There is a new person of police interest in the 1993 murder of AC/DC executive Crispin Dye, according to an investigation into queer deaths in New South Wales between 1970 and 2010.
Dye died on December 25, 1993 at the age of 41 after being attacked and beaten in Darlinghurst, Sydney. Already in 1995 there was an investigation into the circumstances of his death, but it did not bring any results.
But the new investigation revealed that Dye’s blood-stained jeans and shirt were never forensically examined. Two written slips of paper found in the pocket of his shirt also lay unnoticed among the evidence for 30 years.
Now the investigation has found that the blood on the back pocket of Dye’s jeans matches the DNA of an unknown man identified at another crime scene in Sydney in 2002. The man is thus considered a person of interest in the Crispin Dye murder case.
“The presence of[the man’s]DNA in a bloodstain on Dye’s jeans is consistent with his having physical contact with Mr Dye the night he was attacked,” shared assisting counsel Meg O’Brien. However, it is unclear whether and to what extent the man was involved in Dye’s death. And: Since 2002, the “person of interest” has passed away.
O’Brien continues, “What is of great concern is that the slips of paper found in the investigation could have been a source of fingerprints or DNA that might have given police information about Dye’s assailant.”
Although Dye’s friends said his murder was a homophobia-motivated hate crime, it was not investigated as such in 1993 because the crime took place at a mugging hotspot.
However, O’Brien pointed out that most anti-LGBTQ+ acts are hate crimes. Also, many attackers used the opportunity to rob their victims. “The possibility that both motives exist was not considered in any detail by the police,” said the lawyer.
In December, John Sackar, Justice of the Supreme Court, will submit the final report of the investigation to the state government.