New Light On Mystery of Elsie Walker's Tragic Death

NZ Truth, Issue 1210, 7 February 1929, Page 7

New Light On Mystery of Elsie Walker's Tragic Death

■Mmmuuummwimniimimmiimmimmiimiiimmiiimiinmmumiiiiimii BUT most important was the man's statement that he recognized the number, of the Bayly's abandoned car, as published m "Truth," as the number borne by the car he encountered m the early morning of the day following Elsie Walker's disappearance from Papamoa, In the circumstances it -is inconceivable that the police should not have produced Paul as a witness. The police superintendent referred to the story of a \ roadman when 'interviewed by the Auckland daily press last week and dismissed the story — ; presumably Paul's — as of no importance. The matter had been investigated and the' police were satisfied that he was off the track. How much of his 1 story is pure coincidence or to what extent it has a direct beai-ing upon the mystery of the girl's disappearance 'and tragic death are questions that could have been doThe Car Number termlned by the coroner at the inquest. But for some reason, which is for the, police to explain to the satisfaction* of the public, Paul was not called as a witness, with the result that the most startling evidence as to the possible movements of the girl and hfir male companion following their departure fi-orn Papamoa was not called. And how serious the omission to call Paul as a witness was may be gaugsd from the fact that he is . .definite that the number of the car he saw at 6.15 on the morning of October 2, heading m the direction of Auckland, corresponds with the number of the blue Whip- ■ pet car which disappeared from the Bayly home.Furthermore, Paul sayß he saw a ■young girl sitting m the seat next to the driver. She had either a coat or a rug pulled up well over her neck, and for ten to fifteen seconds during which he had the car (which was stationary), under observation at close range, Paul noticed that she never moved once. Her head was lowered as though she were asleep. "In fact," Paul told "Truth," she might even have been tied to her eeat." "Was the girl m the car Elsie "Walker, and who waa. the man with her?

Paul is not sure' he could recognize him again. Again, was the girl, when Paul saw her, even then dead or stunned or simply asleep? These are vital questions that should have been put to this man who should have been called as a witness at the inquest, because Paul's, story is the only one so far that m any way throws any light on that all-night journey of the. girl which ended m her death. The story of the road overseer is given for what it may be worth, but it may be said at once that Paul is not the type of man who likes publicity. Nor .is he the type of man to imagine things. When "Truth's" investigator encountered Paul on the mountainous road over the Kaimai last week; it was with difficulty that he was persuaded to talk. When asked if he had been seen by the police he said he had, and then he told what he knew. Here is Paul's story, from which the public can draw their own conclusions. On the morning of October 2, Paul left his home at about six o'clock with the intention of meeting liis engineer. Walking down the road he glanced across the gully and he noticed a car coming down the winding track. It was a blue car and he thought it must belong to the engineer. But when the car reached the base of the dip m the road just by what is known as the twin bridges it pulled up. All this time Paul was approaching nearer and nearer to the vehicle. He observed a man alight and step round to the rear of the car. Up till then Paul had not been observed. When about fifteen yards from th.c car the driver turned round, and seeing Paul made a dash for the wheel.

WHAT OVERSEER SAW AT KAIMAI

Early Morning Meeting With Mystery Car Panicked Driver, Who Dashed Away With Girl When Observed

"SHE NEVER MOVED, AND SEEMED ASLEEP"

.(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative)

Barely three hours after Coroner Hunt had delivered an open verdict at the close of the eight-day inquest concerning « the mysterious and tragic death of Elsie Walker, "N.Z. Truth" representatives were listening to the story of a man on the lonely mountainous roads of the Kaimai, forty miles from Tauranga, which, had it been told at the* inquest, might have made clear many points that were clouded m mystery. But although this paper has every reason for saying that the police were m possession of this man's story m good time to have called him as a witness, for some reason, which it is for the police to explain, the Kaimai road overseer, known to everybody m the district as Laurie Paul, was not called to give evidence. Paul told "Truth" of his meeting on the lonely road on the morning of October 2nd, at a little after six o'clock, a blue whippet car m which he saw a man and a young woman. He also told of his arrival on the scene and how it seemed to panic the driver, who had been inspecting the back of the vehicle; of a hurried departure and how he noticed that the girl never moved and "might have been asleep or even tied down m her seat". Following further lengthy investigations this paper is satisfied that there is ample justification for reopening the inquest m view of the latest developments. -

