No charges for killing

Press, 25 November 1980, Page 1

No charges for killing

PA Auckland No-one would be charged with the murder or rape of Alicia O’Reilly, a conference of senior police officers decided in Auckland yesterday. Detective Inspector B. ■E. Matthews said that the police had completed their investigations into the killing at Avondale in August. • , The child, aged six, was found, raped and strangled in her bed. The police believe that, the killer got into her room through a window.

The conference yesterday, presided over by the Auckland police commander, Assistant Commissioner E. J. Trappitt, considered the case, and what evidence was available to charge anyone with the murder.

The police did not have enough evidence to convince a jury and there was' little prospect of gathering . any more evidence of any significance, the meeting decided.

Mr Matthews, who has led the inquiry, said he was “disappointed” with the decision, but accepted it as the only course open to the police. “In most cases people are charged, but each must be considered on its merit,” he said. The case would remain open. The case is now handed over to the Auckland Coroner for his investigation into the death.

The decision comes after a report from Australia on the results of a hair comparison test at a Sydney nuclear reactor. The comparison between a body hair the police said was found at the murder scene and a sample taken from a “prime suspect” was inconclusive. Mr Matthews said the suspect concerned was a patient of Oakley Hospital. His future was in the hands of the hospital superintendent, and the police could not try to influence his decision.