Top Australian crime stories in 2017

SES volunteers congregate before searching around Childers Rd in Mt Macedon.jpg

SES volunteers congregate before searching around Childers Rd in Mt Macedon, near Melbourne, Thursday, July 13, 2017. A possible breakthrough in the investigation of Karen Ristevski's death has sparked further searches of the Mount Macedon area outside of Melbourne. (AAP Image/Joe Castro)

NSW

Xie

Mass murderer Robert Xie was jailed for life in February for bludgeoning five relatives to death. Following four trials spanning over more than seven years the 53-year-old was found guilty in January of murdering the three adults and two children in the bedrooms of their Sydney home in the early hours of July 18, 2009. He continues to maintain his innocence after the deaths of Xie's newsagent brother-in-law Min Lin, 45, his wife Lily Lin, 43, the couple's sons Henry, 12, and Terry, 9, and Lily's 39-year-old sister, Irene. They all suffered horrific head injuries when they were attacked with a hammer-like object. Brenda Lin was then aged 15 and overseas on a school trip when Xie murdered her parents, her two little brothers and her aunt. She went to live with Xie and his wife after becoming an orphan but later told the Seven Network's Sunday Night program she'd been sexually abused by her uncle.

Ibrahim and Mehajer families

A wedding linking two of Sydney's most notorious families - the Ibrahims and the Mehajers - was always going to make headlines but it also involved a shooting. Long-term trusted Ibrahim family bodyguard Semi "Tongan Sam" Ngata was at a Merrylands home in western Sydney as final preparations were underway on the night of November 17 when he was shot in the back. The home belonged to the mother of infamous Kings Cross nightclub identity John Ibrahim and was the venue for a wedding that went ahead the following day between his nephew, Hassan Sayour, and Aisha Mehajer, the sister of former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer. Ngata, 59, refused to co-operate with police in line with the so-called "code of silence" that dominates underworld shootings. Ibrahim's brothers, Fadi and Michael, and son, Daniel, are before NSW courts accused of involvement in an international tobacco and drug-smuggling conspiracy and his model girlfriend, Sarah Budge, is facing firearms and ammunition charges.

VIC

Ristevski mystery

The body of murdered Melbourne mother Karen Ristevski, 47, was discovered in rugged central Victorian bushland in February. The fashion boutique owner had been missing for eight months before her remains were spotted by a bushwalker. Her husband Borce Ristevski was arrested and charged with her murder on December 13. Police allege he killed his wife on June 29, 2016, the same day she went missing. The 53-year-old plans to plead not guilty, his lawyer said, and he has been remanded in custody, due to face court again in April.

Cardamone

Karen Chetcuti was watering her garden on a balmy summer evening before she was set upon by her sadistic neighbour Michael Cardamone. The Victorian mother-of-two was tied up, sedated, injected with battery acid, beaten and finally burned alive in bushland near Mount Buffalo in January 2016. Cardamone first denied the crime, and even tried to frame another man, but eventually admitted murdering the 49-year-old. The murder shocked Supreme Court Justice Lex Lasry, who in August handed down a sentence of life without parole for the first time in his career. Cardamone, 50, has launched an appeal against the sentence. At the time of the killing, the ice user was on parole after serving jail time for raping a 15-year-old girl in 2005.

Heinze

The infamous Salt Creek case came to its conclusion in 2017 with sexual predator Roman Heinze jailed for at least 17 years for his shocking attack on two young backpackers. Heinze met his victims, German Lena Rabente and a Brazillian woman, through the Gumtree website in 2016 after they advertised seeking a ride from Adelaide to Melbourne. He took them to the remote beach on the South Australian Coorong and set up camp before sexually assaulting the Brazillian woman and then attacking Ms Rabente with a hammer and trying to run her down in his four-wheel-drive. Heinze was found guilty of six charges including indecent assault, aggravated kidnapping and endangering life. The 61-year-old appealed against both his convictions and the length of his jail term but in November the Court of Criminal Appeal ruled against him.

QLD

McCulkin murders

A 43-year-old murder mystery was finally put to rest when two men were sentenced for the brutal 1974 killing of Barbara McCulkin and her daughters Vicki and Leanne. The Brisbane Supreme Court in June handed Vincent O'Dempsey and Garry "Shorty" Dubois life sentences after they were convicted of the murders.Their convictions also thrust another decades-old tragedy back into the spotlight, because of a suggestion the pair targeted the McCulkin's because Barbara had threatened to implicate them in the 1973 Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub fire that killed 15 people. Following their sentence, Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath reopened an inquest into the bombing, stating she hoped witnesses would now come forward.

Forte

Queensland Police officer Brett Forte was shot down by Rick Maddison during a police chase on May 29 in the Lockyer Valley. Following a 20-hour siege, the gunman was also shot dead. Maddison's senseless act took Forte, a father, husband and friend, away from those who loved him so dearly. Thousands attended his funeral in Toowoomba, where his wife, Susan said her husband was her "hero" and her "soulmate". Queensland Police have mourned the loss of Forte, a respected officer, who protected his colleagues lives right to the end. "He was a man of courage, professionalism and unfailing decency ... Brett gave his life so that others could live," Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said at the funeral.