Old man was battered to death

Press, 7 November 1980, Page 4

Old man was battered to death

PA Wellington, A burglar hunting fori money had battered a frail Alicetown pensioner, Ernst, George Englebrecht, to death in his bedroom and had then trampled over the body as he continued his search, the Coroner s Court was told at' Lower Hutt today. Detective Senior-Sergeantj Anthony Moore said that Mri Englebrecht had been struck! on the head about 13 times with a blunt instrument. He had then been pushed to the floor where he had died while his assailant had continued his search of the room. • The attacker had even gone so far as to stand on the body while searching and in doing so had caused addi-l tionai injury. The Coroner (Mr A. McGregor) said. “It was a singularly brutal killing of an old man of 91 wno lived alone." He found that Mr Engle-I brecht had died on July 5,’ 1979, from multiple head in-j juries with cerebral contusions, inhalation of blood from facial injuries, shock and loss of blood, and multiple rib fractures, the injuries having been inflicted by a person or persons unknown. He was satisfied that the killers’ motive had been burglary and a search for money and he said that he hoped that those who had committed the shocking crime would eventually be brought to justice through exhaustive police investigations which had so far failed to identify them. Detective Inspector C. W. Wilson, the head, of the Hutt C. 1.8., told the Court that Mr Englebrecht had come to New Zealand from Germany in 1904, had started a market, gardening business, and in 1950 had moved to 101 Victoria Street, Alicetown. After his wife’s death in 1973 he had become a lonely and rather eccentric recluse. He had started hoarding large sums of money in his house instead of in the bank. During the last four years the police several times had tried to ensure that the money went into the bank. In 1978 Mr Englebrecht had been robbed at nis home by offenders who had believed that he had large sums of money in the house. Mr Englebrecht had also

i.got into the habit of daily r walks round Alicetown colI lecting bits and pieces and II telling strangers about his i financial security and finani cial habits. > He had often visited the • nearby Valley Inn Tavern in t the hope of companionship and he had been there on hthe afternoon of his death, r He had been last seen alive Jat 5.40 pm. that day outside s his home after returning s from the hotel. > A reconstruction of events > showed that he had had his i evening meal soon after this 'and had gone to bed. (I Detective Senior-Sergeant J Moore described what had [ happened when Mr Engle--Ibrecht’s house was broken i into sometime between 8 p.m. . and 9 p.m. He said police investigai tions showed that the old j man had been in bed when i somebody had broken into . his house by smashing a leadlight panel next to the door I [and reaching through to unJlock it from the inside. [I The intruder had walked ; through the lounge to tha ’ bedroom. His presence had . probably awakened Mr EngleI brecht, who had been killed . trying to defend himself. The police had found small , sums of money totalling $256 I carefully concealed in a ward- , robe and bureau and in- the i kitchen. Small amounts of . coins had been found I throughout the house. The police believed the in- , truder had left the way he [ had come, shutting the front , door after him and walking out to the gate on to Te Mome Street. Detective Inspector Wilson ■ said that police investigations ( showed that a Polynesian - man had been seen leaping , over the front fence of Mr ! Englebrecht’s property in Vic- . toria Street at 8 pun. on July 5. A similarly described per- ‘ son, believed to be the sama man, had been seen loitering ; about the house on many oc- ; casions up to two weeks be- ' fore the murder. This man had not been identified or > found and had not come for- > ward. At 8.30 pun. on the night of the murder a neighbour 1 had heard banging sounds ' coming from Mr Englebrecht’s 1 house. This noise was consistent with sounds which would have been made by the ati tack on Mr Englebrecht.