Cold case arrest in 1983 Gold Coast killing of Linda Reed

The 21-year-old was abducted, assaulted and killed on her lunch break. Now, 35 years on, a man has been charged with her murder.

Linda Reed’s semi-naked body was found in a creek puddle, her hands bound with a bikini top and glasses cord. Picture: Supplied

Troy James O’Meara has appeared in court charged with the murder of retail assistant Julie Reed, who was abducted from a Gold Coast shopping centre while on her lunch break 35 years ago.

O’Meara, 51, wearing a green tracksuit and with long grey hair and a grey goatee beard, faced a hearing that lasted less than two minutes before being remanded in custody.

The man who was arrested today over the 35-year-old cold case murder was not initially identified as a suspect by police, who had charged someone else with the brutal crime.

Homicide detectives say they have now connected him to Linda’s abduction and murder, during her lunch break at a Gold Coast shopping centre, through advances in forensics including the evolution of DNA testing.

He was just 17 at the time and is alleged to have acted alone.

Linda’s husband, Robert Reed, was emotional as he thanked police for their efforts to bring his wife’s killer to justice at a media conference at Brisbane’s police headquarters today.

“It’s been 35 years since my wife was taken from me, from Nancy and Oscar, her parents, from Philip, her brother,” he said, speaking on behalf of Linda’s family.

“We just want to thank the police for never giving up in trying to find Linda’s murderer. We cannot thank the Queensland police enough.”

Detective Senior Sergeant Chris Knight said: “Linda’s abduction and murder is a completely random attack that has had devastating effects, not only on Linda’s family but on the Gold Coast community generally.”

Detectives had been supported by a “broad spectrum of forensic officers who have played a significant role in the advancement of this investigation”, he said.

The man will be charged with murder and is due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court this afternoon.

The case had been the subject of reinvigorated investigations “for quite a number of years … A lot of those investigations have been done out of the public eyesight.

“We have explored a wide range of forensic opportunities which have been a significant contribution.”

He confirmed DNA had been one of those developments.

Linda’s car was found filled with Christmas presents and her half-eaten lunch in its wrapping. Her body was found 100 metres away. Picture: Supplied

Police say Linda’s abduction, sexual assault and murder devastated her family and locals. picture: Supplied

Reed, 21, was last seen alive at the Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, where she was working as a retail assistant at a jewellery store, on December 13, 1983.

She is believed she had gone to her car to have lunch during her break when she was abducted.

Her bound and semi-naked body was found near her Mazda sedan at Gaven Forest Estate three days later.

In 1986 police charged Craig Andrew McConnell after an alleged jailhouse confession, but he was acquitted and is no longer alleged to be connected to the murder.

Sgt Knight said: “This is definitely not a double jeopardy or any exercise of double jeopardy legislation. This is a new court process which we will be commencing today.

“During the initial investigation, as you can imagine for the early 80s there was a significant amount of investigation surrounding Linda’s homicide.

“The gentleman that’s in custody at the moment was not subject of those early investigations.

“His name did not come up in the earlier investigation. It’s been relatively recent past when it’s come up.

“I’m not talking in the last six months or anything, I’m talking in recent years.”

Police could not see any contact between the accused killer and Reed prior to her abduction.

“I believe that he took Linda when she was on her lunch break at Pacific Fair in the car park. She was essentially never seen alive again.

“Linda Reed was a young lady going about her life doing everything right.

“If you talk to any police that have worked on the Gold Coast in the past 30 years they all have knowledge of this investigation.”

Improvement in DNA technology was “significant and in due course that will become very apparent”.

“In the early 80s DNA was not being used. It was simply not available to investigators.

“Conventional DNA became available in the mid to late 90s and started becoming important in criminal trials. But since then DNA testing has obviously increased significantly in terms of their capacity and ability to detect and find DNA profiles that perhaps even in the early DNA stages were simply not available.

“That has been a progressive evolution of technology. I’ve no doubt it will only get better in the future.

“We are looking for these opportunities in a whole range of other unsolved homicides.

“We hope that that passage of time is no comfort to anybody. If anything the next knock on their door could be from a police officer.”

Linda’s parents Oskar Fein, now deceased, and Nancy with a portrait of their daughter in 2010. His dying wish was to discover the identity of his daughter's killer. Picture: