On the morning of June 17, 1980, mother of two Maria James was stabbed 68 times at her home in Thornbury, Melbourne, in what has been described as one of the most horrific crimes in Australia’s history.

Despite numerous persons of interest and 1400 pieces of information analysed by police, the case went cold.

But the investigation is about to be revived as part of a four-part true-crime podcast that promises to shed new light on the chilling murder.

“Even though we’re 37 years on, somebody in the community knows who stabbed Maria James,” retired Victoria Police investigator who worked on the case Ron Iddles told the ABC’s Trace podcast.

Mr Iddles has been called “Australia’s greatest detective” having solved 99 per cent of his 323 homicide cases.

The murder of Ms James was Mr Iddles’ first case, the only case he couldn’t solve, and one he can’t let go.

And Trace host Rachael Brown believes she might have discovered a clue that police overlooked.

“I’ve spent years covering police and court rounds, but for the last couple of years it’s been this case that’s really got its hooks into me,” she said.

“Because I heard something on the grape vine that made me suspect something, someone had been overlooked in the original investigation. A piece of evidence, a trace.

It turns out I wasn’t wrong, there’s far more to this than police ever knew.

What happened to Maria James?

Ms James, who ran a second-hand bookshop out of her High Street home, called her ex-husband that ominous Tuesday morning.

After missing the initial call, Mr James called her back when she asked him to hold the line because she had someone with her in the kitchen.

But Ms James would never return to the phone. She was brutally killed while her former partner listened on.

A concerned Mr James entered his ex-wife’s home to find her dead, hands bound and bloodied on her bedroom floor.

Little did he know her killer was still in the house, believed to be hiding behind the bedroom door before running out unseen.

Who killed Maria James?

Police suspected the murderer was known to Maria James, with two coffee cups found on the kitchen counter adding to the theory.

For months detectives pursued and interviewed suspects. But each lead came up dry.

The first major suspect was a real estate agent with whom Ms James had a relationship.

The pair had an argument only days before her murder – when she called off the relationship after she discovered he was married.

However, his alibi – showing a client an open house – held up.

Maria James’ Thornbury home. Photo: ABC

Then there was a local loner Mario, who was seen at her doorstep the morning of the murder and had raised his voice at Ms James after she wouldn’t buy magazines with sexual content he was attempting to sell.

Detectives searched his home and found binding green twine in his yard– similar to the one around Ms James’ hands – and a receipt for a dry cleaning business 20km away for the removal of a blood-like stain on his trousers.

He was eventually ruled out as a suspect due to DNA evidence.

There was also a Telecom worker, whom police believe was friendly with Ms James.

But days after he was interviewed by police, the man committed suicide, noting the investigation in a letter left behind.

The ABC’s Trace podcast team will continue it’s re-investigation of Ms James’ murder on Wednesday, following up links to the nearby church where her funeral was held.