Casefile True Crime - Case 63: Catherine Holmes & Georgina Watmore

Episode Date: October 14, 2017

On the evening of April 14 1987, 28-year-old Catherine Holmes hosted a small party at her home in the small New South Wales town of Cowra. When she failed to show up at work the following day, a friend went to Catherine’s home to check on her. There, they discovered Catherine’s badly beaten body, along with that of her friend and colleague, 24-year-old Georgina Watmore... --- Episode narrated by the Anonymous Host For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-63-catherine-holmes-georgina-watmore

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Keara is a town in the central west region of New South Wales, located about 300 kilometers west of Sydney and 190 kilometers north of Australia's capital, Canberra. Prior to European settlement, the area was occupied by Australia's indigenous Wiradjuri people. And in the early 1800s, as Europeans began sprawling out from the coast mollions, the area was labeled unfit to settle. So a military depot was built instead. It became known as a place to pass through when gold was found west. But when gold started being dug up in the surrounding hills, the town of Keara was built right on the banks of the Lachlan River. Despite the verdict from early European settlers that Keara was unfit to settle,

it became an area known for its rich agriculture. The Edgel Canary was built in 1943, where local vegetables were canned and sent all over, including to those serving in the Second World War. Vineyards were later planted, and by the 1980s, Keara was famous for its Chardonnay grapes. In 1987, Keara was still a very small country town. It was rich in history, but had remained a small community. With less than 10,000 residents, it was a town where everyone knew everyone, and things that happened took no time to be whispered across the bar at the pub, or in the yard after church. As far as violent crime goes, Keara wouldn't rank at the top of any lists. It was best known for being the scene of the largest prisoner of war breakout in modern history,

known as the Keara Breakout. During World War II, Keara was the site of a prisoner of war camp. On August 5th, 1944, Japanese prisoners attempted a mass breakout by charging through machine gun posts, armed with only improvised weapons like wooden bats and sharpened mess hall knives. 231 Japanese soldiers and four Australian soldiers were killed. Over 100 Japanese soldiers were wounded. Despite that wartime incident, Keara wasn't a place where the locals thought much about violence or violent crime. It wasn't something that was of great concern within the community. Of course, there was trouble. Every community had its fair share of that, but it was very much a normal country town. It wasn't unusual for many houses in the 80s to

leave their doors unlocked. It was just the way it was. Safe. People looked out for one another. But in the early hours of Wednesday, April 15th, 1987, the simple, peaceful country town of Keara was faced with a crime so violent and so shocking, it would be forever changed. Catherine Holmes, also known as Catherine Pollard, was born and raised in Keara. After leaving school at 15, she moved away in search of work opportunities in other parts of New South Wales. During the last years of the 70s, she lived and worked in various places before returning to Keara when she was 21. Back in Keara, she settled into her old life. She was comfortable there. It was familiar. It wasn't long before she met and fell in love

with a local abattoir worker named Bruce Holmes and the two married in 1981. They moved to the New South Wales Central Coast north of Sydney and had two daughters together. After just a couple of years, in 1983, their marriage broke down and Catherine returned to Keara with their two daughters. It was a sad breakup, but the couple remained amicable for the children and although Bruce remained on the Central Coast, he visited his girls often. Catherine and her girls moved into a home on Jindalee Circuit. It was a housing commission home located in the northwestern part of town. Catherine worked two jobs to support her girls. Part time of the night, she worked as a barmaid at the Lachlan Hotel in the southern part of town.

But her main day job was in a factory at Edgill's Canary where she worked on the production line canning locally grown vegetables. It was at Edgill's factory where she met Georgina Whatmore. Georgina was also born and raised in Keara. Her father died when she was young, but she grew up in an exceptionally close family with her mum and brother. Like Catherine, Georgina also left school at age 15. She became a shop assistant for a few years before she too moved out of the small town in search of other opportunities. She settled south in Canberra where she worked various jobs for a few years, but just like Catherine, she moved back home to the comfort of the small town Keara,

