DRIVER’S DEATH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 April 1939, Page 8

DRIVER’S DEATH

FATALITYgON PAEKAKARIKI HILL SHOT FIRED WHILE CAR WAS MOVING. HOLE IN REAR OF HOOD. WELLINGTON, This Day. The death of John William Brady, aged 26. from a bullet-wound received when he was driving his ear north toward Packakariki at 9.45 p.m. on Tuesday is, in the absence of proof of accidental occurrence, regarded with suspicion by the police, and searching inquiries were instituted yesterday by detective officers in charge of Superintendent F. Lewin, Wellington. Mr Brady was shot in the base of the skull, there being' the mark of a bullet-hole in the rear of the hood ol nis car. The bullet was of small calibre. probably .22. It is definitely established that the snot was fired when the car was moving and from some position to the rear cf it. ’When the post-mortem report is available it will oe possible to gauge the direction from which the shot came and the angle from which it was fired. A circumstance of note is the time at which the mishap occurred. Yesterday’s inquiries did not show that there had been any shooting in the hills that mghi or that any shots were heard immediately prior to the one which was responsible for Mr Brady's death.

Mr Brady came from Masterton, where his parents reside. He was working for the Hutt County Council mi the construction of a new road from the main highway in Paraparaumu to Raumati. He lived in a camp in Raumati South with 21 ether men engaged on the same work. ~ At the time of the tragedy he was returning from Wellington in company with two companions, Mr E. P. Ryan, 162 a High Street, and Mr K. M. Davis, 62 Pilmuir Street, Lower Hutt.

The police examination of the car showed that there were no firearms in it. The small type of gun from which the bullet, came was such as would require considerable skill to use effectively, even in favourable circumstances, for shooting rabbits or other quarry to be found in the hills.' The maximum range of this rifle would be approximately half a mile, the range for the accurate sighting of an objective, and an effective result from such a shot considerably less. •There are few houses in the hills on the Wellington side of the Paekakariki summit. The nearest to where Mr Brady was shot is 700 yards. The occupants of this house did not hear any reports of shooting in their vicinity on Tuesday night. Inquiries at the Raumati camp showed that Mr Brady was well-liked by his mates, to whom the news of his death was a shock.

Mr Brady’s father came down from Masterton early yesterday morning. The police officers who were engaged on the investigation yesterday under Superintendent Lewin were Sen-ior-Sergeant Dinnie, who is in charge of the Criminal Registration branch dealing with the scientific branches of crime detection, Detective-Sergeant W. McLellan, Detective-Sergeant W. Murray and Constable Callahan. Today the number of police officers engaged will be considerably augmented. Late last night there were no fresh developments. PROBABLE EXPLANATION DEATH DUE TO MISADVENTURE, RIFLE DISCHARGED FROM LORRY BY ACCIDENT. WELLINGTON, This Day. Information received by the police today regarding the death of the car driver, Mr Brady, from a bullet wound in the head indicates a strong probability of death from misadventure and not foul play. A party of four young people left Packakariki that night in a lorry on their return to Wellington and it is stated that when the lorry was on the Wellington side of Paekakariki Hill one of the men who was in the back picked up a rifle the party had with them to see if it was loaded and in some way it was discharged. The two men concerned called on the police today and have been taken by detectives to the hill to see if they can identify the spot where the rifle was discharged. From what the men said it is apparent the spot must be somewhere in the vicinity of where Mr Brady was shot.