THE tears return every time Brian and Doris McMaugh hear the name of their murdered daughter, Stacey. It is 21 months since the 41-year-old mother, a tireless volunteer and charity worker, and her partner, Rob Pashkuss, 50, were brutally bludgeoned to death in their Caves Beach home. But the pain remains as raw as the moment they heard of Stacey's shocking fate on January 6, 2008. "I am not celebrating Christmas this year because the reasons for celebrating Christmas are gone," Mrs McMaugh said yesterday. "It is such a waste because she had given so much, and had so much more to give and they just took her away." The McMaughs yesterday joined frustrated detectives in calling for more information on the double murder as police minister Michael Daley announced a $100,000 reward for information leading police to the killer. The killer struck some time between 9.50pm on January 5 and the early hours of the following morning, first bashing Mr Pashkuss so viciously fingerprints were needed to formally identify him. With the same weapon, probably a metal bar between 30 and 40 centimetres long, the killer then murdered Ms McMaugh as she slept. "I would like to know why they did this to her, she was asleep in her bed," Mrs McMaugh said. "Why? If they wanted Rob why did they need to take her too." It is the excessive amount of violence, way more than was needed to kill the pair, that has detectives suspecting someone well-known to the couple is responsible. But whether it was a personal vendetta, or linked to Mr Pashkuss's low-level drug dealing, is still not clear. Mr Pashkuss was known to deal small amounts of cannabis, and sometimes amphetamines, and it is this link with the criminal world that has caused problems for investigators. But his partner, well-known for her volunteer and charity work, was a completely innocent party. "We believe Stacey McMaugh had no involvement in any organised crime activity," Detective Inspector Mark Newham, of the homicide squad, said. "[Caves Beach] is a small community, a lot of people know each other, and we believe there are people who know what happened. "We need them to come forward."