the town that she knew well and where people knew her. Georgina wasn't married and didn't have children. She lived alone in a unit on Broome Street, just a few blocks south of the Lachlan Hotel. Upon her return to Keara, she got a job at Edgill's Canary and almost immediately, she and Catherine struck up a close friendship. Catherine was four years older, but they were firm friends and looked out for each other. They often socialized together, and Georgina became very close to Catherine's daughters. So close, in fact, that Georgina would often work different shifts to Catherine at the factory so she could babysit Catherine's girls. Catherine and Georgina were well known and well

liked around town. Both were described as bright and friendly. They were good people and good friends. On Tuesday, April 14th, 1987, Catherine's girls were with their father Bruce on the Central Coast, about a five-hour drive away. It was school holidays and the upcoming weekend was Easter weekend, so they were spending time away with their father. This gave Catherine the chance to work more shifts and also have some time for herself and relax a little. That day, Catherine then aged 28 and Georgina aged 24 both worked a shift at Edgill's Canary, finishing up at 3.30pm. After work, they thought they'd unwind and have a few drinks, so they visited a few of the local hotels in Chiara. Catherine first returned home and got changed, then went back out to meet

Georgina. They socialized with a few different people throughout the evening, seeing many people they knew about town. About 7pm, they headed to the Lachlan Hotel on Kendall Street. This was the pub where Catherine worked a few nights a week. The Lachlan was a busy, lively, Main Street pub, and Catherine was very popular amongst the patrons. She knew pretty much everyone there, and she and Georgina socialized with a number of different people throughout the evening. They were both happy and in really good moods. When the Lachlan Hotel closed at midnight, Catherine, Georgina, and four other people they were with, decided to go back to Catherine's place in Jindali Circuit and hang out and drink some more.

Georgina made a quick detour to her place on Broom Street. She grabbed some clothes so she could stay over at Catherine's, and also grabbed a small amount of marijuana, before heading to Jindali Circuit to join the others. Jindali Circuit is on the outskirts of town. Catherine lived in a corner house on Jindali and Victor Street, with green fields and grazing cattle close by. Catherine and Georgina were joined at the house party by one other woman and three men. It wasn't a wild party by any stretch. It was simply a small, casual gathering of friends. They shared a few more drinks together before Catherine said she was done about 1.45am. She had to work that day, so she said goodnight and went to bed, leaving the others to finish up.

Georgina wanted to go to sleep too, but the others weren't quite ready to leave, so instead of sleeping on the couch, she went and jumped into Catherine's bed with her, leaving the four others to finish their drinks. Two of the remaining guests left shortly after, about 2.30am, and the final two guests left sometime closer to 3.20am. They left out the back door, leaving it unlocked. The back door was always unlocked, so this was no big deal. At 3.30am, one of Catherine's neighbours was woken by the sound of a piercing scream. This was followed by four or five further screams. Another neighbour was also woken by a scream, which he believed was followed by the sound of a motor vehicle starting up and

driving off from Jindali circuit, but he couldn't recall the time of the scream or the car. A third neighbour also heard screams, but couldn't recall the time either. Police weren't called and nobody investigated. The neighbours didn't think too much of it at the time. On the morning of Wednesday, April 15th, Catherine didn't report for her shift at Edgill's Canary. When her neighbour, Robin Mulder, came out of her house that morning and saw Catherine's car, she thought it was unusual she wasn't at work, but Robin took it as an opportunity to catch up with Catherine for a cup of tea and a chat. At 9.45am, Robin's husband walked over to Catherine's house to invite her over to their place. As he walked past the front bedroom window,

he heard what he described as strange noises. He knocked and called out to Catherine, but there was no answer. He returned home and he and Robin thought that although it seemed strange, there must have been an explanation. But as the morning went on, both Robin and her husband felt something was a little off, so by lunchtime, when there was still no movement at Catherine's house, Robin went and got another neighbour, Leslie Marsh, and they walked over to Catherine's together. They called out at the front door, but again no one answered. Remembering her husband describing strange noises coming from the bedroom, Robin decided to check there. She heard what she thought was snoring. Surprised Catherine was still asleep,

Robin called out again and tried to wake her up. She and Leslie then looked through the window. For a moment, both Robin and Leslie thought Catherine was playing a joke on them. It looked like there was blood everywhere, but it didn't seem real, so they continued to call out. And then panic set in. They saw two blood-soaked bodies, one lying on the bed and one on the floor. Blood covered the bed, the furniture, and the walls. Robin and Leslie immediately ran to the back door and strayed inside the house. The back door and the back fly screen door were both wide open. The screen door was actually propped open using the pneumatic door-closer. Someone had deliberately kept that door open.

