Murder inquiry ends

Press, 27 July 1981, Page 12

Murder inquiry ends

PA Auckland Australian detectives have left New Zealand, ending a two-year inquiry to identify an Auckland men believed to have been killed by the Asian drug syndicate. A drug courier, Harry Lewis, was found dead in a shallow grave at Port Macquarie, New South Wales, on March 16,. 1979. He bad been shot in the face and the body. His hands had been cut off. He was thought to have been one of the first victims of the mufti-million dollar New Zealand-run, Austra-lian-based drug organisation. Two New South Wales homicide squad detectives were in Auckland and Wellington for a 'week to conclude the long inquiry? Detective Sergeant J. McGregor said that Lewis had not been identified positively for a coroner’s inquest, but enough to satisfy the police.

Detective Sergeant McGregor and Detective Constable Graham Trebley were in Auckland for final confirmation of the body’s identity from dental records. They also interviewed many New Zealanders. The date for an inquest formally to identify Mr Lewis and decide the circum-

stances of his death has yet to be set. Detective Sergeant McGregor said that he had a “good, strong suspect” for the killing and revealed that the suspect was one of those connected with the murder of the drugs racketeer, Christopher Martin Johnstone.