Police lead in homicide inquiry

Press, 22 October 1984, Page 1

Police lead in homicide inquiry

PA Palmerston North The Palmerston North police said last evening they were following a positive line of inquiry into the death of a retired Wanganui stockbroker. The man was Donald Stewart Corby, aged 61. Mr Corby’s semi-clad body was found in a paddock adjacent to a park on the outskirts of Palmerston North on Saturday morning. His car was found rolled off the road, 150 m away. The man in charge of the inquiry, Detective SeniorSergeant Martyn Wright, said last evening that detectives were still trying to trace Mr Corby’s movements from the time he arrived in Palmerston North on Friday afternoon. The police believed Mr Corby had been the sole occupant and in the back seat of his car when it rolled off the road. The police want to talk to a group of people Mr Corby was seen drinking with in the Commercial Hotel about

12.30 a.m. on Saturday. Mr Corbv had checked into the hotel on Friday afternoon. Detective Senior-Sergeant Wright said five more detectives would join the 10member team in the search for the people today. He confirmed that the police had linked another incident which occurred in Palmerston North on Saturday night with the hunt for Mr Corby’s killer. In the second incident a man, aged 41, who had been drinking at the Commercial Hotel on Saturday night was driven to the outskirts of the city, beaten, and left on the side of the road.

That incident was now part of the same general inquiry, Detective SeniorSergeant Wright said. The victim in the second incident was not badly hurt and was discharged from Palmerston North Hospital after treatment for bruises and lacerations. The police yesterday released a photograph of Mr Corby, who was a widower.