Family and friends of murdered Tamworth teen Mark Haines marched on the Tamworth Police Station on Tuesday, demanding the state post a promised reward for the 29-year-old cold case murder after fresh leads recently surfaced.
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In 1988 the body of the 17-year-old Aboriginal was found on railway tracks just outside of Tamworth, with the subsequent investigation recently being the subject of a three-part television series, Cold Justice.
The protest group, which included Greens MLC David Shoebridge, held an array of placards, signs and pictures of Mr Haines, before his uncle and family spokesperson Don Craigie took the floor.
“We came here today to say to the state government, the Attorney General, the NSW Police and the local command that this isn’t right,” Mr Craigie said.
“Approximately seven years ago the Attorney General, Greg Smith, promised to post a reward, but that did not eventuate, he reneged on that – now the Attorney General and the state need to pull their finger out and post that reward now.”
Recently the family put up $20,000 of their own money, although Mr Craigie, and Mr Shoebridge believe that isn’t offering enough motivation for potential witnesses, or people with information to come forward.
The family has always believed that Mr Haines was murdered at a separate location from where the body was found, a theory that is widely believed, and has been backed up by forensic pathologists and evidence as part of the documentary series.
Mr Shoebridge confirmed that even since the series aired on NITV last month, several more leads have come to light that could lead to the alleged crime being solved.
“There is a reason we are out here today, and there is a reason we think a reward may be successful,” Mr Shoebridge said.
“Because since the documentary ran, my office has been contacted both directly and indirectly with a series of additional leads which we have provided to the NSW Police, and I know further leads have come to them from other sources.
“If the documentary produced those kind of leads well we think a substantial award is a good prospect to help solve Mark’s case.
“For literally decades, this family by themselves have been demanding justice, and they haven’t been assisted by local police, state government and state police – well it really isn’t good enough.
“No family should have to put up their own money as a reward to solve the murder of their son or nephew, and it is about time the state government stood up and put the state’s money at risk, and a substantial amount of money.”
Oxley Police declined to comment either on the case or the reward.
In order for a reward to be posted, the NSW Police have to recommend the case to the Attorney General, who can then sign off on it.
Less than one per cent of all rewards offered are collected on in NSW.
Whilst in town, Mr Shoebridge was also speaking to the family of another Aboriginal cold case victim, Steven Smith.
In strikingly similar circumstances, Mr Smith’s body was found on the very same railways line, 10km Tamworth side of Werris Creek in 1995.
While Mr Shoebridge said that he had no reason to believe that the cases were linked, he was disturbed that the “same modus operandi was used”, where a young Aboriginal man’s body was placed on the railways tracks as a method of disposal, while the subsequent police investigation also bore similarities to that of Mark Haines’ investigation.
