Police seek motive in Waltham murder case

Press, 7 June 1982, Page 1

Police seek motive in Waltham murder case

Christchurch detectives are baffled by a lack of motive for the “brutal” killing of an elderly pensioner in his flat in Hastings Street, Waltham, on Friday night or Saturday morning.

Alfred Anderson, aged 62, a retired painter, formerly employed by the Railways Corporation, was found by his son about noon on Saturday in the lounge of his cottage, with severe head and throat wounds. Detective Inspector R. G. McMeeking, who heads a squad, of 20 detectives on the case, said he was “open minded” about the motive for the killing. It was the first murder case the police had had in Christchurch for some time where suspects were not immediately identifiable, he said. Mr Anderson, a widower, was last seen at 4.45 p.m. on Friday when his son had visited him. However, Mr McMeeking said that there was a report of a possible sighting of Mr Anderson between 11 p.m. and midnight

at the Christchurch railway station. “It is possible Mr Anderson may have gone to the movies on Friday night and was on his way home through the railway station when he was sighted,” Mr McMeeking said. Mr Anderson was due to have lunch with his son, daughter-in-law, and their small child on Saturday at the cottage. The group arrived about 11.30 a.m. but was not able to get a reply. The curtains and blinds were still drawn. The son telephoned his sister, whom he thought might have knowledge of their father’s whereabouts. He returned to the cottage and entered through the back door of the flat which he discovered was not locked. On entering the flat he found his father dead on the lounge floor with head and throat

wounds. A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Anderson died from facial, head, and throat injuries inflicted by a sharp instrument. A weapon has not been found. “There is evidence of a struggle in the room where the body was found," Mr McMeeking said. “We have appealed to neighbours and people in the area who may have heard or seen something suspicious near the cottage, but as yet we have had no leads,” he said. Mr McMeeking said that it was not possible to say at this stage if- anything had been taken in the incident.. “We still have quite a few possessions to go through," he said. 1 Mr Anderson was described by his neighbours as being a “nice old man."