'No such thing as a closed case': Man arrested over 1987 murder
A 75-year-old man has been charged over the alleged murder of Raymond Keam, 34 years after his body was found in a park in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.
Stanley Early, also known as Stanley Sutton or "Spider" Sutton, was arrested in Melbourne yesterday and extradited across the border to Albury Police Station where he was charged with the murder of Raymond Keam.
Mr Keam's body was found by a member of the public at Alison Park in Randwick on in January 1987.
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NSW Police offered $1 million reward for information into the murder of Raymond Keam. NSW Police Force
NSW Police Minister David Elliot noted the arrest came soon after the reward money for solving the crime was raised to $1 million.
"For 34 years the NSW Police have painstakingly investigated this matter," Mr Elliot said.
"This is proof positive that when the NSW Police investigate, they will go to the nth degree."
He congratulated the homicide squad for their efforts.
"In NSW there is no such thing as a closed case," Mr Elliot said.
"It is important for the victims of any crime, particularly the horrific circumstances relating to more, that family members do get these sorts of answers."
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Raymond Keam and his family. Twitter
A post mortem revealed the 43-year-old died of severe head injuries.
"Raymond was in the prime of his life," Mr Elliot said.
"He was a man with children, with a partner. He did not deserve to be murdered in the callous way that he did."
In 1988, a coronial inquest confirmed he died due to being struck in the head by an unknown person however no one had ever been charged.
Police said even though Mr Keane identified as a heterosexual, it was believed he had been beaten to death because Alison Park was a well-known beat for gay men in the 1980s.
Raymond Keam was 43 when he died. NSW Police
Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said such a murder came from a place of "ignorance and malevolence".
"We believe the person that committed this was acting on a perception of someone's sexual orientation," he said.
In 2019, a formal review of the case was conducted and a re-investigation commenced by detectives under Strike Force Augenaut.
Mr Early was refused bail to appear in Albury Local Court today.
Investigations are continuing.
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