NSW’s Unsolved Homicide Squad has a message to grey-headed killers.

You may have grown old since you committed murder, become someone’s grandad, play bowls on a Saturday, but the squad is amassing new evidence and reviewing old files for new clues to your crime.

And when they are satisfied they will come calling to settle a cold case you thought the cops had forgotten.

The NSW Unsolved Homicide Squad is currently working on nearly 30 cold case murders going back to 1970 and also reviewing a further 218 suspicious deaths or missing persons who may have met with foul play.

Since the squad was created in 2008 more than 33 people, including three serial killers, have been charged over homicides dating back to 1980.

“When you consider the complexities in going back to investigate cases, some decades old, to bring charges on average of two a year is quite significant,’’ said Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty, the head of the NSW Homicide Squad.

“Not all cases are simply solved by some magical DNA hit. In cases like Michelle Bright it was brilliant work involving thinking outside the box with a covert operation. The case of Ray Keam was also old-fashioned, hard slog police work going back through statements and reinterviewing witnesses which solved it.

“In that case there was a group involved in gay-hate bashings back then (1987) but as time went by some of those involved didn’t necessarily agree to the extent of what happened and when spoken to again decided they wanted to talk.”.

Superintendent Doherty said relationships change — where people may have been frightened to come forward or their conscience gets too much for them or new technology gives fresh leads.

“When we speak to families they will say their loss feels like it was only yesterday and that’s how we approach our investigations,” he said.

“We go back and look at the case as if it happened yesterday.”

There are currently 854 cases on the Unsolved Homicide Squad database going back to 1970, with the oldest case being the disappearance of toddler Cheryl Grimmer from a Wollongong beach in 1970, in which a man was charged but the case dismissed because of a legal technicality.

“That is still considered unresolved and we are still in contact with the family and only recently had a meeting with them to explain,’’ Superintendent Doherty said.

The Wanda Beach killings of teenagers Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock in 1965 are not on the list of solved crimes, are still open and if new credible information was received would be investigated.

“When you think about 854 cases that are effectively listed as unsolved or open it is about being able to monitor those cases and prioritise them by making sure they are being reviewed. Then we have to decide what priority is attached to what cases and that is based on solvability,’’ Detective Inspector Nigel Warren, head of the Unsolved Homicide Unit, said.

Police said the number of unsolved cases is realistically 449, while the others have been to court without a conviction or in many cases ruled not to be homicides as they may have been determined to be suicides or accidents.

“I could say across our four teams we have 25 to 27 investigations, which are cases we are injecting resources to on a daily basis, but on top of that there are others that are also being worked on,” Detective Warren said

While the teams focus on certain cases which have been accessed as solvable other murders are constantly being reviewed.

“The Unsolved teams are constantly getting better at managing and reviewing cases all the time, there are advancements in forensics not just in DNA but genealogy, how fingerprints can be recovered which are all used to reinvestigate cases,’’ he said.

Here are some of the Unsolved Homicide Squad’s cases:

FOUND GUILTY

FELIPE FLORES, murdered 1991: The 27-year-old was found bashed to death in a laneway in Woolloomooloo. In 2008 a cold case review got a DNA hit on Paul Darcey Armstrong, now aged 61. Armstrong was sentenced to 12 years and three months for manslaughter.

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RACHEL CAMPBELL, murdered 1998: The 29-year-old was found with stab wounds and bite marks in a churchyard in Roseberry. A cold case DNA hit in 2008 led to the arrest of Richard Dorrough. He was acquitted, but later confessed. In July 2011, a witness came forward and said Dorrough admitted to them he had killed a person in Sydney. He was also suspected in the disappearance and murder of SARA-LEE DAVEY, 19, in Broome in 1997. In 2014, Dorrough, 37, killed himself and sent a letter to his girlfriend admitting to killing three people in his life. The third victim is unknown.

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RUSSEL LYONS, murdered 1995: The 20-year-old died from subdural haemorrhage after being found unconscious in a Fairfield car park. In 2007, a man was arrested in Qld riding a stolen push bike while drunk. His DNA on the inside of a sneaker near the scene matched the victim. Darren Smith was found guilty in 2011. His conviction was quashed after serving less than two years.

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PO LIM, died 1987: The 66-year-old was standing on the corner of Pitt and Goulburn street when a car drove past and someone grabbed her handbag, dragging her to the ground where she hit her head and later died from the injuries. In 2008, a Strikeforce reopened the case and in 2009 David Gordon Stracey, 63, walked into Grafton police station and gave himself up saying he could no longer live with Ms Lim’s death. He was sentenced to five years and three months jail for manslaughter. Another man, Glen Sparks, 61, was also sentenced to six years and nine months for manslaughter.

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TEGAN LANE, murdered in 1996. The body of the newborn Tegan has never been found. In 2009, Keli lane, 49, was arrested by way of ex-officio indictment and later after a lengthy trial of purely circumstantial evidence her mother Keli Lane was sentenced to 18 years jail.

