A policeman who investigated the notorious murder of Sydney nurse and beauty queen Anita Cobby hopes killer Michael Murphy "rots in hell" after he died in jail.
Murphy, 66, died in Long Bay Hospital on Thursday night, 33 years after he and four other men abducted, raped, assaulted and killed Ms Cobby.
"All I can say is good riddance and may he rot in hell," former senior sergeant Garry Heskett told AAP on Friday.
"I'm very glad he's dead and I live with the hope that I'm still alive to see them all die."
The retired officer said there had never been an apology from the men and none showed remorse for their actions.
"You'd think that time in jail (meant) they could have come to some realisation they did something terribly wrong," Mr Heskett said.
Ms Cobby's widower John now hopes the others die.
"I hope it was painful for him," he told News Corp Australia.
"One down, four to go."
Murphy reportedly had been suffering liver cancer.
Murphy, his brothers Leslie and Gary, John Travers and Michael Murdoch were found guilty of raping and killing the 26-year-old in a paddock in western Sydney.
All were sentenced to life in prison, never to be released.
Ms Cobby had been walking home from Blacktown train station when five men dragged her into a stolen Holden Kingswood on February 2, 1986.
They drove her to a secluded paddock where she was raped and beaten, then had her throat slit and was left to bleed to death.
Mr Heskett, who was a detective constable at the time of Ms Cobby's murder, said it was a shame Murphy didn't survive to serve his entire term as an old man.
"I didn't think much of his character or his ability," he said.
"He's a murderer and rapist."
Ms Cobby's horrific death will always be a part of her family's life, he added.
Her sister Kathryn Szyszka said she hasn't given much thought to the criminals over the years.
"If I'm to be honest, actually not a lot went through my mind (when Murphy died) because I haven't given these criminals much time or thought over the years," she told the Nine Network on Friday.
Gary and Leslie Murphy, Travers and Murdoch are still in maximum security prisons.
Australian Associated Press
