THE lead investigator who followed the chilling trail of the infamous Balaclava Rapist nearly 40 years ago still loses sleep over the fact he never found the “monster”.

Former assistant police commissioner Eric Strong, one of Australia’s highest-ranking policemen in the 1970s and ’80s, said he had no doubt the man who terrorised the Tweed and Gold Coast was imprisoned for other crimes.

But that doesn’t give the 84-year-old closure.

When he gets a quiet moment away from his big family, fishing in the river at Ballina, Mr Strong thinks about the rapes and murder committed in 1979 and 1980 before the attacker with the “evil” eyes vanished forever.

media_camera February 3, 1980: Murder scene at Tweed Heads West, NSW. Detectives from Lismore and Sydney examine the car that was found beside the body of victim Jeffrey Parkinson. The suspect is known as the balaclava killer and rapist.

“It’s stuck with me for all these years,” the retired grandfather said yesterday from Ballina, where he lives with his wife of 65 years, Dulcie.

“He’s the one that got away. The fella has probably been captured in another state and is serving time there for murders but I don’t have that assurance. I fear that he hasn’t faced up to the justice he deserves.

“He’d have to be in jail because he’d still be attacking. We’d still be hearing about the Balaclava Killer.”

The masked man raped countless women and killed a man, leaving victims only with the description of his “evil steely blue” eyes.

media_camera Photo of Jeffrey Parkinson whose body was found by his car at Tweed Heads West, NSW on February 3, 1980. It is believed he was the victim of the Balaclava Rapist and killer.

His heinous acts launched one of the largest scale manhunts in Australian history.

Mr Strong, a father-of-two and grandfather-of-eight, who retired in 1990 and hasn’t even talked to his kids about the case, interviewed 5000 motorcyclists over 18 months and reckons he didn’t look in the eyes of the killer.

“I would’ve known straight away,” he said. “You would’ve seen it in his eyes.

“We had leads and we investigated it every single day.

“It never slipped from my attention.

“I made it my sole mission to lock this guy up and even though we worked relentlessly and exhausted every tip-off, nothing led us to him. The balaclava was his saving grace.”

Police believed he rode a motorcycle and was a factory worker or tradesman.

Described by victims as 177cm tall, between 20 and 27, of athletic build, with dark brown hair, bushy eyebrows and blue eyes, the man always hid his face with a balaclava.

media_camera December 8, 1980: A police dummy displayed on the Gold Coast dressed as the Tweed Heads murderer and rapist the Balaclava Killer who was active between 1976 to early 1980s.

Victims all reported a chemical smell on his clothing and said despite the disgraceful activity, he was a polite rapist who apologised to the women.

“All the victims described him exactly the same, he was well spoken with a soft voice,” he said.

“But everything he did was the opposite. It was cold-blooded and evil.”

Not even a $50,000 reward could help police solve the mystery. Despite mass investigations, strong leads and a solid reward for information, no one was ever charged.

The Balaclava Killer started his spree with a string of rapes, often in front of his victims’ male partner, before his violence turned to cold-blooded murder.

On February 2, 1980, British man Jeff Parkinson, 33, took his 29-year-old date, not named, to Twin Towns to celebrate their new relationship.

About 1.30am Parkinson opened the passenger door for his girlfriend when the rapist jumped in the back seat, rifle in hand, and demanded they drive to a secluded location at Cobaki Creek.

media_camera February 3, 1980: Murder scene at Tweed Heads West, NSW.

Like many of his previous victims, the attacker was planning to tie up Parkinson and rape the woman, but the attacker didn’t expect a fight.

Parkinson pounced on the armed man, allowing his partner to flee the car and flag down a passing motorist. Then she heard gunfire.

Her love had been shot three times and the murderer was gone.

“I remember getting there that night and the scene was eerie,” former sergeant Strong said. “The woman was absolutely distraught and the Tweed was living in fear.

“We’d known about him for a long time but this time he’d resorted to murder.

“Seeing his body next to the car alongside a quiet creek I just said to myself ‘get this monster behind bars’.”

The killer attacked again later that year, raping a Gold Coast woman in her Burleigh Heads flat on October 31, 1980, and then disappeared.

In the months leading up to the killing he dedicated his job to apprehending the serial rapist following traumatic sexual assault cases across the city.

It started in December 1979 when a 30-year-old Tugun woman was bundled into the boot of her car at gunpoint and driven to the Gold Coast Hinterland where she was raped.

The woman was then forced back into the boot and driven to Tugun Beach where the car was abandoned.

Two weeks later, on Christmas Day, the rapist ambushed a Cabarita couple who were cuddling in their parked car. The woman was assaulted after the masked man restrained her partner’s hands by winding up the car windows.

Days later, on December 28, a man and woman were surprised at their secluded farmhouse at Cudgen. A woman, who was ordered to tape her own partner’s hands, was raped while the man was forced to watch.

On January 25, 1980, a married Burleigh Heads couple were confronted in their home.

Following what was the rapist’s standard practice, the woman was forced to bind her husband’s hands but because she pleaded that she was pregnant the rapist left.

Less than a month later he struck and killed Parkinson.

A special taskforce was set up at Tweed Heads but the Balaclava Killer would attack only once one more time before disappearing forever.

Balaclava Rapist attacks

December 15, 1979: A 30-year-old Tugun woman is bundled into the boot of her car at gunpoint and driven to the Gold Coast Hinterland where she is raped.

December 25, 1979: The masked man ambushes a Cabarita couple in their parked car. The woman is indecently assaulted after the attacker restrains her partner’s hands by winding up the car windows.

December 28, 1979: A man and woman are bombarded at their isolated farmhouse at Cudgen. The woman, ordered to tape her partner’s hands, is raped while the man is forced to watch.

January 25, 1980: A married Burleigh Heads couple are confronted in their home. The woman is forced to bind her husband’s hands but says she is pregnant. The rapist relents and leaves.

February 2, 1980: The rapist targets Jeff Parkinson and his date at Tweed. The woman flees but Parkinson is shot dead.

October 31, 1980: A Gold Coast woman is threatened at gunpoint and raped in her Burleigh Waters unit. Her attacker, in a balaclava, flees on a motorbike.