What Robin and Leslie discovered in the main bedroom were the bodies of Catherine Holmes and Georgina Watmore. The noises that Robin's husband had heard earlier that morning were coming from Georgina. She was struggling to hold on to life, and the gurgling noises were her fighting to breathe through all of the blood. She was alive, but barely. Catherine was dead. They immediately called an ambulance and the police. Chara Paramedics arrived and rushed Georgina to hospital, but she was dead on arrival. When police arrived at the house, a child's bike was lying in the driveway. A crime scene was established, and police cordoned off the home, putting up palings around the edge

of the property to hold up a barrier to keep sightseers away. The neighborhood had never seen anything like it. The crime scene was gruesome. One of the first officers on the scene said it was a sight that would live in his memory for a long time, and even senior police officers commented that the crime scene was one of the most gruesome they had ever encountered. Catherine's house was placed under police guard for several days as the crime scene examination was carried out. They discovered partial fingerprints in the main bedroom. There was no match on the police system and no match to anyone in the house. They may have belonged to the previous tenants, or they may have belonged to the killer whose prints weren't on record. There was no way of

knowing for sure. The killer left a blood trail in the victim's blood. The blood trail led from the bedroom, through the laundry, out the back door, and continued up to the front of the house where it ended at the road. There was no sign of forced entry at all. Police believe the killer may have been aware Catherine left her back door unlocked, the theory being that the killer entered through the unlocked door, then propped open the screen door, leaving both doors wide open to allow a quick escape. Partial footprints were also located, but they weren't caused by a shoe. Police believe after entering through the back door, the killer took off their shoes, allowing them to creep up on the bedroom more quietly.

The signs were pointing to a level of planning and premeditation, but in the immediate aftermath of the murder, there was no clue why anyone would want Catherine and Georgina dead. The vicious attacks in the dead of the night in a quiet and safe town brought a lot of media attention. Early reports said that they were hacked to death. Their severe head injuries thought to be caused by a sharp, heavy object, with the early suggestion being that it could have been an axe. So from the very first day, the crimes were referred to as the Chara axe murders. But other reports also suggested a meat cleaver, a tomahawk, or a machete could also have caused the injuries. But examinations showed otherwise. Due to the severity of the

blows, the killer left indentations on the wooden bed frame, showing that the weapon was likely a blunt, hard, solid object, like a tire iron, not an axe. They were bludgeoned to death. The post-mortem examinations determined that Catherine and Georgina died as a result of severe head injuries, respiratory failure, and blood loss. Catherine suffered lacerations to her forehead and scalp, and defensive wounds to her hands. Georgina suffered severe lacerations to her mouth, neck, and right side of her head, and she had minor defensive wounds to the back of her hands. The level of violence inflicted on Catherine was far greater than on Georgina. Catherine was struck 15 times. Georgina was struck five. The wounds Catherine suffered

were far more horrific. It appeared she may have been the main target. Local detectives from Cower and the nearby towns of Forgs and Young were joined in the investigation by six detectives from the state's homicide squad. A large-scale search was immediately put into action. Their main goal was to try to find the murder weapon and any dumped clothing or other evidence from the killer. Officers from the Tactical Response Group were called in to assist in the search, and they checked every house and every yard surrounding Catherine's. They also went through drains and waterways and moved onto properties and paddocks in the wider surrounding area. Police divers were called in to search the Lachlan River and other nearby

waterways and dams. The flow of Cower's entire water supply from the local dam was actually stopped, which lowered the water level in the Lachlan River to make the search easier, but approved fruitless. Police searched the grounds of Edgel's Canary, where Catherine and Georgina worked. They also searched the local abattoir, including employee lockers. They searched the local tip and other known dumping grounds, but they found nothing. Catherine's ex-husband, Bruce Holmes, was cleared. He was at home on the central coast with their children. The murder of Catherine came as a huge shock, and Bruce struggled to come to terms with it. He said,

