Hearing of murder, robbery charges

Press, 7 October 1980, Page 5

Hearing of murder, robbery charges

Evidence that a man who was alleged to have been fatally attacked and robbed after drinking at a hotel late in the evening of August 6, sometimes carried sums of up to $lOOO or $2OOO in cash in his pockets, was given during the hearing in the District Court yesterday of a charge of murder. The defendant, Robert Joseph Puhirere, aged 29, an unemployed driver. has elected trial by jury on charges of murdering Wilfred Thomas Dilks, aged 61, robbing Mr Dilks of a sum of money in excess of $3OO, and unlawfully taking Mr Dilks’s car valued at $l5OO.

Depositions of evidence, or statements, of 18 prosecution witnesses, were heard yesterday, after which Mr V. C. Clarke and Mrs J. A. Hardie, Justices of the Peace, adjourned the hearing to today. Nearly 50 Crown witnesses are to be called. Mr N. W. Williamson and Mr D. J. R. Saunders appear for the Crown.

Mr D. I. Jones appears for the defendant.

Reginald George Anderson,

a company director, said Mrf Dilks had been employed by a companv, of which he was a director, to collect rents from a block of flats and shops in the Worcester Street area. He collected' $l9B weekly from these pro-j perties. Keith Hunt, aged 72, re-1 tired, said Mr Dilks lived in a flat at the front of his. He! was a man of regular habits] and went out each evening] about 9 p.m. and returned about 10.15 p.m. or 10.30 p.m. “regular as clockwork.” On the evening of August 6 he heard Mr Dilks’s vereturn at 10.15 p.m. and then leave five minutes later. He heard a shout before it left. It was not like a cry for help. I It was unusual for Mr | Dilks to go out again a sec'ond time.

The witness said he knew Mr Dilks collected the rents from flat properties. He carried sums of anything up to $2OOO in his wallet, comprising' his own money and money collected from rents. When he heard the car leave the second time he had no idea there was any

trouble, Mr Hunt said. He: was spoken to by the police' at midnight.

Adriaan Gerard Baaker, a taxi driver, gave evidence of seeing Mr Dilks standing beside a shop veranda at the intersection of Worcester Street and Fitzgerald Avenue about 10.30 p.m. There was a lot of blood on his face and he had difficulty standing.

; He and his passenger went to Mr Dilks’ assistance, and the police and an ambulance were called.

,Mr Dilks mentioned his teeth, and a set of dentures were found nearby, covered in blood. A jacket, wallet, driver’s licence, two cheques, and other items were also found found. A large amount of blood was beside the wall of the shop.

Graham Michael Durracott, a schoolteacher, and passenger in Mr Baaker’s taxi, said he first thought the man standing at the intersection was drunk, >but then realised he had been beaten up. His shirt appeared darkcoloured, but when the wit-

ness went to his aid it was seen to be a white shirt almost entirely covered in blood. The man appeared to have quite extensive facial injuries, with his face and head also completely covered in blood. The false teeth and other items were found in a driveway at the side of the shop. An ambulance driver, Richard Shane Jackson, gave evidence of being called to attend to Mr Dilks. He considered the injured man had

fractures of the cheek and : under an eye. He had a i laceration above an eye. Andrew Hamilton, an ad- : vertising agent, said he ■ knew Mr Dilks. He saw Mr I Dilks in the lounge bar of ■ the Provincial Hotel about 9.25 p.m. on August 6 and : they played two games of ■ pool. The last game concluded between 9.50 and 9.55 , p.m. : There were very few pati rons in the bar and there - were no Maoris. 1 Mr Dilks left the hotel

di after 10 p.m. and went toa wards his car, parked across the road. Mr Hamilton said that e while playing pool Mr Dilks. r left the bar once, to go to f the toilet. He made no comt ment on his return. d He knew Mr Dilks very’ f well, and said it was not un- .- usual for him to carry sums 5 in excess of $lOOO in his pocket. lan Maurice Atkinson, bar] e manager at the Provincial! Hotel, said he saw Mr Dilks] il in the hotel on the evening!

in question, and saw him! leave about 10.15 p.m. There! were no Maoris in the! lounge bar. He said in cross-1 examination that the defend-] ant was not in the hotel that; evening. Sergeant B. M. Roswell! said he inspected toilets at! the Provincial Hotel on the morning after the alleged incident. He saw no signs of a disturbance, and no blood. There was no evidence of a struggle having taken place in the toilets, or their ap-i proaches. ]