Not reopening the Crewes murder case an injustice to my family, says Rochelle Crewe

Image via Wikipedia Rochelle Crewe said she was grateful for all the public support since she broke her silence in the Herald last week.


She said the failure of the police to reopen the case in 1979 when Arthur Allan Thomas was pardoned of the murders led to years of speculation, which was an "unnecessary injustice to my family".



"Had the police reopened the case after the pardon, perhaps they might have established who did this terrible thing to my mother and father.



"Perhaps now, with witnesses dead and evidence destroyed by the police, there is not sufficient amount to prosecute, but I do not accept that this was the case in 1979. These past events erode my confidence in the police and the justice system."



Mr Pope said police had spoken to Ms Crewe some weeks ago and "understandably she has questions that she wants answers to".



"We will do our very best, taking into account the limitation of time and the availability and recollection of witnesses."



Mr Pope said Detective Superintendent Andy Lovelock, the top investigator in the Auckland region, had been appointed to lead a "detailed analysis of all information available and acquaint himself with all the details".



He emphasised this was not a reopening or reinvestigation of the case, which was "one of the most scrutinised in New Zealand history" after two court cases, a royal commission and the subject of several books.



Mr Pope urged anyone with information to speak to the police.



Public support for a fresh inquiry has grown since Ms Crewe came forward for the first time since the 1970 killings.



She was just 18 months old when found crying in her cot in Pukekawa, south of Auckland, five days after her parents were last seen alive.



Mr Thomas - who spent nine years in jail before being pardoned - supported a new inquiry, as did his ex-wife, Vivien Harrison.



Labour leader Phil Goff backed a new investigation, as did Police Association president Greg O'Connor and Order of NZ members such as Sir Brian Lochore, Sir Paul Reeves and Dame Cath Tizard.



The unsolved homicide is one of New Zealand's greatest murder mysteries.



"A terrible bloody mess" was what Len Demler, Jeannette Crewe's father, found in the family's farmhouse in June 1970. He also found Rochelle crying in her cot.



Doctors who examined her said she could not have been abandoned for five full days since the murders, so someone must have fed her. Witnesses reported seeing a blonde at the house, but she was never identified.



The case gripped the nation for months. Mr Thomas' pardon resulted from years of protest from a retrial committee and other supporters and the personal intervention of the Prime Minister at the time, Rob Muldoon.



The royal commission set up to investigate the case found that Detective Inspector Bruce Hutton and Detective Len Johnston had planted a shell case in a garden at the Crewe house to frame Mr Thomas.



Rochelle Crewe was critical of the decision of the Solicitor-General in the 1980s, Paul Neazor, QC, not to lay charges against the two detectives because he believed there was not enough evidence to justify a prosecution.



"For some bizarre reason, the royal commission inquiry finding did not amount to a strong enough basis to prosecute these perpetrators," said Ms Crewe.



"On the flip side, it was enough of a finding to have a man pardoned."



ANDY LOVELOCK



*Detective Superintendent



Andy Lovelock is an experienced investigator with oversight of high-profile cases in the Auckland region, most recently the murder of Carmen Thomas.



He also reviews police inquiries and was critical of the so-called "Pumpkin" case in 2007, where An An Liu was found in the boot of her killer husband's car several days after she went missing.



Mr Lovelock also investigated how news media outlets obtained copies of top-secret police documents dubbed the "Terror Files" - evidence gathered before the raids on a group initially suspected to be terrorists in the Ureweras in 2007.



He has also investigated allegations against other police officers and mysterious disappearances or deaths.


 Acknowledgements: Jared Savage

Related articles

• New book on Crewe murders blames the investigating police officer... (peter-petterson.blogspot.com)
• Breaker Meurant (nzherald.co.nz)
• 15 People Who Were Jailed and/or Executed, Then Found Innocent (rawjustice.com)
• Top detective to lead investigation into murder inquiry (independent.co.uk)
• Two 15-year-old boys arrested over girl's murder (independent.co.uk)
• Graham James could lose his controversial pardon (ctv.ca)
• DNA evidence snares rapist after cold case review (independent.co.uk)
• Boys Arrested As 15-Year-Old Girl Found Dead (news.sky.com)
• Texas Reopens Case of Man Executed For Arson, Murder (blogs.wsj.com)

• Man charged with three cold case murders (independent.co.uk)

New book on Crewe murders blames the investigating police officer...

Arthur Allan Thomas says he backs a new book on the murders of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe that claims the killer was a police officer who investigated the case.



Thomas was originally arrested for the double murder in 1970. He was found guilty by two juries despite a strong alibi. Thomas was then pardoned in 1979 and a Royal Commission of Inquiry found that key evidence had been fabricated by the police.



