Pitchfork death remand

Press, 9 February 1989, Page 20

Pitchfork death remand

Two days in May have been set down for depositions to be taken into a charge of murder laid against a Christchurch housewife. In the District Court yesterday Judge Holderness remanded June

Mavis Howard, on renewed bail, to May 9. Howard, aged 51, is charged with the murder of her husband, Albert Alan Howard, aged 62, on January 3. Mr Howard was allegedly stabbed in the head with a pitchfork during a domestic argument in the garden of a Linwood house. An initial charge of assault, laid when Howard first appeared, was withdrawn by Sergeant B. M. Roswell. Mr Howard died in hospital the . day after the alleged offence. The defendant is represented by Mr K. N. Hampton. While on bail, Howard was ordered to report to the police twice weekly. HIGH COURT Interim suppression of

name was refused for a man who admitted a charge of aggravated robbery. John William Powell, aged 21, unemployed (Mr J. W. Appleby), was convipted and remanded in custody for sentence in the High Court later this month. Powell admitted that while armed with an iron bar he robbed Peter Lloyd Machirus and Elepe Vaiana of $B5O in cash, a briefcase and contents, and a woman’s handbag and contents. Police say the offence committed by Powell, and others, . took place on January 27. Interim suppression had been sought not for the defendant, but for the sake of a sick relative, said Mr Appleby. The police summary of

facts was not read. DEPOSITIONS A Cobden man facing ' charges of murdering his . wife, and attempting to murder a man, on Janu- ‘ ary 8, was remanded to : the Greymouth District ’■ Court for the taking of depositions on May 1. Selwyn Thomas Lind-'' blom, aged 41, selfemployed (Mr K. N.; Hampton), is charged with the murder of .his estranged wife, Jean Beatrice Lindblom, in Cobden ; on the night of January 8,; and attempting to murder Patrick John O’Neill on the same occasion. Police allege that Mrs • Lindblom was fatally shot with a pump-action shotgun in her home. While in custody, the accused has undergone a ; psychiatric assessment.