There’s been another knock for Mark and Adam James, in their 41-year quest for answers as to who murdered their mother, Maria James.

Key points:

• A coronial inquiry into the death of Maria James, set up in the wake of the ABC podcast Trace, has begun
• The counsel assisting the coroner, Sharon Lacy, says a recently found bloodied quilt has not yielded usable DNA evidence
• The inquest is set to continue for three weeks

The 38-year-old single mother was killed in a frenzied stabbing attack in her Thornbury bookshop in 1980.

Maria’s bed quilt, a police exhibit that had been missing for decades, showed up recently.

But DNA testing has failed to find any clues pointing to her killer.

Counsel Assisting the coroner Sharon Lacy broke the news to the Victorian Coroners Court today.

“In June 2021, remarkably, the continental quilt was found. Unfortunately, DNA analysis since then has failed to produce any results that are useful in…