Australia Australia - Bronwynne Richardson, 17, Albury, NSW, 12 Oct 1973

Cold case detectives make arrest in murder of teen after four decades


Seventeen-year-old Bronwynne Richardson was attacked and dragged into a car on 12 October, 1973, with her body found two days later in a lagoon off the Murray River.

Detectives arrested 61-year-old Colin Michael Newey in Murray Bridge, South Australia, yesterday and it is expected that he will be formally charged when extradited to New South Wales this afternoon.

http://www.9news.com.au/National/2014/07/31/12/59/Arrest-in-cold-case-murder-after-four-decades




Wonderful news for family of Bronwynne Richardson, her killer is caught after 40 yrs. Great work by NSW detectives, they never gave up!

No bail bid for Bronwynne's alleged killer



The man accused of raping and murdering teen beauty queen Bronwynne Richardson will remain behind bars after his case was mentioned in a Sydney court.

Colin Michael Newey did not come up from the cells at Central Local Court on Friday and did not apply for bail.

"Given the nature of the charge, bail is refused," Magistrate Les Mabbutt said.


It is the oldest unsolved murder case in NSW to result in an arrest.


http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...ronwynne-s-alleged-killer#KVbb2Dg1EOQSMXyz.99

It turns out to be a family member who has been charged - a second cousin of Bronwynne's :facepalm: The family and town are stunned apparently.

“He wasn't on the radar, I don’t think,” Bronwynne’s aunt Lorna Edwards said.

“It was just such a shock when we saw it we thought ‘this can’t be happening’.”

http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...ver-1970s-rape-and-murder#EVd3yIgk2PlXef3S.99

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Bronwynne



http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...ronwynne-s-alleged-killer#KVbb2Dg1EOQSMXyz.99

Isisrising said:

It turns out to be a family member who has been charged - a second cousin of Bronwynne's :facepalm: The family and town are stunned apparently.

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OMG! How devastating for the parents, they've probably interacted with him over the years.

His conscience must have got to him though because he made an anonymous call to police back in 1989 that he was present at the scene but no one followed the call up until the coroner's inquest all these years later. Very interesting turn of events.

Beauty queen's alleged murderer will return to home town after bail

A man accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering a teen beauty queen more than four decades ago has been released on bail.

In granting him bail at the Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Richard Button said "there is a real dispute that the crown can prove the accused was the person or one of the persons who committed those actions".

http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...-queen-murderer-gets-bail#ht0C7LU7WyvsRbTb.99

From November 2015:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/charges-d...een-bronwynne-richardson-20151103-gkpq2m.html

A man accused of raping and murdering a teenage beauty queen more than four decades ago has had the charges against him dropped only weeks before he was due to face court...

The Office of Director of Public Prosecutions said in its view there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction with the current available evidence" and that is why the charges were withdrawn...

There was also doubt about whether the accused was the person who had phoned police and made the admissions.

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Did anyone else see part 1 of Channel 9s show tonight? So heartbreaking. Police really messed this case up, so terrible

I can't stop thinking about Bronwynne now and what she had to endure.

I'm not sure what to make of the different arrests over time.

Just such an awful case that truly deserves justice.

Now the death of suspect Colin Michael Newey - a second cousin of Ms Richardson – from a heart attack is a blow for her family and investigators.
Suspect 'takes with him what he knew to the grave'

Here is a recent article about the investigation
Cops reopen teen’s kidnap and murder case

NSW Government has increased the reward for information to 1 million australlian dollars:
Reward increased to $1 million for information into 1972 murder of Bronwynne Richardson - NSW Police Public Site

Fede said:

NSW Government has increased the reward for information to 1 million australlian dollars:
Reward increased to $1 million for information into 1972 murder of Bronwynne Richardson - NSW Police Public Site

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Here is a report about the rewards in this case mentioned in this post and rewards in other unsolved Australian cases:

The millions of dollars still on offer over cold case murders

Feb 8 2021
'No closure': 50 years on, third inquest set for Bronwynne Richardson murder cold case

It is not yet known what new information has prompted the third inquest into the murder.(Supplied: NSW Government)
''A third inquest into the unsolved 1973 murder of Corowa teenager Bronwynne Richardson is due to start next week.

Key points:

• Week-long inquest into the 1973 rape and murder of teenager Bronwynne Richardson starts next week
• Four men have previously been charged but none were convicted
• There have been two previous inquests and a $1 million reward has been offered since mid-2019

The 17-year-old was dragged into a car on a central Albury street on October 12, 1973.

She was then sexually assaulted, murdered and thrown into the Murray River.

Her body was found in Horseshoe Lagoon two days later.''

The week-long inquiry will be held in Albury Coroners Court, although it is not yet known what new information sparked the inquest.

Feb 19 2021
'Petrified' witness overheard drinker 'reliving' beauty queen's rape and murder, but he'll never face trial
''A coronial inquest into the 1973 rape and murder of teenage beauty queen Bronwynne Richardson has heard there is little chance of anyone being prosecuted over her death because the three key suspects are dead.

Key points:

• The brother of one of the prime suspects in the "brutal" 1973 murder of Bronwynne Richardson broke down while giving evidence at an inquest on Friday
• Peter Newey admitted that his brother, Colin, could be violent and sexually predatory but maintained he had nothing to do with their second cousin's death
• Another witness told the inquest he had heard one of the other suspects "bragging" about and "reliving" the crime at a pub in the 1980s

A three-day hearing that ended in Albury, New South Wales on Friday, was the third inquest into the 17-year-old Corowa teenager's death.''

Cousin among men named in murder of teen beauty queen Bronwynne Richardson
ABC Goulburn Murray
By Erin Somerville and Mikaela Ortolan
Posted 15h ago, updated 13h ago

‘The family of murdered Corowa teenager Bronwynne Richardson say they are relieved that two men involved in her murder have finally been named after 48 years.

Key points:

• Colin Newey and Maxwell Martin are named as having been involved in the murder of Bronwynne Richardson in Albury in 1973
• Formal findings by the NSW Deputy State Coroner were released on Monday
• Ms Richardson's family say their healing can now begin

NSW Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes told the Coroner's Court in Albury that she was satisfied Ms Richardson's cousin, Colin Newey, and his associate, Maxwell Martin, were involved in her murder in 1973.

Martin had been released from prison on the morning Ms Richardson was kidnapped.

Both men are now dead.

In 2014, Newey was arrested in connection with Ms Richardson's rape and murder but the charges were dropped weeks before he was scheduled to appear in court.’

‘The 17-year-old was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered by a group of men, two of whom were Newey and Martin, according to Monday's formal findings.’

‘Ms Forbes said in her formal findings that Ms Richardson died of a combination of pressure to the neck and drowning.

She also said the balance of evidence did not support a finding that her former boyfriend, Geoffrey Charles Brown, had any involvement in her abduction and murder.

The court heard in submissions made by counsel assisting Michael Dalla-Pozza that suspect Ross Eames could not have been involved in the murder.

He also said there were no conclusive findings ruling Kevin Newman, who is now dead, both in or out of being involved in the abduction, assault and murder.

Monday's findings follow the third coronial inquest, which was held last year, into Ms Richardson's murder.

Further formal findings will be released later this week.’

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-25/bronwynne-richardson-coroner-findings-handed-down