Police hope a $250,000 reward will finally smoke out the killer of former KGB Colonel Gennadi Bernovski, who died in a hail of bullets outside his luxury Gold Coast home.
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It's 18 years since Mr Bernovski was repeatedly shot with a semi-automatic weapon as he took his bins out on the night of July 24, 2000.
The 41-year-old martial arts expert died after staggering back to the doorway of his Benowa Waters home, telling his wife: "Call the police, there's shooting."
Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan says detectives are determined to solve the crime, and hope the reward will flush out those who can identify the killer.
"We are appealing for the public to come forward and help police so that Mr Bernovski's family can finally get the closure they deserve," Mr Ryan said.
"They deserve to know what happened to him and to see those responsible brought to justice."
The murder sparked fears at the time of a Russian mafia expansion in Australia.
But in the two years after the killing, police exhausted mafia-related leads and formed the view that the crime was more likely related to a dispute between two old comrades over a lost fortune.
The search for a motive led to Russian businessman Oleg Kouzmine, who had arrived in Australia in 1998, with $1.3 million from "dubious" origins, according to police involved in the initial investigation.
Mr Bernovski had introduced Mr Kouzmine to investments in a small goods company on the Gold Coast and a second-hand car broking service, but both ventures failed.
Police said Mr Kouzmine lost all his money and made it known that he blamed Mr Bernovski for that.
Mr Kouzmine became the prime suspect when his fingerprints were discovered on a gate at the Bernovski home.
Six days after the murder - but before the fingerprints were identified - police interviewed Mr Kouzmine, who told detectives about fleeing Russia to escape the mafia.
Asked if he knew whether Mr Bernovski had any enemies, Mr Kouzmine suggested police look into his links to organised crime, saying the dead man had made no secret of his senior role in the Russian mafia.
Police established that before coming to Australia Mr Bernovski had risen quickly through the ranks of the Russian Army and had been a colonel in an elite, SAS-style military unit of the KGB.
During his police interview, Mr Kouzmine said he had no idea who killed Mr Bernovski. The next day he left for Russia to visit family, promising to speak with police when he returned in a few weeks.
But he did not come back.
Australian police issued a warrant for Mr Kouzmine's arrest in 2003 but the lack of an extradition treaty meant he was never brought back.
Gold Coast Criminal Investigation Branch Detective Inspector Marc Hogan said police were still actively investigating Mr Bernovski's murder.
"Police have never given up searching for answers on this case as we remain determined to find those responsible," Detective Inspector Hogan said.
"We believe someone has the piece of information we need to finally solve this case ... regardless of how insignificant you think the information may be, we encourage you to pick up the phone and speak with police."
