MURDER SUSPECTED

Chronicle (Levin), 30 September 1949, Page 5

MURDER SUSPECTED

■ Press Association) \

Police Huiit For Weapon Jn Otago Case

(Pet

DUNEDIN, Sept. 29. William Fraser Mclntosh, aged 63, a farmer, of Moa Creek, Central Otagq, ; a5out 118 miles from Dunedin, was , found brutally murdered in a woolshett 5arn at tke rear oi kis homestdad, at a5out 8 o'clock on Wednesday night. - Wkatever we'apon was used, and it is assumed to have heen an axe, must have 5een wielded » with maniacal fury aS. there were terrihle injuries to the heao. Up till a late hour tonight no arrest had heen made. ■ The victim was oiie of the most popu- - lax men in the district in whieh he has resided all his lif e. As f ar as can be \ ascertained he was on most friendly terms with his neighbours and with ali ' whom. he came in eontact and there appears to be no motive at all for '&e crime whieh naturally created a profound shock in the district. . The Dunedin poliee were informed of the diseovery of the body about 11 ; 0 'clock and several deteetives. and cqpstables under the direetion , of OJi.iej Deteetive T. Y. Hall, set out on'the lop'g jourhey ta-the.scene of the ci'inie, arriVing there shortly. before 5 a.m.; Later Inspector A ,'Gk McHugh went there-.to take charge of investigsitions. 1" > ' An immediate search was made .fp? a weapon, the Dunedin members of .' the . foree being augmented- by eonstables from the adjoining districts. Altkpugh a thorough search was made coverin'g a fairly extensive area, it is ufiderstodd that when operations ceased for the dtiy . nothing had been found. The police were hopefnl that the diseovery of the weapon used would have been of materiai assistance to them xn traeking the culprit and they were naturally disappointed that this had not been done. Another intensive search will be commenced again at daylight tomorrow. The Mclntosh homestead, whic)i is sjtuated on the Poolburn side of Mofi Creek and about a mile from the Moa Creek hotel, is one of the most attracr tive homes in the district. Entrance is gained through a drive and there are well kept outbuildings, the largest being the woolshed in which Mclntosh met his death. Mr hlclntosh was last' seen aliye about 2.30 on Wednesday afternoon. 4t that time he informed his wife that . he intended rounding up some sheep but that he hoped to be back home in tifiie : . to listen to at least a part of the broadcast of the Eanfurly Shield game between Otago and Auckland. When her husband had not made his appea'rahee bv evening, she became anxious aijid telephoned a neighbour. A search par^y was organised and the body was fouiiri in the woolshed. The body was . lying about five feet inside the door and cov- ' ering the cruelly battered head was ftn ' old overcoat. The coat was later identified as belonging to the deceased and had been hanging in the shed for sohie time. The indications pointed to deceaS: ed having been dead for some houra. The nature of the wounds inflicted on 1 deceased and the manner in which the ' body was found, pointed directly to the manner in which the victim met his death. He must have been struck with tremendous foree and it is almost certain that the first blow caused his death. The body was examined by Dr. W . ;S. Alexander, acting pathologist at the Dunedin Hospital, who aceompahiPd the chief deteetive 's party to Moa' Creek. After being photographed by. the police photographer from Dunedin, the i body was removed to Clyde, one of the few districts in Central Otag'o which, has a morgue.