To help others cope with their grief, the family is launching a fundraising drive for Grace’s Place, “a world-first residential trauma recovery service for children after homicide,” reports AAP.
Before their deaths, Anita’s mum and dad Grace and Garry Lynch always requested that “something good come out of something bad”.
Money raised will go toward a Sydney facility built and operated by the Homicide Victim’s Support Group .
The centre, which should be open by 2018, plans to offer “safe and secure refuge” with professional counsellors on site.
“Dedicating this anniversary and focusing on Grace’s Place is what we decided to do, rather than dwell on any negative aspect,” Kathryn Szyszka, Anita’s younger sister told AAP.
“It won’t be a sad occasion. I like to look at these things as more of a celebration of Anita’s life.”
Meanwhile, Anita’s husband John Cobby, below, has spoken for the first time about the grisly Sydney murder.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph to promote his new book Remembering Anita Cobby, John says he never recovered from the horrific events of February 1986 when his beauty queen wife was brutally raped and murdered by five men.
“I blame myself for her dying and still do. I should have been with her,” says John, who was separated from Anita at the time and the prime suspect when the news first broke.
The day after Anita’s funeral, John fled to the US, where he suffered a breakdown before returning a few months later after the killers, below, were caught.
“I was so paranoid people would recognise me or blame me that I would shave my head, dye it – anything to try and hide.”
John says he decided to speak out now to give Anita a voice and make sure her killers are never released.
He also gives his first TV interview on Seven on February 8 in a special movie-length investigation to mark the 30th anniversary of Anita’s murder.
For first time since 1986, all the major players, including Anita’s family, the main witness and the police at the centre of the investigation, describe the tragic events that rocked Australia.
