An elderly man from Victoria has been charged with the murder of a father more than 30 years after his body was found in a park in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Key points:
- Raymond Keam died from severe head injuries in 1987
- The alleged murder was examined by a taskforce set up to investigate gay hate motives
- The AIDS Council of NSW said it was a step closer to justice for other victims
Stan Early, 75, was arrested at a home in Melbourne's south-east and was extradited across the NSW border, where he spent the night behind bars at Albury Police Station.
Police allege the Clayton man was responsible for the death of Raymond Keam, 43, whose body was found in grass at Alison Park in Randwick in January 1987.
The martial arts expert died from "severe head injuries", with a 1988 coronial inquest revealing he was likely struck by a person or persons unknown.
The alleged murder was examined by detectives from Strike Force Parrabell.
The taskforce was set up to investigate whether there was a gay-hate motive behind the deaths of 88 men between 1976 and 2000 — including that of Scott Johnson.
Supplied: Johnson family
)AIDS Council of NSW CEO Nicholas Parkhill described the breakthrough as "great news".
"This is a step closer to justice for the victims and the families of the many men who experienced horrendous violence and death across Sydney's coastline," he said.
"We absolutely welcome the efforts the NSW Police and the NSW government are putting into resolving these unsolved crimes."
"It has taken a while to get to this place, but certainly we see the one million dollar rewards offered in this case and certainly in the case of Scott Johnson as revealing."
In January, Scott White pleaded not guilty to murdering Scott Johnson, whose body was found at the bottom of cliffs on Sydney's northern beaches more than 32 years ago.
ABC News
)Five months later, Mr Keam's son and daughter made a public appeal for information when the NSW Government announced a million dollar reward to help solve Mr Keam's death.
On that day Dane Keam said he found it "heartbreaking" to watch insensitive reports by media about Sydney gay bashings that mentioned his father.
Today Mr Keam said he never knew his father but was relieved he and his family could now close "this horrible chapter" of their lives.
"Ray was a kind, generous, caring and strong man, that would do anything to help out even a stranger" these are the words that I would regularly hear when people would tell me about my dad," he said.
"My family and I never thought this day would come, knowing finally that someone could be held accountable for the vicious murder of our father. We realise that this is only just the beginning, but it's the start for us to be able to close this horrible chapter of our lives.
"My family and I would like to thank the detectives for their hard work with the investigation to bring my father justice after so many years."
After travelling from Melbourne, Mr Early had to remain in self-isolation because of COVID restrictions while a brief hearing took place at Albury Local Court this afternoon.
He will remain behind bars to appear before Central Local Court in Sydney in October.
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2021-08-19 03:04:36Z
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