CASE PROFILE – Samuel Hayward

Posted on 21/11/2022

When Samuel Hayward didn’t turn up for work on 22 November 1988, his mother and sister went to his Cygnet Terrace unit at Kingston Park.

The 46-year old accountant had received a series of blows to his head with a dumbbell, which was located next to his body. He had also been strangled with an electrical cord.

One single unidentified fingerprint belonging to the probable offender was found in Mr Hayward’s bathroom.

Investigators believe Mr Hayward knew his killer and had most likely spent the previous few days with him.

Inquiries revealed he had lunch with his suspected attacker at McLaren Vale on Saturday, November 19. There was also a sighting of him walking on the beach at Kingston Park the same day. Police believe he was murdered either that night or early the next day.

The attacker fled the scene in Mr Hayward’s Suzuki hatch, which travelled through Victoria and up the east coast of New South Wales — using Mr Hayward’s two credit cards to buy petrol and clothes, pay for accommodation and withdraw cash. The card was first used at Horsham in Victoria on Sunday, November 20. It was used nine times in that state and another six times in NSW. On each occasion the person neatly forged Mr Hayward’s signature. On Thursday, November 24, the person tried to buy a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses at Port Kembla using Mr Hayward’s Mastercard but by then it had been flagged as stolen and the transaction was refused.

Mr Hayward’s Suzuki was found parked under a tree at 10pm that day at Wollongong, possibly as a result of the credit card being confiscated and the offender becoming spooked, aware that police were searching for the vehicle.

The man using the credit cards was the same man at Mr Hayward’s unit, with fingerprints on the card slips matching the crime scene, along with a matching fingerprint located on the vehicle. The last location the second credit card was used was at a Kings Cross motel on Darlinghurst Rd on November 26.

Besides the Suzuki, items stolen from Mr Hayward’s unit included a 36cm colour television, a stereo unit and a scale model of the early warship USS Constitution. They may have been taken either to be sold for cash or to make it seem that the murder was a robbery gone wrong.

Despite the fingerprints being uploaded onto the national database, there has been no hit against any recorded, and a wider search on the Interpol database has also not assisted to identify the suspect.

Anyone with information can anonymously contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at https://crimestopperssa.com.au

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