Families of victims of unsolved homicides hopeful after major review announced

EVERY unsolved murder committed in NSW since the early ‘70s will be revisited by police in an unprecedented bid to bring justice to the victims’ long-suffering families. All of the Unsolved Homicide Unit’s cold cases — about 500 — will be reviewed.

EVERY murder mystery to have baffled NSW Police in the past 40 years will be revisited in one of the biggest-ever shake-ups of cold case homicides in the state.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal all of the Unsolved Homicide Unit’s cold cases — about 500 — will be reviewed before detectives are assigned to focus on “priority” cases that police believe could now be solvable because of new technologies or other reasons.

A new review team will look into the availability of witnesses, new technologies and whether there are lines of inquiry that were not followed up properly at the time of the original investigation to decide whether there are killers out there who may finally be brought to justice.

Detective Superintendent Scott Cook at NSW Police Headquarters in Parramatta. Picture: Richard Dobson

The first 20 cold cases will be sent out for review this week and will be looked at by fresh sets of eyes outside the homicide squad.

NSW Police homicide commander Detective Superintendent Scott Cook said they aimed to provide answers to as many families of murder victims as soon as possible.

“We want to make sure we are looking at the right cases — the solvable cases — now, so they are not languishing there for years while we work slowly through the list from oldest to newest,” Supt Cook said.

“The review process will look at the best opportunities to solve the matter, and cases that could be solved now given the right resources will    be prioritised to be reinvestigated­.”

However, he does not want families who have lost loved ones to feel forgotten if their cases are not put on the new priority list.

“Every case is going to get reviewed and I’m sorry to the families if their case is less solvable than others. It’s not forgotten and it will be looked at again and again,” Supt Cook said. “I think most families will understand that we have to work on evidence and if the evidence isn’t there — we could spend a lifetime searching for evidence that just isn’t there.”

Unsolved murders: Lynette White, Michelle Bright, Jordan Thompson and Maria Smith.

Detectives have already been working to reclassify all cold cases in NSW into a new framework that will help them hone in on the most solvable cases dating back to 1972.

The first matters to be reviewed will be “unsolved” deaths that are clearly homicides­.

A second category is for matters that are “undetermined”, including cases where it is not clear whether the person’s death was a homicide, by misadventure or a suicide.

“Unresolved” matters include deaths where police know who the offender is but they have either been acquitted at trial or are on the run.

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Supt Cook said the reviews will be undertaken by senior detectives or commissioned officers across the state. Some of the reviewers are inspectors who have been displaced as a result of the force’s recent “re-engineering”.

“While the Unsolved Homicide Unit is a finite resource, the NSW Police Force has a wealth of investigators whose skills can be harnessed to increase our capacity to put fresh eyes on cold cases,” Supt Cook said.

Katrina Ploy’s belongings and car were found near The Gap at Watsons Bay.

Tracey Valesini is another unsolved case that will come under review. Picture: Supplied

Reviewing officers will be given three months to complete each review. And each one will be checked by the homicide squad, which will rate and prioritise the cases before they are allocated for reinvestigation.

In addition, each case will be put into a system that is accessible to all police and biannual alerts will be sent out for every cold case to ensure officers are consistently touching base with victims’ families.

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Singleton toddler Jordan Thompson.

Jordan Thompson had a lethal dose of anti-depressant medication in his system.

When Supt Cook became homicide chief last December he said he quickly realised new cases were coming in faster than his team could solve the ones they were already working on.

“This has an accumulation effect and if we allow it to continue to accumulate we will never get to the end,” he said. “Instead of spending resources and efforts on something that is not going anywhere at this time, we want to put those cases that are solvable in the spotlight and clear them up.”

The unit has solved 30 cases since its formation in 2004 and five others are before the courts — including Vinzent Tarantino, who is charged with the murder of missing Sydney schoolgirl Quanne Diec.

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