Author Ian Wishart's new book, Arthur Allan Thomas: The Inside Story, claims that Det Sgt Len Johnston did more than plant evidence. He writes that Johnston was responsible for killing the Crewes and framing Thomas.



Thomas told TV ONE's Breakfast today that he had never before considered Johnston as the killer, believing that the culprit was most likely Len Demler, Jeanette's father.



But Wishart said his investigations brought to light new evidence that led him to focus on Johnston.



"Everywhere we went, Len Johnson kept on turning up in this case... as the person planting all of the key evidence...(fabricating) the case against Arthur Thomas."



Wishart said that Johnston's motive may have stemmed from blackmail over a burglary and insurance fraud.



The Police Association has dismissed the claims. Spokesman Greg O'Connor described Wishart's book as "scurrilous rubbish".



But Thomas is backing Wishart's theory.



"I'm not surprised, the police were corrupt to the highest degree in my case."





Thomas said that even now people struggle to accept his innocence. He said he has been let down by the police, the courts and the justice system.



"I had great faith in the police in the early days... I had nothing to hide. I helped the police where I could and they let me down," he said.



Back in July, Thomas' ex-wife, Vivien, spoke out about the murder mystery. She sent a letter to Justice Minister Simon Power, requesting he re-open the cold case.



Now known as Vivien Harrison, she was accused by police of being involved in the double homicide by feeding the Crewes' baby.



While a statement from a local farmhand led to her being cleared of any involvement, the case did lead to the demise of her marriage and force her from the country.



Vivien filed for divorce after Thomas' guilty verdict remained in place after the second trial. The pair never spoke again, but she remained a staunch supporter of his innocence, maintaining he was home with her at the time of the murders.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Author backs reopening of the old A>A> Thomas case... (peter-petterson.blogspot.com)
• Drug dealer had poor health: court (news.theage.com.au)
• Girls soccer roundup: Halperin's hat trick fuels Engineers win (nypost.com)
• Community mourns for murder victim (charlotte.news14.com)
• No charges likely for cop who shot Crews (news.theage.com.au)
• Murderer absconds from Usk prison (bbc.co.uk)
• Onalaska homeowner faces manslaughter charge for fatal shooting (thenewstribune.com)
• Police charge 18-year-old Trenton man in laundromat employee murder (nj.com)
• Man arrested over 1981 RUC murder (bbc.co.uk)
• Constable Crews killed by police bullet (news.theage.com.au)

New Zealand's Kahui twins died of natural causes not from Shaken Baby Syndrome theory not accepted...

The Kahui twins died of natural causes according to a controversial medical opinion given to the coroner for an upcoming inquest into their deaths.


The report by Dr Damian Wojcik, a police medical examiner in Whangarei for 16 years, hypothesised that the 3-month-old babies died from Barlow's disease - or infant scurvy from a severe vitamin C deficiency - rather than Shaken Baby Syndrome.



Dr Wojcik has claimed that Barlow's disease could explain the bruises, subdural bleeding and fractures found in the bodies of Chris and Cru Kahui, who died in June 2006.



But the unorthodox report sent to the coroner has been dismissed by an independent pathologist and will not be aired as evidence at an inquest on the deaths of the twins due to be held this year.



Chief Coroner Neil MacLean, a District Court judge, confirmed that the medical opinion had been dismissed but declined to comment further.



All Crown and defence witnesses at the 2008 murder trial of Chris Kahui, who was acquitted, agreed that the twins were shaken to death and suffered multiple fractures.



Dr Wojcik told the Weekend Herald he was aware that his theory that the Kahui twins were not murdered would be treated with scepticism.



"It is controversial and I have to say some medical practitioners wouldn't believe a word of it."



But he said that extreme vitamin C deficiency could cause the haemorrhaging in skin, brain, and subdural spaces as well as the pathological fractures suffered by the Kahui twins.



"This is a hypothesis I mulled over for many months. When I submitted that report to the coroner, he had it peer reviewed and the pathologist basically doesn't believe a word of it."



Dr Wojcik said the forensic evidence showed that the twins did not suffer damage to the neck and spinal cord, which did not match the theory that they were shaken to death.



"This is quite a complex area and quite nuanced. I would want to try and advance the cause of truth and not end up in some ideological slinging debate with some of my medical colleagues.



"There are other explanations for pathological findings. You could make a case for an alternative hypothesis of death by natural causes, so I advanced that."



The Weekend Herald understands the Office of the Coroner was initially thrown by the natural causes theory but now considers it a "red herring".



