Steven Hainsworth charged with murdering his aunt Beverley Hanley at Elizabeth North in 2010 returns to Adelaide

The man charged with murdering his aunt Beverley Hanley has returned to Adelaide in handcuffs and is expected to face court today.

For almost eight years, Robyn Schaefer and her family have waited for someone to be held accountable for killing grandmother Beverley Hanley.

In Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday, she will finally see her cousin Steven Leslie Hainsworth – Ms Hanley’s nephew – in the dock charged with her murder.

Hainsworth, 44, was on Thursday extradited to Adelaide from Melbourne after his arrest by SA Police Major Crime Branch and Victorian Homicide Squad detectives.

Steven Hainsworth arriving at Adelaide airport after being extradited from Melbourne. Picture: Tom Huntley

“I have waited 3149 days for this moment,’’ Ms Schaefer told The Advertiser on Thursday.

“I’m really not sure how I’m going to react. As long as he sees that I am there, I don’t really care.’’

Hainsworth is charged with the murder of Ms Hanley, 64, in her Homington Rd home on October 6, 2010.

The breakthrough in the cold-case murder follows fresh investigations by a 10-strong taskforce – dubbed Resolute – that has been probing three unsolved murders.

Hainsworth has been a suspect in Ms Hanley’s murder since it happened. His DNA was allegedly found at the scene on a phone plug pulled from the wall.

Beverley Hanley with her granddaughter. The picture was supplied by her family.

Hainsworth was a frequent visitor to her home, which was just two streets from where he lived at the time.

Detectives have stated they believe she knew her killer because of the circumstances in which she died.

Major Crime Investigation Branch officer-in-charge detective Superintendent Des Bray said the breakthrough followed “painstaking and protracted’’ work by Taskforce Resolute detectives since January last year.

“During that time a number of witnesses were revisited and spoken to and some of them who are important witnesses have felt more comfortable talking to us now than perhaps they were at the time,’’ he said.

“They have provided us with fresh information. The investigation has had its challenges and one of those has been the reluctance of witnesses in the past to co-operate.

“Many of the witnesses are in the low-level criminal community, they are involved in low-level crime and drug use and they have been fearful in the past to being exposed as a co-operating witness with police because they live in that environment.’’

Ms Schaefer said she was “elated and relieved’’ when told Hainsworth had been charged with her mother’s murder.

An older photo of Steven Hainsworth.

“I still keep pinching myself. I have never been so happy before in my life,” she said.

Ms Schaefer said she had never given up hope that someone would be held accountable for her mother’s death. “The longer it went on the more determined I was to keep it out there in people’s minds so no one would forget her,’’ she said. “I was always confident that one day justice would be done.’’

Ms Schaefer praised the efforts of the Major Crime detectives investigating the case to bring it to this stage but said she was aware it would “now be a long process’’ to resolve it through the courts.

“People will be pleased this has happened and I feel my Mum will now be able to be at peace because her children now know (someone has been charged),’’ she said.

Supt Bray said while Taskforce Resolute detectives had gathered considerable fresh evidence over the past year, investigations were continuing despite Thursday morning’s development.

“Even though there has been an arrest we are still interested in hearing from other witnesses or associates who may have withheld information in the past,’’ he said.

“They can feel comfortable to approach us, confidentially if they wish.’’ While forensic science has assisted the investigation, it did not provide the breakthrough that resulted in Hainsworth’s arrest.

Beverley Hanley’s granddaughter Tasha Hanley, daughter Robyn Schaefer, son Rob Hainsworth and close friend Gloria West gathered to remember her in 2015 on the fifth anniversary of her death. Picture: Mike Burton

“This has been a good example where traditional old-fashioned detective work, boots on the ground, has made a difference,’’ Supt Bray said.

“This has ensured the reluctant witnesses developed the confidence to co-operate with police and do the right thing.”

Hainsworth was interviewed by detectives in country Victoria last week. He was not charged after that interview and it is highly likely – as on other occasions – he believed he had convinced the detectives of his innocence.

Since Ms Hanley was murdered in 2010 there have been 105 calls to Crime Stoppers from the public. Of those, 15 came after the launch of Taskforce Resolute.

“There has been some information that has assisted the review and the reinvestigation,’’ Supt Bray said.

In June last year, Hainsworth outed himself as a suspect in the murder of Ms Hanley – the day Major Crime detectives revealed Taskforce Resolute had been formed to probe three unsolved murders.

Grieving relatives leave tributes to Beverley Hanley at the crime scene after her body was discovered in her Elizabeth North home.

At the time, Hainsworth acknowledged he was a suspect in Ms Hanley’s murder but denied any involvement and declared himself “an innocent man’’.

Besides the murder of Ms Hanley, Taskforce Resolute has been reinvestigating the murders of Elizabeth South grandmother Phyllis Harrison, 71, and Mt Gambier man Stephen Newton, 55.

Ms Harrison was found dead in her home on Harvey Rd at Elizabeth South on Tuesday, March 3, 1998. She had suffered multiple stab wounds.

Neighbours heard her arguing with a male she knew before her body was discovered.

The body of invalid pensioner Stephen Newton was found in his Mt Gambier home on Friday, November 4, 2011. He was severely assaulted.

SA murder victim Phyllis Harrison.

SA murder victim Stephen Newton.

Several items, including a TV, DVDs, a computer game console and games, were taken and later recovered from a pawnbroker in Mt Gambier.

Thursday’s development is the eighth breakthrough in a cold-case murder over the past three years as a direct result of Major Crime’s Operation Persist initiative.

As part of the operation, dozens of SA’s historic cold-case murders have been reviewed and many subject to fresh investigations, including the re-examination of key forensic exhibits using advanced DNA technology.

The breakthroughs have included the arrests of Domenic Perre over the 1994 NCA bombing, Geoffrey Adams over the 1973 disappearance and death of his wife Colleen Adams at Maitland and Paul Beveridge Maroroa over the 2000 death of Robert Sabeckis at Maslin Beach.

The operation also led to the conviction of Adrian Mahoney for the 1998 murder of friend Dale McCauley at Willunga. Mahoney is serving a 15-year minimum jail term.

Major Crime officer-in-charge Detective Superintendent Des Bray. Picture: David Mariuz/AAP

Supt Bray said the continued success of Operation Persist was helping to “build confidence’’ in reluctant witnesses to historic murders.

“It shows them we can help them,’’ he said.

While there are more than 100 cold cases in SA, detectives are realistic about their ability to solve many of them.

“It’s fair to say that everyone wants their case to be a priority.

“We will continue to conduct our assessments and reviews and prioritise those cases moving forward,’’ Supt Bray said.

“These investigations were difficult in the first place and that is why they were not solved.

“They are even more difficult to investigate 10, 20 years later. People should not have false expectations that everything will be solved, but we will always do our best.’’