“A VICIOUS, BRUTAL MURDER”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22613, 16 April 1948, Page 6

“A VICIOUS, BRUTAL MURDER”

“EVIDENCE JUST FALLS SHORT”

CAR SEEN BUT DRIVER NOT RECOGNISED

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, April 16. “This is a vicious, brutal and determined murder which has possibly never been equalled in the, history °f this country,’’ said the coroner, Mr. W, G. L. Mellish, before giving his verdict that Roy Edward Wilkins, otherwise Francis Roy Wilkins, was murdered by a person or persons unknown. Wilkins’ body was found on the edge of the waters of Evans Bay, Wellington, on April 22 last year.

WOMAN SEES TWO MEN LEAVING THE CAR

Besides serious head injuries there were several bullet wounds in the arms and trunk.

The inquest was conducted by In spector J. Bruce Young, officer in charge o£ the detective branch. Central Police Station. /Mr. C. Evans Scott represented the widow, Mr. W. J. Stacey appeased for two witnesses. Esther Hayviße and Maurice Hayvice. Ronald Gordon Purdey, engineer, said he was in a tram in Adelaide road between 5.30 p.m. and 5.50 p.m. when he saw Wilkins’ car parked there. James Bell Norrie, civil servant, who knew Wilkins, said that just after 6 p.m, he saw Wilkins' car at the corner of Dufferin street and Adelaide road. He saw only one man in the car and he was wearing a felt hat. Another civil servant, Charles Thomas Wildsmith, also said he saw Wilkins’ car parked in front of the Tramway Hotel just before 7 p.m. on April 21. No one was in the car at the time.

At about 7.45 p.m. on April 21, said Mary Ellen Gornall, a married woman, a car pulled up in front of her house in Roxburgh street. A man with a torch left the car and walked down the road. Another man who might have been the same person as the first, then came past the ear and shone the torch on to her house as though looking tor a number.

Molly Gornall said she was with the previous witness when the car pulled up in front of the house. Two men left the car, one on the footpuh side and the other on the road ide The coroner: Are you sure there were two people? Witness: Yes.

Senior Sergeant J. Austin said he had recovered a black leather wallet from the body it contained bookmaking accounts for a considerable sum, a new wedding ring and five or six cheques There was no money, in the wallet Edward Wardell. newsvendor, said on the morning of April 22 he found the sliding door of a garage at 118 Adelaide road leaning over on an angle He telephoned the police. Sergeant Robert Alexander Moore, who answered Warden’s call, said he made an examination of the garage. Everything appeared to be in order There was no sign of the premises hav ing been forcefully entered. By looking at the rail of the door he could see that it had broken at the bolt hole. He contacted the owner of the garage, Tillyard. who arrived, made an examination and said that everything was in order. John Clemon Tillyard, coppersmith, in business at 118 Adelaide road, said he was the owner of the building. He occupied the rear of the premises. A wooden partition divided his part from the portion occupied in front by Empire Motors. Louis Fenton was the owner of Empire Motors in April of last year. Fenton had been there 10 or 11 years.

On April 21, 1947, witness left his premises just after 5 p.m. He was the last to leave and locked the door between his premises and Empire Motors. There was an office in the very front of the garage. When he left he knew that Fenton was in the office and he sang out, “good-night.” He believed that there was someone else in the office, but he did not see him The main door was wide open when he left. There was a wicket door in the main door close to the south end. He did not return to the garage that evening.

BLOODSTAINS DISCOVERED AT GARAGE

At about 5 o clock next morning tne police asked him to go to the garage. He found that four of the rollers of the door were off and the door had fallen inwards. One of the inner joints had pulled apart. There was no evi dence of the premises having been broken into, nor was there any evidence that the door had been forced open. Witness said he assumed that someone had been closing the door Hurriedly and had damaged it in the process He concluded that the door must have been pulled off from the inside.

At about 8.20 a.m. he returned to the garage “My son after looking at the garage asked me if I had seen the blood up at the front door,’’ said witness. “I said I had not and then had a look at the spot and noticed where the blood had been. "Under a small car liquid had'been thrown and then swept on to the roadway. Blood was still evident in that spot. The car belonged to Fenton. “I asked Fenton when he arrived at work that morning whether he had nad a.iy trouble in closing the doors. He replied: ‘lf you don’t get those doors fixed you will have them falling and kiding someone.’ He said he had not had trouble in closing them the night before. He also said he did not know how blood came to be on the floor." Later in the morning witness said he saw Fenton washing his car with a hose. The car was standing over the bloodstains. Noel Eugene Higgins said he had known Wilkins from about November, 1946, when he had been in partnership in *a used car business. On the after noon of April 21, 1947, witness called at King’s service station in Cambridge Terrace. As he left the garage at about 5.30 p.m and turned into Cambridge Terrace he recognised a car owned by Wilkins travelling along in front of him. There appeared to be

