New DNA evidence in taxi driver murder cold case
Savannah Meacham |
Elaine Hodgkinson never found out who murdered her beloved husband nearly 40 years ago, with her son now holding out hope he will receive answers.
Bryan Hodgkinson, then 48, was working as a taxi driver on the night of September 9, 1987, in southern Queensland but never returned home the following morning.
His taxi was found abandoned outside a home in Bundaberg and his body was located 32km south in Goodwood with head trauma and stab wounds to his abdomen and chest.
Mr Hodgkinson’s death caused his wife extreme distress and Elaine never recovered.
She died last year after decades without answers as to who killed her husband.
“She’d given up the hope of finding anything after such a long period of time,” their son Steven Hodgkinson told reporters on Wednesday.
He is disappointed his father never got to see him or his two siblings mature, witness their marriages or have their own children and grandchildren.
But he is holding out hope for his mother and family that those responsible will be found.
“Getting answers, that’s really something I’d be looking at … what happened? Why it happened? Who did it? Even if someone’s still not alive, it still gives us closure,” he said.
Taxi logs revealed Mr Hodgkinson was due to finish at 1am and received a fare 30 minutes before to collect a passenger named “Sykes” in Bundaberg.
It is unknown whether he ever picked up the person.
Police are now appealing to “Sykes” to come forward as they believe that person holds valuable information to help solve the murder.
It is also believed that those involved in Mr Hodgkinson’s murder drove the taxi from Goodwood, where his body was found, back to Bundaberg.
This has sparked an appeal for anyone who saw the cab in the early hours of September 10, 1987, to contact police.
Fresh DNA has been found thanks to new and enhanced forensic testing of evidence seized from the taxi and near his body, which has sparked the renewed probe.
“This is a new line of inquiry not known to previous investigators,” Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said.
A $500,000 reward has also been launched for anyone with information that could help solve the cold-case murder.
“We know there are people out there who can provide crucial information in relation to Bryan’s murder,” Det Kentwell said.
The case had stalled in 2018 when an inquest heard Anthony Bruce Beer allegedly told his partner of his involvement in the killing while she was wearing a police wire.
Mr Beer had been charged with being an accessory to the murder in 2009 but the case was dropped after a magistrate ruled there was insufficient evidence.
He claimed privilege on the basis that his evidence may incriminate him during the 2018 inquest and could not be compelled to speak.
Laws were changed in 2020, in the wake of the inquest, to give the coroner the power to compel witnesses to give evidence even if it may incriminate them.
Det Kentwell said the new DNA evidence does not relate to previous persons of interest.
AAP
