Shot in the Dark: Unsolved New Zealand murders from the 1920s and 30s

308 Pages·2014·5.805 MB·English

by  Bainbridge, Scott

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For Noel and Ruby
First published in 2010
Copyright © Scott Bainbridge 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the
publisher.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
National Library of New Zealand Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Bainbridge, Scott, 1969-
Shot in the dark: unsolved New Zealand murders from the
1920s and ‘30s / Scott Bainbridge.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-877505-02-7
1. Murder—Investigation—New Zealand.
2. Cold cases (Criminal investigation)—New Zealand. I. Title.
364.15230993—dc 22
Designed and typeset by Janet Hunt
Printed in Australia by Griffin Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper in this book is FSC certified.
FSC promotes environmentally responsible,
socially beneficial and economically viable
management of the world’s forests.
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Contents
Introduction 7
1. The Murder of Constable Dorgan 11
2. The Arch Hill Mystery 34
3. The Aramaho Murder 63
4. The Tragic Tale of Gwen Scarff 83
5. The Death of Elsie Walker 117
6. Serial Killer? 163
7. The Small Town With Big Secrets 184
8. The Riccarton Racecourse Hotel Murder 216
9. An Unusual Arrangement 249
Acknowledgements 285
Bibliography 287
Image credits 291
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Introduction
New Zealand embraced the dawn of the Roaring Twenties with hope. The country
had endured the loss of some 18,000 soldiers during the Great War (1914–18)
leaving very few families untouched by the conflict. Following the war, the Spanish
influenza epidemic swept mercilessly throughout the dominion killing more than
8,500 people. Despite the massive effect these tragedies had on the country’s 1.2
million people, the old adage ‘the only way is up’ prevailed.
In Europe and the United States the coming of the 1920s brought social, artistic
and cultural change that saw the era become known as the Roaring Twenties and
the Jazz Age. In the United States this new age was somewhat tempered by the
advent of the Prohibition era. Change was not quite so rapid or all encompassing
in New Zealand but the country was not left behind in the progress. The inter-war
years were a significant period in the history of our country.
The 1920s began with the government spending £26 million to settle around
10,500 returned servicemen as farmers on one million hectares of Crown and
private land. Farm production flourished with the advent of electrification in
milking sheds, the availability of tractors and the application of artificial fertilisers.
The economy experienced a post-war boom. Exports of dairy products and meat
to England provided many farmers with a high standard of living. Millions of trees
were planted in the central North Island in what was a visionary step towards
prosperity. Despite this new prosperity, falling export prices led to severe recessions
in 1921–2 and 1926–7 creating significant gaps between rich and poor.
The 1920s also saw significant urbanisation and at the end of the decade 60 per
cent of the Pakeha population lived in urban areas. At the same time, 90 per cent
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 | Shot in the Dark
of Maori still lived in rural areas.
During the 1920s, the self-proclaimed prophet Tahupotiki Ratana set out on a
mission to preach the gospel to Maori and unite them under God. He attracted a
huge following and his church soon held considerable political influence. In 1924,
Ratana took a 30,000 signature petition to parliament calling for the ratification of
the Treaty of Waitangi.
Reform Party leader, William Massey served as prime minister from 1912 until
he died in office in 1925. His belief that farming was the key to a stable economy
earned Massey the nickname ‘Farmer Bill’. This dogged belief in the importance
of farming meant that Massey regularly found himself off-side with other sectors
of industry.
The 1920s saw two royal tours take place. The first, in 1920, was the highly
anticipated visit of Edward, Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII), who
toured to thank New Zealanders for their contribution to the war effort. In 1927,
the Duke of York (the future King George V) and his wife spent a month travelling
from Auckland to Bluff.
Other distinguished visitors included famed Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova,
in 1926. Her visit inspired a Wellington chef to make a dessert in her honour.
Australian aviator Charles Kingsford-Smith became the first aeroplane pilot
to fly across the Tasman in 1928 with thousands greeting him upon arrival at
Christchurch’s Wigram aerodrome.
This was an era of power and speed. Major hydroelectric projects were
established bringing electricity to homes all round the country. Wagons and carts
were still prevalent in rural areas but by 1925 private motor vehicles numbered
100,000. This number doubled within five years. Rail travel also improved and air
travel began to be seen as a possibility.
Technological advancements made household appliances attractive. Shacklock
introduced the Orion electric range and you could buy ‘the world’s best wireless’—
a Radiola—for a £5 down payment at Farmers Trading Company.
