The murder of Becky Middleton is a crime Bermuda will never forget.

It has been in the international spotlight ever since the 17-year-old Canadian holidaymaker was found stabbed 16 times, raped and sodomised in July 1996.

Since then, the failure of the criminal justice system to secure a murder conviction has been branded a botched job by relatives of the teenager and other critics.

A Commission of Inquiry into the investigation and prosecution of serious crime on the Island, which zeroed-in on the Middleton case, heavily criticised the Police and prosecutors involved.

Last year, Colin Coxall, Commissioner of Police at the time of the murder, said the chain of events spanning from Becky's death to court cases against the accused men was the biggest injustice he had witnessed in a policing career covering four decades.

As well as the legal issues, which continue today, memories of the case remain strong both here on the Island and overseas.

"Bermudians can't believe this happened," said Rick Meens, the Canadian who adopted Bermuda as his home and was hosting Becky as a guest of his daughter Jasmine during her fateful trip.

"There's a sense of shame on the judicial system and the Police for not seeing this thing through to the end."

Indeed, a boycott of Bermuda was organised in Canada after the murder case against Justis Smith was thrown out.

Such is the continuing level of interest in the case, a documentary maker from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation followed Becky's father Dave Middleton around as he prepared for the judicial review.

A year ago, the prime-time Fox News show 'On the Record' raised serious questions about the investigation in a documentary broadcast across America.

More recently, Bermuda-based author Dr. Carol Shuman has completed a book on the case called A Vacation to Die For. Critical of the way the investigation was handled, the yet-to-be published book "gets to the root of what went wrong for the first time. It tells what happened," according to Dr. Shuman.

For his part, although frustrated and disappointed with 'the system' in Bermuda, Becky's father Dave Middleton bears no ill-will toward the Island or its people.

"Along the way I've met really nice people and have a lot of support from people here in Bermuda. Those things make it a lot easier," he said.

"The people of Belleville ( Becky's home town in Ontario) and Bermuda remember what happened and it's not gone away. It's not a case that the people of Bermuda want to see it just dropped. In our local area it's fresh in people's minds. It has had an effect on them.

"Occasionally I get someone that says 'when are you going to drop this issue. When are you going to go away?' but I would say I have a great response from most people in terms of 'keep up the good work and keep going.'"

Besides the Rebecca Middleton Foundation, a charity that aids victims and does crime prevention work, Mr. Middleton pointed to the Rebecca Middleton Nature Reserve in Paget as a positive way she is remembered in Bermuda.

"I've been down two or three times. I like being outside and I like being there. It's a nice quiet and peaceful place," he said.