Crucifix holds clue to solving cold case Ms Page, who was murdered at home in Coonamble, northwest NSW, in 1971. A CRUCIFIX has become a key clue in the investigation into the brutal murder of devout Christian Kate Page more than 40 years ago. While the technology was not around at the time Ms Page was killed, DNA may have caught up with the man who has so far got away with her murder. Detectives who have never given up the hunt for the 84-year-old woman's killer have sent the crucifix and a scapular, a religious band worn around the neck, to the US for specialist DNA testing after tests in Australia proved inconclusive. Known among the children in her hometown of Coonamble as Aunt Kate, Ms Page was bludgeoned to death with a rifle butt in 1971 when the town was isolated by the flooded Castlereagh River, and full of itinerant workers and visitors. The items have come into the possession of Strike Force Meager, formed to investigate the spinster's murder, and could provide the missing pieces of the puzzle that finally solves the killing. Detectives are looking for a DNA profile that identifies the items as belonging to Ms Page, as well as pinpointing the killer. They have a suspect, a transient man who was staying around the corner from Ms Page at the time of the floods. It is understood detectives have spoken to him a number of times in jail, where he is serving a lengthy sentence for other serious crimes. Ms Page's grand-niece Barbara Munro said she was a lovely lady who had no enemies. Why would anyone pick on an old person? Ms Munro, 65, said. Detective Sergeant Jason Darcy of the Western Region Unsolved Homicide Team said they hoped the fresh DNA tests would uncover evidence that would lead to an arrest.He said they had authority to send the items to Texas in the US where there was advanced technology to pinpoint mitochondrial DNA which, in humans, is inherited solely from the mother. "They have told me that they will look at them straight away so it won't be too long before we hear back, perhaps a month or so," Sgt Darcy said. Police have reason to believe the crucifix and scapular belonged to the popular elderly woman who was born and raised in the weatherboard cottage where she died. They may have been stolen from her, although her hat and purse were left on the kitchen table and the money to buy a newspaper for her neighbour was still on the windowsill. She died from seven savage blows to her head and the post mortem revealed she may have been bashed with the butt of a shotgun. A firearm handed to police which had been found in a local dam has not been confirmed as the murder weapon.