Melinda Freeman cold case death: Victoria Police offer $1 crack Melbourne cold case death

Victoria Police are offering a monumental $1 million reward in a bid to solve the murder of a Melbourne woman in 1991.

Melinda Freeman died when she was brutally assaulted in her Whittlesea home on the evening of Friday, October 4.

The 26-year-old’s body was found by her husband when he returned with their infant son at 11.30pm that night.

Craig Freeman also noticed the house had been ransacked and the front door left wide open.

He walked inside, and from the foot of the stairs he saw Melinda’s body lying on the top storey landing.

Despite major investigations over the past 30 years, detectives have been unable to understand Melinda’s final movements on the night and the events which led to her death.

Ms Freeman and her family had, earlier in the day, attended a celebration to welcome her sister back from overseas.

Her husband then took their infant son and left the house, so Melinda could have some time alone to study for her career in the beauty industry.

In 2018, police received anonymous information from a member of the public regarding Ms Freeman’s death.

Police are again keen to speak to that person and are appealing for them to make contact along with anyone else who might have information about the crime.

Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions will also consider granting protection and compensation to anyone who provides information identifying the killer or killers.

Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Dean Thomas hopes the reward will encourage someone to speak and bring Ms Freeman’s family potential peace.

“As much as this is about holding those responsible to account, Melinda’s family deserves an answer as to why this happened,” he said.

“Her young son has had to grow up without his mother in his life. He’s had to live with this tragedy and feel her loss every single day.

“It is never too late to tell us what you know and any piece of information, no matter how insignificant you might consider it to be, could be exactly what investigators need.”

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