The family of a woman found beaten to death in northern New South Wales is calling for answers from police about why it took them almost an hour to respond the night she was allegedly murdered.
It's been revealed someone called triple-0 at 7pm on the night 64-year-old Lindy Lucena's body was found behind the Salvation Army building in Ballina on January 3.
Court documents say the caller told the operator "a male was bashing a female" at that precise location.
Despite the Ballina Police Station being 600 metres away, court documents state police did not arrive at the scene until 55 minutes later.
Speaking for the first time since the murder, Ms Lucena's sister, Julie Viney, told ABC News she believed her sibling might still be alive if police had acted faster.
"I just can't get it out of my head that my sister could've been saved," Ms Viney said.
"To me 55 minutes was just awful."
Ms Viney said no-one in her family had been given an explanation about why police took so long to respond.
"As far as I'm concerned, they should've been there within five minutes, it's a small town," she said.
"The detectives and the police in general since Lindy passed have been very supportive of us ... but there are questions around that lime lapse."
Ms Lucena's partner Robert Huber, who she met about five years ago, has since been charged with her murder and breaching an apprehended domestic violence order.
Court documents show Mr Huber was on bail for assaulting Ms Lucena at the time of the alleged murder.
He remains behind bars, and is yet to enter a plea to the charges.
Ms Viney is calling for a coronial inquest to be held after the police investigation is concluded, to further examine her sister's case.
"I think there's a lot of questions to be asked about this particular case," she said.
Ms Lucena had lived in Sydney for most of her adult life, until a divorce several years ago, when she moved to the north of the state.
She had been living at the Reflections Caravan Park in Ballina after being displaced by the floods in the area.
Ms Viney said she had last spoken to her "witty and funny" sister over the phone on New Year's Eve, three days before she died.
"It was a conversation that I'm just so happy that I had," she said.
"Lindy was a very funny, warm person... she had a fantastic sense of humour."
Ms Lucena's family were touched by the outpouring of support from the Ballina community honour in the days after her murder.
Locals held a candlelight vigil attended by about 200 people on the banks of the Richmond River on January 15.
"It's lovely that people care. But people have had enough," Ms Viney said.
A NSW Police spokeswoman told ABC they could not provide a comment at this time.
"As the matter is before the courts, it is inappropriate to comment further," the spokeswoman said.
