THREE of the region's most baffling murder mysteries, including one stretching back almost 40 years, are set to be reinvestigated following the introduction a new regional cold case squad.
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The Herald understands the northern region unsolved homicide squad will take a close look at 25 murder cases stretching from the Hawkesbury River to the Queensland border when it is formally introduced in the next few weeks.
The oldest case is that of Vera Sheather, a former talented amateur actress whose battered body was found by her daughter just metres from her Tea Gardens home in 1970.
The frenzied stabbing murder of Elizabeth Dixon, whose bound body was found on the front seat of her car in bush near Ashtonfield in 1982, will be reopened.
As will the notorious 2000 Carrington double murder, in which the bodies of friends Joanne Teterin and Susan Kay lay for almost a week before they were found.
As reported last month, the new unsolved homicide team will be composed of a Sydney unit as well as four regional teams of four investigators.
The northern region unit will be based at Newcastle with the selection for a team leader, of the rank of detective sergeant, to begin on Friday.
Of the 400 unsolved homicide cases reviewed across the state, 192 had been identified as having "avenues for further investigation", Police Minister David Campbell said.
Twenty-five cases have been identified as having possible new avenues for the northern region.
Police have been reluctant to disclose the individual cases up for investigation for fear of alerting possible suspects, or giving false hope to relatives of victims.
