AC/DC Manager’s Death Investigated As Gay Hate Crime In NSW Inquiry
In New South Wales, a parliamentary inquiry is investigating dozens of unsolved deaths of gay and bisexual men between 1970 and 2010. One case, in particular, involves the murder of Crispin Dye, the former manager of Australian rock group, AC/DC. His death in the early 1990s has come under scrutiny by the inquest, and new evidence has been unveiled and detailed in a 260-page document, reports ABC News.
Evidence was initially ruled insufficient to make a case
After a night out drinking in Surry Hills, Dye was assaulted and robbed before succumbing to head injuries on Christmas morning 1993.
NSW Police reported having a witness placing three unidentified men of Pacific Islander appearance standing over Mr Dye’s unconscious body. The three men fled the scene and were not apprehended. The inquiry received vital evidence from the NSW Police Force including Mr Dye’s shirt and jeans, which contained two pieces of paper, one containing a name and a phone number, and the other containing trace evidence assumed to be either a bloodstain or a potential fingerprint, reports ABC News.
“Obviously, the failure by the police, up to now, to find these pieces of paper is very unfortunate, to say the least,” says Counsel Assisting Peter Gray SC. The jeans handed over also produced DNA from two males with one being a match with DNA found at another crime scene. “The possible significance of such a DNA match is immediately apparent,” says Mr Gray.
A major issue now facing the investigation is that DNA degradation after years without testing makes identifying a match “difficult and protracted”. Mr Dye’s murder was a point of much media attention and NSW Police have made it clear they wish to support the inquiry and cooperate fully. Head of the inquiry Justice John Sackar expressed the seriousness of the oversight on the Police Force’s end. “It’s bordering on shambolic, the way the police apparently kept some of their records,” says Justice Sackar.
It’s still unknown whether the evidence obtained in Mr Dye’s case will eventuate in a successful apprehension of his assailants. The special inquiry of commission still hopes to uncover the truth for dozens more individuals who perished at the hands of unsolved hate crimes.
