OFF THE WIRE
WHO tortured then murdered Norlane security guard Earl Mooring? Even with a $500,000 reward, a key witness police hoped could help solve the 10-year mystery still has not come forward.
A Coroner's Court hearing this week will shed more light on the cold case that has investigators baffled.
A police media spokeswoman yesterday said the probe into Mr Mooring's death was an open file.
"The reward is still on offer and the investigation is ongoing," the spokeswoman said.
Police believe Mr Mooring, 54, was at a friend's house in Norlane on October 10, 2000, when he received a phone call luring him to his girlfriend's house in Solar Drv, Whittington.
Members of outlaw bikie gang the Bandidos have been linked to the killing, but have denied any involvement.
But a former Bandido, turned mole, Steve Utah said he helped dispose of the body after Mr Mooring was tortured with a hammer and then shot dead.
Mr Utah later lead investigators to Goulburn, south of Sydney where Mr Mooring's mutilated body was discovered.
A possible motive is a botched robbery, police said. Mr Mooring's girlfriend, who cannot be identified, was given a three-year suspended jail sentence in the Supreme Court for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Her trial heard that she knew a man had planned to do something to Mr Mooring. She told her lover to go to her house despite being in Melbourne when making the phone call. Dtective Sergeant Tony Thatcher told the Geelong Advertiser in 2008 the case could depend on one man who was at the rural property where Mr Mooring was killed.
"Our information was that he didn't take an active role in the shed at the premises, he's a person of interest or a witness rather than a suspect," he said.
"We'd like to speak to him and it goes without saying he could really crack the case."
Police originally dangled a $100,000 carrot in a bid for information leading to an arrest but after that failed to entice new witnesses or leads, a year later the reward was increased to $500,000.
Police are also yet to find Mr Mooring's red Nissan coupe.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2011/04/22/254901_news.html