list of names spread over a decade. To help you, I’ve provided several maps and photographs as well as a timeline. However, I suggest viewing the timeline last as it’ll spoil the story for you.

On September 1, 1934, a bull grazier by the name of Thomas Griffiths, was walking his bull back to his father’s farm located just outside the town of Albury, in New South Wales.

A small farming community at the time, Albury is located on the border of Victoria and New South Wales in Australia, with the Murray River running near it in its effort to reach the sea in the neighbouring central state of South Australia.

A former frontier town, the Albury township was once proposed to be the nation's capital however, after fierce opposition from residents was ultimately rejected in favour of Canberra. Satellite towns such as Howlong and Corowa in the west were small farming communities and nothing but dirt roads connected to the towns.

With the fence to his right and the Howlong-Corowa Road on his left, out of the corner of his eye he noticed something out of place underneath a culvert, a type of pipe drain that’s built under a road. He hitched his bull to the fence and took several steps towards what he realised were the legs of a human body.

Frightened, he left the bull, ran to his father’s farm and called the police. Griffiths would become the person who found the now infamous, pyjama girl.

When police arrived to the scene, roughly 4.5 miles west of Albury the body of a partly burned woman was found inside the pipe. Dressed in silk pyjamas, with a sack over her head to her shoulders, the woman’s body was badly burned.

Upon examination, it was discovered that her forehead was battered and the legs and lower part of the torso were charred to a black mass. A towel was found wrapped around her head, partly burned and tattered. There were eight wounds above the left temple and a bullet wound below the right-eye. Becoming more commonplace in the 30’s, doctors performing the autopsy used x-rays to also discover a bullet lodged in the side of the woman’s neck.

She was believed to be aged between 25-30 she was described as having bobbed, peroxided hair, blue-greyish eyes, approximately 5ft1 in stature and was of slight build.

Results of the autopsy suggest that the woman fought hard against her assailant or assailants. Quote: She is badly bruised and bat tered. The theory has been advanced that the girl was killed while asleep, but this seems doubtful, in view of the nature of her injuries.”

In an attempt to get rid of evidence, kerosene was used as the accelerant and then her body set alight. Noticed by Griffiths, oily patches on top of water pools were discovered at the scene.

Dressed in silk pyjamas, doubt still remains over her identity and for a decade was known only as “pyjama girl”.

This story, like many unsolved and missing person’s cases, involves various authorities, persons of interest, local towns, newspapers and a long list of names spread over a decade. 

On September 1, 1934, a bull grazier by the name of Thomas Griffiths, was walking his bull back to his father’s farm located just outside the town of Albury, in New South Wales.

A small farming community at the time, Albury is located on the border of Victoria and New South Wales in Australia, with the Murray River running near it in its effort to reach the sea in the neighbouring central state of South Australia.

A former frontier town, the Albury township was once proposed to be the nation's capital however, after fierce opposition from residents was ultimately rejected in favour of Canberra. Satellite towns such as Howlong and Corowa in the west were small farming communities and nothing but dirt roads connected to the towns.

With the fence to his right and the Howlong-Corowa Road on his left, out of the corner of his eye he noticed something out of place underneath a culvert, a type of pipe drain that’s built under a road. He hitched his bull to the fence and took several steps towards what he realised were the legs of a human body.

Frightened, he left the bull, ran to his father’s farm and called the police. Griffiths would become the person who found the now infamous, pyjama girl.

When police arrived to the scene, roughly 4.5 miles west of Albury the body of a partly burned woman was found inside the pipe. Dressed in silk pyjamas, with a sack over her head to her shoulders, the woman’s body was badly burned.

Upon examination, it was discovered that her forehead was battered and the legs and lower part of the torso were charred to a black mass. A towel was found wrapped around her head, partly burned and tattered. There were eight wounds above the left temple and a bullet wound below the right-eye. Becoming more commonplace in the 30’s, doctors performing the autopsy used x-rays to also discover a bullet lodged in the side of the woman’s neck.

She was believed to be aged between 25-30 she was described as having bobbed, peroxided hair, blue-greyish eyes, approximately 5ft1 in stature and was of slight build.

Results of the autopsy suggest that the woman fought hard against her assailant or assailants. Quote: She is badly bruised and bat tered. The theory has been advanced that the girl was killed while asleep, but this seems doubtful, in view of the nature of her injuries.”

In an attempt to get rid of evidence, kerosene was used as the accelerant and then her body set alight. Noticed by Griffiths, oily patches on top of water pools were discovered at the scene.

Dressed in silk pyjamas, doubt still remains over her identity and for a decade was known only as “pyjama girl”.

Support us on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ezramagazine Research, production and narration: Host of Ezra Magazine  

12-year-old Rhianna Barreau lived at home with her brother and mother in a 3-bedroom home at number 47, Wakefield Avenue. She attended the local Reynella South primary school and had a close group of friends. Wakefield Avenue was a quiet cul-de-sac, with only one direction, south, as the exit onto other roads. 

Large gum trees lined the streets and an open park sat opposite number 47. October 7, 1992, was a Wednesday in the week following the October 5 Labor Day long weekend. it was term three school holidays and Rhianna was enjoying her time off, spending time at home. it was almost the middle of spring, heading into summer. On the morning of October 7, her mother, Paula Barreau, getting ready to leave for work, entered Rhianna’s bedroom where she found her listening to ‘Love Shack’ by the b52’s, which reportedly was one of Rhianna’s favourite songs.  Earlier that morning, Ms Barreau heard on the radio that there was going to be a snap bus strike. the pair had planned to meet at Collanades shopping centre but due to the bus strike, there’d be no way for Rhianna to get to the shopping centre other than walking the hour-long walk along main roads. Rhianna, who wanted to purchase a Christmas card for her overseas pen-pal, needed to go to a news agency. so, rather than walking to Collanades, the pair decided it would be better if Rhianna made the approximate 20-minute walk to the local Reynella shopping centre instead. Paula Barreau left the house at approximately 8.30am to drive to TAFE, a type of technical college, which was about a 10-minute drive from the family’s home. her brother was away at the time and therefore, Rhianna was home alone, which was not unusual at the time.  

Approximately two hours later, at about 10.30 am, Rhianna, left her home on 47 wakefield ave and walked approximately 1.2kilometres to Reynella shopping centre, now called Southgate square. it’s there she purchased a Christmas card at 11.19 am for her pen-pal. To return home, Rhianna could have walked via acre road and onto Highwray drive. or via sheriffs road and used Morphetvale High School and Stanvac Primary School to cut her walk time by a few minutes. Sheriffs road, which borders the suburb of Morphetvale in the north, is a main arterial road that runs east-to-west linking old Reynella and Woodcroft in the east to Lonsdale, the industrial area, in the west. Due to confirmed sightings, we can theorise she walked approximately 650m west via Sheriffs road, then made her way south using Morphett Vale High School and Stanvac Primary School grounds ending up on Highwray drive. Between 12.05 and 12.30pm, there were confirmed sightings of Rhianna crossing the school grounds carrying a small bag, presumably containing the Christmas card she had purchased from the newsagency. After the 12.30pm sighting of Rhianna on Highwray drive, she was never seen alive again.


Music by - Lee Rosevere

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