It was an ordinary Thursday afternoon for Jane Thurgood-Dove, when she pulled into the driveway of her Melbourne home on November 7, 1997, after picking up her three kids from school.
Scott, 11, Ashley, six, and Holly, three, were all sitting in the backseat as she hopped out of the family's 4WD before 4pm, only to be confronted by a gunman.
Jane was shot twice in the back of the head at point-blank range.
The 34-year-old died right there in the driveway, while her three horrified children watched on and her murderer fled. The car he'd arrived in was later found torched.
The brutal slaying had all the hallmarks of a gangland hit — like something from the criminal underworld. Except Jane lived a spotless life. She was a regular mum, married to a regular guy, living in a normal suburban home.
Watch: Jane's parents are still waiting for closure. Post continues below.
As police started to dig into Jane's life, they came up with a potential lead. Jane had been employed by a serving police officer to clean his house, and he had seemingly grown obsessed with her. Investigators found a shrine to her in his house, discovered his computer passwords were her birth date, and figured out he'd tried to buy a cemetery plot next to hers.
He refused to answer questions or provide DNA, and police thought they had their guy. But there was another theory that emerged in the days following Jane's death that was seemingly ignored by authorities until it was too late. Jane looked strikingly like another mum who lived on Muriel Street — a woman called Carmel, who was married to underworld figure Peter Kypri and also had school-aged children. They lived in similar houses, painted similar colours, both technically 'three from the corner' of the street.
As The Age reports, there was a plot to take out Kypri, who had been blamed for a $200,000 insurance fraud rip-off. The family knew of the dangers and had secret whistles to warn each other of danger. Their kids weren't allowed to play on the street, and the family moved away not long after Jane's murder.
The theory was that bikie Steven John Mordy was hired to kill Carmel, with his mate Jamie Reynolds acting as getaway driver. But by the time police started following the leads, it was too late. Mordy died from drug abuse in 2001, and Reynolds died in 2004 in a boating accident days before homicide detectives planned to pounce.
Jane's devastated parents, Helen and John Magill, have never stopped fighting for justice, criticising the police for putting more resources into investigating the deaths of underworld figures than that of innocent victims like Jane.
It was her dad, John, who lobbied the government to increase the reward amounts offered for information, successfully seeing the sum rise from between $50,000 and $100,000 to $1 million in cases where those killed were seemingly random victims of violence, and police believed they were close to laying charges.
Unfortunately, while the change helped other families get answers, it didn't provide any new leads in Jane's case.
There are still people out there who can be punished for the Melbourne mum's murder: the man who ordered the hit, and the middleman who hired the bikies.
In 2021, her parents again faced the media to talk of their ongoing pain.
"It's hard… it's tough," said her dad.
"Knowing that person is still walking the earth when Jane isn't," added her mum.
They don't want to go to their graves never knowing who killed her.
Jane's story has inspired the storyline for a new Nine crime show called Human Error, which is currently airing. The six-part drama follows Detective Holly O'Rourke and her team as they investigate the case of a suburban mother who is murdered in her driveway in front of her son.
In a statement on their website, Victoria Police write, "The Director of Public Prosecutions will also consider an indemnity from prosecution to anyone providing information that leads to the conviction of the person or persons involved.
"Detectives believe the passage of time may mean someone in the community is now able to come forward and tell investigators what they know about the young mother's death."
A $1 million dollar reward for information still stands.
Jane Thurgood-Dove's story will be explored in detail with crime journalist John Silvester on next week's episode of Mamamia's True Crime Conversations.
Feature image: Victoria Police.