A $1 million reward is being offered to solve the gangland murder of a couple in Melbourne’s north-east more than 30 years ago.

Crime figure Michael Schievella, 44, and his partner Heather McDonald, 36, were murdered at their St Andrews home on the morning of September 16, 1990.

Police say Ms McDonald’s son woke at 8am and went to the lounge room to watch TV, where he saw Mr Schievella talking to a man in a balaclava.

The man took the boy to his bedroom, tied his hands and closed the door.

A short time later the boy heard a man ask “Have you got any money on you?” and “Where have you hidden your money?”, to which Mr Schievella responded that didn’t have any.

The boy then heard Mr Schievella say “Don’t do that to her” followed by loud thud-type noises and screaming.

Ms McDonald’s daughter later woke and freed her brother. They went to the main bedroom, where they saw their mother covered in blood-stained sheets.

They then found Mr Schievella lying in the back garden covered in blood.

Detective Inspector Tim Day said no one deserved to die in the way the couple did.

“It was described by investigators at the time as a ‘brutal, callous and cowardly attack’ and our current investigators would completely agree with that,” he said on Tuesday.

“It’s even more tragic given we had two young children who were confronted by the sight of their mother and her partner who had been killed in this way.”

Detective Inspector Day said police believe it was a targeted attack, which came just hours after Mr Schievella was involved in an altercation at the St Andrews Hotel.

“We know that Michael had a criminal history, predominantly in relation to drugs, and that he had been at a hotel in St Andrews earlier that night with associates,” he said.

“This remains a strong avenue of enquiry for our investigation and we are keen to speak to anyone who may have information, particularly regarding who he was with at the hotel that night and what an argument he had was in relation to.”

Police said Victoria’s director of Public Prosecutions will consider granting indemnification from prosecution to anyone who provides information about the identity of the principal offender or offenders in the murder.

-AAP