Daughter told of shooting

Press, 19 July 1989, Page 12

Daughter told of shooting

Greymouth reporter A witness told the High Court in Greymouth yesterday that her father came to her flat on the night of January 8 and said, “I’ve been to Mum’s house and shot her in the head.” Tanya Maree Lindbom was giving evidence in the trial of Selwyn Thomas Lindbom, aged 42, selfemployed, who has pleaded not guilt to charges of murdering his estranged wife, Jean Beatrice Lindbom, and attempting to murder Patrick John O’Neill after finding them together in a bed. Lindbom is represented by Mr K. N. Hampton, Q.C., with him Mr S. J. Hembrow and the Crown by Mr D. J. L. Saunders and Mrs B. J. Read. Mr Justice Hardie Boys is presiding. Tanya Lindbom said that on January 8 her mother arrived at her flat about midday to return her baby son, whom she had been looking after. Her father was present when she arrived and told her mother that he might see her later at the Cobden Hotel but she said no. Her father left the flat for a short time and returned about 20 minutes later, leaving again about 4 p.m. saying he was going home. He said he might go to the hotel for a

drink afterwards. Miss Lindbom visited her father’s flat about 6 p.m. and he was in bed. He got up and said that he might “go for a beer and then visit granddad.” Her father arrived at her flat about 10 p.m. and told her and her sister that he had shot Mrs Lindbom in the head. “He said he went there about 8 p.m. and saw Mum in bed with another man who turned and laughed at him. He said that he didn’t know the man, but knew that he came from Runanga. “He kept on saying, ‘Why did I do it?’ and saying that he loved mother. He kept asking for a hose, because he had something he wanted to do. He said that he had been locked up inside himself for two years (since they separated) and he did not want to be locked up for 14 years.” Miss' Lindbom said the accused kept walking around in circles. Her Uncle Leslie was contacted and he arrived. Her father asked his brother to “give him half an hour, because he wanted to do something,” before the police were called. “Uncle Leslie said that he couldn’t do that and have it on his conscience.” Both then went to the

police station. Earlier the Court was told by Detective Sergeant Alistair Smith, of the Greymouth C. 1.8., that he went to Mrs Lindbom’s house with several constables and found the body on the floor of the hallway. He noticed that a doorway to a bedroom at the end of the hall had shotgun damage and blood, bone and body tissue on it. In the bedroom he found a shotgun hole in the wall, a live shell and a spent shell on the floor. The fatal blast had been heading towards the bedroom. This was shown by the debris on the floor. A number of pellets were embedded in the door and it was obvious that some had gone through the woodwork. The line of blood and body tissue on the door frame suggested that it was open about 278 mm at the time of the blast. Dr John Ewart Pettit, a pathologist, of Christchurch, said Mrs Lindbom had suffered a “massive injury” to the right side of her head, and loose fragments of bone and brain tissue were protruding from the wound. A further examination revealed multiple fractures involving bone at the top and side of the skull. Dr Pettit concluded that the weapon was very

close to the entry point on the head when it was discharged and there was an exit wound above the right eyebrow. Mr Robert Ngamoki, the police armourer from Wellington, and Mr Peter Rudolph Hentschel, of the D.S.I.R. at Christchurch, gave technical evidence on the rifle’s action and the findings deduced from exhibits. Mr Allan Robert Stowell, of the D.S.I.R. at Gracefield, said a blood sample taken from Mrs Lindbom revealed 167 mg of alcohol. Mr John Anthony Treanor, a surgeon at the Grey Hospital, said Mr O’Neill had been admitted to hospital with shotgun pellets on the right side of his chest. There were three entry wounds. He was discharged the next day.

Detective William Revell Thiele, of the Greymouth C. 1.8., said that when he interviewed Lindbom, at the police station, he had said that when he. went to Mrs Lindbom’s house and saw what was going on he went “berko.” He saw them in bed' naked and went back to his flat to collect three shotgun shells — two for them and the other for himself. Two months before he had been in bed with his

wife and she had said that she had not been with another man during their separation.

On the morning of January 9 in a second interview, Lindbom said he did not understand how his son had not seen him climbing in the window. He had only been half a minute in the house when Tane came into the room and said, “What are you doing? I said ‘Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?’ ” Lindbom went into the next bedroom and his wife told him to leave. He fired above the man’s head and reloaded, the recoil pushing him back towards the door. His wife started wrestling with him and the gun. “We were by this time in the hallway. That is when the shotgun went off. Jean said ‘Oh’ and turned to one side and fell down. I ran off and down McKane Place.”

Constable Denis Joseph King said he was called on duty to help in the investigation and was given the job of seeking the accused’s car. He had found it parked in High Street, secured it and had it driven to the police station. That concluded the Crown evidence. The hearing will continue today.