BODY IN ORCHARD WITH BULLET HOLE IN HEAD.

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 50, 7 February 1949, Page 5

BODY IN ORCHARD WITH BULLET HOLE IN HEAD.

McGILL FOUND DEAD

With a bullet hole between .the eyes, the body of Richard McGill was found in an orchard near Whakatane West on Saturday. It looked as though he had shot himself some days prePolice are satisfied that McGill killed Traffic Inspector Kehoe, wounded Mr A. W. G. Wiggins last Monday night, and subsequently suicided.

; When Mrs J. Dahl, of Whakatane West went out shortly after 11 o’clock on Saturday morning to pick apples in the orchard •on Thompson’s Farm, less than a mile from her home she little dreamed that she was destined to open up the last chapter m last week’s tragic drama. Under the apple trees, not 25 yards from the orchard gate, little over five yards from the side fence she saw the figure of a man lying in the grass, face down, rig- * Shaken, she hastened home, told Mr Dahl. He sent an urgent -telephone call for the police, who rushed a squad to the spot and satisfied themselves that this was indeed the body of the -wanted man.

McGill’s right hand clasped a long-barreled .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, fully loaded ; but for the chamber from •which he had evidently fired the bullet that ended his life. Close by lay another shorter Smith and Wesson revolver, fully loaded. Holstered in an Army type web belt around the body was an Itheca .45 automatic pistol, ! American Army pattern. lii the ammunition pouch of • the belt was a packet containing 25 further rounds of .38. Another ammunition belt was lull of live .22 cartridges, and the dead man had also carried a long-bladed sheath knife. Thus armed, he could have sold Tiis life dearly had he chosen to do so. Police Satisfied Inspector J. Mclntyre, who has t)een in charge of the investigation •and search since the shooting last •week, said the police were convinced that McGill had killed Mr Kehoe, and they had ample evidence of it. He expressed satisfaction and relief that the search had ended without further bloodshed, and repeated his appreciation of the ready co-opera-lion and hospitality local residents had shown to him and his men .throughout. Dr A. W. Fletcher Cole, who examined the body where it was found, said he would not be prepared to offer a definite opinion as to the time of death without a further and fuller examination, but it seemed likely the body had been there at least three or four days. The orchard lies about a mile off the Whakatane-Rotorua highway, near the Awakeri turn-off, not far from the scene of the murder, and only a few miles from the Board Mill where McGill had worked and lived. Not Unexpected In view of a note found at his ■ quarters in a police search shortly after last Monday night’s shooting, it was thought likely from the outset that McGill had contemplated suicide, and the complete lack of definite clues during the, subseauent ■search had made that explanation •of his apparent complete disappearance even more probable. One thing was certain from the beginning. There was no chance of the wanted man’s eluding the police cordon unless he got right out of the district in the short time before the first reinforcements were rushed here. Their work here completed, the main body of police officers who have been engaged upon the case returned to their own districts during Saturday and yesterday. Inquest Opened On Saturday afternoon, an in- ■ quest was opened before the District Coroner, Mr C. S. Armstrong. Evidence of identification was given by Horace Leo Waite, taxi • driver,. and the proceedings were adjourned since die. The body has been sent to Auckland for burial. Strain Of Search Towards the end of the wleek, all the searchers were beginning to feel -the strain of their long vigil, and the nerves of many of the district’s residents were getting frayed. On Friday night there were three alarms in the search area, one in the Borough itself, causing hasty investigations by armed flying • squads of police. Just.hq,W: efficient their organisation w ; as is illustrated by the fact

that just 4 minutes after a resident of Commerce Street telehoned the police station that he had heard shots in that locality, police were knocking on various doors in the street to check up on the story. They found the noise had a harmless explanation.