Victoria Cafasso, 20, had been staying with family in Tasmania for barely a week when she was stabbed 17 times — in broad daylight — on Beaumaris Beach, 1995.
The young traveller had deferred her law studies in Italy, and, after spending time in England, had travelled to the seaside town to stay with her cousin — only arriving in Tasmania on October 6.
She had limited contact with locals during that time — but her brutal death sent a shock wave throughout the small coastal community.
Fifty people visited that beach on the day of her death on October 11 — but no-one has come forward saying they saw or heard the crime.
No charges have ever been laid — and her father Giuseppe died only six weeks after the murder, never getting answers.
Police released descriptions of a person of interest and images of a car, similar to the make and model seen near the scene.
Detective Acting Inspector Andrew Hanson said in 2023 the renewed call for information came as the result of a recent digitisation of the investigation’s evidence.
“During the process of the review and after speaking with the witnesses and conducting those inquiries, we discovered there was now a more strong link with a description of a man that was seen running across the beach at 11am on the day Victoria was found and a driver of a vehicle that was seen in the area at around that time,” he said.
The reconstructed images and video show a “distinctive” car — a light-coloured Subaru station wagon — parked near the beach, which police said was “spotted at various locations in the Beaumaris area including at Freshwater Creek at the time of Victoria’s murder”.
Police said witnesses had told officers that the driver of the vehicle at the time was a man who looked like a “surfer” aged in his 20s, about 182 centimetres (six feet) tall with a “slim build, but very fit”.
Acting Inspector Hanson said both the car and the man seen running were points of investigation at the time, but that the potential link between them was now in more focus.
“There were obviously inquiries done at the time around this specific vehicle … but to date I’m not confident that we’ve identified the driver of this car,” he said.
Acting Inspector Hanson said police believed the style of car was a popular choice around the time of the murder, but it was hoped the images would assist in jogging memories and assisting the investigation.
“We’re hoping that maybe after its road use expired, this vehicle may have been sold or passed on and may have even been used on a farm or is sitting somewhere down the east coast,” he said.
The confronting case has had many persons of interest over the years — with more than 1000 information reports recorded across the course of the investigation, and over 300 people having been nominated as potential suspects.
Acting Inspector Hanson said there were still several persons of interest in the case.
“The people of interest that we identified back then, I’ve got to say they still remain persons of interest because we simply haven’t been able to rule them in or rule them out.
How the police handled the crime scene has been widely scrutinised, including in the 2005 coronial report handed down by Donald Jones.
While Mr Jones acknowledged the Tasmania Police Service had “devoted considerable time and resources” to the investigation, he said “some aspects” were “open to criticism especially in the early stages of the investigation”.
These included the non-attendance at the scene by the state forensic pathologist, a delay in attendance of specialist crime scene examiners, the fact that only one suspect footprint at the scene was cast in plaster, and the scene not being documented on video.
“Serious crime cases stay open until answers are found, and a person or people responsible are arrested, and charged,” Detective Acting Inspector Hanson said.
“Victoria’s family deserve closure, and our detectives continue to work to try and provide that closure. This continues to be an active investigation, and we will continue to follow all lines of inquiry.”
A $500,000 reward remains available for information relating to a conviction in the case.
Anyone with information relating to the murder of Victoria Cafasso should contact police on 131 444, or Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000 or online at crimestopperstas.com.au