"So anxious did the man seem to be to get away," said the overseer, "that he bumped his head on the side bar of the hood. He had, difficulty m getting the car to start, but finally he succeeded and the car shot away." y While he did not have a good look at the man's face, he gained the impression of a medium -built man garbed m an .overcoat. What Paul /lid take stock of, however, was the number of the car, especially when. the driver acted so suspiciously. He also noted the girl sitting, m the front seat next to that of the driver. Paul said she was wearing round her' shoulders either a coat or a rug, which wap pulled up round- her neck. Her head appeared to be leaning forward m the attitude a seated person usually assumes when asleep. ■ She was not a big woman by any means, • and only the tops of her shoulders and her head and neck were visible. "I noticed she never moved once, and never turned her head. She seemed to .'be asleep," was the overseer's comment. "Did it strike you that she might have been m an unconscious condition or even dead?" Paul was asked. '.'She might have been anything," was the reply; "she might even have been tied' to her seat." The overseer thought the whole thing highly suspicious and he told his wife 'about it when he returned home later. He also told his engineer. Made Statement As to the fixing of the exact date of the x car episode, Paul is • certain about it, because the engineer did not arrive until the following day, a fact which is proved m his job records. At that time nobody outside her own family circle knew that Elsie Walker had disappeared, nor had the car been abandoned at that time, so that, m the circumstances, it. was vitally important that the overseer should have been called at the inquest. Paul thought no more about the episode until a week or. two later when he collected a parcel- of groceries with which was delivered a stray copy of "N.Z. Truth;" ' Glancing through pages of the paper he happened to see the report of Elsie Walker's disappearance and mysterious death and his eyes became focused on the photograph of the number „ plate of the missing car. ' "I picked it for the same number as the one I had noticed- oh the morning of October 2," said Paul. He later reported what; lie knew to the police, and "Truth" understands Paul made a statement m ample time for it to have been produced at the inquest. But having passed on his. story to the authorities, nothing was done and the matter was allowed to. drop. Paul is inclined to wonder why j When the overseer's; story is analysed it loses nothing of its vital significance. Road distances, time, and the coroner's own expressed belief Uttered when delivering his verdict that ■ ~~ — ~~ — ~l Time Factor the girl was probably stunned or killed before she left Papamoa, all serve to bear out the suggestion that the car Paul saw was the one m which Elsie Walker rode to the spot where her body was .found, either as a corpse or a woman who was unconscious. It is 157 miles, approximately, from Tauranga to Auckland via the Kaimai. and the distance from Papamoa to Tauranga is roughly fourteen miles, a similar distance lying between Papatoetoe (where thefcar wQ^found. abandoned) and Auckland. A So that allowing for the distance from Papamoa to Tauranga and that between Papatoetoe and Auckland, the distance- covered by the car is practically the sarrfe as that between Tauranga and Auckland city. The point was made at the inquiry that. the car, when it left the ' Bayly home, evidently turned m the direction of Te Puke — away from Tauranga — but it is not conclusive evidence by any means that the car was not turned about after some distance had been covered. Allowing for the possible stops along the route — to change the tyre for example—and assuming also that the car proceeded to Papatoetoe via Tauranga and the Kaimai, it is not unreasonable to assume that the car the road overseer sa\v at about 6.15 the following morning was the vehicle m which Elsie Walker drove- to her death — if, m fact, she was not already dead, when she left Papamoa. I From where it was seen the car could easily have been m Papatoetoe by midday or a little after-, apd that this supposition is a likely one is certainly substantiated by the statement

published by "N.Z. Truth" m the second article on the mystefy to the effect, that a blue whippet car was supposed to have been 'seen near the scene of the discovery of the tragedy early m the afternoon of October 2.

But to establish the theory that the car seen by the road overseer m , the It was this pict early morning was "N.Z. Truth" that the same car that do a bit of h was later found abandoned, it naturally follows that the evidence of the witness who told the coroner at the inquest that the car had been standing m the road at Papa toetoe (abandoned), since nine o'clock on the morning- of October 2, would have to be held to have been based on a mistake as to the actual time the car was first seen after it had been abandoned.

