BIG EFFORT TO FIND MAN AFTER SHOOTING

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31588, 27 January 1968, Page 1

BIG EFFORT TO FIND MAN AFTER SHOOTING

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 26. A massive police search for a young man wanted for questioning about the fatal shooting on Thursday night of an Otara sharemilker continued ' late tonight.

The search—involving about 60 police officers—is centred in the rolling hills and soggy swamps of the Mangatawhiri-Mercer-Meremere area.

The sharemilker was FRANCIS JOHN PYATT, aged 22, of Flat Bush Road, Otara. He was shot dead as he lay in the bath at his home. His wife, Mrs Pamela Jean Pyatt, aged 22, was assaulted by an intruder. The young couple’s 13-month-old son, Stephen, lay unharmed in his bed during the tragedy. The police are scouring the Mercer and Meremere area for 20-year-old David Maxwell Heron, of Otahuhu.

Heron is believed to be armed with a .22 rifle and ammunition, and two knives.

The police say Heron is dangerous and should not be approached. Heron’s wife is Mrs Pyatt’s sister. In an all-out effort to capture Heron, the police have:— Called in the Auckland armed offenders squad; Flown to Auckland members of the Wellington armed offenders squad; Called in two Sioux helicopters of the No. 3 Battlefield Support Squadron, R.N.Z.A.F.; Placed the Army on alert should it be needed; Told residents in the search area not to leave cars unlocked and to lock their houses; Established road checks at strategic points on roads leading from the area. The Otahuhu police were told at 12.30 a.m. of the shooting at Flat Bush Road, Papatoetoe. They found Mr Pyatt’s body in the farm house. Shot In Bath An intruder apparently walked into the Pyatt house through the back door. Mr Pyatt was in the bath, reading. His wife had bathed earlier and was in her bedroom. Mr Pyatt was shot through the head as he lay in the bath. The intruder then entered the bedroom, struck Mrs Pyatt with what was thought to be a heavy vase, tied her with lengths of electric flex and cord from a blind and allegedly criminally assaulted her.

At some stage he ripped : the telephone out. He is also thought to have fired a sec- j ond shot. He took food and supplies from the house and the ■ Pyatts’ Volkswagen car and ; disappeared. Went To Neighbour ■ Mrs Pyatt staggered a half-mile over rough paddocks and across a stream early this morning to call help. With her 13-month-old son in her arms, she crawled to the door of the house of Mr H. M. Israel, a well-known Auckland businessman and J.P. She beat on the door and told Mr Israel that her husband had beei killed, how she had been attacked and her fears. Woman’s Concern “She was partly clothed and was bleeding from a gash in her head and from rope burns on her wrists,” said Mr Israel. “She was smeared with blood, was partly hysterical but still, in spite of her terrible ordeal, was concerned for the safety of others. “I dressed the poor girl’s wounds and called the police.” Mr Israel said that Mr and Mrs Pyatt had been sharemilkers on his farm for the last 17 months. Mr Israel called the police and early this morning in his capacity as a Justice of the Peace opened an inquest at the Otahuhu police beadquarters into Mr Pyatt’s death. Formal identification was given by the dead man’s father, Mr J. A. Pyatt, a solicitor, of Helensville. Mr Pyatt was a nephew of the Rt Rev. W. A. Pyatt. Bishop of Christchurch. They were to have attended a family wedding near Rotorua this week-end, at which Bishop Pyatt was to officiate. Mrs Pyr.tt was a psychiatric nurse before her marriage. Police Arrive Police, who earlier in the night had searcher' long hours for a Magistrate’s Court escaper. Mihaly Bede, rushed to the scene. Police were told to look for a blue Volkswagen travelling south. They gave chase to a car of this description down I

Great South Road, but lost it in the Mercer area. The armed offenders squad, assisted by other police from Auckland, Hamilton, Thames and Mercer, moved into the area when the car was found at 1.45 a.m. abandoned in the King’s Road about two miles south of Mangatawhiri. Heron’s stepfather, Mr J. D. Dean, has a farm at Mangatawhiri. The abandoned car was found less than a mile from his homestead. 1 I Man Seen Police parties made a ' search of lew-lying farmland between Mangatawhiri and . Mercer until 8 a.m., when ' Heron was seen on a farm ' about six miles away between 1 Mercer and Meremere, on the ] Great South Road. At daylight the police found a cache of food and ' blankets near Mr Dean’s i home. They believe Heron < had stolen it from the farm- ' house. Heron, who lived at the 1 Dean home until he went to i boarding school and for some . time afterwards, knows the - Mangatawhiri area intimately. Mr Dean told the police that Heron knew it better than most residents. Midway through the morning a search base was set up at Koheroa airstrip overlooking Mercer, Meremere and the Maramarua River. Roadblocks Set Up Police roadblocks were set up over a wide area, and all motor vehicles travelling north and south on the main ' route from Auckland to Ham- ; ilton were checked. Police , also examined boots of cars . and trailers. The photograph shows Constable R. A. Nicol (carry- ' ing a rifle) and Constable F. A. Brewis checking a car on the Great South Road at Pokeno. Two Sioux helicopters from : No. 3 Battlefield Support Squadron left the R.N.Z.A.F. base at Hobsonville shortly before 11 a.m. to join the search, after a request by police. The light two-man observation machines were in radio contact with ground parties. At noon, Inspector P. Gaines sent a car load of armed men to Pokeno after a report that a man answering Heron’s description was seen cycling frantically toward Tuakau. Another car came in from the Tuakau end and a patterned search of all side roads in the area was made. On Horseback One policeman made a horseback search of some . areas inaccessible on foot Because of fears for the safety of Heron’s stepfather, an armed policeman was on duty guarding Mr and Mrs Dean in their farm homestead. About 2 p.m., Brian Bowater, aged 15, who was working on his father’s farm, told I police he had seen a man . trotting into swamp about , three miles east of Mercer township. , Immediately one of the two j helicopters searched the area. , Members of the armed off- [ enders squad went to the _ area with two dogs. Soon afterwards the dogs , picked up a scent A footprint ’ was also seen. ’ Police remained in this area " for some hours during the . afternoon without sighting ‘ Heron. ' Night Watch s Police were scattered round ’ thousands of acres tonight 5 waiting for the youth to make s a move. , Ten listening posts took up positions on hilltops, ledges, and other vantage points in the area and especially round » the home of Heron’s step- ’ father, Mr John Dean. Sevt eral had portable radio sets. 1 Police believed that Heron might try to approach the r house during the night » Roving patrols cruised the i dusty country roads during lithe night.

The most irritating aspect of the search for many of the men in the field was the hordes of mosquitoes sweeping across the low-lying swamp area. At the police control base, in a freshly mown paddock on a hilltop two miles east of Mercer, police sent out a call for a can of insecticide. In the meantime, police rubbed kerosene on their faces. Armed Guards Mr and Mrs Dean were guarded during the night by two armed policemen. The lights in their spacious farmhouse were kept to a minimum and the couple retired early. Mr Dean milked his herd of 200 cows earlier than usual, shortly after 3 p.m. in the company of one of his guards. Big Base Camp The base camp, with its three Army-green tents, numerous cars and a communications van busy with radio messages, had the appearance of a headquarters for military manoeuvres. The Army set up three large tents, tables, chairs and sleeping equipment late in the afternoon and these were pitched at the side of the field. The 10 members of the Wellington armed offenders squad arrived at the camp at 9.30 p.m. after flying to Ardmore airfield in an Air Force DC3. They relieved the stubble-chinned Auckland armed offenders squad.