Bomb suspects may be the same man
PA Wellington The police released last evening two identikit pictures of suspects who may be the same man — the bomber who killed the Wellington Trades Hall caretaker, Mr Ernest Abbott. The identikits — built up from descriptions given by two witnesses — show marked similarities such as the same receding hairline, in spite of the different front and profile views. When the police released descriptions from the two sightings near the Trades Hall on the morning of the bombing last week they commented then on the likenesses. They added more to those descriptions last evening which further emphasised the similarities — the two sightings were both of men wearing half-mast trousers. The police also disclosed that a witness described the case carried by one of the suspects as the same in
every particular as the case which contained the bomb, including the cloth wrapped round the handle and hanging out of the side.
The identikits have been released after almost a week of intensive publicity of description failed to identify anyone fitting either of the sightings. Detective Inspector E. A. Lines, the man heading the investigation, said that until such an identification was
made the sightings were being regarded as “very relevant” by the police. “They were in the right area at the right time carrying a similar case to the one containing the bomb,” he said.
“The question we are asking is, are they, the same person or two persons?” Mr Lines urged anyone who thought they recognised the identikit faces or had seen them in the Vivian
Street area to get in touch with the police. A direct telephone line number to detectives working on the inquiry is 731-095. Mr Lines emphasised, however, that an identikit or photofit was not a photograph. The man seen at 7.20 a.m. next to Smith and Brown in Taranaki Street (“Man A”), was described by a witness as “someone trying to look like one of the down-and-out regulars but he did not quite fit the type.” The witness said the man’s trousers fitted him properly in all respects except that they were too short. The bottom of the trousers were at the level of the top of ankle socks. The man seen about 9.30 a.m. at the corner of Taranaki Street and Vivian Street (“Man B”), was said to be “tidy but ■ oldfashioned” in appearance. His trousers were at “half-mast” above his ankles.
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Press, 11 April 1984, Page 8
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405Bomb suspects may be the same man Press, 11 April 1984, Page 8
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