Robert Penny, 83, faced court in Melbourne charged with the murder of his wife, Margaret, and hairdresser Claire Acocks. 

Mr Penny, of East Malvern, used a walking stick to enter court yesterday. He was dressed in a collared windcheater and his white hair was neatly combed. 

He was supported by his wife, who he married in 1992.

Supreme Court Justice Terry Forrest granted bail to Mr Penny on account of his age and ill health.

The judge said the prosecution had also agreed that Mr Penny was not a risk of fleeing or committing further offences.

He described Mr Penny’s health as “precarious” given he suffered from a number of complaints including diabetes and emphysema, cirrhosis of the liver and vascular disease.

Mr Penny’s trial would also not be held for at least 12 months, he had no previous convictions and his wife of 23 years was in court to support him.

Mr Penny was released on bail but with strict conditions, including he surrender his expired passport, not leave Victoria, not contact any prosecution witnesses and appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on July 6 for a committal mention.

 Mrs Penny, 58, and Ms Acocks, 49, were found dead in the Old London Coiffure salon on the busy intersection of Julia and Bentinck streets, on May 3, 1991.

Ms Acocks had been colouring Mrs Penny’s hair on a Friday afternoon when both women were bound to chairs and repeatedly stabbed in the upper body, before their throats were cut.

It is alleged a tail comb — which has a long, thin metal handle — was one of the weapons used, along with a Bowie knife, but no weapon has ever been found.

Police will allege the injuries to Mrs Penny were more violent, and that Ms Acocks had left the salon to retrieve knitting from her car when the attacker entered the building.

It will be alleged a small amount of money was taken from the till and the women’s wallets, before the killer turned off the lights and locked the front door.

The homicide squad’s  Detective Senior Constable Tom Hogan had earlier told the court there was evidence of a February 2014 phone intercept where Mr Penny allegedly discussed a theory about a hitman having killed the women.

Detective Hogan said there were also conversations Mr Penny had with his son and daughter just hours after the murders where he allegedly talked about how a tail comb had been the murder weapon.

He said investigators at that stage believed there were two weapons used in the murders — a sharp instrument which had not been identified and a Bowie knife. No murder weapon has ever been recovered. 

Tony, the son of Margaret and Robert Penny, said he was thinking of the Acocks family.

“I would like to thank Victoria Police for their ongoing commitment to solve this crime, involving the murder of two innocent women, my mother Margaret Penny and her hairdresser Claire Acocks,” he said. 

“I will continue to assist Victoria Police in any way possible, in the hope that the perpetrator or perpetrators will be brought to justice. 

“My heartfelt thoughts are with the Acocks family at this extremely difficult time.”

Tony, who changed his surname after the murders, is estranged from Mr Penny.

The Acocks family expressed gratitude to homicide squad detectives who continued to investigate the cold case.

“We are extremely encouraged by these developments and would like to acknowledge the support which has been given to our family by Victoria Police throughout this lengthy investigation,” the family said in a statement released yesterday afternoon.?

                                                             — with  Adam Cooper,  Alice Dempster