Police believe a Maroubra local may be responsible for the death of a young mother whose body was dumped in scrubland after she was violently murdered.
Toni Tiki was murdered while walking home from a New Year’s Eve party in 1996. Almost 30 years later, her now adult children have joined an appeal as police offer a $1 million reward for information.
Toni Tiki was brutally murdered as she walked home. Credit: NSW Police
The case is being put back in the public eye amid “a movement” around violence against women, with the entire case to be reinvestigated including forensic testing, NSW Police homicide squad commander Danny Doherty said.
Tiki, then aged 26, left the party at the South Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club about 1.30am with a male friend who said he would walk her home.
Tiki, who was a Maroubra resident at the time, was left alone by the friend who decided he would prefer to return to the party. It was the last time she was seen alive.
Her partially clad body was found the next day in scrubland near a walking track. She had died of significant head injuries.
The Maroubra crime scene where Tiki’s body was found.Credit: NSW Police
Shannon Hall, Tiki’s daughter, was almost nine when she lost her mother. Now living in the US, Hall came to Australia to plead for anyone with information to come forward.
“Everything done in the dark will always come to light,” Hall said.
“The night she was killed we were robbed. Robbed of experiences, of having her here to navigate this life.”
Speaking through tears, Tiki’s son Michael Hinds said his mother’s murder had “left a huge hole in our hearts”. He was just a three-year-old at the time of her death.
“When something like this comes up it brings up a ball of emotions you just can’t control, and you realise you need your Mum and you miss her,” he said.
Toni Tiki’s murder remains unsolved.Credit: NSW Police
Doherty said where Tiki’s body was found was not a major thoroughfare, and was most likely used only by locals or those with local knowledge.
Given her condition when she was found, police believe it was a sexually motivated attack and are examining previous sexual offences in the Maroubra area that might have been connected.
“[The reward] is an incentive for those people who may have been sitting on information for some time. Today is the day to come forward,” Doherty said.
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