Catherine didn't seem like a person to make too many enemies. I can't understand it. It's going to be hard for the children. They were pretty fond of Georgina, too. Bruce's mother, Thelma Holmes, said, Catherine could do no wrong by me. She was a lovely person. If anybody knows any more about what has happened, they should tell the police. Detectives began focusing on the community. A gas pipeline was under construction nearby, and a large number of workers from outside the area were employed there. The criminal history of everyone working on the pipeline was examined. Detectives were particularly interested in anyone with a history of violence towards women.

Many of the workers were from overseas, and this meant police were faced with a hard task of tracking criminal histories from all over the world. With no immediate suspect or even a clear motive, detectives had to consider the possibility it could be the work of a serial killer who had possibly struck in other areas. Chiara lies at the intersection of three main highways. It's a town many have to pass through and stop at on the way to other destinations in western New South Wales or northern Victoria, so looking at this was important. But again, nothing came up. Every way they looked, they seemed to come back to the feeling that the killer was known to Catherine

and Georgina, likely known to their circle of friends, and known to the local community. Detectives got to work interviewing everyone they could find. They went door to door and interviewed neighbors where they learned of the screams and the car hood driving off. They tracked down everyone who had been in the hotels drinking at the same time as Georgina and Catherine the night of their deaths. Those inquiries revealed it was a happy and carefree night. There were no issues at all. Georgina and Catherine were in good spirits and didn't have any run-ins with anyone. Their work colleagues at Edgill's Canary were interviewed, and police also searched employee lockers there. But again, no leads were found.

They identified the four people who had gone back to Catherine's house for the party after closing time. They were extensively interviewed, but all were eventually cleared of any involvement. There were no issues in the house between anyone that night. It was a completely drama-free event. Everyone was in good spirits and having fun. Being a small country town, rumors started to fly around to the local community about what happened. There were even whispers that the small gathering at Catherine's place was actually an out-of-control wild party. Georgina's brother David told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, quote, we don't know what it's all about, but they weren't wild girls. And the night of the

killings, they just had a few friends over for drinks after the pub. Georgina was a good person, and she had a lot of good friends. The talk of a wild party is nonsense. David's comments were supported by Catherine's neighbours. A lot of them didn't hear anything, but those that did described it as nothing more than a small after-pub gathering, nothing wild or out-of-control or unusual at all. Within three weeks, detectives had interviewed over 500 people, and as the investigation went on, a few things did come up. Two friends of Catherine's reported that they had been babysitting Catherine's daughters only a few weeks prior to the murders. They were at her house babysitting when they heard someone

enter the house, walk through Catherine's bedroom, and then leave. When Catherine came home, the friends told her what had happened. Catherine told them she knew who it was, but refused to elaborate any further. Then one of Catherine's neighbours reported seeing a suspicious man wearing a cowboy hat sitting in the park across the road from Catherine's house. Police made a media appeal for him to come forward, but he was eventually eliminated from the investigation. One crucial witness who came forward was a 15-year-old boy. On April 14th, the afternoon before the murders, he was walking home from school around 3.40pm. He was walking along Victor Street, which crosses Jindali Circuit. He walked past Catherine's side

gate, and he saw her arguing with a male person in the backyard. He said he saw the male person strike Catherine across the face during this argument. The description from the boy was quite vague in the beginning, so arrangements were made to place him under hypnosis. This resulted in more detail. He described the man as 30 years of age, ground to dark medium-length hair, with a distinctive set of tattoos on his forearm. He was driving a medium-sized, white 70's model four-door sedan. A car matching this description was also seen outside Catherine's house late one night in the week before the killings. Detectives were able to identify a man who matched this description, who was known to Catherine. He was interviewed,

but the night he was involved in any sort of argument or dispute with Catherine, he was released and remained on the list of persons of interest. Despite the hours, detectives worked around the clock conducting interviews and entering data into a borrowed computer which had been delivered from Sydney. They were unable to establish many leads, and there was still no clear motive at all. Detective Inspector Don Nicholson said, We have no red-hot suspect at the moment. At this stage there is no apparent motive, but we are looking into the woman's lifestyles to see if we can establish anything there. There is nothing to suggest it was someone from the outside carer.