The evidence given on this point was very definite, but how does it square with the roadman's story of the car he saw — and, more par-

ticularly the registered number which he recollected later as the one borne by the number plate of the missing vehicle? ' Either the witness who said the car had been m the- road at Papatoetoe from 9 o'clock on the morning of October 2 is mistaken or else Paul has mistaken the number of the car. . He at least seems quite definite about the number, and his story cannot be seriously discounted m view of all facts of the case. Certfiin. it is, however, that the man who saw the mysterious car m the early morning should have been called

at the inquest to give his story for whatever lit ma y have been worth. H i s conviction about the number of the car is the most vital point that has yet been elicited throughout the course of the protracted inquiries, and the omission to call this evidence cannot easily be exire published m plained away to the ed Laurie Paul to satisfaction of the ird thinking. public. Any evidence that might throw any light upon the mystery should be sifted by the police, no matter how relatively unimportant it may transpire to be after searching examination.

The story of Paul is not only a sensational development, but it provides, moreover, the first real clue to the passage of the car on its long night journey — provided, of cource, that the overseer is correct m regard to the number.

Following another line., of invest:

gation, "Truth's" representatives have recently visited a man and his wife, who, during the month of October, lived within a stone's throw of the place where the car was found derelict on Tuesday, October 2.

The lady, whose name is withheld for the time being, interviewed and questioned very closely as to what she had seen, gave her story very intelligently and convincingly.

She is a clear-headed, and we should say observant woman, who did not give the impression of being 1 a notoriety seeker," or one who had concocted the details subsequent to the publicity the case received.

3 Given m its bare details it runs as ' l* follows : — / About two- o'clock on Tuesday, October 2, she was wheeling her child m i a pram along the sidewalk at the r junction of the Great South Road and a Station Road, Papatoetoe, when a dark t blue, or a dark colored car, came from l : the direction of Puhunui, at considert j able speed, drew into the right hand s side of the road outside the school, and i, stopped. 3 No sooner, had it stopped than two 9 men stepped out from the front seat. The first was dressed m a blue suit 8 and carried m his hand a woman's s dress basket, one of those two-piece J grass types with straps. t Immediately after him came another - man, who was m the driving seat, 3 dressed m grey, and somewhat taller t than the first. = She says that what struck her as peculiar was that they left the car by the left side door, the side towards the road, or the side away from hei\ and without looking to right or left hurried towards the bus which was coming up behind them by the same road they had covered, and got aboard without so much as a look at the ear or herself. It seemed to her that it was remarkable that two men shouW leave a car, which they did not even look at for a puncture, or which seemed to have no engine trouble, and straightway board a bus going m the same direction as themselves. She particularly noticed that the Woman's Version car was very dusty and had the appearance of being travel -stainetl. The car was there for nearly twentyfour hours, when she Isaw it being removed by the police while she was m her back yard. It was certainly the same car from which she had seen the two men board the bus, which left either at ten minutes to two, or ten past two, bound for Auckland. A fortnight after the discovery of Elsie's body Mrs. "X" had a visit from two detectives, who took a statement from her, and asked her among other things if she had seen a girl m the car. She fully expected to be called to give evidence, but to her surprise she was not. One thing which throws an interesting light on the peculiar actions of those left the car, was that the bus which came from down Phutunui ! Road, following them, could be seen by 1 those persons m the motor car as they • came along the 'road, and they could ! have timed their arrival at the corner - of Station Road to coincide with the arrival of the bus at that spot. Although this woman could not be 1 shaken m her statement as to the ! movements of the men who left the car and she assured "Truth" that she discussed the matter that night with. : her husband, and certainly was not i ■ wrong as to the date — she was quite! honest as to the number of the car,, and made no pretence of having committed even one figure of the number plate to memory. This paper is not naturally' m possession of all the facts of the case, Police Action in-so-far as the police enquiries went, or their reasons for calling certain evidence and discarding the rest, but it is hard to understand why Mrs. "X's" evidence should be relegated to the flies. For if there is one thing more than another which sticks out like the hump on a camel's back throughout this most unique mystery, it is not so much the things that the police did as those they left undone. There does not seem to have been any directing mind to guide their lagging footsteps. They have testified at the inquiry to the fact that they combed every dis-. trict, and carried out the most thorough investigations — promptly. Well, they were not able to go that far, but they did assure the coroner that once they did get under way they left no stone unturned, and followed every clue. What we are curious to. know is on what grounds they discarded the evidence of Mrs. "X," and yet called that of Mrs. Anderson. Surely it could not be because the evidence 'of the former went so far as to say she saw two men with a. suitcase leave the, car, and yet no girl, and that it did not then fit m with their theories, while that of Mrs Anderson did? " How, too, can they explain the fact that it was two weeks after Elsie's body was found before they took a statement from Mrs. "X"? Why was no statement taken from Dobbs, Mrs. Edwards'^ employee, at Henderson until just a few days before the inquiry was set down for hearing? .. Our own representatives have inter-