Simon Mount - one of the Crown prosecutors at the trial - is now a barrister acting on behalf of the police at the inquest. He declined to comment on Dr Wojcik's claims but Lorraine Smith, defence counsel for Kahui, said she appreciated the time Dr Wojcik had taken to raise a theory with the coroner.



"His views may not be orthodox, but who knows what the position will be in 20 years' time? People rubbished Galileo and he was proven right," said Mrs Smith.



"But whoever, or whatever, killed the twins was definitely not Chris Kahui."



The inquest into the deaths of Chris and Cru Kahui has been delayed since a scheduled date in February. It is understood a large number of agencies will take part - including two district health boards, GPs, the Families Commission, children's commissioner, the Ministry of Social Development, police and the Crown.



Judge Maclean has previously said an inquest would take a wider view of the deaths and look at whether anything could be done to prevent similar events in the future.



However, the focus is likely to remain on debating who killed the twins rather than how to prevent further child abuse.



In the murder trial, Mrs Smith accused the twins' mother, Macsyna King, of murdering the babies and Kahui was found not guilty.



The police cannot reopen the investigation until new evidence comes to light, so a $50,000 reward has been offered by lobby groups Family First and the Sensible Sentencing Trust as an incentive for someone to come forward.



UNORTHODOX THEORY

* Infant scurvy is sometimes referred to as Barlow's disease and is caused by a lack of vitamin C.

* While cases are rare, Barlow's disease is fatal if left untreated. Doctors overseas have claimed that toxic histamine levels, caused by the vitamin C deficiency, can be misdiagnosed as Shaken Baby Syndrome.

* There is no convincing evidence to back up the theory that it has been misdiagnosed as Shaken Baby Syndrome.


NZ Weekend Herald

Author backs reopening of the old A>A> Thomas case...

Image via Wikipedia

Author backs reopening of the old NZ A.A Thomas case...



Chris Birt, author, believes the Arthur Allen Thomas case should be reopened to find out who fed Crewe's baby following request from ex-wife



An expert on the infamous Crewe murders is backing a request for Justice Minister Simon Power to reopen the case.



The former wife of Arthur Allan Thomas, Vivien Harrison wants to clear her name in relation to the case and hopes the mystery woman seen going on to the Crewes' farm and who is believed to have fed the murdered couple's baby daughter, can be identified.



Writer Chris Birt who authored the book 'The Final Chapter', says there is some evidence about the person who looked after the baby and it should be examined.



"Somebody independent of the police needs to be commissioned by the justice minister to look at those aspects." There were claims during the trials that police had planted empty bullets in a garden.



Mr Birt says he has a good idea of who fed the baby, but cannot reveal their name for legal reasons.



Arthur Allan Thomas was convicted twice of killing his neighbours Jeanette and Harvey Crewe at their farm in South Auckland in 1970. A decade later, he was pardoned by the Muldoon Government. He also received close to a million dollars New Zealand in compensation.



A suggestion made last week was that Jeanette Crewe murdered her husband and then committed suicide. That's alright in my book, but just who did feed the Crewes baby?



Vivien Thomas, now remarried and known as Vivienne Harrison was originally named as having fed the baby. She absolutely denies the claims, formerly put forward by the police, that she had fed the baby. Just who did then?



Acknowledgements: © 2010 NZCity, NewsTalkZB - Peter Petterson

Related articles by Zemanta

• The 40th anniversary of the Crewe murders - NZ's most baffling... (peter-petterson.blogspot.com)

The 40th anniversary of the Crewe murders - NZ's most baffling...

Image via Wikipedia

On the 40th anniversary of New Zealand's most baffling murder mystery, Arthur Allan Thomas’s ex wife Vivien Harrison has broken her silence on the case that destroyed her marriage and drove her from the country.


And she’s called for the "mystery woman" she believes fed the baby of murdered couple Harvey and Jeanette Crewe to account for witness reports that she was seen at their farmhouse after the killings.



Thomas, who was convicted of murder on evidence later found to be fabricated by the police, was finally pardoned in 1979 and awarded $950,000 in compensation after a royal commission of inquiry ruled he should never have been charged.



After publicly campaigning for her husband's freedom through two court trials – both of which found him guilty – Harrison filed for divorce while Thomas was still in prison.



They haven’t spoken since and no one else has been charged with the murders. But in an exclusive interview with North & South magazine, she still stands by her man.



"What I did was end my marriage to Arthur. But I did not desert him. I know Arthur did not kill those people and I will declare his innocence until the day I die."



Thomas, who was devastated by her decision, felt betrayed. But she says their relationship was a casualty of the justice system.



