A review of 88 Sydney murders, 27 men were likely murdered simply for being gay

A review of close to 90 suspicious deaths across Sydney since the 1970s has found almost a third of victims were likely murdered simply for being gay.

Scott Johnson foi assassinado em 1988 - este é um dos 88 casos de suspeita de ataque homofóbico em NSW nos últimos anos. Source: AAP

A review of 88 suspicious deaths has revealed 27 gay men lost their lives to homophobic killers during a violent and dark period of Sydney's history – and the NSW Police Force is considering issuing a formal apology to the victims.

Police released the findings of Strikeforce Parrabell on Wednesday, which found eight deaths between 1976 and 2000 were the result of gay-hate crimes

A further 19 men are suspected to have died in similarly brutal attacks while another 25 could not be ruled out, Parrabell concluded.

Five of the suspected gay hate killings remain unsolved and 23 of the 88 cases are now back with the unsolved homicide unit.

From the 1970s, gay men were found slain in parks, homes or washed onto rocks below known gay areas of the city, with the violence coming to a head in the late 80s and early 90s.