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DONNA HICKS, murdered 1995: The 34-year-old was found dead by the side of the road in Minchinbury, south-west Sydney with a gunshot wound to the head. In 2007, NSW police linked DNA found on Ms Hicks to that of Bandali Debs, 71, who was in a Melbourne jail for shooting 19-year-old Kristy Harty in the head and dumping her body in a similar fashion. He had also been convicted of executing Victorian police officers, Gary Silk and Rodney Miller in 1998. He is serving life in prison.

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NELLA POLI, murdered 1987: The 19-year-old was found strangled to death with her own pantyhose and a pillow in a Zetland apartment where she lived. In 2011, Grant Mitchell, aged 74, walked into Atherton Police Station and gave himself up. He was 39 when dating Ms Poli. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail for manslaughter.

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JENNIFER SMITH, died 1998: The 32-year-old was found with multiple injuries in a Newton laneway not far from where the Whitlams lead singer Tim Freedman lived. The pair were known to each other with evidence Ms Smith was obsessed with the singer. In 2008, DNA found under Ms Smith’s fingernails was sent for testing and matched an earlier suspect. Wayne Castle, 65, confessed to an undercover police officer he killed her. He was sentenced to seven years and six months jail for manslaughter.

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PIA NAVIDA, murdered 1992: The 37-year- old’s body was found in the Royal National Park, south of Sydney with her head caved in by a large rock. In 2006, following advancements in DNA, police got a match to Steven Isac Matthews, 53. He was sentenced to 21 years and six months in jail.

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THOMAS ROWAN, died 1994: The 84-year-old was attacked in his Surry Hills apartment during a burglary and died from a heart attack a week later. In 2011, NSW Police worked with Victorian police targeting violent crime in Melbourne when a covert operation led to the arrest of Danny Khochaiche, 53. He had been an original suspect but fled to Lebanon soon after the attack. He was sentenced to 13 years and nine months for manslaughter.

JODIE FESUS, murdered 1997: The body of the 18-year-old mother was found in a shallow grave at Seven Mile Beach, Gerroa on the NSW south coast. Her husband had reported her missing in the weeks before. In 2013, after receiving new information, police launched a new investigation. Her husband Steven Fesus admitted to strangling her to an undercover operative. He was sentenced to 22 years jail but died in jail in 2020, aged 49.

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MARY WALLACE, murdered 1983. The 33-year-old nurse, whose body has never been found, was last seen getting into a car with Robert Adams, 72, after leaving a bar at Crows Nest. Adams was questioned at the time but never arrested. In 2013, police reopened the investigation and matched two hairs found in the car boot belonging to Adams to those found on a hairbrush belonging to Ms Wallace. He was sentenced to 20 years jail.

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DORIS FENBOW, murdered 1988: The 66-year-old was found in her Little Bay home which had been set on fire. She had been strangled and raped. In 2014 police began a review of her case and collected DNA from a neighbour who was one week shy of his 18th birthday at the time of the murder. It came back as a match of that found on the victim’s body. A suppression order was lifted on the name of Alexis Katsis, 54, who was sentenced to 20 years jail for rape and murder.

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RITA CALEO, murdered 1990: The 39-year-old was found stabbed 23 times inside a Double Bay mansion she shared with her husband, Michael. Ten months earlier her brother, Dr Michael Chye was shot to death at the wheel of his Mercedes as he pulled into the driveway of his Woollahra home. In 2015, police arrested Mark Caleo, 61, at Ramsgate and Alani Afu in Tonga. Caleo was charged with organising both the murder of his wife and brother-in-law. He was acquitted of the hit on Dr Chye but convicted of conspiracy to murder his wife and sentenced to 12 years jail. Dr Chye’s death is still unsolved.

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JUDGE DAVID OPAS, PEARL WATSON, GRAHAM WYKES: Family court Judge Opas, 43, was shot dead when he opened the front door of his home at Edgecliff in 1980. Pearl Watson, 56, died when she set off a booby-trapped bomb at her Grenwich home in 1984. The intended target was her husband, Family Court Judge Ray Watson. Graham Wykes, 37, died after a bomb was planted under a speakers platform in Jehovah Witness hall in 1985.

In 2015, fireman Leonard John Warwick, 77, was arrested after DNA on carpet and cardboard found at the bombing of the Jehovah Witness Hall matched that of Warwick. He was seeking revenge on anyone who helped or was involved in a custody dispute with his wife, Andrea. In 2020 Warwick was found guilty of Judge Opas, Ms Watson and Mr Wykes’ deaths and sentenced to life. He was found not guilty of killing his brother-in-law, Stephen Blanchard, 25, who was found with a bullet wound to his head in Ku-ring-gai National Park in 1980. That case is still listed as unsolved.

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ELIZABETH DIXON, killed in 1982: The 31-year-old was stabbed 27 times and her body found inside her car in bushland near Newcastle. In 2013 — after police announced a reward of $150,000 — police received a tip off from a member of the public. It led to the arrest of Rodney Lawrence, 73, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to accessory after the fact of murder and jailed for two years. The main suspect in the murder is now dead and his name suppressed.

