Youth sent for jury trial in fatal stabbing case

Press, 16 October 1976, Page 3

Youth sent for jury trial in fatal stabbing case

The 18-year-old youth accused of murdering Peter Robin Antonovich was committed to the Supreme Court for trial yesterday after the second day of depositions taken before Mr F. G. Paterson, S.M., in the Magistrate's Court.

Gary James Redrup. an unemployed labourer, entered a plea of not guilty to the charge and will be tried by jury on November 8. Twenty - four police witnesses gave evidence during the hearing in which Messrs G. K. Pankhurst and J. J. Brandts-Giesen appeared for the prosecution, and Mr R. L. Kerr for the defendant. During yesterday’s evidence, Constable Paul James Eddington, a police dog handler, said that on the morning of September 7, while on dog patrol, he rei ceived a message to go to a flat in Stanmore Road.

When he got out of his vehicle he saw a woman by the top window of the flat. She appeared distressed, and was calling out to him, saying things such as “Up here quick, I need help”. Constable James said he had his dog, Ajax, with him. He went into the flat and at the top of the stairs he saw Mr Antonovich lying face down on the floor wearing onlv pyjama trousers. “He was moaning and obviously in great pain”. Witness said Mr Antonovich was trying to get to his feet. He persuaded him to stay where he was until an ambulance arrived. “I could see smears of dried blood on his back, and I asked the woman if she would get me a flannel”.

Constable James said she did this for him and he wiped Mr Antonovich’s back with the flannel. “It was then I saw four stab wounds in the centre ,of the lower region of the man’s back.

“I lifted the man slightly,

trying to make nim as comfortable as possible, and I could see another wound on the man’s side.

“This was not bleeding, but it appeared to be more serious than those on his back” said Constable James. Detectives and the ambulance then arrived and witness said he immediately left the flat to try to catch the accused by dbg tracking. He said that he and the dog searched in all directions about the flat in Stanmore Road. North-west of the flat the dog showed interest in a driveway which appeared to lead behind a block of shops, and wanted to go down this road. He said the dog also indicated the presence of a weaker scent close to the shops. He then noticed a girl walking towards him, and stopped to speak to her. As a result of what she said, he and another constable decided to go to verify the girl’s story.

The two men and girl then went to a house near the intersection of North Avon

Road and Stanmore Road. i He said the girl went) ahead, and they all entered' the house, went up some, stairs and through the! kitchen. He pushed open a door, and saw the room contained what appeared to be ai crowd of youths. Through a gap he saw a slim youth with fair hair, at the far side of the flat. He said the youth matched the description given to him by the woman fron the flat in Stanmore Road.

Constable James said he could see a knife in the trousers of this youth, although “all I could see was the handle.”

“I didn’t see the youth again—he seemed to have disappeared into thin air.”

Constable Peter Edgar Wood said in evidence that he and another constable took the accused to the central police station in a patrol car. They asked him questions. All evidence relat■ing to this conversation was [suppressed by the Magistrate at the request of Mr Kerr.

I Constable James Edmond [Brailey, a police photoIgrapher, told the Court that ,he went to the flat in Stanjmore Road to look for fingerprints. He took photographs ■of those he found, and of •where he found them. He later fingerprinted the accused and sent all the prints to the Criminal Investigation Branch in Wellington. Detective John Keedwell Clark told the Court that he worked in the finger-print section of the C. 1.8. in Wellington. On September 17 he (received the fingerprint negatives from Christchurch. He identified the prints as belonging to Rednip after comparing those taken at the . t in Stanmore Road with Redtup’s finger-print pictures. Parts of evidence given by Detective Graeme Flinders Scott and Detective Inspector Philip Stanley Seaman relating to conversations and an interview with the accused were suppressed by the Magistrate in case they should be prejudicial to the accused’s trial.