MAN KILLED AT AUCKLAND: BODY FOUND ON BED

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 May 1949, Page 3

MAN KILLED AT AUCKLAND: BODY FOUND ON BED

AUCKLAND, May 22 (P.A.).— A dancing teacher was. found dead on Saturday evening in a bedroom adjoining a studio which he occupied in Queen street. He had been battered on the left side of the head, and it is thought that he had been dead for a considerable time before he was discovered.

He was Frederick Edney, aged about 60, a single man. Several aspects of the case were baffling to the police. Little was known about Edney. He had no relatives to give details of his previous life, it was not known how many pupils he had, or who they were, his books provided little in the way of useful information, and there was no apparent motive for murder. It was not even known definitely at what time he had been killed, although it was thought that the body, which was dressed in rough working clothes, had been lying in the room since Friday evening. The front door of the premises was locked, and the key was placed under a mat in accordance with Edney’s practice when he was expecting visitors. The premises in which the body was found were the entire top floor of a building a few doors up Queen street from the Town Hall. There was a large dance floor, a women’s dressing room, a bedroom, and a small kitchen. A piano stood in an alcove. The quarters in which Edney lived were well furnished. Discovery Of Body Edney’s body was discovered at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday by Mr W. J. Adams, of Green Lane, an instructor at the studio, and Mr H. Quintal, of Kingsland, a dancing pupil. They had gene there by appointment to go to the pictures with Edney, and the first indication they! had that anything was amiss was blood on a writing desk at the head of the stairs leading from the street. There was more blood in the kitchen, and from there they saw the body lying full length on the bed. When he found that Edney was dead, Mr Adams telephoned to the police and a party of detectives, led by Inspector J. Walsh, the inspector in charge of detectives at Auckland, immediately went to the scene. A post-mortem examination was conducted by Dr W. Gilmour, pathologist, who also examined the scene of the crime. The results of his examinations were not available today. Further police inspections of the premises were made this afternoon. It was stated that a very close examination would be necessary and the wor«< might take about two days. During that time the studio and living quarters would remain under guard. Although Edney had lived m Auckland for about 19 years, comparatively little was known of his private life.or his business affairs. He had few close friends, and virtually no confidants. In addition, he had no interests outside ■his work. Even Mr Adams, who had known him since 1934, and who had worked with him for the last 11 years, did not know how many pupils he had or what their names and addresses were. Definite details of Edney’s background which had been established are that he was an Englishman, who had no relatives in New Zealand, that he had come to Auckland from Timaru m 1934, and had opened a dance studio m Swanson street, and that he moved.to Queen street in 1938. Apart from those few facts, he had been singularly reticent about discussing his life before he came to Auckland. Statement By Mr Adams “Although I knew him for many years, and although he visited my home practically every week-end, I did not snow much about his previous hfc? said Mr Adams. “I knew that his father had worked for Waterlow and Sons, printers, in England, and that he had a brother. He also said that his ether relatives were dead. Apart from that we knew surprisingly little, and he was the type of man into whose affairs one could not pry. “Quintal and I went to the studio on f Friday night about 6.30 p.m. and there were two private pupils, a boy and a girl there,” said Mr Adams. “Edney, who was then dressed in a pullover and trousers, said he would continue to work until about 8 p.m. We asked him to go to the trots with us on Saturday, but he said he would clean the studio in the morning and rest in the afternoon. He had had a hectic week with examinations and was very tired. However, we were to go to the pictures with him on Saturday night, and arlanged to meet him at the studio. I do not know horn many private pupils were to go to him on Friday night after we left. “When Quintal and I called on Saturday night, the door leading from the street to the stairs was locked, but whenever he was expecting me he used to leave the key under the mat, so that I could let myself in,” said Mr Aadms. “The key was there on this occasion, and we went upstairs. “At the head of the stairs I saw bloodstains on a writing desk. It was literally covered with them,” said Mr, Adams. “At first I thought a bottle of red ink had been upset. Papers in the desk were disarranged, and it looked to me as though there had been a struggle. Head Battered

“A light was burning in the kitchen, and we went in there,” Mr Adams continued. “On the table we found a huge pool of blood, and it was when looking from the kitenen through the bedroom door that I saw Fred’s feet on the bed. We went into the bedroom and saw that his face was in a battered condition. He had a black eye and there was blood all over his face. I went across to the bed to waken him, and touched his forehead. He was quite cold. I immediately telephoned the police from there and they arrived soon afterwards. “The drawers of the tallboy in the bedroom had been pulled out and two or three of them were on the floor,” said Mr Adams. “That was unusual, for Fred was a very tidy man. I did not notice any other details of the room and I cannot remember how he was dressed when we found him. “Apart from his pupils and a very few friends, Edney had virtually no callers at nights,” said Mr Adams. He had'just passed the British Association of Teachers of Dance examinations in modern ballroom, Latin-American and old-time dancing.