Police search for ‘gunman’

Press, 17 January 1979, Page 1

Police search for ‘gunman’

The Christchurch police gave a warning yesterday that no member of the public should approach a former prison inmate who went missing from Sunnyside Hospital on Monday. A big police search had last evening found no trace of Denzil Raymond Henry Slyfield, aged 43, who was reported missing from the hospital about 5 p.m. on Monday. Slyfield is a European, LBsm (6ft lin) tall, of slim build, with blond hair, grey eyes, and a fair complexion.

He was lasi seen wearing a light-coloured shirt, grey trousers and sunglasses. Slyfield, known as ' the “Waldronville gunman,” is thought to be heading for Dunedin, where he has family connections. He gained the name after an incident at Waldronville, seven miles south-east of Dunedin, in

February, 1974. A Dunedin farmer sitting in a car was shot in the face by a man armed with a .22 calibre rifle. A huge manhunt by police and Army searchers combed rough country in the Waldronville-Brighton area but failed to find the offender.

Slyfield was arrested by a police patrol several months later and charged with recklessly discharging a firearm. At the time of the hunt, Slyfield was described as “hostile and dangerous.” Further charges of abducting a girl, aged 14, with intent to have sexual intercourse — in an incident before the shooting —and 38 charges of theft and burglary were also brought against him. On conviction, Slyfield was sentenced to four years Jail but was transferred to Sunnyside after a psychiatric examination.