Suspect in 30-year-old cold case denies murdering young Melbourne woman

Exclusive: A Queensland man nominated as a suspect by police in their investigation into the 1994 murder of Melbourne woman Elisabeth Membrey has denied any involvement after being questioned publicly for the first time.

Andrew Crump, who was 19 when Membrey vanished from her Ringwood flat, left for an “unplanned trip” to Queensland 10 days after her murder – where A Current Affair found him still living in a sleepy coastal town.

"I've answered all the questions mate and I honestly don't know," Crump said when asked about the disappearance.

Asked directly if he killed Membrey, Crump replied: "No".

"I wouldn't know, if I did, I'd tell you, I swear to god," he said.

"I got nothing else to say about anything at all."

Membrey, 22, was last seen leaving the Manhattan Hotel in Ringwood in December 1994 after finishing her shift behind the bar.

While her body has never been found, investigators suspect she was killed by somebody she knew in the hallway of her flat before being wrapped in a doona, bundled into her own red Mazda, and dumped.

The case has been fraught with false leads.

In 2010, police charged the wrong man, Shane Bond, with murder.

He was acquitted by a Supreme Court jury following a marathon trial.

Victoria Police subsequently nominated Crump as a suspect following a review of the case led by retired detective Andrew Stamper, the former head of the Missing Persons Squad.

"Elisabeth Membrey would be one of the saddest cases that I've ever come across," Stamper told A Current Affair.

"That motive, that proximity to do this – he (Crump) fitted the bill."

"There was talk he had a fascination with her.

"We also know he had a criminal record, he was quite a prolific burglar so someone quite adept at entering other people's homes."

Police say the following evidence led them to nominate Crump as a suspect:

• As her flatmate’s brother, witnesses told police Crump was obsessed with Elisabeth, who was home alone when she vanished because her flatmate, Viviene, was staying with her boyfriend due to an injury she sustained;
• Crump placed himself at the crime scene. A few days before she vanished, he claimed Elisabeth let him inside. But his own mother refuted this, telling police Elisabeth turned him away;
• Police say they have statements from Crump's former partner and family, who claim he told them he was present that night, he knows who killed Elisabeth and that her body won't be found because of thick bush around her home;
• Crump left for Queensland 10 days after the murder in 1994, with a witness suggesting he made a detour past Elisabeth Membrey's flat on his way out of Melbourne (which, according to a friend who was in the car at with him, was not the most direct route out of town);
• That friend also told police that trip was delayed because Crump said he had to go fill in an excavation hole for his boss. Police later found out he was on WorkCover and his boss had no record of the job;
• In 2018, when the original crime scene DNA from Elisabeth’s Mazda was re-examined against Crump’s DNA, police identified a possible DNA match. Crump claimed he had moved Membrey’s car once, but Crump’s sister insisted Elisabeth feared him and never let him near it. The Victorian Coroner found this DNA evidence was inconclusive.

After moving to Queensland, Crump was jailed for an assault and attempted rape in 2015. A Current Affair found Crump now living with his father in a sleepy coastal town in Hervey Bay.

He is currently on parole after recently serving 18 months in jail for another incident involving serious sexual offences.

He declined to be interviewed about Elisabeth's disappearance and said he had already spoken at length to detectives.

Asked about Elisabeth's vehicle and claims he previously moved it, Crump said: "I was out at my sister's house, where she lived, a couple of weeks before she went missing."

"There's one driveway – they move cars all the time, it's just a part of life."

Several years ago, police approached the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions about charging Crump with murder.

They declined, citing the circumstantial case against him was not enough to get a conviction in court.

Police then went to the coroner last year and asked for a previous open finding to be overturned, in light of the new evidence that had emerged against Crump.

Coroner Judge John Cain, while empathetic to the Membreys, ruled the evidence fell “just short” of the standard required to make any adverse finding against Crump.

“Ms Membrey’s family, in particular her mother and prior to his death, her father, have suffered unimaginable grief and anguish,” he said.

"There is much evidence that justifies police attention being focused on Mr Crump and I accept that their conclusion in relation to Mr Crump is open to them.

"It is regrettable that I have not been able to provide the closure that Ms Membrey's family would want."

"I still believe after all the time that's passed with this case, there are people out there who know something about it and could come forward," retired detective Stamper said.

For the record, A Current Affair is not suggesting Crump is guilty of any offence relating to Membrey's disappearance, only that he remains a suspect.

Elisabeth's mother, Joy, now 87, still lights a candle each day for her daughter.

"I'm getting old," she says.

“I don’t think I’ve got too many years left, and I’d like the truth to come out.

"I want to take Elisabeth to be buried – beside her father.

"I would just like peace of mind that she's laid to rest and there's justice done to the awful people who've destroyed her life and destroyed the whole family's life."

Producer: Amelia Hirst

A $1 million reward remains in place for information leading to a conviction in the disappearance of Elisabeth Membrey. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.