Janine Balding's brutal murder shocked the nation. New evidence could free her killer.

It's one of the country's most horrific murders.

Twenty-year-old Janine Balding's life was cruelly taken from her by a violent gang of five youths in 1988.

She had been a lively young woman with big plans for a bright future.

A bank clerk, she had moved from Wagga Wagga to Sydney, was engaged, and bought a home on the NSW Central Coast with her fiancé. They were planning to start a family.

But all of that was taken from her on September 8, 1988, when she was gang raped and killed as she made her way home from work.

For more than three decades, Stephen "Shorty" Jamieson has been known as the ringleader behind the brutal attack. His file is marked "never to be released".

Now, new evidence could change everything.

Watch: New evidence in heinous murder case of Janine Balding. Post continues below.

What happened to Janine Balding?

It was September 8, 1988. Janine had wrapped up her shift at the bank and was finally on her way home.

As she approached her car at Sutherland Railway Station in Sydney's south, 14-year-old Bronson Blessington (the youngest of the five youths convicted over the cold-blooded murder) forced her into her vehicle at knife-point.

One teen was overheard saying "why don't we get a sheila and rape her" before the group held Janine up at knifepoint, warning her they would "cut her face" if she didn't follow their demands, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Blessington and four others — Matthew Elliot, 16; Stephen "Shorty" Jamieson, 22; Wayne Wilmot, 15 and Carol Arrow, 15 — forced Janine into her car and sped off.

Janine was repeatedly gang raped by the group before they gagged her with a bandana and drowned her in a dam in Minchinbury.

Jamieson, Blessington and Elliott, were given life sentences for Janine's murder, while Wilmot was sentenced to nine years and four months over the rape.

Arrow, who had an intellectual disability, was released on a good behaviour bond for stealing Ms Balding's car and using her bank card, the Telegraph reports.

The new mystery DNA evidence.

Jamieson has spent more than half his life behind bars. He's always insisted he was innocent and the victim of mistaken identity.

He believes new evidence will change things.

Faint traces of unidentified male DNA have been found on the bandana used to gag Janine.

Jamieson's lawyer is calling for further testing to be undertaken to compare the DNA profiles against Mark "Shorty" Wells, a man who Jamieson's co-offenders allege was the real "Shorty" on that night.

Wells has said he was present at the crime scenes but has denied any involvement in the rape or murder and has never faced any charges over the crime.

Lawyer and former politician Peter Breen launched the case for Jamieson after learning Wells' DNA sample had never been tested against the bandana.

Jamieson's DNA profile has never been detected on the bandana, despite it being tested seven times in the past 20 years, and no other forensic evidence links him to the crime, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

"I'd like them to just do the testing — that's all we've ever asked, that they do a comparison," Breen told 60 Minutes.

"And if Wells is not excluded as a contributor, that's sufficient for us to get a judicial inquiry into Jamieson's conviction."

Forensic scientist Dr Kirsty Wright told 60 Minutes investigators' failure to test the bandana against Wells' DNA profile was a "very critical failure."

Wells was first identified as a person of interest in the case during Jamieson's first trial, when one of his co-accused, Bronson Blessington, told the court it was Wells, not Jamieson, who was with the gang, the SMH reports.

Wells, who was a schizophrenic and had previously falsely confessed to another crime, admitted to being present at the crime scene. However, he also got key facts, such as the colour of the car and the knife, wrong.

The issue of the alleged wrong "Shorty" led to the first trial being thrown out.

In the second trial in 1990, Jamieson's four co-accused said Wells was the "Shorty" who was with them at the murder and abduction scenes, although Carol Arrow was later unsure during a police integrity probe into the investigation.

In the end, Jamieson was convicted on the evidence of his signed confession, in which he gave a detailed account of what happened at the crime scenes, the SMH reports. But Jamieson has long argued this was fabricated.

'This has to end.'

Janine's heartbroken brother David Balding says he thinks of his sister every single day.

Speaking to news.com.au earlier this year, he said he believed the right people have been locked up "where they should be."

"This is hard to deal with again and again, but someone has to be a voice for Janine and that person is me," he said.

He said the bandana claim was "irrelevant" and called for his family to be left alone.

"The first trial was aborted to deal with this wrong 'Shorty' claim which was then investigated by the police.

"There is absolutely no evidence that this other 'Shorty' Wells was there. Stephen 'Shorty' Jamieson was identified by multiple witnesses, and apart from being short, they look nothing alike.

"They have the right offenders and this has to end."

The NSW Supreme Court is expected to rule in December on whether the case against Jamieson will be reopened.

Feature image: 60 Minutes.