Lingering questions about the initial handling of the killing of Mr Forsyth prompted Chief Police Officer Rudi Lammers to recently order a comprehensive review led by one of the country's most experienced crash investigators John Ruller.

The engagement of Mr Ruller, who runs a crash investigation consultancy, was designed to ensure independence and alleviate concerns about police investigating police.

Mr Ruller is an investigator of more than 30 years experience, including with the Queensland police, and now runs the Road Accident Investigation Service consultancy.

But defence lawyer Peter Woodhouse wrote to The Canberra Times on Tuesday, saying Mr Ruller was routinely engaged by the Australian Federal Police to train its members.

"That means he regularly teaches members of the very organisation he is now tasked to investigate," he said.

In a later statement, Mr Woodhouse said that the appointment did not sit well with the intention to appoint someone completely independent of the Australian Federal Police.

"It may be difficult for a person whose business is routinely engaged by the AFP to conduct a completely objective review of the original AFP investigation," he said.

The majority of those who were involved in the original investigation 28 years ago of the case have now left the force, meaning Mr Ruller is not likely to criticise current members.

And Assistant Commissioner Lammers said that Mr Ruller's expertise in the field meant he was constantly in high demand by all policing agencies, not just ACT Policing.

"For this very reason I have asked Mr Ruller to conduct this independent investigation into this matter," he said.

"The accident in question occurred 28 years ago and requires a leading expert in the field to assess the circumstances around that initial investigation and to consider possibilities that may arise given the progress in investigative techniques since that time."

Mr Forsyth, 17, was killed in the early hours of March 1, 1987, as he walked away from an 18th birthday party at the Deakin Soccer Club.

A blue panel van hit him and fled the scene. The driver and car were never found, and the death was almost immediately treated as non-suspicious, despite early evidence suggesting otherwise.

A Fairfax Media investigation in 2013 highlighted serious flaws with the investigation, prompting barrister Bernard Collaery to take on the case.

He wrote to the police chief earlier this year to ask that an apology be made to the family. Assistance Commissioner Lammers has since taken a keen personal interest in the case.

He went back over decades-old evidence and spoke with current and past investigators.

The police chief came to the conclusion that a review of the evidence and the force's handling of the case was needed, and engaged Mr Ruller to head that review.

Key to that process will be determining whether or not Mr Forsyth's death should have been treated as a homicide.

Had it been, the investigation would have been handled in a vastly different fashion and kept away from the then poorly resourced accident squad.

Depending on Mr Ruller's recommendations, the case could be reclassified as a homicide and a new cold case team formed to re-investigate.