TWENTY years and two days has passed since the violent and calculated murder of an Inverell teenager but it’s an investigation one police officer will never forget.
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Detective Inspector John Zdrilic was in the state’s Homicide Squad when he was deployed to Inverell to investigate the shooting murder of 17-year-old Billy Hegedus.
The popular teen was gunned down at his parent’s service station off the Warialda Rd on October 23,1996, about 7.30pm.
“It was a taking of a life so young and that’s always tragic particularly in violent circumstances,” he told The Leader.
“It’s always a tragic situation when that occurs.
“It was calculated [I believe].”
The cold-case murder remains unsolved. After four trials, no one has ever been convicted of Billy’s murder.
“In a small country town everyone knows everyone’s business,” Detective Inspector Zdrilic recalled.
“There was a real feeling though at the start [of that investigation] that it couldn’t have been someone local because everyone would know.
“That was a real telling thing for me… everyone knew everyone’s business.
“There was a few jaw-dropping moments in the investigation and not withstanding that mantra...there is always things to be uncovered. There was a lot of that.
“It’s never just black and white, there’s always an under story.”
For several months, the homicide investigators were back and forth between Sydney and Inverell and wherever the case took them.
Working hand-in-hand with local detectives and police, the investigation took several different paths. The discovery of the gun in an Inverell home, various witness accounts and so on.
“It was a challenge, the investigation, it definitely was,” Detective Inspector Zdrilic said.
“I couldn’t ever numerate how many statements, how many people we interviewed.” Detective Inspector Zdrilic said the long-running investigation and subsequent trials meant investigators worked closely with not only the family, but many in the town – something he remembers well 20 years on.
“There was never an admission made to the murder of Billy... maybe one day that person will,” he said.