Police are hopeful a new investigative DNA tool could lead to a breakthrough in a 40-year-old Gold Coast cold case murder.
Owen Edward "Eddie" Crabbe, 57, was found dead in his room at the Beachcomber apartments in 1982. His killer has never been identified.
Police have now used DNA obtained from blood samples at the scene to generate a picture of what his killer's face could have looked like – the first time "investigative genetic genealogy" has ever been used in Queensland.
Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell appealed to the public to find the mystery man, with a $500,000 reward – and indemnity from prosecution – offered to anyone with information that may lead to his apprehension and conviction.
"A full DNA profile of the male person has been generated from the blood but at this time does not match any person recorded on national or international law enforcement or genetic genealogy DNA databases.
"We know that there are people out there who can provide crucial information regarding Eddie's activities and movements around the time of his death.
"It's never too late to come forward, relationships and loyalty has changed. People who were scared may no longer be and we would encourage those people to come forward," Detective Senior Sergeant Kentwell said.
Mr Crabbe came out as a gay man when his son Tracey was 1 year old and he separated from his wife in 1969.
On the weekend he died, in May 1982, he had travelled to the Gold Coast from his home in Paddington for a weekend partying at nightclubs in Surfers Paradise.
Before he left, he told friends another friend named "Michael" would be staying with him during the trip.
On the Friday, he was observed leaving the hotel in the company of a man about 20 years old, with an olive complexion and unruly, shoulder length, light-brown hair.
Police made a sketch of that man as part of the investigation.
Early on Sunday morning, Mr Crabbe was observed leaving a nightclub, and police believe he met his attacker shortly after, before the pair returned to Mr Crabbe's room.
"They consumed alcohol before Eddie was finally beaten around the head and fatally stabbed. Police believe he put up a strong fight. It's apparent that his killer was severely injured during the attack, leaving a large amount of blood at the scene," Detective Senior Sergeant Kentwell said.
Hotel staff found Mr Crabbe's body the following day surrounded by blood that was not all his own.
His coat, a large amount of cash and his car keys weren't recovered from the hotel room.
Criminologist Xanthe Mallett said investigators believed Mr Crabbe's killer had a light complexion, based on DNA samples obtained from the blood inside the hotel room.
"From what we know of their phenotype — which is created from the DNA, so that's a prediction of what the person looked like — their ancestry is European, they have pale skin," she said.
"They have light blonde or blondish, light-brown hair and they have green or blue eyes.
"'Michael is the description of the last person that we know we've seen with Eddie, but it may be somebody else," Dr Mallett said.
15,000 'linked' individuals
Investigators have also uploaded the DNA samples from Mr Crabbe's murder scene to police databases, generating a "genealogy tree" of 15,000 "linked" individuals, but have so far been unable to find a close match.
Dr Mallett said members of the public could "opt-in" to share their own DNA sample with investigators through DNA services, Family Tree and Ged Match, to help police find an exact match.
"That's why we're making this special appeal today, because obviously, we need more information in those genetic databases so that we can add even more people than the 15,000 that we currently have," Dr Mallett said.
Dr Mallett said those who had uploaded their DNA samples to other sites – like 23andMe or Ancestry.com – could download their DNA data and share it with Family Tree and Ged Match so police could use it.
Mr Crabbe's son Tracey today said he believed his father was killed by a random person who he met on the Gold Coast that weekend.
"My father was very generous. He's very generous, very open. He was always happy to talk to anyone, help anyone. I reckon just by fate he's met someone who's obviously got issues and something hasn't gone right."
He urged anyone with information surrounding his father's death to cooperate with police.
"My father was taken away from me when I was 13 ... everybody in the community who might have any recollection of anything — I know it's 40 years ago — but whether you were at one of the clubs that night and you saw my father, you saw someone who was a bit not quite right, just come forward."
