Victorian Man Found Guilty Of 28-Year Murder Investigation

A man has been arrested in Victoria and found guilty over the 1993 stabbing of Suzanne Poll at Salisbury.

Matthew Donald Tilley had been trialled in South Australian Supreme Court over the cold-blooded murder in Adelaide.

Mrs Poll was found dead in the back of a stationery store where she worked more than 28 years ago.

A guilty verdict was returned on Thursday night, the jury deliberated over a breakthrough piece of evidence.

Blood samples taken from the crime scene emerged decades later in a coffee cup tossed away by Tilley.

The DNA obtained became a key piece of evidence in the jury's decision making process.

Prosecutor Carmen Matteo said detectives arrested Tilley in 2019, and the coffee cup provided much-needed clarity. 

"Because of where those [blood] stains were located and the physical characteristics of the stains, the prosecution contends that they had to have been deposited at the time of, and in connection with, the killing," Ms Matteo told the jury.

Suzanne's daughter Melissa Poll, said she never thought the murderer would be found after several decades.

"Never give up — that is the biggest message I have for all these cold cases out there," Poll said.

"It's 28 years we haven't had our mum and our kids haven't had their grandma but we've moving forward."

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