The Alibi true crime series: Who killed Eva Webel and Denise Govendir

The murders in Sydney of Eva Webel and Denise Govendir remain unsolved - listen to the Sunday Telegraph’s true crime series podcast

The murders of Denise Govendir and Eva Webel remain unsolved

ONE of the state’s most puzzling and enduring homicide investigations will one day be solved through advances in DNA technology, says the lead detective who ran the case.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch believes the murder of Denise Govendir, a Sydney mother and community worker, will conclude with an arrest as scientific testing continues to improve.

“I’m confident that it can be solved,” Assistant Commissioner Murdoch told Channel Nine’s A Current Affair program.

The comments follow a multi-part podcast investigative series run by The Sunday Telegraph -- known as The Alibi -- which closely examined the murder of Ms Govendir and another woman, Eva Webel.

Both murders occurred 15 years apart but shared unusual coincidences: the victims were known to each other, lived nearby, their husbands were close friends, and both women were involved in divorce proceedings at the times of their death.

The women also died in near-identical circumstances: they were bashed to death in their homes, which were ransacked to look like robberies.

LISTEN TO THE ALIBI PODCAST SERIES

Eva Webel’s husband, George, was found not guilty of her murder, but he was identified as a person of interest in the death of Ms Govendir. Another person of interest in Ms Govendir’s murder is her husband, Aaron, who has never been charged.

Assistant Commissioner Murdoch said it was “good luck more than good management” which had assisted the offenders in both cases.

Eva Webel was murdered and her husband George tried and acquitted for the crime.

A key piece of evidence – a handprint left at the scene of the Govendir murder – has yet to be matched to any suspect, he said.

“[With] scientific evidence and the experience and dedication of our investigators… we’ll get there in the end.”

Denise Govendir on her wedding day. She married Aaron in 1969 and they had been together for almost 30 years when she was murdered.