South Australian man Colin Michael Newey charged with abduction, rape and murder of Bronwynne Richardson at Albury, NSW, in 1973

A MURRAY Bridge man has been charged with the abduction, rape and murder of a teenager at Albury, NSW, more than 40 years after the shocking crime.

Detectives from the NSW Unsolved Homicide Team escorted Colin Michael Newey into Sydney Airport on Thursday, after he was extradited from South Australia.

Police believe Newey, 61, was responsible for the murder of 17-year-old Bronwynne Richardson at Albury on October 12, 1973.

Ms Richardson was allegedly dragged into a vehicle before being driven to a reserve outside Albury where she was sexually and physically assaulted then dumped in the River Murray.

Her body was found two days later.

Bronwynne Richardson was 17 when she was abducted, raped, strangled and drowned near Albury, NSW.

Bronwynne Richardson in an undated photo.

Ms Richardson’s death has been the subject of at least two coronial inquests. This is the oldest unsolved crime to result in an arrest by NSW detectives.

Newey appeared on Wednesday in Murray Bridge Magistrates Court, where an extradition order was made, and he was remanded in custody at the Adelaide Watch House.

After his arrival in Sydney, detectives took Newey to Surry Hills police station, where detectives formally charged him with forcible abduction, sexual assault and murder.

Newey, who has lived in Murray Bridge for many years, will appear in Central Local Court in Sydney today.

Newey was called to testify at a 2011 coronial inquest into the murder, when he claimed he was a second cousin of Ms Richardson.

Newey told the inquest another man, Ross Eames, had told him in the 1990s that he was with three other men and Ms Richardson.

He said Mr Eames told him that one of the other men was “getting a bit heavy with her” after Ms Richardson declined to have sex with him, and that Mr Eames had “shot through” before she was harmed.

Newey also said he had seen Ms Richardson at an Albury supermarket on the day of her murder and provided numerous statements to police.

At the same inquest, Ms Richardson’s mother, Noel, gave evidence and later read a statement about the devastation the murder had caused her family.

Bronwynne Richardson’s older sister Jannette Swinton (right), looks on as her mother makes an appeal for information on the 40-year-old murder of her daughter.

“She was a beautiful, talented and exceptional human being with a heart of gold who was adored by her brothers and sisters,” Mrs Richardson said.

“All our lives are poorer for having lost her and all because of a cowardly act of rage, obsession and stupidity and we pray that it will haunt the perpetrators for the rest of their lives.”

In 1990, three men were charged in connection with Ms Richardson’s death, however none were convicted.

NSW Homicide Squad Commander, detective Superintendent Mick Willing, yesterday praised colleagues for their “unyielding tenacity and commitment.”

“This is yet another example of why the Unsolved Homicide Team was formed in 2008,” Supt Willing said.