The man acquitted over two of the Bowraville murders more than 25 years ago is a step closer to facing a retrial following an application by the NSW government to the state's highest criminal court.
Three Aboriginal children - four-year-old Evelyn Greenup and 16-year-olds Colleen Walker and Clinton Speedy-Duroux - disappeared from the mid-north coast town within five months during 1990-1991.
Colleen's brother says his family have been shocked by the happy news.
"I've grown up seeing my mum being let down so many times, and to see her face change this afternoon ... it feels like we're finally being heard," Lucas Craig told AAP on Tuesday evening.
"This is a step forward that we needed."
NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton decided on Tuesday the matter should be brought to court as soon as possible.
"The best and most transparent way to deal with this tragic case is to make an application for retrial to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal," she said.
Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione on Tuesday delivered an 18-volume brief of evidence to Ms Upton detailing new evidence which allegedly links local man Jay Hart to the three deaths.
In separate trials, Mr Hart was found not guilty of murdering Clinton and Evelyn, whose bodies were found in bushland on the outskirts.
Colleen's clothing was pulled from a nearby river but her body has never been found.
Under the double jeopardy law the Court of Criminal Appeal may order an acquitted person be retried for a life sentence offence if there is fresh and compelling evidence.
The application is for all three cases to be heard as a single trial.
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