Tara Murray
Detectives from the Homicide Squad are hopeful that today’s announcement of a $1 million reward will assist in solving the 1991 murder of Melinda Freeman.
Melinda, who was 26 at the time, was found dead by her husband in her Whittlesea home on Friday 4 October. She had been fatally assaulted.
Earlier that day, Melinda and her husband had been at a family reunion to welcome her sister back from overseas.
The couple returned to their Yea Road home at 4pm. Later on, her husband took their infant son and left the house, so Melinda could have some time alone to study for her chosen career in the beauty industry.
At approximately 11.30pm when they returned, her husband noticed the house appeared to have been ransacked.
It was at this time that he also noticed the front door to the house was open.
He walked inside, and from the foot of the stairs he saw Melinda’s body lying on the top storey landing.
Despite a significant investigation over the past 30 years, detectives have been unable to establish Melinda’s final movements on the night and the events which led to her death.
In 2018, police received anonymous information from a member of the public regarding Melinda’s death.
Homicide Squad detectives are keen to speak to that person and are appealing for them to contact police again in the hope this may provide further avenues of enquiry for the investigation.
Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said Freeman’s family deserves an answer as to why this happened.
“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.
“We still don’t know why Melinda was murdered and we’re hoping that by announcing this reward today, we will get information that leads to detectives finding who is responsible.”