With the level of violence inflicted on Catherine considerably more severe than that on Georgina, police believed the killer may have only been targeting Catherine. They felt that whoever was responsible may have gone to her house knowing her two children were away on the central coast with their father for Easter. There was no forced entry, no robbery, no sexual assault, and it was the middle of the night. The killer appeared to have knowledge of the premises. It was a spur of the moment decision by Georgina to stay over at Catherine's, so the killer likely wouldn't have known she would be there.

The ferocity of the attack, and the way it appeared to have been carried out in a frenzy, led detectives to believe that it was driven by rage. It seemed full of emotion and anger. It was personal. The killer wanted to inflict as much violence as possible on Catherine, and it was possible that Georgina was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The town was stumped. Kaurra had never experienced anything like this before, and people felt the immense loss of two much-loved women, neither of whom had caused any trouble. One young woman just really beginning her adult life, and the other, a single mother working hard to support her two daughters.

The locals had a hard time even believing it was true. No one could make any sense of it. Kaurra became gripped with fear, with no idea who the killer was. Some locals were scared the killer would strike again. People wondered if they would be next. The community's reaction to the murders was the kind of shut down. People couldn't sleep, and kids weren't allowed out of the house. For the first time in memory, residents began locking their doors, and everybody watched everybody, closely. The feeling in town is best described by those who were there. All of the following people spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. Nile Evans, the stand-in publican at the Lachlan Hotel. This has rocked us, and we are still

walking around stunned. Cathy was a very popular person, friendly to everyone. She had no enemies. An unnamed patron in the Lachlan Hotel. It could be anyone in town. I mean, it could be anyone here. It makes you think that you're never safe anywhere. Cap driver Frank Edgar. Everyone is just shocked and afraid. I knew both girls, and you would never think it could happen. Georgina used to come into a shop I used to own all the time when she was younger. She was a lovely girl. People in the town are scared, especially the women, with someone walking around who is capable of doing something like that. An unnamed resident. In a small town like this, it puts everyone on edge. Everyone knew them.

It's that sort of place. People have said one after the other. If it happened in Sydney, you could understand it. But in Kaurah, people are just shocked that something so vicious happened. I don't think that there's a soul that thinks anyone from Kaurah did it. But of course, they could be wrong. There was another reason police were having trouble getting answers. Despite conducting a large amount of interviews, they felt they were being hampered by an unwillingness to talk amongst the local community. By now, police believed there was a good chance Georgina and Catherine knew their killer. And in that small town, that meant that their circle of friends

and other townspeople also knew the killer. Then Assistant Commissioner Ross Nixon made the comment that people in the community could be protecting the killer. Someone knew something, and they were keeping it to themselves. Detective Sergeant Lemmy said, I have a gut feeling it's someone in town. In fact, the murderer may have already been interviewed by police. Like in any country town, people here have grown up with each other and are afraid to put someone in. It took a great deal of work, but eventually police were able to break down the barriers the local community were putting up. It took weeks to gain their trust, but things started to change. Detective Sergeant Lemmy explained,

quote, when we first came to the town, we had to bring people into the station to talk to them. It was real hard going. But now people are starting to come to us. People are coming into the station and talking about the girls, their personalities, and people they know who are acting strange or who have changed their behaviour in any way. It's all just little things. Trivia really. Like if a bloke that normally wears a jacket or a cap is not wearing it anymore. He went on to say that a small piece of information like that could be the breakthrough they were looking for. The rumours around town didn't stop, and the rumours specifically aimed at the

characters of both women were hard to establish as fact. There were rumours of infidelities, specifically speculation that Catherine was involved with married men and men in relationships. This is something that was looked at, especially since there was the thought in investigators' minds that this could be a revenge killing. There was also talk of drug use, which led to whispers of drug supplier, which led to rumours of a drug rip-off or a drug debt being the motive for the murders. But there was absolutely no evidence to support these claims, and those inquiries led nowhere. The first four months of 1987 was a record time for homicides in the state of New South Wales. Catherine and Georgina's murders brought the