The first radio stations began broadcasting in 1922 and the airwaves were rich
with American jazz. The Charleston was the dance of the era and silent movies
became a popular form of entertainment. In fashion, the ‘flapper’ look was in
vogue with thoroughly modern young women wearing their hair in short bobs
and donning sleeveless low-waisted dresses that could be scandalously raised to
knee-level.
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Introduction | 
In the sporting arena, Gisborne boxer Tom Heeney became New Zealand’s best
known sportsman of the decade. His career highlight was his 1928 fight with world
boxing champion Gene Tunney at Yankee Stadium in New York. Heeney took the
fight to the eleventh round before losing on a technical knockout.
The All Black team known as the Invincibles toured the United Kingdom, France
and Canada in 1924. The All Blacks played 32 games in total, winning them all
including the Grand Slam over Ireland, England, France and Wales. Their 19–0
victory over Wales vindicated the controversial defeat suffered at the hands of the
Welsh by the Originals in 1905. A young fullback, George Nepia played in all 32
games cementing his place in New Zealand rugby history.
The Roaring Twenties closed with the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929,
which in turn led to the Great Depression. New Zealand export income dropped
by 20 per cent in 1929 with a further 20 per cent decrease in 1930. Reform Prime
Minister George Forbes reacted by drastically slashing state spending and cutting
public servants’ salaries by ten per cent.
In 1931, Forbes and his Reform Party formed a coalition with the United Party
led by Gordon Coates. The coalition government made further cuts and many New
Zealanders were forced to live below the poverty line. By 1933 the number of
unemployed reached nearly 80,000. As part of the relief effort, the government
established work projects to get unemployed men working. These work projects
included bulding roads in remote areas, such as Haast Pass and Fiordland. The
conditions in many of the relief camps were extremely primitive and the men were
paid a pittance for long hours of hard physical labour.
After years of depression and deprivation, Michael Savage’s Labour government
swept into power in 1935. This new government promised economic stimulus, state
housing and better conditions for those people working on relief programmes.
While the early 1930s were grim, New Zealanders had their share of victories to
celebrate: the legendary race horse Phar Lap was at the height of his winning form,
Jack Lovelock won gold in the 1500 metres at the Berlin Olympics, ‘Hine-o-te-
rangi—Daughter of the Skies’ Jean Batten was setting aviation records across the
globe. Despite the good times, the ‘Golden Weather’ was all too brief. Very soon,
storm clouds brewing across Europe heralded the dawn of a new era.
While politics, the economy and society underwent massive change in the
inter-war years so too did crime and policing. In the early 1920s, typical crimes
included larrikinism, orchard raiding, bicycle theft and cattle rustling. More serious
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10 | Shot in the Dark
crimes like assault, vandalism, theft and burglary were principally put down to the
unsettled social climate of the time and blamed on unskilled returned servicemen
or swaggers as they were known. The swaggers travelled from town to town in the
search of work, with many of them frequenting pubs, getting drunk and fighting.
Many burglaries and nuisance crimes were blamed on swaggers, who would
disappear as swiftly as they entered town.
As the 1920s wore on, guns began to replace daggers as the weapon of choice
for New Zealand criminals. Despite the advancements in fingerprinting and
forensics, for the first time ever a large number of murders during the 1920s and
1930s remained unsolved.
While I was researching my second book Still Missing, I discovered some
intriguing mysteries from the inter-war years that seemed to have been forgotten
over the passage of time. One of these cases was the disappearance of Nellie
Mouat in Christchurch in 1925. Despite reports that Nellie was ‘living it up’ in
Dunedin, her husband Fred was arrested and convicted for her murder. Sensational
reporting of the case and his very public appeals did well to keep the case alive and
provoke widespread interest at the time. The Mouat case should be remembered
as one of the most controversial trials in the history of New Zealand crime. Yet
Fred’s release in 1937, after 12 years of hard labour, was not even afforded the
briefest of mentions. I began to wonder how many similar cases existed that had
been all but forgotten.
,
After the release of Still Missing much of the feedback I received was about the
older cases in the book. When families approached me about cases, they didn’t
have a lot of information because the death or disappearance of a family member
was seen as a dark secret that was rarely spoken about. Only the barest of facts
had been passed down through generations and fact had been surpassed by myth
or gossip, which was rarely if ever substantiated. The more I delved into these
forgotten cases, the more I began to wonder whether a fresh look at the cases
might provide some conclusions.
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