Families of murdered children hope 20-year wait for justice nearly over

The 20-year wait may soon be over for the grieving families. Photo / Getty Images

More than 20 years after the murders of three Aboriginal children from a small New South Wales country town, their families have been given fresh hope that the killer may finally be brought to justice.

The three - Colleen Walker, 16, Clinton Speedy, 16, and 4-year-old Evelyn Greenup - went missing from the same street in Bowraville, on the NSW mid-north coast, between September 1990 and February 1991.

The bodies of Clinton and Evelyn, both killed by blows to the head, were found in bushland outside the town, while Colleen's clothes turned up in a nearby river.

Jay Hart, a white labourer who lived in a caravan near the former Bowraville Aboriginal mission, was allegedly seen with or near each of the three children before they disappeared. Hart, said to have a history of violence and sexual abuse, was acquitted of murdering Clinton in 1994 and of killing Evelyn in 2006. Colleen's body has never been found.

In 2006, following a campaign by the families, NSW became the first Australian state to overturn "double jeopardy" laws preventing a suspect being tried twice for the same crime. Now police believe they have uncovered new, compelling evidence which could persuade the Attorney-General, Greg Hunt, to order a retrial, the first to take place under the new legislation.

The Crown advocate, Natalie Adams, the state's most senior legal adviser, is examining the evidence at Hunt's request to see whether it justifies the re-laying of charges, the Sun-Herald reported. The latest twist follows two police investigations, the two trials, a coronial inquest, two appeals to Attorney-Generals and a petition to Parliament. Police have also offered a A$250,000 ($324,000) reward, as yet unclaimed.

"We're disappointed that it's taken so long, but we're hopeful now maybe finally something's happening," said Leonie Duroux, the widow of Clinton's elder brother, Marbuck, who died in 2009. She appealed to anyone who could help police to come forward. "There's a little girl that has never been found, and her family has never been able to say goodbye," she said.

The families are bitter about the initial investigation, now widely considered botched and possibly responsible for the loss of crucial evidence.

Colleen's disappearance was not taken seriously by police, nor was Evelyn's three weeks later; both were treated as missing persons cases. Even after Clinton's remains were discovered four months later, about 7km outside town, the homicide squad was not called in. It was 10 days before Hart's caravan was seized and examined for evidence. A second police investigation began in 1997.

Bowraville has a history of entrenched racism - cinemas and pubs were racially segregated until relatively recently - and Clinton's aunt, Helen Duroux, told the ABC last year: "Had these three children been white, I am sure justice would have been swift and hard-hitting."

The commander of the NSW homicide squad, Detective Superintendent Michael Willing, has said police now believe they have enough evidence for a second prosecution.