BEHIND VEIL OF MYSTERY

NZ Truth, Issue 1127, 7 July 1927, Page 7

BEHIND VEIL OF MYSTERY

Police Actwe In TrackingiDown Sla^rJof Gweh Scarff

iiHiijiiiiiimiHimnuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiitiu rirnj 3 , I I ' (From "N.Z, : Truth's'V*Special Christchurch -Representative.) 11 I. ; "So far ;the veil of mystery 'stu^puiiding the murder of || I ;Gwen S6arff >:at Burwood has no tbeen pierced. Piece by piece || „ I, ■; thewpolice are, engaged m eluci dating-, clues, and - the public 1 1 I may recfeive- sa^sf action m- the kn.6wle4ge that the au^hori- II I ■ ties suspect jat least one maii^ „. ; . y I■' ■■■„■..'■■ i;-,'- ," ■■■.';■■'•• }' ■ . ■ '■'■,■".■■•'■''.•■ '. „...,,.',- .■»'.'■■•.•■<':■■. 11 FjnmiiimMinmmiimtiiiMiHUiimiiiiiitnjimramiiHimnjinim^ 'itttittiiimnipuuntiiiiuuniiiimuunuuiiiiiiininiuuuinmuiiiiiuiiuiuumiuinnniilmiiiiniiniiiuiiiiuiHiiiiiiHiUM

f |'!ma legal 'evidence' ie» i incomplete, 1 ■ but- dramatic ldisplosures- and • pos-v sibly sensational "developments may be expected, at ' the\inquest, N the date of which has not. yet' been: fixed. The, • police" know more .. than the amateur critics now .writing; to the papers realise.; ; '■■.''• !<i ... "NJS- Truth", vis ?ln {possession of ■■information which warrants s the statement that'the! search for GweriScarff'B murderer Is. vnpt " ; the ' ; hopeless; quest that the public .'imagines it ' to be. ■ In fact, they know. the : man they ,want; ; he is about Christchurch ' and workingj but the definite suspicions, based on a mass of" ihfop- ; mation, cannot as' yet be turned' : Into concrete proof against him. ' . , It is just possible that they never will be. ■" '■ yacts, and facts only, ; count m a murder charge.; >. ;, • . „. . ■■'.'■': ... <'.'. . • T : he "police; do not manufacture eyi-/ de'nce,:, ( but. thjs ; .,journar knows, for a, lact'ihat very 'little, is needed to- cause the; police to make' an arrest." „ . Whether or ndt. they will succeed m obtaining that evidence time ralone can telj. ■■:''■ ■;■■ ,■,:.' ■'' ,"> '■ ' ' ' ; '"" ; *' : '■ -There are many, .faQtors, involved •which* Have baffled 'the > police :.so far: I Those 'factors, .although, well- : krio\y'n to;< thie authorities, have failed to respond to-i.'the 1 acid test pla.ce^ upon' them^ '■':■; : .;'':^i'-;,\\;"^ \--'-\ '':■:?■ '■ So far as ,the police are. concerned' there. is not :Spjnuch mystery about the murder of Gweri Scarff. They 'cannot prove' that i'thelr deductions and con-; elusions ..are correct; that ia^ the posi-. tibn; -„;■ [■ • : .-•-■• ■ -.- I:,"'■':■■:'. ■■ ':,"'■':■■: '. - ; The Problem ■ t Where? did Gwen Scarff stay on the Tuesday night prior to the day of the murder? .:.. ', ■:,''" ; ■.'.'■ - - V■' . ; ;: x ' The whole detective staff of Christchurch has. been concentrated on this aspect:' of the case, because it is the key to the whole tragedy, but m spite of every possible inquiry the .trail has led nowhere. '■.-/.- .% y\ ; '; ; There is still ■ no trace of whfat ' 1 would probably prove the i most impoptant'cluo of aal a clue more- ; . over which would m all probability identify "thie" murderer. ' ' ' • This Vis the . missing handbag 'containing £he letters arid snapshots which Miss Scarff 'was kiunyn to,. have' in" her possession up to the time stie left the Federal Hotel, . j, , .„ ,;,. .. M\_. „.-.., The chances , of recovering this evidence now are remote, as, the murderer . would not carry the bag and , its contents roundi'with him. . :' - : . ■He. .would destroy the lot at the first opportunity." ; \. '" i i .«,..-. What help: then lias; thei bloodstained spanner been, to the pdlice?' Obvious^ ly;< the ..marks it /bore werewno.t^'fihgerT' prints, or," :;lf : they ,-,; were ' tTiey were valueless. . ■; ■.".;.■■ ■■•. ■.;,', .■■■' ■ :. , Inspector! Cameron would -say nothing about ilie spanner when asked by "N^Zi Truth", about'the ma,rks it; bore. Assuming. : therefore that.- finger r prints, sufficiently clear to" be of value, wlere found on it, their .equivalent are not contained m the ■ ppli.ce records. .} "N.Z. Truth"iiis -forced: to the conclusion that - 'the mdrks 'on ; the spanner are hot; fingerprints, at all, -but pr.o'7 bably smudges, ; made/ by the broom bush; when the implement was hurled away; by the.murdererl / . . : i- '■;■ \ :. '■■'■ Tn The Dark ".. l / ''"'*■ -';i m view 'of the fact that, the spanner was heavily smeared with 'blood for 'more than half its length this is .quite possible,' v and certainly goes a- long way to account, for the inability „of ..the. police to land ttieir . man. • ■ The ! mb J3e remarkable feature of • the Burwood mystery is- the fact' that nobody Has come 1 forward to ; say they saw Gwen : Scarff and her slayer approach'the scene of the crime: . ' - -. As "N.Z; -Truth" has already pointed out, this was a; piece of the most amazing luck for the murderer, who took the risk of being seen, but, it is 1 a piece of luck that has prevented ; the police frpm making any appreciable headway ' with the v case, ■. ; \ -And yet arm-chair critics are .: rushing -Into print m the Christ- : church papers criticising the police^ - forthoir failure to make an arrest - ' and for their policy, of reticence." ■". ; •jiMiiiiiiiininiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiii

