Nerve-gas man in Chch, police fear

Press, 29 February 1984, Page 1

Nerve-gas man in Chch, police fear

A big manhunt is on in Christchurch for the Oakley Hospital escaper who threatens to set off a canister of deadly nerve gas.

Bruce Douglas Cameron, aged 32, had markedly changed his appearance and was “fairly certainly” in Christchurch, said the Christchurch police. He was still at large late last evening.

The police believe that Cameron came to Christchurch because he is not well known in the city and would be able to gather the ingredients for nerve gas without being detected. Cameron escaped from Auckland’s Oakley Hospital a week ago and threatened to release a deadly nerve gas, Sarin-GB, over the city unless drug charges against him were dropped. Police believed he had a chemistry degree and the technical ability to make the gas.

Detective Senior-Sergeant M. J. Muddiman said in Christchurch last evening that the police were still treating Cameron’s threats seriously.

“He is still a threat as long as he is free. Our object is to find him as soon as we possibly can,” he said.

The Christchurch police had recently received several reported sightings of Cameron, said Senior-Ser-geant Muddiman. They also believed that Cameron would try to obtain “certain chemicals” from pharmaceutical outlets, radio electronic components from

electrical outlets, and chemistry apparatus. Any firms that had received unusual requests for those items since Thursday were asked to get in touch with the police. A special base has been set up at the Christchurch Central Police Station should anyone wish to report . sightings or information about Cameron. The number is 793-999. Callers should ask for the Cameron inquiry. Teams of detectives searched Christchurch unsuccessfully for Cameron last evening. When asked why the police believed Cameron to be in Christchurch, SeniorSergeant Muddiman said that “several persons” had got in touch with the police to say that they had seen him. He declined to elaborate in which suburbs Cameron had been sighted.

The police did not believe “at this stage” that Cameron had attempted to buy chemicals in Christchurch. However, he was known to be carrying a substantial amount of money and had previously used taxis and rental cars for transport. Cameron is believed to have associates in Christchurch, but the police are still not sure why he came to Christchurch or how he travelled.

He has not attempted to communicate with the

authorities or make further threats since he has been in Christchurch. The police have asked that the public be on the look-out for Cameron who is 188 cm (6ft 3in) tall, has blue eyes, and a lean appearance. He is usually scruffily dressed and often goes barefooted. Since his escape, he has shaved his beard, cut his hair much shorter, and was last known to have dyed it a rusty colour. He has gaunt facial features and the condition, psoriasis, down the sides of his face, just below the lower cheeks and the upper jaw line area. It gives a reddish, pock-marked appearance. On the day of his escape, Cameron had temporary bridging dental work done on his teeth. He needs further attention to these and might be suffering severe pain. He might have sought, or tried to seek, treatment for this complaint.

A reliable source revealed yesterday that Cameron was making a radio-controlled triggering device while he was in Oakley Hospital. The source said Cameron had contacted associates by telephone, and arranged for them to bring radio parts to him in hospital. . Cameron is understood to have told hospital authorities that the radio components delivered to him by friends were for his occupational therapy. It is believed that after Cameron escaped from hospital seven days ago police officers seized quite a number of radio parts he left behind. Technical experts were said to have studied the components and found that they could be used in devices such as those Cameron has reportedly described in his threats. Cameron is believed to have claimed earlier that he would set off nerve gas canisters by using a triggering device set to a timing mechanism.