Police hope that a trial for a new genetic investigative tool could provide new leads into the 45-year-old cold-case murder and rape of 6-year-old Alicia O’Reilly.
Alicia was found raped and murdered in her bed on the morning of August 16, 1980, just metres away from where her 8-year-old sister Juliet was sleeping in the same room of their home on Canal Road in Auckland’s Avondale.
After 45 years, nobody has been convicted for her death.
Police reopened the case in 2020 as part of an operation called Operation Sturbridge.
This morning, Detective Inspector Scott Beard said a DNA sample had been obtained and hoped it could provide new leads.
Beard said police were using a new genetic investigative tool called Investigative Genetic Genealogy, which has been under trial in recent years.
He said investigators were “methodically” working through the trial.
“This is a slow process, and we are working carefully through this trial,” he said.
“Modern scientific technology continues to advance, and we are working very closely with PHF Science to try and establish a DNA link to a potential offender.”
Beard said that no matter how much time passed, he hadn’t given up hope.
“We would dearly like to give Alicia’s family the answers they so deeply deserve after all this time,” he said.
“They continue to suffer from not knowing who is responsible for this crime.
“My thoughts are with them today, especially.”
He urged anyone who had information on Alicia’s death to come foward.
“It’s not too late,” he said.
Beard said the operation had used the Behavioural Science Unit to re-examine persons of interest.
“Part of the investigation is looking at reviewing every person who was considered a person of interest back in 1980, whether they were eliminated or not, even those who may have passed away.
“Our aim is to solve the case and give the family the answers.”
Alicia’s death was the subject of a 2021 episode of Cold Case, which can be watched on TVNZ+.
When the episode was released, police said there had been a “genuine breakthrough” after detectives found a vaginal swab and slides made at the time of Alicia’s post-mortem.
Police said there was a full DNA profile of Alicia’s killer, but it matched nobody in the national DNA database.
Over the course of the investigation, police had collected 1200 DNA samples from a list of men, comprised of those initially identified in the area canvas as well as others who had been added since.
A suspect from the 1980s has been eliminated as the offender.
