How SA police are cracking cold-case murders
MAJOR Crime boss Des Bray wants those who may be hiding a sinister secret concerning one of SA’s unsolved murders to think very carefully.
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MAJOR Crime boss Des Bray wants those who may be hiding a sinister secret concerning one of SA’s unsolved murders to think very carefully.
Whether it concerns a murder that is two years or 20 years old, their secret will be unravelled and they may find themselves paying for their silence.
“They can’t undo what they have done in the past,’’ Detective Superintendent Bray said.
“There are people around the edges of some of these crimes who have perhaps covered up or withheld information and with our renewed efforts and we expect to identify them.
“We expect to unravel the circumstances and we will get to the bottom of a lot of them.
“I would say to these people there is a tremendous opportunity to come forward and assist police and take advantage of possibilities such as an immunity or a reward.’’
His confidence is justified. On Friday the cold-case murder of Aldinga man Dale McCauley was resolved when his former friend Adrian Mahoney pleaded guilty his murder.
To obtain a guilty plea in a murder case is not unheard of, but in cold case so old is relatively rare across the nation.
Det-Supt Bray said the significance of Mahoney’s guilty plea cannot be underestimated. Not only is it testament to the methodical work of the investigators responsible for putting him before the court, but more importantly, it will have a “tremendous’’ benefit for his family and friends.
“A guilty plea is extremely significant because it removes the added pressure on families of having to endure a trial and sit in court and listen to every detail,’’ he said.
“It was also satisfying to locate Dale’s body for his family. A lot of people actually say getting the body back is more important to them than charging an offender.’’
The conviction in the McCauley case is the first as a direct result of Operation Persist, launched in 2015 to review the state’s 110 cold-case murders. So far it has resulted in 24 murder files being closely scrutinised.
Three of those have resulted in murder charges — the McCauley case, the disappearance of Coober Pedy schoolgirl Karen Williams in 1990 and the 2012 bashing and stabbing murder of Glenelg man Jayson Doelz.
While the man charged over Miss Williams’ murder was found not guilty in the Supreme Court last year, Justice Stanley found he was involved in her death and disposal of her body. The investigation is still open and he can be recharged under double jeopardy legislation if compelling new evidence is uncovered. The Doelz case is still before the courts.
Fresh investigations in several other unsolved cases — including the 1994 National Crime Authority bombing that killed WA police officer Geoffrey Bowen, and the disappearance and murder of Port Lincoln woman Susan Goodwin in 2002 — are well advanced, while several other high-profile cases are at various stages of investigation.
The NCA bombing inquiry — dubbed Task Force Cornus — alone involves 15 investigators and intelligence officers. The fact such enormous resources are being ploughed into the investigation indicates the confidence police have in obtaining a positive result.
“They are slow, tedious and meticulous investigations and we have some of our best investigators working on them to ensure we get the best result,’’ Det-Supt Bray said.
A major component of Operation Persist has involved engaging with the state’s 2948 prisoners.
As part of this strategy, a series of playing cards — each featuring an unsolved murder — has been distributed to all prisoners, along with an individual letter outlining benefits available to them if they assist in solving one of the murder cases.
Det-Supt Bray said “valuable’’ information had been provided by some prisoners in connection with numerous cases.
While detectives have been seeking the assistance of prisoners to provide information voluntarily, they have also been using recent legislative amendments to the Correctional Services Act in some instances to try to force co-operation.
Under Section 67 of the Act, the “no body, no parole’’ provision has been expanded to now include ‘‘no co-operation, no parole’’.
Those likely to be captured in this are offenders such as child killer Dieter Pfennig, sex killer Bevan Spencer von Einem, and those involved in the murder of Cosimo Casteluzzo in 1992 and Paulo Miranda in 2008.
Another initiative to try and solve cold cases is the “corralling’’ of the DNA profiles of almost 250 paroled killers dating back to 1960.
It will also result in those targeted being fingerprinted again using the latest technology to compare with evidence — such as partial fingerprints — found at the scenes of unsolved murders.
Once obtained, the parolees’ profiles will be compared with unidentified DNA on the database.
However, despite each of these initiatives Det-Supt Bray said the blunt reality was some murders may never be solved because of their nature, despite the exhaustive process in which they are continually reviewed, prioritised and scrutinised to find further opportunities and avenues for progressing them.
Importantly, detectives are also careful not to give the families of murder victims false hope because some cases may be unlikely to be solved.
“Unfortunately, the reality remains that these are very difficult cases to now successfully investigate and prosecute,’’ he said.
“We promise families we’ll work hard to deliver the outcome they want, but the sad reality is many cases may remain unsolved for a variety of reasons, including death of crucial witnesses or refusal of others to co-operate.’’