UNIVERSITY of Newcastle students are setting fresh eyes on real-life cold cases and miscarriages of justice, in the hope of helping families waiting for answers.
World-renowned forensic anthropologist and criminologist Associate Professor Xanthé Mallett is director of the Bridge of Hope Innocence Initiative Newcastle, which was established in 2019 and has seen around 80 UON criminology and law students review cases, some stretching back decades.
"We all know those first 48 hours in any investigation are key, capturing as much information as possible," Associate Professor Mallett said.
"So the longer it is past that, we're talking years, decades in some cases, evidence gets mislaid or it gets lost or it's not stored correctly, so the DNA becomes non-viable.
"We have witnesses die or move on or forget. Memory is plastic so people's memory fades and it changes over time.
"So all of these problems come to the fore with cold cases. But you also can't forget we get significant advances, especially in technology and that can be the breakthrough... it can be those kinds of breakthroughs that can really change the face of an investigation, bringing in new experts that weren't available at the time to offer advice can be really valuable - and another set of eyes.
"It can be really useful when we get six students working on a case, they may well pick up things that over stretched detectives may not have picked up."
Associate Professor Mallett said students were currently reviewing two potential miscarriages of justice and also wanted to help with unsolved Hunter cases.
They've already worked on the unsolved 1983 sexual assault and fatal beating of Patricia Carlton in Mount Isa and with German authorities on the unsolved assault of a woman 30 years ago.
She said students gathered all the information available - including appeal transcripts and media coverage - and compiled it in a report that summarised the state of play.
"The point of this isn't solving the case in a semester, the point is each group of students will pick up where the last ones left off until a resolution is reached," she said.
"It's about collecting everything, looking at the victimology, looking at the offender profile, looking for holes in the case, is there anything here that could lead to an appeal for example, is there something that hasn't been considered."
Students won't be able to help in all cases, but their work may lead to bringing in experts to review parts of evidence, seeking advice from external parties such as former detectives, or pursuing either the Attorney General to overturn a case, an appeal or a coronial inquest.
Students are also developing a NSW missing persons database and looking for patterns. Associate Professor Mallett said the trauma of not knowing what happened to someone could reverberate through generations.
"The pain is literally as raw for them today as it was when it happened and I think people forget that," she said.
"Once it becomes a cold case it can be really hard for these families, because where do they turn when they're not getting answers, when it's 50 years later?"
