MYSTERY MAN HAUNTS SCENE OF CRIME BY NIGHT

NZ Truth, Issue 1195, 25 October 1928, Page 7

MYSTERY MAN HAUNTS SCENE OF CRIME BY NIGHT

Lurking Figure Hastily Decamps On Seeing Courting Couple Near Quarry LOST IN DARKNESS

should have scrambled over - rough country, pitted with scoria and r rough vegetation as it is, to lie down to rest. Had that ' been her intention, the more lOgical — arid the natural course of action — would have been for her to lie down on the grassy bank by the roadside, or, m the alternative, make her way to the house which would have been well within her line of vision. . The amazing story of Elsie Walker's sudden departure from the home of her aunt, Mrs. Bayly, .of Te Puke; her long moonlight , drive over miles of tricky country; and the finding of her body three days after her death m a lonely spot near the quarry at Panmure, has 'already been told m detail m the columns of this paper. "Truth," m last week's issue, demonstrated beyond all doubt that it was ridiculous to assume for a moment — as the' police were inclined to do, following the tragedy— that this young girl, who was unable to drive a car with any degree of skill, if at all, could possibly have made the long journey at night from Te Puke to Papatoetoe of her own free will. The feat attributed to her by the police, ny the meagre inforfnation supplied to the 'press, fallowing the tragedy, is — for a girl of her tender years and Ignorance of a motor-car — little short of a physical impossibility. - The theory, too, that she walked from Papatoetoe, where the car: was abandoned, to the place where she met her death, seven miles distant, is, >n view of all the circumstances, absolutely untenable. ' And, most important of -all factors

. '" (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) WHO MURDERED ELSIE WALKER ? Three weeks have elapsed since her body was discovered lying half-hidden m some bushes near a quarry at Panmure, Auckland, m circumstances of the deepest mystery, but the secret of her tragic death seems already to be emerging from her grave with its sinister message of foul play. "Who killed her — and why ?" is the question "N.Z. Truth" now unhesitatingly asks, -for that she was murdered is the definite opinion of this paper as a result of exhaustive and detailed inquiries extending over several days. Elsie Walker did not drive to her death m her aunt's car from Te Puke alone — nor did she die from natural causes. All the evidence m "Truths* possession points to but one conclusion — that the solution of this mystery is to be found m the grim word murder. The accusative finget of suspicion points to some man on whose hands the guilty stain of murder gleams crimson. Who he is — -and what his motive was — is for the police to determine. The clouds of, the gravest apprehension as to the fate of the girl are banked m a thick fog of gloom about the heads of her relatives. De Renzy Walker, the dead girl's father, m a special interview with a representative of "Truth," gave it as his definite opinion that Elsie had been murdered. His theory is that she disturbed m the motor shed the man who entered the Bayly home and stole £12 m money and a watch, reported to be missing, and that he either strangled or suffocated her and then drove away with her body m the car, disposing of it at Panmure.* There will be medical evidence of an injury on the face. This view is definitely held by the girl's father. Foul play is also credited as the only explanation of the girl's death by her other Auckland relatives, Mr., and Mrs. A. B. Barter of Epsom, who told "Truth" they were satisfied Elsie had been murdered. Both Walker and Barter expressed dissatisfaction with the, casual manner m which the Auckland police had handled the case.

cided to go for a spin— she was hot credited with any ability to drive, however — and, once • clear , of the house,

travelled aimlessly along the road with no really fixed intention.

Either that or she. met somebody — whether known, to her or 1 not remains to be seen— and that this somebody (a man") induced- her to' accompany him to Rotorua or even' further afield.

Elsie Walker, who was barely seventeen, had a keen desire to visit Auckland. It amounted almost to a passion with her, and, naturally, unsophisticated as she was,s it would not be a difficult matter for a man to entice her away. • • ; ■ • Whoever he was 'he was a capable driver. The puny hands of the girl never drove the car at night over tricky mountainous roads for over 180 miles.

Whoever accompanied her, not only knew the country/ but knew how to handle a car. -' . - .- ■■" ' ■'-

What happened after the departure from Te Puke is, of course, a matter for speculation, but— in view of air the known facts surrounding the tragedy Itself — there are the best of reasons Cor stating that Elsie Walker,' in her eagerness toy reach Auckland, pinned her faith to a- man who' was more fiend and devil than a companion helping^ her to realize her dream.

So far as can be ascertained at the moment, nobody along the line of route taken by the car On its long night drive has come forward to identify the girl or the car.

