FOUND SHOT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19987, 20 December 1934, Page 7

FOUND SHOT

THREE WOUNDS IN BODY

POLICE INVESTIGATING By Telegraph—Press Association AUCKLAND, December 18. The mystery of the death of Charles Raymond Finch, who was found shot in a paddock near Tuakau on Sunday evening, deepens rather than clears as the investigations bring fresh facts to light. Finch had left town about 5 p.m. to go shooting rabbits, and had followed the railway line south. He was found lying dead just over the fence from the line by Messrs H. V. Bevington and H. Barnaby, two members of the Tuakau Post Office staff, who were also out shooting rabbits. His gun. a .22 calibre single shot rifle, was lying under him. There were two wounds in the body and one on the temple. It is now clear that the three wounds were all caused by pea rifle bullets of .22 calibre. Two bullets were found :n the body during the post-mortem examination. The search for the third, which passed right through the body, was continued to-day. Detectives obtained a shovel and pick and. working under a erected on long stakes as a shelter from the rain and sun, removed the grass where Finch’s body w r as found. They thoroughly examined the grass and roots with their fingers and then sieved the soil over an area about 6ft. square and Bin deep. Their efforts were rewarded about midday. Detective McWhirter finding a .22 bullet in the soil below the grass, and Constable Quinn an empty pea rifle cartridge case embedded in the ground a few inches away. A detail made clear to-day was that Finch's body w r as found with the shirt pulled up, and this explains why there was no bullet hole in the shirt corresponding with the lower wound in the abdomen. Alongside the body was an open packet of pea-rifle cartridges with three unused cartridges in it. Inquiries reveal only that Finch, who was 26 years of age, was very well regarded as one of Tuakau’s most promising young men. He was a member of the Anglican Vestry, Oddfellows’ Lodge and Cricket Club, and was formerly a Rugby player, making an excellent half-back for the Franklin junior representatives. A perusal by detectives of letters and papers at Finch’s home revealed nothing that would indicate that there was some person with a grudge against him. He had planned a surfing holiday at Tauranga for the coming vacation.