total to 36 for the year, 12 still remained unsolved, and things only got worse. Just days following the murders, in Woga Woga, about 200km south from Koura, 18-year-old Sally Ann Jones was murdered after leaving a club in the early hours of the morning on Sunday, April 19th. She was stabbed 20 times. She was found after a jogger discovered drag marks and bloody boots leading into a river. The following Wednesday, April 22nd, Cheryl Ann Birchell was stabbed and strangled in Newcastle, about 470km northeast of Koura. She was also found after a passerby discovered drag marks and blood stains on the edge of a creek. Four murders inside a week, one 2.5 hours south, and one 6 hours northeast. With the murders occurring within such a short

space of time, it had some people questioning if they were linked. But after a thorough study of the crimes, it was concluded that the murders of Sally Ann Jones and Cheryl Ann Birchell were just too different to the killings of Catherine and Georgina. They had quite different MOs, and there was quite some distance between the three crime scenes. A police spokesperson said, we cannot rule out a link altogether, but they appear to be very different. Detectives on the case interviewed over 1200 people as part of the investigation into the murders of Catherine and Georgina. A number of persons of interest were identified as a result of those interviews. Some were able to be eliminated from the investigation, but others couldn't be.

They searched the homes of people who were on their suspect list and confiscated items for testing by blood analysis experts. In some cases, they even seized plumbing from people's laundries looking for traces of blood. Despite the large scale and extensive investigation, no arrests were ever made, and 30 people in total remained on the suspect list, unable to be eliminated by detectives. When discussing the type of person who may have carried out the crimes, the acting head of the criminal investigation branch, Detective Superintendent Ron Stevenson, told the Canberra Times newspaper that the murders were so horrific they would have had to have had an effect on the personality of the killer. Something would be off about them

that would be noticed by family or friends, quote. The public would notice the change of mood and behavior of a person, whether they've not turned up for work or whether they become morose. There are people out there today who know who committed these murders. No matter how hard the police work, no matter how clever we are, without the assistance of the public, we will fail. Forensic expert Dr. Godfrey Odle came from Sydney three weeks after the murders. His job was to re-examine the murder scene to see if he could conclude anything further from it. After examining the case and post-mortem results, he said he couldn't rule out an enraged woman as being responsible. Given the brutality of the murders, many assumed the killer

was a man, especially with names like the Kaara axe murderer being printed in the papers. But that wasn't necessarily the case. The motive and profile of the killer couldn't be clearly established. Detective Sergeant Lemmy, quote, we just don't know. It could be a man, it could be a female, it could be a jilted lover, or it could be a workmate. The Minister for Police announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction for the murders. The Minister also took the unusual step of saying the New South Wales Governor might be advised to extend a free pardon to any accomplice who didn't take part in the actual killing. But this didn't have the desired effect, and the investigation eventually wound up. The endless hours of

interviewing and the countless experts brought in was not enough to catch the killer. Whether hiding in plain sight or gone from Kaara for good, the killer was free, and the case grew cold. A coronial inquest was held in August 1988 before coroner Jim Smith. Around 30 witnesses in total gave evidence, including the four people who attended the gathering at Catherine's house on the night of the murders. At the conclusion of the inquest, the coroner believed that the killer must have been deeply and emotionally involved with one or both of the victims, and he dismissed the rumors that the murders were drug related. He stated that he was satisfied there had been a total and complete investigation by police. His official finding was, quote, in Kaara on April

