WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name and image of a person who has died.
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Over 20 years of pain and grief overflowed in Dubbo Supreme Court on Friday after the verdict in one of the state's longest running cold cases was read out.
Craig Henry Rumsby, now 56, has been found guilty of murdering 17-year-old Michelle Bright in 1999. Her family and friends cheered when the guilty verdict was read out before 11am on June 30.
Rumsby was also found guilty of a historical sexual assault following an attack on another Gulgong teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, in 1998.
The lengthy murder trial began at the end of April in Dubbo, and the jury has been deliberating for almost two weeks. They returned with the unanimous verdict on Friday.
Miss Bright has been identified with the permission of her family.
Million dollar reward offered up
Rumsby, who used to live at Cooks Gap near Gulgong, was arrested in August 2020, the same year the police launched a million dollar reward for information on the cold-case murder. The police appeal included mention of a car Rumsby was known to drive.
He was charged with murder, aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm, attempting to choke or strangle and inflicting actual bodily harm with intention of having sexual intercourse.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges the Supreme Court trial began on April 26, 2023 before Justice Robert Allan Hulme.
During the trial the jury was told about a confession Rumsby made to undercover police, however his barrister Nicholas Broadbent said his client had been caught in a "ruse" and made the admission falsely because he is unsophisticated and vulnerable to manipulation.
No physical evidence has been found linking him to the scene, despite him volunteering multiple DNA samples.
Among those who fronted court during the eight-week trial were Miss Bright's family and friends, those who were with her on the night she disappeared.
Rumsby's former neighbour, who was with Rumsby on the night Ms Bright disappeared, also took the stand.
Several investigating police, who cannot be legally identified, also gave evidence in a closed court.
The jury retired to consider a verdict on Thursday, June 15.
The trial
During the trial, the jury was told Miss Bright went missing after she left a friend's 15th birthday party in Gulgong just before 12.30am on February 27, 1999.
Two friends dropped her off at the Commercial Hotel in town, which was closed, and she was last seen by witnesses walking north on Herbert Street after the Mayne Street intersection.
Crown prosecutor Lee Carr Senior Counsel said "no alarms started going off" as it was not unusual for Miss Bright to not return home after a night out. She was reported missing on February 28, 1999, after her family could not find her.
The teenager's body was found on Barneys Reef Road in the afternoon on March 2, 1999, halfway between the Gulgong town centre and where she lived on Barneys Reef Road.
The area was "very isolated" and did not have any street lights.
Mr Carr said her body was found partly naked with her face down. Her shirt was pushed over her bra which had been ripped in two places. Her underwear and pants were down near her ankles with her socks and shoes still on her feet.
The jury was also given details of the autopsy report and injuries she sustained and that the most likely cause of death was suffocation or strangulation. The pathologist was also of the opinion that the scene was suggestive of sexual assault.
Mr Carr said despite forensic examination of numerous DNA profiles provided by people, there was no match linking anyone to Miss Bright's death.
The court also heard about issues in the original 1999 investigation and that some people were not interviewed at the time who should have been.
Rumsby was also accused of attacking another female aged between 16 and 19 in Gulgong in January 1998. He is alleged to have choked her with the intent of raping her.
Details of those allegations were also presented to the jury during the trial.
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