A FOUR-DAY inquest into the murder of a homeless Bathurst man will begin in Orange on Monday.
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Deputy state coroner Elizabeth Ryan will oversee the inquest that will seek to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of Reginald Mullaly in 2015.
Mr Mullaly, 69, was found fatally stabbed in his makeshift shelter under the Denison Bridge on September 20, 2015.
When his body was found he was clutching a tissue and was holding it up against a bloody wound on his temple. Small blood spots dotted rocks where he slept.
An autopsy revealed 11 stabs wound to his body.
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“Reggie”, as he was known around Bathurst, had a regular routine.
Twice a week he would stroll into the Reliance Credit Union and withdraw a few hundred dollars to spend on pies at a bakery, to buy cans at the bottle shop and a loaf of bread to feed the ducks on the banks of the Macquarie River, before returning to his shelter.
His murder shocked both the community and police who at the time described his death as “cowardly and heinous”.
Strike Force Yenna was established and in the last three years has gathered an enormous amount of evidence including a DNA profile taken from the murder scene.
The inquest is being held in Orange Court, as the Bathurst Court House is already committed to another matter.
One of five children, Mr Mullaly was well-known in the area, having grown up fishing and shooting on a property near Newbridge, about 30 kilometres outside Bathurst.
He moved between the family property and his sister’s house in Bathurst and worked as a wardsman at the Bathurst Base Hospital and a shearer in adulthood.
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His sister, Dawn, joined with police in 2016, appealing to anyone with information on his murder. At the time police confirmed they had lifted a DNA profile from the murder scene, which was just one of what they described as a significant line of inquiry. Dawn said at the time she believed there were people who knew what happened to Reggie.
The inquest is due to continue each day until Thursday.