BEARD MURDER INQUIRY Southlander May Have Information

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32350, 16 July 1970, Page 1

BEARD MURDER INQUIRY Southlander May Have Information

(New Zealand Press Association) DUNEDIN, July 15. A man, possibly a Southlander, who says he has worked in sawmills since the age of 11 and who stayed at the Tapanui sawmilling hostel on the night of December 30, might be able to provide vital information on the murder of Jennifer Mary Beard.

“As far as our investi gations are concerned h< just seems to have dis appeared off the face ol the earth,” the officer it charge of the Dunedir C. 1.8. (Inspector E. T Mittfen) said today.

“He may not necessarily be connected with the murder. He may not necessarily answer the description of the

. man for whom we have been) ,! looking, and he may not have; been driving a green or blue! Vauxhall car. '[ “We still feel, however, i that it is of the utmost importance that we assure him that he will suffer no embar- ■ rassment if he comes forward.” The man’s conversation ■ suggested that he came from ' Southland, Mr Mitten said. ' Unless he was afraid of other ■ criminal proceedings, it was hard to understand why he had not come forward. He could be assured of not being embarrassed in view of the! importance of the inquiry. ' The police also wished to get in touch with persons! named Scott, Horan, Norris,' and Oldfield. These four men; stayed at West Coast motor camps and motels at the time; of the murder. There was nothing to sug-. gest that any of these men

had had anything to do with; the murder, but it was important that they be located.! “I want to make it clear that police have already interviewed people of these narites, but their movements were not relevant to the inquiry,”! he said. Police inquiries had been! hampered by the fact that, many of the people staying in motels in the area used assumed names. “I suppose the reasons are obvious,” he said. “We always strike this problem in any big inquiry.”

Fire In Porch.—A fire in coal stored on a porch at a house at 95 St Martins Road yesterday burned through the wooden floor and damaged the porch. Firemen from Sydenham and headquarters answered the call received at , 3.48 p.m. Mr John Gates is the occupier of the house.