Elderly mum's tearful tribute to daughter murdered 34 years ago
The mother of a woman who was bludgeoned to death in a violent attack 34 years ago has paid a tearful tribute to her daughter as police launch a fresh bid to find her killer.
Leslie Patricia Larkin was brutally attacked and left for dead at her Noosa Heads unit on November 9, 1984.
The 31-year-old yoga instructor died in hospital the next day, after a neighbour found her lying naked, with severe head injuries, in a bedroom.
On Wednesday, Queensland Police reminded the public of the $250,000 reward to solve her murder, calling her death a “horrific, callous homicide.”
“(Her mother) is an elderly lady, she can’t really get closure,” Sunshine Coast Detective inspector David Drinnen told reporters on Wednesday.
“She doesn’t know what the reason is behind what has happened.”
In a tearful video, Leslie’s mother Pat Lleiss paid tribute to her daughter.
“She was so gentle, so beautiful, so naive, and she died such a terrible, terrifying death,” she said.
“It just makes absolutely no sense to anybody that knew Leslie.”
Police said that the front door to Ms Larkin’s apartment was open but there were no signs of a struggle. Nor was she sexually assaulted, her family said.
Det Insp Drinnen said new information had prompted cold case detectives to reopen the case in January.
“Information provided to us is that Ms Larkin had experienced some distressing incidents in the weeks prior to her death”, Det Insp Drinnen said.
“We believe Ms Larkin confided in the people closest to her about these incidents.”
Detectives are now desperate to hear from those who were closest to Ms Larkin, and who might know details of incidents that marred Ms Larkin’s life before she was killed.
Ms Larkin, who was a regular at Franks Gym in Noosa, also worked in local restaurants and at the time of her death, she was visiting restaurants in the area looking for a new job.
“She was energetic and full of life,” the detective said.
“She was certainly someone who was well-known in the community and her circle of friends, which is why we are appealing to those people out there that had contact with her in the two to three weeks prior to her death to come forward,” he said.
On the 30th anniversary of her death, Ms Larkin was remembered by her sister, Juanita Wotherspoon, as a vivacious and beautiful young woman with a great smile and gentle eyes.
“She did not deserve this. We still wait hoping that one day we will know who and why,” she told told The Sunshine Coast Daily.
A reward of $250,000 remains on offer for information that leads to Ms Larkin’s killer.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page.
