NO ARREST YET IN MOA CREEK MURDER; PEOPLE ARE NERVOUS

Wanganui Chronicle, 5 October 1949, Page 6

NO ARREST YET IN MOA CREEK MURDER; PEOPLE ARE NERVOUS

DUNEDIN, Last. Night (PA). No arrest has yet been made in the Moa Creek murder case.

It is now a week since Mr William Fraser Mclntosh was murdered in his own woolshed, little mure than 50yds from his home. Since then more than 20 members of the police force have been making widespread inquiries, but so far without definite result.

In the past two days the search for the weapon used in the brutal attack on Mr Mclntosh has been intensified. The police have been draining several ponds that dot the valley in

which the Mclntosh farm is situated. Their search has covered a circle ot eight miles radius from the farm. An office has been established by the police at Moa Creek and typewriters have been in almost continuous use typing out scores of statements taken in the district. The office is well equipped for work, but the telephone service has not always been capable of handling the tremendous increase in traffic in the past week. While it would appear that the police are concentrating their efforts in the Moa Creek district, they have travelled considerable distances in almost every direction, following various lines of inquiry.

The search for a man who it was stated called at the Mclntosh on the afternoon of the murder <nas been steadily pursued. It was reported to the police last week that this man was seen by Mrs Mclntosh coming from the direction of the woolshed, and that when she spoke to him he inquired if the farm was that of a neighbouring farmer. Meanwhile, in Ida Valley many of the residents are displaying nervousness when darkness descends on scattered farms. Womenfolk refuse to be left alone at night and doors and windows are carefully locked. It is reported that callers at some farms after dark have been met by the farmer himself arn;ed with a rifle or shotgun. Many feel that the concentration of police in the district could be taken to indicate that the murderer may be near th? scene of his crime and he could strike again.