$1M reward to find Ricky Balcombe’s killer: Cold case review

HOMICIDE detectives hope a $1 million reward will bring the killer of Ricky Balcombe to justice more than two decades after his murder.

Graeme and Christine Loader.

HOMICIDE detectives are upping the reward for information on the CBD murder of Geelong schoolboy to $1 million more than two decades after the much-loved son was stabbed to death in Market Square.

RICKY’S FAMILY JUST WANT TO SEE JUSTICE DONE

The brutal murder of Ricky Balcombe, 16, remains unsolved more than 20 years after he was left to bleed to death only metres from nearby families and shoppers on May 5, 1995.

Ricky Balcombe.

And while rumours of gang warfare and revenge have surrounded the case, a successful conviction has never been made.

It’s one of 10 unsolved homicide cases selected by Victoria Police for new $1 million rewards and will be featured on Channel 7’s Million Dollar Cold Case series starting this week.

Homicide squad boss Mick Hughes is hoping the publicity — and the chance of getting a life-changing $1 million reward — will prompt those with knowledge of the crimes to contact police.

Detective Senior Constable Lisa Metcher, from the homicide cold case team, tells the TV series on the night of the murder, Ricky was walking with a friend to try on aftershave when confronted by a male.

Geelong Addy, 1995.

“The male has shouted at Ricky ‘Do you remember me?’. He’s grabbed him in a semi-headlock and when Ricky is bent in that position, the male has produced a knife and stabbed Ricky to the neck. The male has then pushed Ricky upwards, and Ricky has also been stabbed in the stomach,” she said.

“The force used to stab Ricky was extremely powerful, it has caused Ricky’s lungs to deflate which ultimately led to his death.

“It’s bittersweet when you’re investigating cold case homicides. We believe we can solve it, but we can’t bring Ricky back to his family.”

Ricky’s father Robert Balcombe said he had been living 20 years of “pure hell” without his son. “When you see your child on a steel table its cruel, no one should have to do it. Why did this happen, who did this, he was a good kid,” he said.

Members of murder victims’ families have previously complained to News Corp about the inequity of some unsolved murder cases attracting $1 million rewards while others offered much less, or nothing.

Daryl Floyd, the brother of murdered schoolboy Terry Floyd, and Peter MacDiarmid, the father of murder victim Sarah MacDiarmid, were quoted appealing for uniformity in the system.

The then Chief Commissioner, Ken Lay, told News Corp he had read the article and it moved him so much he ordered an immediate review into Victoria’s unfair rewards system.

The other six $1 million rewards will be revealed during Channel 7’s new crime series which starts tonight at 9pm.

Anyone with information on the Tapp, Balcombe, Brunton or Philips murders should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersvic.com.au

MILLION DOLLAR REWARDS

MARGARET and SEANA TAPP, whose bodies were discovered in their Ferntree Gully home in 1984. Ms Tapp, 35, was beaten and strangled to death while her daughter Seana, 9, was raped and killed in her bed.

CHRIS PHILIPS, 42, a civil engineers with the Board of Works who died of head injuries at his Cheltenham home in 1989. His throat had also been slashed.

RENITA BRUNTON, 31, was stabbed to death in her Sunbury shop in 1993. Serial sex monster Peter Dupas is a suspect in the Brunton case. Dupas has already been convicted of the murders of Mersina Halvagas, 25, Nicole Patterson, 28 and Margaret Maher, 40, and is also a suspect in the murders of 95-year-old great-grandmother Kathleen Downes and Helen McMahon, 47, who was bashed to death while sunbathing on a Rye beach in 1985.

RICKY BALCOMBE, 16, was stabbed repeatedly in the back and chest at Geelong’s busy Market Square Mall in front of his best mate and shocked shoppers in 1995.

The other six $1 million rewards will be revealed during Channel 7’s new true crime series Million Dollar Cold Case, which starts tonight at 9pm.

Originally published as $1M reward to find Ricky Balcombe’s killer: Cold case review