viewed one garage proprietor within forty miles of Auckland on the main ' route who was never interrogated by ' a detective, and another who was un- ! able to recall any visit from any memof the police force, also on the main road. Outside of the Bayly family no one was called to say that the car's wheel marks turned towards Te Puke, and not to Tauranga. The manner m which they checked up certain statements was to say the most of it sketchy, while some they never checked up at all, or not for, a couple of months. The investigations conducted by this paper all tend to show that the car seen by Paul probably was the same vehicle m which the girl left her aunt's home. . ........ His story has a peculiar bearing upon other lines of investigation that have been carried out by "Truth." Irrespective of the route that the car traversed on the long journey to Patatoetoe — and the driver of the car would have a choice of three — : he would have to pass through Pokeno, before 'he reached Auckland. And it was at Pokeno that "Truth" carried out inquiries m testing some information that a . car, supposed to have contained a man and a girl, replenished the benzine tank, at an early hour on October 2. No information could be obtained on this point, however, and looking at the whole of the circumstances of the case it would seem that the Pokeno "clue" is a blank. • .. ■ . It would, have been impossible for the car supposed to have called at a pump station at Pokeno m the early hours of the morning before dawn to: have been the same car that the road overseer saw at a little after six a.m. But whereas the Pokeno "clue" was based on nothing more substantial that an item of gossip and led to nothing, the road overseer's story is definite on a most vital point, and that is m relation to the number of the car.

uiiinmmiiimnmiiimiNiuimiiiimmmiiiiiiMiiiimmimiiimiimiimimiimiim This fact alone goes to the very root of the whole mystery, for it will be remembered that, no cvi- ■_ dence at the inquest, and. none of the preliminary inquiries extending over three months, brought to light one tittle of evidence of the car. having been seen after it left Papamoa on the night of October 1The road overseer, however, claims to have seen a car and to have noted suspicious movements on the part of the driver. He says it bore the same number as that of the vehicle that was later " abandoned m Papatoetoe. And yet he was never called as a witness, although, apart from . his statement about "the car number, he retains very definite impressions about the girl who sat, still and "asleep," beside the driver. Either this eye-witness of the y strange events is- right or he is wrong. " The one weakness m his story lies m Overseer's Story the evidence given at the inquest that the car had been seen on the roadside at Papatoetoe from 9 a.m. on the morning of October 2. . Assuming that this is correct, that ■ would only leave the car that Paul saw two and three-quarter hours to journey from Kaimai to the scene of the discovery of the body and back to . Papatoetoe— which is manifestly impossible.' Allowing for this discrepancy m -th* two stories, the matter should not be" allowed to rest where it is, and there is every justification for the re-open-/ing- of the inquest if only for the purpose of testing afresh the impression of the Papatoetoe witness who had the car under observation from 9 a.m. and weighing that evidence carefully with the story that the overseer has to tell. . The polioe cannot deny that Paul's version of what he saw is of paramount importance and should be heard before the coroner, who will be the best judge of its value or, on the other hand, unimportance. And if the overseer's story of the number of the car and the girl is true, it will throw considerable light on the tragedy and. probably be the means of raising the Panmure mystery from the limbo of unsolved crime. '