New hope in Canberra cold case

In 1999 bandits broke into Irma Palasics' Canberra home, bound her, ransacked the place and beat the 72-year-old to death.

Her husband Gregor died a few years later never knowing his wife's killer.

Now police believe they are close to cracking the case.

They have new evidence which makes them confident it is only a matter of time before Irma's killer is caught.

They have matched the killer's DNA to that of someone involved in an attempted robbery at a Canberra golf centre in 2010 and found they are related - possibly father and son.

The killer's relative was never caught either and police have yet to identify his four accomplices in the attempted robbery.

But they're confident advances in technology and other leads will point them in the right direction.

Authorities say someone in Canberra knows who killed Mrs Palasics - either as family or a friend - and should fess up.

"These people need to be found and face the consequences of what they have done," Crimestoppers head Bryan Roach told reporters on Monday.

Police want to speak to a man who rang Crimestoppers last Monday offering to identify the killer's relative, but hung up before doing so.

The murderer is believed to be behind two previous burglaries at the Palasics' homes in 1997 and 1998.

A partial picture of him, based on a sketch provided by Irma after the second robbery, has also been released, along with a picture of a witness seen near the couple's home after the 1998 robbery.

"We're getting closer," Detective Senior Constable Jarryd Dunbar said.

"It's just a matter of time."