Renewed plea for help to solve Penny’s murder

July 21 will mark 33 years since the murder of Narrabri’s Penny Hill.

Penny, 20, was found unconscious with severe head and facial injuries on Cassilis Road, near Coolah, about 8am on Monday, July 8, 1991.

She was taken to Coolah Hospital then airlifted to John Hunter Hospital, where she died two weeks later, on Sunday, July 21, 1991.

Police believe that there is still someone living in the community who has a piece of information which will be important in resolving the case.

There have been comprehensive inquiries by police and two inquests.

Many people were interviewed at the time of Penny’s attack, and many DNA samples were taken from men in Coolah, Dubbo, Orange, Lithgow and Sydney, and the area.

“We continue to make appeals to the public,” Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty said on Kristy Reading’s ABC New England North West Breakfast program last Monday.

“There are people in the community who may be able to assist with information. They may have a secret, know something, have heard something, and may be worried about retribution or they may have for some misguided loyalties, but hopefully after the passing of more than 30 years they may feel confident to come forward,” Superintendent Doherty said.

“Any piece of information may be integral to the inquiries.

“Our ultimate goal is to see someone face a court and justice.

“It’s not just about assisting police, it’s important to the family. They carry a burden of grief they hold in their heart every day.”

Penny’s mother Jeanette Hill, now living in Toowoomba, remains hopeful after 33 years that someone, somewhere will come forward with new information to bring closure and
justice.

A $1 million NSW government reward for information which leads to conviction still stands.

“I still believe someone knows what happened – someone has confided to someone about the murder,” Mrs Hill said in an earlier interview with The Courier. “We always hope someone, somewhere will speak up.

“People say to me ‘do you think they will ever be caught’ and I say ‘well, you always have to have hope. Never give up hope.’

“Because someone out there somewhere knows something – if only they would come forward.

“The pain never goes away – we live it every day,” said Mrs Hill.

“I have said in the past, Penny was given a death sentence but we were given a life sentence. And someone is out there walking scot free.

“You never forget, you just learn to live with it and live in hope someone will reveal some information.

“I find the July 8 anniversary, the impact and the brutality of the attack, is probably harder for us than the July 21 date when Penny passed away,” Mrs Hill said.

“We hope every day that someone will come forward with the piece of information for police that will bring the perpetrator to justice and some closure to our family.

“As I have always said, there has to be people out there who know. In a small town like Coolah there would be people who would know.

“People might say ‘I can’t remember’ but you don’t forget these sort of things. There is simply no way to describe the immense agony of losing a child,” Mrs Hill said.

“Every day I am reminded of Penny, of the tragic way in which she was taken from us, and of the life she never got to live.

“It has been 33 years that we have been searching for answers and once again we ask that anyone in the community who might know what happened to our daughter, please come forward and help police.

“Our family, and our Penny need peace,” Mrs Hill said.