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CHARLES SKARRATT, killed in 1989: The 72-year-old bookmaker was stabbed to death in the garage of his Woolwich home in a botched robbery attempt in 1989. In 2017, Terry Hickson, 65, was buccal swabbed for an unrelated crime and police got a cold case hit matching it to blood on Mr Skarratt’s sock and a bloodstain in his boot. Hickson was jailed for 22 years.

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LYNETTE DAWSON, died in 1982: The 24-year-old mother of two disappeared from her northern beaches home in 1982. Her body has never been found. In 2018, police reviewed the case and put together a brief of circumstantial evidence on her husband Chris Dawson, 74. He was arrested, charged and later sentenced to 24 years in jail.

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CHERYL ARDLER, killed in 2012: The 43- year-old was reported missing in 2013. Her skull was found in a dry creek bed in Cranbrook in 2018. Four years later, Ernest Brown walked into Penrith Police Station and said his cousin, Dennis French, 45, had killed Ms Ardler in 2012 after assaulting her, stabbing her with a fork and bashing her. He said he helped bury her body. French was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to nine years for manslaughter.

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IRENE JONES, killed in 2001: The 56-year-old was strangled and stabbed to death inside her Lansvale home in 2001. Her daughter, Megan, ran to a neighbour’s home and rang Triple 0 saying they had been attacked. In 2019, after investigating the evidence and putting together a circumstantial case, Megan Jones, 50, was arrested and later sentenced to 20 years in jail.

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TATIANA SOKOLOFF, died in 1986: The 56-year-old had been bashed with a piece of wood and strangled when a relative found her on the verandah of her Haberfield home in 1986 in what police said was a burglary. A review by the Unsolved Homicide Squad in 2017 led to the arrest of Martin Dukagjini, 68, who was sentenced to 20 years jail.

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HASAN DASTAN, killed in 1995: The 60-year-old was found beaten to death after being attacked with various weapons including a sledgehammer and placed under a car at his Blacktown workshop. In 2020, just a days after a $1m reward was announced publicly, Kubilay Kilincher, 63, was arrested. Despite no forensics placing him at the scene, he was sentenced to 22 years in jail.

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MICHELLE BRIGHT, murdered in 1995: The 17-year-old’s body was found in bushes at Gulgong near Mudgee after she vanished from a party. Her body was found three days later; she had been suffocated. In 2020 police reopened her case and after staging an elaborate police sting, Craig Rumsby, 57, confessed to an undercover operative posing as a corrupt detective helping him. He was sentenced to 32 years jail.

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RAY KEAM, killed in 1987: The 43-year-old was a victim of a gay-hate bashing. He was attacked in a park on Alison Rd, Randwick and suffered multiple injuries. A review of the case led to detectives putting together a circumstantial case which resulted in the arrest of Stanley Sutton (also known as Stanley Bruce Earley). He was later sentenced to 22 years in jail.

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TILLIE CRAIG, died in 1987: The two-year-old, whose body was never found, had been with her mother, Ellen Craig who was a member of a cult living on a property in Oberon in the state’s west. In 2019, a former cult member made a call from a public phone detailing what she knew about Tillie’s death. Ellen Craig, 64, was arrested and charged in 2021 and sentenced to nine years jail after confessing she was hit with a piece of irrigation piping and stopped breathing. Her body had been burnt in a 44-gallon drum.

CHARGED AND FACING TRIAL:

JASON PALMER, died 2004: The body of the 34-year-old was found in the Nepean River with stab wounds — he had been weighed down with rocks. In 2022, police reopened the investigation and arrested a 52-year-old man and charged him with murder. The trial is listed for later this year.

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DENISE GOVINDER, died in 1998: The 53-year-old was allegedly bashed to death when she and her husband, Aaron Govinder, were attacked during a home invasion at their Dover Heights home. In 2024, police arrested her 82-year-old husband, Aaron, and charged him with murder. He is expected to face trial later this year.

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BERND (BERD) LEHMANN, died in 2008: The 66-year-old carer was found bashed to death with a statuette in his Ashfield home. In 2021, police arrested Naji Fakhreddine. He’s had a relative jailed and when he was swabbed it came back with a familial DNA hit, which led police to the alleged killer. He is facing trial in 2025.

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Baby girl, died 2007: The 21-month-old baby girl died when she was taken to a medical centre at Ingleburn in Sydney’s southwest in 2009. A coroner found that her cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. After a number of investigations police built a case and arrested a 38-year-old man. He was charged with murder and faces court this year.

NOT GUILTY:

STEVEN COHORTON, died in 2013: Police alleged the 18-year-old severely disabled man drowned in a bath at his Emerton home. After five years of investigations, police arrested and charged a man who went to trial in 2020 but was acquitted.

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AMBER HAIGH, died in 2002: It’s alleged the 19-year old mother was last seen at Campbelltown railway station in June of 2002, after being dropped off by a couple she knew who would look after her young baby. Police reinvestigated the case believing they had enough new evidence and charged Robert and Anne Greeves, both 64, with murder in 2022. Both were found not guilty by a judge alone trial last year.