STOREKEEPER KILLED

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22196, 13 September 1937, Page 10

STOREKEEPER KILLED

Attack at arundel VICTIM TIED UP WITH BOOTLACES INTENSIVE SEARCH MADE BY DETECTIVES Attacked just outside the back door ■<oi his store at Arundel late on Friday night. William Gaby, affcd 73, ■was found dead about 10 o'clock tho next morning. The assailant is not inown. Gaby was severely battered about the forehead. He was found lyin" face down in the store, wrists bound behind his back with a leather bootlace and his less similarly secured. fThe wounds indicate that Gaby was struck with a heavy, blunt instrument and the circumstances suggest that 'the assault was so sudden and unexpected that Gaby could offer no resistance. Arundel is a tiny settlement on the Main South road nine miles north of Geraldine and 34 miles north of Timaru It Is in the heart of a farming district. Gaby's store., which is wen known to motorists, is only a few vards from the southern end of tne radn bridge across the Rangitata river. It stands close to the road, a fourrVmed wooden building in whicn Gaby lived alone. There are few neighbours, the nearest about 200 ya.cis *"lt y has been suggested that on attempt was made to rob the shop, but af present it is impossible to say wheTer any such attempt succeedeu. A few coins were scattered on the floor of the shop near the till, but there was money left in the till and in another part of the building. Because Gaby lived alone, it is not easy to ascertain whether any money or stock has been taken. It is known that Gaby went to his bank last Wednesday but it has yet to be established whether he drew money from his account. Gaby had the reputation of being comfortably off and he owned farm land in the district. There have been two thefts from his store in the last four years On the second occasion, about a year ago, £25 was stolen, but no , jurest was made. Time of Gaby's Death Friday night was still and clear, but no sounds of a struggle were hca.d Jjy any of the neighbours. It is known that Gaby was alive at 8 o'clock that night, for he was seen walking along the road at that hour. But so far there is only medical evidence to fix the time of death at before midnignt. Gaby was discovered by Mr Charles Johnston, whose home is in the valley

MR WILLIAM GABY

tiehind the store. Mr Johnston came to the door at the back of the building about 10 o'clock on Saturday morning to buy petrol, He opened the door after calling for Gaby, and saw the storekeeper on the floor. He realised that Gaby was dead and hailed the nearest neighbour, Mr E. Matheson. who advised Constable D. Callanan, of Geraldine. Gaby was examined by Dr. I*. C. Mail, of Geraldine. about 10.45 a.m. The condition of the body suggested that death had occurred some 12 hours previously. „, When he was struck down Gaby was returning from Mr Matheson's home 200 yards or so distant. According to his custom, he had gone there to collect scraos with which to feed his pigs. Gaby kept no watch or clock, however, and he had no set hour for going to Mr Matheson's place. On Friday evening the Matheson family did not return home until about 9 o'clock and all had retired half an hour later. No one heard Gaby call for the scraps, but that was not unusual as Gaby had tak*-n away scraps on other occasions * without being heard; and Gaby may have come there while the family was away. Sudden Attack in Dark There is no question that Gaby was killed as he returned home from Mr Matheson's property,'and that he was

struck down with little or no warning. He was attacked when he was a yard or so from the rear door of the building which opens into the kitchen, and the marks on the ground and the positions of the bucket and the lantern he was carrying are among the important clues that will be valuable to the police in the reconstruction of the crime. Both the bucket and lantern were overturned. Marks on the coat show how Gaby was dragged into the kitchen and rolled on to his face, with the head and shoulders lying across the threshold of the shop. In addition to a leather bootlace securing Gaby’s wrists and one loosely knotted round his legs, there was a third bootlace lying untied across the legs. Leather bootlaces are among the stock kept in the shop. On the floor near the till Were about a dozen pennies and halfpennies, but the till had not been rifled. Another sum of money was found elsewhere In the building. There were no signs of disorder in the stock. Both doors of the building were closed, but the back door was unlocked. Frequently Gaby would not bother to lock the back door when he went out at night. The front windows of the shop look out on the road along which Gaby would come when he returned from Mr Matheson’s property, and it would be possible for any person in the shop to have adequate warning of his approach. Resident for 23 Years Gaby was small and slight in build, and not robust. He had lived in Arundel for the last 25 years, farming until about 16 years ago, when he set up in business as a general storekeeper. He had the reputation of being quiet and unassuming, and was very well liked In the district. Locally, he was nopularly known as “the Mayor of Arundel.” He was chairman of the Arundel Hall Committee and of the Arundel School Committee for a long term, but failing health caused him to relinquish these positions. Mrs H, Bryant, of Geraldine, is an aunt, and Mr Fred. Gaby, also of Geraldine, is an uncle. A younger brother, Mr Francis Gaby, lives In Temuka. Twelve years ago the original store whs burnt down, and Gaby narrowly escaped, receiving severe burns. About three years ago the shop was entered by two masked men, who held up Gaby, and! threatened to shoot him if he did not put ut> his hands. Gaby, however, threatened to. get his shotgun, and the meq made oft. The next untoward incident occurred about a year ago, when the shop was entered, and £25 stolen. Superintendent A. Cameron, accompanied- - bv Detective J. B. Bickerdike and Detective A. Herron, left Christchurch late on Saturday afternoon to confer with Inspector T. Shanahan, of Timaru, about the organisation of the search. They will make their headquarters at Geraldine. DetectiveSergeant E. Thomas and Detective N. Kempt, of Timaru, were at Arundel soon after Gaby was found. Six men, all experts in various branches of detection, will leave Christchurch this morning for Arundel, and several constables at Timaru have been instructed to leave for the settlement this morning, to assist in the search for clues, one of the most important of which is the instrument with which the blow was struck. Search Yesterday Afternoon Search parties of residents of the district were organised by Sergeant M. E. Hill, cf Temuka, and these worked over a wide area yesterday afternoon, but they met with no success. It is easy country in Which to hide a weapen successfully, for there is a large gorse paddock to the west of the house, and nearby Is the rivet. Patrols also searched roads in the dis--1 trict Dr. E. Thomson, assistant-patholo-gist at the Christchurch Public Hospital, went to Arundel yesterday, and examined the bloodstains in the store and outside the back door. He will also make the post-mortem examination. A theory about the crime which is considered to be sound by some o’osely Concerned with the investigation Is that the assailant thought he had onlv stunned Gaby, and dragged lv‘m in'-ide the store tb hind him, and thus allow an interrupted search to be continued. But Gaby, it is considered. died while he was being tied up, and the attacker, losing his nerve, abandoned the search.