Former AC/DC manager Crispin Dye died on Christmas Day in 1993, after being attacked near Oxford Street in the inner-city Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst, where he had been celebrating the release of his debut solo album.
Now the family of Mr Dye has experienced another painful day, after a major development in the cold case investigation.
Mr Dye's cousin Lisa says the emergence of new information has been a difficult reminder of his death.
"Cris was softly spoken. He was a lovely guy who was very creative. The times that I did see him we got on really well. He had a lot to contribute and as I say, he needn't have died in that way, in that fashion. It was pretty brutal."
The breakthrough in the case relates to the clothes Mr Dye wore on the night of his death.
They hadn't been forensically tested until an inquiry into LGBTIQ hate crimes began this year.
The hate crimes inquiry has heard that blood from his jeans matched the DNA of a man arrested over a break and enter in 2002.
That person of interest had a substantial criminal history and, two weeks after Mr Dye’s death, he was charged with the assault of a German tourist in Sydney’s Kings Cross.
Lisa says the fact that these tests weren't completed for so long has been difficult for the family.
"I think it's very frustrating. If things had been done a lot earlier, things would have been followed up a lot earlier, there would have been more of a conclusion or things to follow up."
Hair on the clothing was also discovered but came back with a partial DNA result of an unmatched male.
Also never seen until the inquiry were two papers in Mr Dye's shirt pocket.
Assisting Counsel Meg O'Brien says the fact that police hadn't found them before is extraordinary.
"It is plainly unsatisfactory that this evidence has lain untouched for nearly 30 years without being found or subjected to testing. Indeed, once again during his oral evidence to this inquiry in July, Detective Inspector Warren from the police agreed that it was a significant oversight."
In it submission, Counsel assisting the inquiry says there is objective reason to suspect the attack was motivated either in whole or in part by LGBTIQ+ bias, after looking all available evidence.
Police say the location where Mr Dye died was a robbery hotspot, but friends of Mr Dye like Richard Cobden, are sure his attack was targeted.
"I think there's no doubt in my mind that it was in fact a hate crime. He was in a gay precinct at the height of when it was a gay precinct, we're talking back in 1993. And there's no question that the gangs that are roaming the back streets of those hours were looking for gay people to bash. He was beaten ((attacked)) because he was a gay man out late at night."
The inquiry’s report is due to be handed down in December.
