[Brauer] Police still hunting man in hitchhiker murder case
- From: indigoace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Indigo Ace)
- Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 10:03:13 GMT
>From the New Zealand Herald--
Police still hunting man in hitchhiker murder case
30.09.05 1.00pm
Forensic tests are continuing on a vehicle recovered in the hunt for
the killer of German hitchhiker Birgit Brauer, as police seek the man
last known to have had the vehicle.
The beaten and stabbed body of Ms Brauer, 28, was found at Lucy's
Gully near Oakura in Taranaki on September 20. Ms Brauer's body was
returning to Germany today and the thoughts of police were with her
family who were to receive her.
Police searching for her killer are intent on locating the vehicle she
was last seen getting into at Waitotara about 9.30am on the same day.
A Toyota Hilux found in the Ohau River near Levin on Wednesday matched
the description of the vehicle being sought and is now undergoing
forensic testing at the Levin police station.
It had been reported stolen to police by its registered owner,
Himatangi businessman Brent Cleverley, in August.
He said it had been taken by an employee, who had used the vehicle in
his job cutting firewood but had failed to return it.
Police would not identify the man but inquiry head Detective Senior
Sergeant Grant Coward today told NZPA police were still trying to find
him.
"We're not saying he's linked to the crime, we're not saying he's the
last person with the vehicle. What we do know is that he stole it back
in August," Mr Coward said.
Police had yet to positively link the recovered vehicle to the
killing.
Mr Cleverley said there was no way he could imagine his missing worker
being connected with the killing of Ms Brauer.
In fact, he was worried something may have happened to the man.
"Somebody suggested that to me the other day and the thought really
scares me," he said.
"He's a hard sort of guy. He's been through the mill. But he works
hard, too -- he's a bloody good worker."
The man, in his mid-30s, used Mr Cleverley's grey Toyota Hilux when
working on a firewood-cutting "sideline". Mr Cleverley operates from
his home in Himatangi.
Both the employee, who had worked for Mr Cleverley for three or four
months, and the vehicle vanished last month.
Mr Cleverley said he knew his employee had some issues to work
through, but he wouldn't say what they were. Neither would he give the
man's name, saying police had told him not to.
He had taken two weeks to report the vehicle missing because he didn't
believe it was gone for good, Mr Cleverley said.
"I kept thinking that I'd look out the window one morning and there it
would be, in the driveway."
Before reporting the vehicle stolen he had left a telephone message at
his worker's home in Levin asking him to return the vehicle.
The missing worker is believed to have grown up in the
Foxton-Himatangi area, but recently spent time in the South Island
before returning north to Levin.
The Dominion Post reported today it had spoken to a Horowhenua man
whom several Ohau residents believed was the man who had taken the
vehicle.
The man denied knowing anything about Ms Brauer's death, Mr Cleverley
or the vehicle.
But Mr Coward said today he was sceptical about whether the man spoken
to by the newspaper was the one being sought.
Police were continuing to investigate reports of other vehicles
fitting the description of the one being sought, he said.
In a development yesterday a farmer said he saw two vehicles drive up
to the Ohau River on Monday night.
The farmer, who did not want to give his name, said he saw two
vehicles drive down the track at 9.30pm on Monday.
"I was out checking on some animals when I heard roaring -- the first
vehicle was having trouble to get through because it was so rough.
Another one (vehicle) sat on the stop bank for about 10 minutes with
its headlights on.
"The first vehicle drove right down to the river and shut down, it
seemed the second one was waiting for someone to come out," he said.
Mr Coward also said extensive publicity had resulted in two more
significant sightings the vehicle on the day Ms Brauer was murdered.
It was seen about midday on State Highway 45 in the Bayley Rd/Cape
Egmont area on the day of her murder. There had been no sign to date
of Ms Brauer's belongings, including two dark coloured packs.
- NZPA
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10348001
--
Anne
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
.
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