"The second trial ended my marriage; what hopes we had were dashed by the verdicts delivered by that jury. Our plans for our future were completely and utterly gone."



Researcher and writer Chris Birt, who wrote a book on the Crewe murders, The Final Chapter, in 2001, tracked Harrison down to Queensland and returned with her to the Pukekawa farmhouse, south of Auckland, where the murders took place on June 17, 1970.



Initially fingered by police as the woman who fed the Crewe’s baby girl, Rochelle, before the bodies were found five days later, Harrison speaks out against the police corruption she says has tainted her life in the July issue of North & South .



And the families of two other key witnesses reveal their own stories of harassment and intimidation at the hands of the police.



Should there be a further inquiry into the Crewe murders and should the "mystery woman" – who is known to the police – be asked to account for her whereabouts during those five days before the bodies were found? Have your say below.





Acknowledgements: Plus read more about the Crewe murders in the July issue of North & South  Magazine.

Three Strikes law introduced in NZ...

Image via Wikipedia

Three Strikes law introduced in NZ...





New Zealand has introduced the three strikes law for serious criminal offenders.



Strike One: Sentencing with a final warning.



Strike Two: Sentencing as normal, but no parole.



Strike Three: Maximum sentence for that particular crime. Life for murderers.



The legislation, known as the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act, was passed through Parliament yesterday.



One criticism of the new law was that it would take away judges ability to pass minimum sentences for murder. However, many judges seem to give criminals too much leeway; so the new law will make things straight forward after the third offence.


Acknowledgements: Peter Petterson


http://blogevolve.com/blog/huttriver12

Related articles by Zemanta

• New Zealand Moves Forward With Three Strikes; Big Questions Left Unanswered (techdirt.com)
• 1 reviews of Three Strikes Law (Multiple States) (rateitall.com)
• Arguing Three Strikes (nytimes.com)
• What is the Three Strikes Law? (brainz.org)

Missing Taita man found down an Upper Hutt hillside three years later...

Image via Wikipedia

Taita man missing for three years found...down an Upper Hutt hillside.

A local man from my suburb of Taita here in Lower Hutt who had been missing for three years, turned up... buried in a garden in further up the valley in Upper Hutt. It is not yet official, he has not been named, but a 26 year old has been charged with his murder.



Harold Skudder, 38 years old but three years dead. He was a local lad, went to local schools with my three eldest children. Grew up and became a bit of a lad; bit of a pothead I believe. A harmless sort of a skinny built guy, feely good looking, according to the local girls; and allegedly father of seven children.



When he was reported missing three years ago, he had been missing for some time. His bank account had been left untouched; and that is the usual sign of somebody who won't be back on this earth.



All very sad for his mother and siblings, and a former girlfriend

Little Pumpkin's father found guilty of murdering her mother...

Little Pumpkin's father found guilty of murdering her mother...

Little Pumpkin's father, Nai Yin Xue has been found guilty of murdering her mother, An An Liu, in Auckland in 2007. He was convicted in the Auckland High Court last week after an-all women jury found him guilty. They took seven hours to reach their decision, which he may appeal.

As the decision was read out in court, Nai Yin Xue became uncontrollably upset, screaming towards the judge with his fist punching the air above his head, yelling, "I'm innocent, I'm innocent" and "not fair". He was lead away by security guards to a cell in the court.

This is probably the second from last step in this saga that began two years ago in Melbourne, Australia, when little Pumpkin, Qian Xun Xue, was found on a train station platform by rail officials. Xue will get his appeal if he applies for it.

By all accounts, the little girl is thriving in China with her maternal grandmother. She will never have to see this monster again. She now knows her mother is dead, but it is not known how she as a five year old has accepted the news.

About 99.9% of all New Zealanders reportedly support the guilty decision. Xue had fled to the US from Australia and later featured on America's Most Wanted television program. He was arrested by local police who handed him over to US Marshals, who detained him for deportation until NZ detectives flew to the US to return him to New Zealand.

Justice has been served for the little girl, her late mother and her family. Xue will probably serve at least 20 or more years before any parole is considered. Sentences for murder have been increasing in NZ in recent years as New Zealanders have demanded more realistic sentences for murder and other serious crimes.

The mother of murdered An An Liu, has praised the New Zealand justice system as her son-in-law Nai Yin Xue, was convicted of her daughter's murder.

Xiaoping Liu spoke from her home in China a couple of days ago to NZ Government Ethic Affairs Minister, Pancy Wong, herself Chinese born, who had helped to reunite her and her little granddaughter, Qian Xun Xue after her abandonment in Melbourne. She has started school in China and was also learning to speak English, dance and paint there.

Life looks good for little Pumpkin!