HOMICIDE detectives are still hunting the killer who brutally murdered Clunes nurse Nina Nicholson more than 22 years ago.
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Police have yet to charge anyone with the murder and are hoping the public can provide them with information that leads to their capture.
Homicide Squad Detective Senior Sergeant Ron Iddles said he still believed the cold case could be solved and that all it would take was for someone to come forward.
“It’s a bit like a large jigsaw, we’ve got most of the pieces, we just need one or two more,” he said.
“A local person would have that piece of information. They might think it’s insignificant but to us it’s pretty crucial.
“Someone will have the key to unlocking the whole lot.”
Ms Nicholson was found bashed to death on the back verandah of her Suburban Street home by her father and brother on the night of September 10, 1991.
Despite a long and exhaustive homicide investigation stretching over two decades, the case remains unsolved.
Detective Senior Sergeant Iddles said a brief of evidence had been built against a person of interest a couple of years ago, however it was considered insufficient to be able to lay charges.
He said police still believed the perpetrator lived near Ms Nicholson.
“I’ve investigated 250 homicides in my career, there’s very few where the person responsible doesn’t tell somebody,” he said. “I believe in this case someone would have told someone. My appeal is for the person who knows that intimate detail to come forward.”
Ms Nicholson’s mother Ann Jones said she hoped police could still catch the person who killed her daughter.
“We’d love to think so. We hope so. It’s not going to bring Nina back but at least we would have satisfaction that somebody is going to get punished,” she said.
“It’s been 22 years. It would have been Nina’s 45th birthday on the 30th of September, on Monday.
“It doesn’t get easier for us. I’m quite sure somebody around here does know.”
Anyone with any information relating to the case is asked to call Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
A reward of $50,000 is available for anyone with information that leads to the conviction of anyone responsible for Nina Nicholson’s death.
tom.cowie@fairfaxmedia.com.au