Police offer big reward in Innes case

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 1

Police offer big reward in Innes case

The police have posted a $25,000 reward in a bid to catch the killer of Graeme David Innes, the gang associate who was shot dead in Christchurch more than three months ago. Immunity from prosecution has also been offered to anyone but the person who shot Mr Innes. The posting of a reward is rare and is often seen as a last resort to solve a case. This is the first time since the unsolved killing of Jennifer Beard, whose body was found under the Haast River bridge in early 1970, that the police have offered such a reward for a crime in the South Island. Mr Innes, who mixed with the Devil’s Henchmen gang, was probably killed by a single blast from a shotgun which was fired from a slow-moving car on the evening of March 31, the police have said. The shooting occurred in Ferry Road. Mr Innes had gone to telephone for help after another gang associate was injured in a confrontation with the rival Highway 61 gang in which shots were fired. Detective Inspector Jim Millar, who announced the posting of the reward, said yesterday that the police believed they had an accurate picture of what happened that evening.

The police, however, needed evidence to prove the case. The driver of the car from which the shot was fired was one person the police were particularly interested to hear from, said Mr Millar. Detectives were also keen to hear from anyone who knew what had happened to the car and the shotgun. The Minister of Police, Mrs Hercus, has approved the posting of the reward, which is valid to March 31 next year. Mr Millar said the police would also consider offering an “indemnity from prosecution.” It would be up to the Attorney-General to make a decision on immunity from prosecution. The police poster offers “a reward of $25,000-to be paid for material information or evidence which leads to the conviction of any person or persons responsible for the death of Graeme David Innes. The reward would not be taxable and the police were not obliged to tell the Tax Department to whom it had been paid, said Mr Millar. Persons who believe they have information relevant to the inquiry are asked to get in touch with Mr Millar or the control senior-ser-, geant at the Christchurch Central Police Station. Intensive police inquiries were made after the shooting of Mr Innes. A spokesman at Police National Headquarters in Wellington said yesterday that the police offered a reward only when most avenues of inquiry in a case had been exhausted. It usually went with an offer of immunity from prosecution and was designed to challenge the loyalties of any accomplices or to tempt informants. According to the spokesman, it is only the fourth time since 1868 that the police have offered such a reward in the South Island.