An inquest into the unsolved death of a Corowa beauty queen in 1973 has painted an image of a sexually and physically violent man who is considered the main suspect.
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The inquest heard Newey, the second cousin of slain 17-year-old Bronwynne Richardson, once attacked a woman so badly he caused her to have a miscarriage.
Much of the evidence heard over three days in Albury this week focused on Newey, who died in 2019, with many inconsistencies in his accounts.
A thorough investigation by unsolved homicide detectives was able to disprove many of the claims made by Newey about his whereabouts on the night of October 12, 1973.
Statements gathered over the years and police research was also able to place the now deceased man at Smollett Street at the time Bronwynne was abducted.
Max Martin was released from prison on the day of the abduction, rape and murder.
Police can place him at the scene and think he was also involved.
But they are unable to say who did what.
Another suspect, Kevin Newman, can't be ruled out of the investigation due to concerning information and interviews, but they also aren't entirely sure if he was involved.
One man who gave evidence this week pointed out Newman as the person he overheard bragging about the rape and murder at the Boomerang Hotel in the 1980s.
Other criminals who were under the microscope for decades have been ruled out.
Bronwynne's body was found in a lagoon two days after her abduction, off what is now called Waterview Drive in Splitters Creek, and at time was referred to as Horseshoe Lagoon.
She was found without clothes on the bottom half of her body, buttons were missing from her pants, and it was clear she had been subject to a violent sexual assault.
Marks on her wrists and ankles suggested she had been tied with pantyhose.
In a late development on the final day of evidence on Thursday, Ms Richardson's brother said he had a car similar to the one suspected of being involved in the attack which was easily accessible on the night of the incident.
There is no suggestion Gary Richardson had anything to do with the crime, but he told the court his two-tone green and white FB Holden could be opened and started without a key.
Police believe Bronwynne was forced into such a vehicle on Smollett Street.
He said he had left it parked on the road in Plummer Street in South Albury for his neighbour to borrow.
He worked with Newey at an Albury potato processing business and said many people knew the car could be accessed without a key.
"Quite a lot of people knew that," he said.
"Most of the people I was working with knew that."
When he returned home the afternoon after his sister's death, the car was parked in the carport of his home, not where he left it, and a significant amount of fuel was missing.
It is clear that within 10 minutes of them leaving, Bronwynne was abducted from Smollett Street
- Detective Sergeant Steven Morgan, speaking of Colin Newey and Max Martin
He believes his neighbour used the vehicle and returned it, before somebody else took it.
The car was later sold to a person in Western Australia and its whereabouts are unknown.
While reports of the suspect vehicle were circulated after his sister's death, Mr Richardson said he'd had other things on his mind at the time and didn't report it.
"My sister had just been murdered," he said.
Police had attended his unit and Mr Richardson said they had a look at the vehicle but "nothing else was said".
Detective Sergeant Steven Morgan was asked if police had a view on which car was used.
"We aren't certain which vehicle was used and I don't know if we ever will be," he said.
But it is widely accepted an FB Holden matching the description was involved, and a witness said Bronwynne had recognised the car before her abduction.
Mr Richardson said he only recently learnt Newey, who had been a friend, was a suspect, and on reflection said there were "a lot of things Colin had said" which didn't add up.
"There were a lot of discrepancies and when I put it together, yes," he said.
"I believe that Colin Newey was definitely involved in it.
"I believe Max Martin was the instigator of it."
He said Martin was "evil" and had probably pushed Newey into it.
Newey didn't attend Bronwynne's funeral.
Police believe Newey and Martin had been in a bungalow at the back of Irene Stock's George Street home shortly before the abduction.
Mrs Stock was Newey's stepmother.
Newey told police when he left the home on the night of the incident, Martin went one way, he went the other.
"It is clear that within 10 minutes of them leaving, Bronwynne was abducted from Smollett Street," Detective Sergeant Steven Morgan told the inquest.
Newey had claimed he was away on the night of her abduction on an army bivouac in Chiltern and didn't return until Sunday, but witnesses suggested otherwise.
He apologised, through tears.
He appeared to express disbelieve and struggled to come to terms with it.
"With what's happened ... I just, nup ... I couldn't believe it," he said.
"I just don't believe that ... I'm sorry."
Colin moved to Murray Bridge after the incident, likely to avoid a NSW arrest warrant for assault.
Ross Eames, who had been a suspect, also moved to Murray Bridge.
The inquest heard Eames and Newey had gotten into a heated argument after the airing of a Derryn Hinch show on October 9, 1989, which suggested notorious sex offender and killer Mr Stinky was involved in Bronwynne's death.
Mr Stinky - real name Mr Edmunds - had lived in the North East and was arrested in 1985 after masturbating in an Albury car park on Kiewa Street.
Much was made of the call at the inquest, given the caller had knowledge of the case and said he was there at the time of the incident.
Police believe Newey was the called and implicated him in the crime.
"I don't recall ever making a phone call to police whether it be Browynne Richardson or any other thing I done wrong," he later told investigators in an interview.
During one police interview, Newey became agitated over an aspect of the case.
Police divers found army locks in the water where her body was found on October 14, 1973.
An anonymous officer was quoted in the media after her death as saying her body may have been weighed down with the locks.
Newey was agitated when speaking of that aspect of the crime in 2012.
The anonymous called was also agitated about that aspect.
Detective Sergeant Morgan pointed out many occasions during police interviews, and during interviews for a television show, when Newey gave details of the incident which could link him to the crime.
When asked by a producer of the Murder, Lies and Alibis show about the incident, Newey suggested a cousin could have been behind Bronwynne's death.
The detective said a theme which ran through his interview was of sexual obsession with his second cousin and that she was "a bit up herself".
All those linked to the incident have died without facing trial.
Newey spent a little more than four months in custody for the crime after his arrest on July 30, 2014 and was bailed before murder, rape and abduction charges were dropped.
Supreme Court Justice Richard Button noted in 2014 the case was circumstantial, could not be considered a strong case, and there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence when he granted Newey bail.
It's hoped the inquest, which will return at a later date, will finally give a definitive answer about who was behind the attack nearly 50 years on.
