MURDER CHARGE LAID

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 191, 11 May 1938, Page 12

MURDER CHARGE LAID

Picton Suitcase Crime SON OF DEAD MAN ARRESTED Apprehended At Auckland REMANDED TO APPEAR AT WELLINGTON TO-DAY By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, May 10. The DOniinion-wijde search begun by the police following the discovery of the body of Mr. Edwin Armstrong in a suitcase under the wharf at Picton on Saturday morning culminated in the arrest of a son of the murdered man, Douglas Alexander Armstrong, aged 21, at the Auckland railway station this morning. The man was seen on the crowded platform following the arrival /of the Limited express from Wellington and was arrested by Detective Turgis and acting-Detectives Cromwell and Grace. Close surveillance of all passengers arriving from the south by road, rail, air and ship has been maintained by the police since the discovery of Mr. Armstrong’s body. Detectives on duty at the railway station this morning had a description of the man who was later arrested, but it was not known that he was a passenger by the northbound express. The station was being watched as part of routine precautions, and the success of the three officers in picking their man from the unusually large numbers of travellers who arrived by the train is regarded as an outstanding achievement. No difficulty was experienced by the detectives in making the arrest. The man who was recognised as being accused was quickly singled out, being then on the platform. Arrest At Station. \ Detectives considered that he answered the description that had been circulated to police throughout New Zealand. He is a tall young man, about oft. lOin. in height, and has light-coloured hair. Questions established the 'man’s identity and proved that detectives had selected the man for whom watch was being kept. He was then formally arrested on a charge of murder and was taken to the detective office by motor-car. Accused remained in custody until a sitting of the Magistrates’ Court in the afternoon. The arrested man had no luggage on / arrival this morning. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and had a sum of money in his possession. No train or steamer ticket was found in his pocket. He is a fine type of young man in appearance, being about oft. lOin. in height, and of refined features, although his hands show signs of the trade he follows. It is understood his hands were one of the means of identification when he was accosted by detectives. An active watch for the man who was arrested had been maintained by the police unobtrusively, but none the less thoroughly. Detectives specially assigned to this difficult duty searched all likely places in Auckland. The Union Steam Ship Company’s . liner Awatea was subjected to close inspection on Monday night before she sailed for Sydney in case the wanted man might be aboard, and police also kept watch on passengers arriving by airliners. Hotels and the railway station were not neglected and no possible opportunity of locating the man if he was in Auckland was overlooked. At. 2.35 this afternoon accused appeared before Mr. C. R. Orr-Walker, S.M., in the Magistrates’ Court. Accused was wearing a blue serge suit, blue and white thin-striped shirt and was without collar or tie. Immediately he was placed in the dock the clerk of the court read the charge:—Douglas Alexander Armstrong, you are charged that, at Wellington on the sixth day of May, 1938, you did murder one Edwin Armstrong. Detective-Sergeant McHugh: In this case I ask for it remand for accused to appear at Wellington to-morrow. The magistrate remanded him to appear in the Magistrates’ Court, Wellington, to-morrow at 10 a.in. The proceedings occupied just on 30 seconds, and accused then turned and disappeared into the prisoners’ room, to be returned to the police station in the motor-car which had brought him to the court. The charge sheet gave Scotland as the country of accused’s birth. Departure For Wellington. Very few persons at-the Auckland railway station to-night noticed the arrival of Douglas Armstrong and his police escort when he boarded the Limited express for Wellington. None of the other passengers in his carriage seemed to be aware of his identity. Armstrong was taken to the station in an ordinary touring ear and, to ensure as little notice being taken of his arrival as possible, he was driven round to the mail platform near Hie Limited’s departure platform before being escorted to a seat on the train.. He was handculTffed to actlng-Detective E. M. Grace, with Detective W. E. Turgis also in attendance, and little notice was taken of him as he walked composedly up the platform between the | detectives. A light raincoat thrown I over the handcuffs formed an effective concealment of Armstrong’s captivity, and he and Detective Grace merely I seemed to be assisting each other to ; carry some luggage. The prisoner | was wearing a collar and tie, this being the only diffeffrence from his appearance in’ the Magistrates’ Court in Ibe afternoon. He had no personal luggage. Three seats near the back of second-class carriage "B,” the second ear from the engine had been reserved for the party. ARRIVAL OF PATHOLOGIST By Telegraph—Press Association Blenheim. .May 19. Considerable importance attaches to the post-mortem which will be conducted by Dr. P. P. Lynch, Government pathologist, who arrived by air about noon. It is hoped that his examination will establish for one thing whether the stab wounds on the body, at least one of which could have been fatal, were actually the cause of death or whether they were inflicted after death. Authority for the burial of the bodj z was issued after the inquest last night, but it i.s not yet certain whether the interment will be at Picton ot Wellington.

Dragging operations have not yet been begun at the Pictdn wharf for the missing head and legs. These operations will probably begin after the departure of the Tamaliine and Pakelia to-day.