JACKPOT FOR JUSTICE

Rewards of more than $1.75m up for grabs in FNQ cold cases

POLICE are confident they will bring the perpetrators of the Far North’s most heinous unsolved crimes to justice with $1.75 million available for information leading to a successful prosecution.

The 1996 bashing of Cleis Norbury, 40, (left) who was left brain damaged, has become one of the region’s enduring mysteries.

MORE than $1.75 million in reward money has been offered by Queensland Police for some of the most heinous crimes committed in Cairns and the Far North.

They range from the brutal and perverted to randomly destructive.

Cleis Norbury, 40, has become the face of Cairns cold cases.

Her unsolved bashing early on a Sunday more than 20 years ago prompted a $250,000 reward to be offered by police.

In 2010, the case was reopened by police, but her mother Rhonda has little hope for a conviction this late in the day.

“It is an absolutely impossible dream,” Ms Norbury said.

Cleis was robbed of a life most would take for granted when she was attacked about 3am on October 6, 1996.

The dispassionate reward notice cannot convey the terror she must have experienced during the sickening attack, or the chilling predatory violence by her attacker or attackers.

“She had been the victim of a vicious and sustained attack, receiving severe head injuries consistent with having been repeatedly punched and kicked,” the notice states.

Ms Norbury said Cleis had no recollection of what happened that Sunday morning.

“She can’t remember any of the details, which is a good thing I think,” she said.

But the loss of memory that saves her reliving the attack has also stymied investigators.

“If Cleis didn’t remember what happened they couldn’t arrest,” Ms Norbury said.

Cleis suffered permanent brain damage, cannot work and receives a disability pension.

“Despite the fact that she has had a permanent brain injury … she has insight as to what she has lost,” Ms Norbury said.

The Norbury attempted murder is one of eight crimes where the Queensland Police is offering a reward in exchange for information.

Another $250,000 has been offered for information in connection to Operation Drury, a name that hides the ghastly intent of whoever allegedly abducted and molested a twoyear-old infant in Yarrabah on August 17, 2002.

The girl, who was three days short of her second birthday, was abducted as she slept beside her six-year-old sister at her grandparents’ home about 2.45am.

The offender carried her 500m along the road, then 100m through bushland, where he sexually assaulted her.

“Witnesses located the child suffering from serious injuries and she was transported to Cairns Base Hospital for treatment,” the reward notice states.

It does little to convey the scene that confronted first responders.

“This type of offence against a child is particularly confronting and disturbing,” detective Senior Sergeant Mick Gooiker, who was at the scene, said.

He said the case would never be forgotten by investigators.

“This level of investigation is never closed until we get a result,” he said. “It will be followed until it is closed.”

A Queensland Police spokesman said all the listed rewards would remain current until a successful conviction and at the discretion of the commissioner.

DESPITE THE FACT THAT SHE HAS HAD A PERMANENT BRAIN INJURY … SHE HAS INSIGHT AS TO WHAT SHE HAS LOST CLEIS NORBURY’S MOTHER RHONDA ON THE EFFECT OF THE ATTACK