AUCKLAND MURDER

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 62, 4 November 1931, Page 3

AUCKLAND MURDER

POLICE G1VE DESCRIPTION OF MAN SUSPECTED OF CRIME TWO YOUNG MEN SEEN There was yesterday an important development in the seareh for the murderer of Mr. Arthur James Blomfield, pharmaceutical chemist, who was brutally attacked in a room at the rear of his shop in Wellesley Street, Auckland, about five o'clock last Friday afternoon. The police have issued the description of a man who was seen about the time of the murder last Friday, loitering between the Clarendon Hotel, almost opposite the Town Hall, and the corner of Queen and Wellesley Streets. / The description given to the police follows: — Between 20 and 23 years of age; height, 5 feet 9 inches; dark eyes (may be brown) ; short, dark, uneven hair, not curly, but wavy; small face, fresh complexion ; wearing a navy blue coat and vest and trousers believed to be of a brownish colour; no hat. It is not known whether this man was wearing a collar or tie. He speaks in a quiet voice and with ' a colonial accent, and, being well spoken, he appears to be respectable. Two Young Men Seen Mr. Hall Skelton, whose offiees are in the Pacific Building, said.this morning that on Friday afternoon he left the building in company with a client at five minutes past five. They both passed the door of Mr. Blomfield's shop, and turned the corner into Lorne Street. "After we had walked a few yards," said Mr. Slcelton, "I heard someone hurrying behind me. It was a young man about 23 years of age. I did not take particular notice of him, until he crossed Lorne Street and met another young man who stood outside a garage, immediately opposite the rear of St. James' Theatre. The man near the garage door was evidently waiting for the one who passed me. Both appeared to be excited, and did not remain a second after they met. Both were gesticulating, and they immediately hurried off up Lorne Street in the direction of St. Paul Street." Mr. Hall Skelton added that he was not able to give an exact description of either man. The proprietor of the garage was next interviewed. He said that at five o'clock he saw a young man, wearing a light raincoat, standing near the garage door. "Thinking that he might be a prospect, I intended to approach him and ask him if he desired to look at a motor car, but something caused me to return to the office and when I next went out the man had disappeared," he said. "I would know the man again, I'm sure." Theft of Glass Jar The theft of a glass jar containing several cakes of soap, from the count-' er of Mr. Blomfield's shop, is being investigated by detectives. The glass jar was stolen either on the Saturday or Monday night before the murder, and not the previous Friday. "Mr Blomfield was in charge of the shop on both these evenings while I was away," said Mr. Wheeler this morning. "On returning last Tuesday morning, I asked Mr. Blomfield where the jar of soap was, and he told me that someone had evidently stolen it on the Saturday or Monday night."