One thing is ' certain — a stop must have been made somewhere for petrol, but where it is difficult to say. -

The fact remains that the car reached Papatoetoe, where it was found abandoned, and could, not have been driven so far without stopping somewhere to replenish fuel.

There were six gallons m the tank when the car left Te Puke, but that quantity would not be

After such a long motor drive, the girl would naturally be tired, and, if the theory Of a man's objectionable attentions is tenable, she must have been on the brink of nervous hysteria.

She was doubtless invited to get out of the car to take a. walk after the long journey; The suggestion would be made that she should accompany the man into, the paddock, there to talk it over. ,'/';..

The natural thing would be to sit down. Then possibly the man renewed his attentions— -arid, perchance, may have, attempted coercion.

Driven to, the-poirit .of -nervous desperation, did .'Elsie- Walker become a young tigress m, her "rage and do her best to beat him away?

Did she pick up a stick to protect herself and thus create a brutal determination m the riiind of the man to achieve his end at all costs?

Once the situatiori reached the stage of active resistance on the part of the girl, such a man would easily become incensed to the point of seeing red.

And, seeing red, what is more

likely than that he picked up iome blunt object — and m the blind rage of thwarted passion, struck the fatal blow, which felled the girl and killed her? '

For, remember, dead bodies do not bleed to the extent of the blood which was found near the girl. ••

However the blood came to be there, it flowed ere life had fled from her body. ■'■'"■.,'' • i Therein lies the key to the whole mystery. Who struck the blow that killed Elsie Walker— and where is he?

Once having killed the girl, the Irian's first thought would be to hide the evidence of his crime. This would account for the concealed position of the body under the bushes, for when she was found only her feet and the lower part of her legs were visible. Thus, having hidden (as best he could) his innocent victim, the; slayer must have returned to the car, driven away and abandoned it at Papatoetoe, vanishing into the night. Three days elapsed before a boy

Ominous Crimson Stains S '- ' That Clearly Point To Foul Play At Panmure GIRL'S MISSING BAG

named Pye, playing with some companions, came upon the scene and made the terrible discovery.

The boy returned to his home at Panmure, and his brother, John Pye, accompanied by a neighbor named Carter, hurried to the spot where the body lay

Giving his impressions; to "Truth's" investigators, Pye said it seemed _ to him that the body had been thrown into the bushes.

The nose seemed to be badly bruised, if not actually, broken, and' there was a; mark oh' the girl's neck which looked to: him. like a clean cut, m addition to ,a, bump .oyer one eye. Pye could not accept the idea that carnivora had caused all the damage to the face and arm. It was his opinion that there had been foul play. The body also appeared to have been concealed.

There was' no trace of a handbagor any other effects ? a"ydung girl would be likely to carry. about with her:

She was lying on her face, and one arm was stretched full length beyond her head, while the other arm was m at her side. \

Asked about bloodstains, Pye said the girl's face was lying m a fair-sized pool of blood. There was also a patch of blood on one of her under- garments.

This was corroborated by Carter, who went so far as to say that the girl's hair was matted with blood. "I reckon she had been topped off," said Carter.

It was Pye who spoke about the mystery man on the roadside that fateful Tuesday night. •

He was out for a walk with a lady friend of his, and they were near the spot where the body was found when a man approached.

"When he got abreast of us, he stopped, and I whistled out to him, but he did not reply. ■ .- ;

"He slipped away m the direction of the quarry."

"I have no possible doubt about it ajt all," said Walker. "My girl, never drove that car— she was un-; abie to drive a car to my knowledge — and, anyway, where is the money that was stolen from the Bayjys' house?"

The Unfortunate man, as he discussed the case, seized on the fact of the money having disappeared.

"My poor girl never took that money or the watch/ Why should she?" '

The mere suggestion which was getting abroad that his daughter was supposed to have taken the money from her aurit's house hurt Walker to the heart.

"That is really the principal reason I am consenting to be interviewed at all; because I warit .to dispel— as strongly as I can— any such suggestion. My daughter was no thief and I jwant to clear her name." Asked what his theory of the crime was, the father did no.t have to think before replying.

"You know about the bucket of slops she was taking out to' empty," he said. "Well, my point is that the man who stole the money f roih the Baylys' house was then m the motor shed.

"Elsie evidently saw a light as he rrioved about and she walked into the shed to investigate. Realizing the consequences of an alarm being given by the girl, I maintain that the- man either strangled or suffocated her m the shed — and then deposited the body m the back of the car and drove off.

"He may ■ not have actually killed her, but simply caused her to lose consciousness."

"But why should the man drive for