15, 1987, each of the deceased had died from the effects of severe head injuries inflicted on them by a person or person's unknown. In 2009, Detective Inspector John Lehmann initiated a review of the case and Strike Force Allister was formed. Detectives from the unsolved homicide squad conducted a thorough review of the investigation. They found that despite the case remaining unsolved, it wasn't due to a lack of effort or poor police work. The investigation was extremely thorough and they were impressed with the work done in 1987, but they now had new tools and new technology at their disposal. They brought in the help of the New South Wales Police Behavioral Science team who analyzed crime scene behaviors and the capabilities and likely characteristics

of the offender. Of the 30 people who were unable to be eliminated by the original investigators, Strike Force Allister were able to narrow that list down to 12, but they weren't attached to the idea that the killer had to be on that list. It was just the case that those 12 people couldn't be eliminated. They were still keeping an open mind. Inspector John Lehmann told the following to Justine Ford in her book One Piece of the Puzzle, quote, there was a lot of talk around town that Catherine Holmes had been having affairs with married men or men in relationships. So the investigators had to look for any jealous partners seeking revenge who could have been suspects. We use psychologists and profilers to help us work out what kind of person would do this.

It hasn't assisted us in finding the killer, but the profile does fit in with our current persons of interest, someone who was motivated by jealousy or revenge. And there are a number of women on our list of suspects. In 2010, the $50,000 reward was increased to $200,000. The reward increased, but the potential immunity for any accomplice was withdrawn. This reward increase saw a rise in the amount of information being called into crime stoppers. Family members of Catherine and Georgina welcomed the new reward. Georgina's brother David said, there is someone out there who has information about my sister's death. Unfortunately, their conscience has not been enough to get them to contact police. I hope that this reward is enough

to change their mind and to give my family and Catherine some answers as to what happened that night. Detective Senior Constable Matt Packham from the Unsolved Homicide Squad said, the murder of Cathy Holmes and Georgina Watmore remains the subject of much speculation in your window and gossip within the township of Kaurra, contributing to the heartache and grief of the family and friends of the girls. We will continue to knock on doors, speak to people, pursue persons of interest and lines of inquiry until this matter is resolved. The 25-year anniversary in 2012 was used for a renewed appeal for information. It was revealed that original witnesses who were interviewed back in 1987 had been re-interviewed by the Unsolved Homicide Squad, resulting in

them identifying new people to speak to about the murders. Detective Chief Inspector Lehman, we're pretty confident being the small community that Kaurra is, that somebody does know something. We're committed to solving the case and we're going to continue. Sometimes people's memories seem to be jogged by such anniversaries or milestones. Sometimes there are people there that for whatever reason may not have been willing to come forward and assist us previously. We never close any Unsolved Homicide cases. Inspector Lehman confirmed the original investigators' belief that this was not a random attack, and further difficulties faced by the original investigators were also revealed. One officer told the Kaurra Times newspaper, quote,

Police found in some cases when making inquiries about a suspect, information was being passed on to the suspect. On a number of occasions, people who gave information to police about certain individuals, for reasons best known to themselves, would then tell the individual that they had been to the police. One of the most widely circulated rumors related to the victims being involved in the sale of drugs. Marking the 27th anniversary of their deaths, family members wrote a memorial to Catherine and Georgina. Two beautiful angels were taken from us 27 years ago and it changed our lives forever. But there's not a day that goes by that we don't have our thoughts and memories of you both that time can never erase.

Regarding the other two murders that occurred within a week of Catherine's and Georgina's, Kenneth Barry Cannon, the jogger who found the drag marks and bloody boots of Salian Jones in Wagga Wagga, was charged and convicted with her murder a few years later, confirming there was no link to Catherine and Georgina's case. The murder of Cheryl Anne Birchell in Newcastle still remains unsolved. Detective Inspector Lehmann in Justine Ford's book, One Piece of the Puzzle. I think the key is to keep an open mind about it, to not draw conclusions or get trapped into thinking it's one person or one group. But the very nature of the environment we're talking about, a small town, where people know each other's business and there are rumors

about who's sleeping with who and their jealousies, give us reason to believe that someone has knowledge of the crime. It is likely that someone from the town was responsible and we believe there are people with knowledge who we still haven't heard from. This case is definitely solvable, but there just seem to have been a lot of difficulties. Part of the reason it has been so hard to solve is that we have possible motives, but not clear motives. Why were these two women murder victims? Ex-husbands were certainly not responsible and there were no custody issues as is often the case, so we have to keep asking. What made these two stand out as potential targets? you