Former detectives Damian Loone, Charlie Bezzina want police reward review amid investigation in Jessica Zrinski’s cold case
Two of Australia’s high profile former detectives have slammed the nation’s “unofficial lottery” of cold case rewards, where some attract $1 million while others receive nothing. VOTE NOW
Two high-profile former detectives want a review of the police reward system for cold cases, which they say is disparate and often working against families seeking justice.
Retired NSW officer Damian Loone, who spearheaded the Teachers Pet podcast investigation, and veteran Victorian detective Charlie Bezzina, say there is an unofficial lottery in the way rewards for information are decided – with some homicides given double or triple the weighting of others.
“We had an underworld figure for example, (it gets) a million dollars,” Mr Bezzina said.
“And they’d say, well hang on a minute, why is my daughter or my son’s murder less than he gets, a million dollars.”
Their comments follow this masthead’s Left in the Cold multimedia investigation into the suspected death of 30-year-old Jessica Zrinski, west of Sydney, in 2022.
As part of that probe, this masthead has spoken to the families of a further six suspected murder victims who are losing faith their cases will ever be solved.
Shockingly, one of the cases doesn’t even have a reward.
Calls for fresh coronial inquests for another two cases, one of which has a prime suspect, have been rejected.
Mr Loone, whose dogged detective work was influential in solving the 1982 murder of Lynette Simms (Dawson), said cold case investigations were often driven by the family’s persistence, media interest and crucial leads.
“How do you put a dollar figure on somebody’s life?” Mr Loone said.
“A hundred and two hundred thousand dollars isn’t technically life changing for anybody (to come forward with information), but a million dollars would be.”
It took 23 years for NSW Police to lift the reward for information on 1993 Sydney murder victim Tracey Valesini from zero to $100,000.
A tip-off led police to search Ms Valesini’s former Wentworth Falls home in 2001, where her blood was found in a bathroom.
A coroner later ruled the 20 year old was murdered but nobody has ever been charged.
“It’s not fair”, sister Sharon Robards said, describing the reward system as “ludicrous”.
“It’s horrible. It’s been 30 years now and the people responsible are getting closer to the end of their life. A person of interest died last year.”
Sharon McKell said her daughter Emma Pawelski’s killer was still free 20 years after her body was found on a remote track in bushland near Adelaide.
“I want this solved so much but I go through periods where I have a lot of hope and then I go through periods where I just give up a bit and feel sad about it because nothing happens”, Ms McKell said.
Ms Pawelski, 30, was beaten to death and her body dragged into Mt Crawford Forest before being set on fire in November 2005.
A $200,000 reward announced by South Australia Police in 2013 for information about Ms Pawelski’s murder has never been increased despite the inducement sparking credible information.
Police have identified a prime suspect, known to Ms Pawelski, and they have information that more than one person was involved in her death. Ms McKell’s push for an inquest has gone begging.
“I do feel like Emma’s case is just not important enough and I just think they’ve hit a brick wall,” she said.
Victorians Alana Cecil, 16, who was found dead in 1996, and Terry Floyd, 12, missing since 1975, are a further two cases where prime suspects have been identified.
Mr Bezzina, who has spent years reinvestigating Terry’s murder, remains frustrated some of the evidence he has unearthed has been deemed inadmissable.
Mr Bezzina and Terry’s brother, Daryl Floyd, want the Victorian Coroner to hold a second inquest into his death.
A $1m reward was announced in 2014 in an effort to solve Terry’s case – up from $100,000.
But there is no reward for information to solve Alana’s case to date, despite the probe being revived by a podcast last year.
Alana’s father, Peter Cecil, who is also pushing for a second coroner’s inquiry, said his daughter’s death had initially been written off as misadventure by drug overdose until two suspects were identified via a DNA match.
The DNA breakthrough eight years after Alana’s death led police to question two men, one aged 48, whose semen was found in and on her body.
The older man, known to police, made a no comment interview.
“It was very hard for a father to accept what happened to her,” Mr Cecil said.
“My family has never given up hope.
“Hopefully it gets back to the Coroners Court. There’s lots of questions to be asked.”
Police make applications for a reward to be offered to their respective state governments.
It is usual for a committee to assess the application before it is approved and publicly issued.
The size of the payout is determined by a committee, which includes police and government officials.
A $500,000 reward is on offer for information into Jessica Zrinski’s disappearance.
You can also donate to the family’s GoFundMe campaign.
For any tips, please email ashlea.hansen@news.com.au
Originally published as Former detectives Damian Loone, Charlie Bezzina want police reward review amid investigation in Jessica Zrinski’s cold case
