KEY POINTS:
West Coast police are considering reinstating a reward for information that could solve a 1998 murder mystery.
A homicide investigation into the death of itinerant David John Robinson, whose body was found on a beach near Ross, 49km south of Hokitika, in December 1998 went cold after about six months.
Mr Robinson, shot between the eyes with a .22 calibre gun, was killed two or three weeks before his body was found.
Police said he was a petty thief who stole food and money to survive, but although he might have aggravated someone, there appeared to be no firm motives for the murder.
Detective Constable Graham Parsons, of Greymouth CIB, said yesterday a $20,000 reward and immunity for an accomplice not a principal offender had failed to produce any suspects.
With renewed publicity about the case aired on the television crime show Police 10-7 this week, Mr Parsons said police had applied to reinstate a reward: "We're really just putting it back out in the public eye hoping someone might decide now's the time to come forward. It's been a cold case for some time now."
Mr Parsons said the case was "very much a 'whodunnit' homicide".
"The guy was found dead on the beach with a single bullet wound to the centre of his forehead," he said "There were never any clear suspects."
Mr Parsons was sure someone still knew something and it was hoped a fresh reward and offer of immunity could lead to a prosecution.
- NZPA