only one person in the car in front. He could not recognise who it was. Terence Mace Tillyard, coppersmith, employed by his father, said that on the morning of April 22 when assisting to lift the door witness noticed a pool of what appeared to be blood under neath the motor of Fenton's car. Part of the blood had run out under the door. There were tyre marks in the blood. The bloodstains had been mixed with some liquid and an attempt had been made to sweep them. Huia Bruce Craighead, manufacturing tailor, said on the morning of April 22, 1947, he called at the garage to have hfs car'attended to and noticed that the door leading to the garage was being repaired He went into the garage and saw blood on the floor, just inside the door, It was a concrete floor with a broken surface and the blood stains appeared to have been' brushed over.

Ronald Maurice Chalmers, mechanic, said he was in business on his owm account at 1.18 Adelaide road, renting a garage from Fenton who retained the use of the office for Empire Motors. When witness left the building on April 21 Fenton was in the office with a Mr. Smith and Jack Solomon. He left about 5 p.m. Witness described the condition of the garage door when he returned there next morning. While he was repairing it his attention was drawn to bloodstains. It looked as if kerosene had been poured on them and they appeared to be fresh. Fenton arrived about 9 a.m. Some time later witness saw him hosing down his car. On April 28 witness went to the premises of E. J. Solomon where he was shown a jammer. He identified it as one from his premises. Kenneth Edward Turner, who had been employed at Empire Motors, identified the hammer as being the property of that firm.

EVIDENCE BY MOTOR DEALER FENTON

Evidence that he had been playing cards with Fenton at Empire Motors on April 21, 1947, between 4 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. was given by Alfred Geoi'ge Smith, taxidriver. He thought three or four men were playing at -one stage. They were Fenton, witness, Chalmers for a while and Solomon.

When witness left he thought that Fenton had followed him out through the wicket door. He did not actually see him Fenton would .be the last to leave the premises. Witness did not know Wilkins. Edward John Solomon, manufacturing confectioner, whose factory is 30 yards from Adelaide road, described finding the hammer beside his front entrance on April 25. It had heavy rust stains on the head so he immersed it in fuel oil. He later showed it to Chalmers, who stated that it was from his workshop.

Lewis Femon, motor dealer conducting Empire Motors. 118 Adelaide road and residing at 29 Townsend road, said he knew Wilkins through card parties at the Hayvices. He had no business deals with Wilkins and knew nothing of his business dealings. To witness’ knowledge Wilkins had never visited the garage at 118 Adelaide road. There may have been discussions at a card party about the purchase of a mercurty car, but witness could not recall them. He had no idea what amount of money Wilkins carried with him. The card games were usually small.

On April 21 witness played cards at the garage till about 5.30 p.m. He was the last to leave the premises. Witness said he closed the wicket door, but was not sure who closed the main door. He arrived home about 6 p.m. and did not go out again that night. He did not notice a car outside the garage when he left that night. When witness arrived at the garage about 9 a.m. the following day he saw Chalmers wording on a Wolseley car. He saw nothing amiss Tillyard told him there were bloodmarks on the floor. Witness had not seen any. He was of the opinion that the stains were caused by rust from the emptying of the Wolseley’s radiator.

Witness had hosed down his Singer car that morning and had seen no bloodstains.

On April 27 witness went to the garage at the request of detectives. They pointed out some bloodstains on a trailer and cover. They were witness’ property. There was also some hair sticking to a wooden partition between Tillyard’s and the garage. Witness did not know how the hair and bloodstains came to be there-

Detective-Sergeant G. Callaghan described the condition of the deceased's car when found in Roxburgh street, and also the search of the garage. Investigations were still being pursued, he said.

In giving his verdict the coroner said the evidence, so far as it went, was very clear. It showed, too, that the police had done a tremendous amount of painstaking work in taking the evidence of so many witnesses. “Unfortunately, at the most vital times the evidence fails to point to the person most vitally concerned,” said Mr. Mellish. A Nash coupe owned by the deceased had been seen and very definitely identified outside' the bottle store of a hotel beside a garage rented by Fenton. It was very unfortunate from the police point of view that the witnesses who saw the car did so just too late in every case to see who was driving. “It was very fortunate from the point of view of the murderer,” the coroner added.

“The last one to leave the garage was Fenton. Smith says he believes Fenton followed him out, but is not sure.

“Fenton says that in his opinion the stains on the floor were not blood. Fenton can’t account for the bloodstains. It is inescapable that some attack of a particularly vicious nature was made on some person in that garage.” The coroner said that in spite of all the .police inquiries nothing had come to light pointing to one particular person. The only certain thing was that a murder had been committed.