Girl Describes Shooting

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31235, 6 December 1966, Page 3

Girl Describes Shooting

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, December 5. Janine Makuruk, aged 21, described in the Sunreme Court at Auckland today how she was shot twice by her former fiance at the real estate agent’s office in Ponsonby where she worked.

“I was sitting at my desk, and all of a sudden I heard this door kicked open and I saw him rushing in and he had a gun in his hand,” she said.

‘‘l stood up from my desk. He did not say a word. There was not one word said.

“Before I realised what had happened, I was shot once, and then he went out.

“Then a few seconds later he came again and he shot me a second time and that is all I saw of him.”

' Miss Makuruk said she was I injured in the upper abdomen and the chest. She was in hosIpital for nine weeks.

I She said she believed the [ time of the shooting was about 11.35 a.m. She said she knew this because she had to make tea at lunch time for the staff and she had just looked at her watch.

She was giving evidence in the trial of her former fiance. James Elwin David Dunster, aged 19, an unemployed shop assistant and guitarist, who is charged with the murder of his mother, Mrs Lyle Fraser Dunster.

Mr D. S. Morris, opening the case for the Crown, said that evidence would be brought that Dunster bougnt a Biretta shotgun in an Auckland shop about 9.30 a.m. on August 24. He shot and killed his mother in their flat in Herne Bay road, Ponsonby, and then later the same morning went to the office where he shot Miss Makuruk. Mr Morris told the jury that as no other count could be added to that of murder in this particular trial, there was no charge involving the

wounding of Miss Makuruk.. Miss Makuruk said she first met Dunster in Sydney in May, 1965, when he was playing in a band. For about two weeks they lived together before he returned to New Zealand in June. She followed him, as arranged, two weeks later and she went to live with him and his mother at the flat in Heme Bay road. She wore a ring he had given her and they planned to be married at Christmas, 1965. About two months after arriving in New Zealand, said Miss Makuruk, she discovered that she was pregnant to Dunster. She did not then want to get married because she wanted to keep the baby a secret from her parents. Mr Morris: Was the accused anxious to get married when he knew you were pregnant? Miss Makuruk: Yes, he was. She said he told her his mother and friends would help them. He continued to want to marry her and keep the baby, but she said she would give it out for adoption. Baby Adopted When the baby was born early this year it was adopted, and she returned to live at the flat, said Miss Makuruk. After a time she obtained a job as a typist-receptionist at the offices of Charles Belton, Ltd., real estate agents, in Ponsonby road.

Miss Makuruk said she had arguments with Dunster because he did not like her working with men. He asked her questions about what sort of people they were, how she got along with them, and what kind of cars they drove. On her 21st birthday on July 18 she received presents, including a big toy panda, from various fellow employees. Dunster said something about her liking that more than his present and she thought he was not pleased. The next day the manager of the office arranged a surprise party for her and she telephoned Dunster and asked him to come. She was given a necklace and ear-rings by another member of the staff and when she showed them to Dunster he just gave it back and “had a funny expression on his face.” They left before the end of the party and they had an argument as a result of which

she decided to leave the Dunster flat. She moved her belongings the next day and left Dunster’s ring above the fireplace. She did not tell Dunster of her decision to break the engagement.

On August 22 he telephoned and asked if she would meet him as he wanted to apologise. She agreed, but later had second thoughts and did not go. Cross-examined by Mr M. D. Robinson, for Dunster, Miss Makuruk said that they did not get married last Christmas as planned because they could not afford to. Mr Robinson: Were you agreeable at any time that the child should be kept? Miss Makuruk: No, I don’t think so. I thought if I gave it up for adoption, the baby would have a better chance than we could give it. The money Dunster was earning from playing in a band was not regular and she did not think they could bring up a child that way. Mr Robinson: Did he try to persuade you to keep the child? Miss Makuruk: Yes, he did. He spoke about it quite a bit. She agreed that Mrs Dunster had said she would give all assistance to keep the child and for them to get married sooner if they wished.

Asked by Mr Robinson if she had ever suggested to Dunster that she wanted time away from him to decide whether she really loved him, Miss Makuruk said she did. Dunster had said she could go home to her mother and he would even pay her fare. Mr Robinson, who appears with Mr J. F. W. Dickson for the defence, had not completed his cross-examination of Miss Makuruk when the trial before Mr Justice Hardy Boys was adjourned until tomorrow.