"N.Z. Truth,' 1 on the principle thai fair, play is bonny play, deprecates the unthinking > criticism that is being levelled' against ' Inspector Cameron and. )iis staff. ".''•. This journal . is, m ' possession of more information about [the Burwopd investigations,' culled from its own gourdes of * information and personal investigations, than all the daily papers \n 'Christchurch, ; and: for that reason "N.Z. Truth" can state ■. definitely that ,th'e'pdlic"e' have, left no stone unturned to • bring the murderer to book. Just what- will come out at the cordnial'iriquiryisnot yet known, but there is every prospect of sensational disclosures which may give the police the key' to the, mystery- for which they have been searching night and, day sinee -the murder was committed. Will 'the' inquest on* the dead ; girl?s body yield up the. secret which will end the' quest; for her' I . slayer? - /V^Tprch' There were. no developments m the police investigations during the *weekend of any note, except for the finding of part of an electric torch, which was discovered; on- Monday, by -a party of scrub-cutters at work on the: property of,^Mrs. v 'E; Clifton King, who resides some 100 yards 'from, the scene of" the murder. 1 ;- ' -\.' : -. '*'■■< — -'; ••;-. - ; . •'*."■' ..:.'■"■ ■'. '-•• The tbrch'was. not complete, 1 but? it is stated .:to have had attached to it a tag' bearing the address of a resident in 'the North Island.. ■'..'• The spot where it was located was m the scrub flanking Bottle Lake Road! 1 " The police have -the torch m their\ possession, but ; it is not yet certain that it is m any way connected with the murder. When questioned on the point- by "N.Z. Truth," Inspector Cameron stated that .the torch was' not complete, and it was just possible that it had been thrown into the scrub some time.back by a passer-by. He was not prepared to. say at that stage whether the ; torch, was regarded as having any bearing on the crime, but he added that the matter would be fully investigated. • At the. present stage no arrest, appears to 1 be imminent , or even contemplated, but the whole of the -detective staff 'is still being concentrated on ' the inquiry. ' , Assuming. that the torch may be regarded a^ a* fresh clue m the mystery, it-goes a long way vto support '?N.Z. Truth's" contention that the murdered girl possibly : spent the Tuesday night m a motor-car. . In view of the complete silence as to her movements on the night before her death, the motor-car theory increases m. strength of possibility, for jf she did so spend the night it would account for the fact ;of nobody apparently having seen her. Residents m the locality are early to bed, and" it would be quite possible for a canto park m Lake Terrace Road or the intersecting 1 Bottle Lake .Road without anybody indoors m the vicinity'- being aware, of the . fact. "V- : ' ■■■■■■ ■■'. ■. * Theory. ■'■..■'"■■'■■'•;. v This supposition ;.. certainly' goes a lbhg~way to explaihing the 1 mystery of the Tuesday night, but it does not clear up the mystery of the Wednesday 'morning. m Assuming -that Gwen Scarff was murdered between 10.30 and 11 o'clock on Wednesday morning— arid "N.Z. Truth" has ' evidence that its previous ' statement that the -murder, was committed round about that hour is correct—that would • leave roughly four hours of daylight still unaccounted for. Dawn broke some time ; about seven on the fatal . Wednesday morning, and obviously, assuming that the night was spent m a car, it did not remain stationary m its night parking place, otherwise it would certainly have been 'seen by the residents, m the locality. The only conclusion toi--.be drawn, therefore, is that 'm theabserice: of a car the night was spent m a bach m Burwood, and that Miss Scarff and her slayer .walked to: the fatal rendezvous. Nothing definite can :be said on this aspect until 1 it' is definitely known whether or. not tbe torch can be linked up with the tragedy. , . nun 1 1 1 1 1 1 jll ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 x 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 rt 1 1 1 1 ii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 fi) i iiimiiiiiiiiiim^