A couple of weeks ago, with time to kill, I entered a building in Stuart st, Dunedin and walked up the stairs. The woman who opened the door to my knock had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned a certain event which occurred in the building in 1962. Neither did her colleague.
But they were kind enough to show me a corner of their open-plan office and to another colleague, who knew exactly what I was talking about. His office window had been partially blown out, in 1962, by a fatal parcel bomb.
DUNEDIN LAWYER KILLED
Bomb In Package Shatters Office
( N.Z. Press Association)
DUNEDIN, February 5. Police had no clues late tonight as to who posted the bomb and murdered Mr James Patrick Ward, aged 62, a well-known Dunedin solicitor. Experts and detectives worked into the night sifting debris and gathering evidence in Mr Ward’s shattered Stuart street office.
Police know that the parcel, which exploded in Mr Ward’s hands at 9 a.m. today, was postmarked Dunedin. Other evidence on the mystery bomb has been found, but detectives were silent on details.
The bomb was delivered to Mr Ward’s office in the morning mail. His partner, Mr Owen Toomey, unwrapped it when he saw the address was J. P. Ward and Company. A second wrapping showed that the parcel was addressed J. P. Ward, and marked “personal.” He took the package into Mr Ward’s office and left.
A few minutes later, there was an explosion that rocked the four-storey building. A girl ran to Mr Ward’s office and screamed. The room was wrecked, and Mr Ward lay critically injured.
The blast shattered window panes, stripped plaster to the laths and blew a hole clean through the desk. With injuries to the head, both arms — his left hand was blown off — and chest, Mr Ward was rushed to the Dunedin Hospital. After a series of operations in the morning he failed to recover and died at 3.15 p.m.
Dunedin was shocked by his death. “This is one of the most callous murders in the history of New Zealand,” said the Superintendent of Police in Dunedin, Mr J. C. Fletcher. “It seems a crime not without motive, and I would be surprised if it was the work of a crank,” he said. “I have seen some badly hurt car crash victims, but I never want to see another case like this,” said Traffic Officer A. Lindsay, who helped to carry Mr Ward from the building.
He was on the other side of the street at the time of the explosion.
Room a “Shambles”
“The room was a complete shambles,” he said. “Mr Ward was lying behind his desk. One of his hands was missing, and there was a hole in his chest.” Two Government scientific experts arrived in Dunedin yesterday afternoon. They were the Deputy Government analyst from Christchurch, Mr L. Wilkinson, and the Chief Inspector of Explosives, Mr E L. Sellens, of Wellington.
The bomb which blasted Mr Ward’s office would probably be made by someone with some knowledge of explosives and electricity, Lieutenant-Colonel W. T. Foley, officer commanding the Otago Army district, said today. Although such bombs were not hard to make, it was unlikely that anyone with no knowledge of the procedure could make a workable model.
It was understood portion of a battery and a thin strip of metal were found in the office after the explosion, he said. These items would suggest an electronic detonator having been used to trigger off the explosive charge.
Such a detonator would give an instantaneous explosion, leaving no time for the victim to detect what was happening. Bombs using the electric detonator are reasonably easy to construct. They work on the simple principle of completing an electric circuit by bringing two leads together. A box would be the logical choice for a container.
One contact would be fixed to the inside lid of the box while the other contact, necessary to complete the circuit, would be below it attached to the lid in a manner which would ensure its meeting with the top contact when the lid was lifted.
The one and a half volt power supply needed to set off an electrical detonator can be supplied by one normal-sized torch battery. Soon after the explosion, the police called in two men from Colonel Foley’s staff, Sergeant A. Anderson and Warrant Officer G. A. Stuart. Detectives, who arrived after the victim had been taken away by ambulance, did not speak to him. The bomb, thought to be gelignite was posted through the mail in the ordinary way. It was too big to put in his private box, and was collected by a member of his staff.
Detective Chief Inspector G. W. Alty, who is supervising the investigations, said a team of detectives, headed by Detective Sergeant E. R. Tyson, was at work on the case. “It is a team effort and relentless efforts will be made by all concerned.”
From Arahura
Formerly of the West Coast, Mr Ward was a member of a well-known Arahura family. He was a son of the late Mr Bernard Ward and Mrs Ward. He has two brothers, Messrs John Ward and William Ward, and one sister, Miss R. Ward, living at Arahura. Educated at the Hokitika District High School, Mr Ward joined the Justice Department, and was on the staff of the Magistrate’s Court at Invercargill for several years. -Press, 6/2/1962.
There is no sign today, unless you look very closely, of the effects of the bomb. The window panes which were blown out were the slightly wavy glass produced before the introduction of "float" glass - which is flattened and made optically clear by floating on a bath of molten tin. The replacements are flat glass.
Special Police Homicide Squad Hunts Bomb Killer
( N.Z. Press Association)
DUNEDIN, February 6.
A special homicide squad has been set up in Dunedin to handle the investigation into the murder of the Dunedin solicitor, Mr James Patrick Ward.
Mr Ward died in the Dunedin Hospital on Monday afternoon after he had been critically injured by a parcel bomb exploding in his office in the morning.
“This is a crime not easily detected, and the investigation may even take months,” said Detective-Superintendent W. R. Fell, officer in charge of the New Zealand Criminal Investigation Branch.
He arrived in Dunedin this afternoon to take charge of the investigation, and with other northern detectives will set up the special homicide squad.
The police were reticent today on any progress that may have been made on the investigation. “You have to remember that information we give to the public through the press is also information for the murderer,” Mr Fell told reporters.
It is likely that the office of Mr Ward, which only the principal detectives and scientific experts are allowed to enter, may be cordoned of for weeks.
Search For Fingerprints
Detective-Sergeant H. H F. Lissette, from Wellington, who arrived in Dunedin today, is a fingerprint expert and has been attempting to find latent prints on the wrapping and remains of the bomb parcel. What success he may have had. Mr Fell declined to say, but he agreed that the chances of obtaining significant fingerprints on the brown paper were “very remote.”
Writing On Wrapper
A vital clue which the police seem to be working on at this stage is the outside wrapper of the parcel The brown paper wrapping was removed from the parcel by Mr Ward’s partner, Mr O. C. Toomey, who handed the parcel to Mr Ward after he (words missing)
Mr Fell was also reluctant to discuss any progress results obtained by Mr E. L Sellens, Chief Inspector of Explosives from Wellington, and Mr L. Wilkinson.-deputy Government Analyst at Christchurch.
Type of Explosive
Mr Sellens’s main objective is almost certainly to ascertain the type of explosive used in the bomb. Whether the explosive was gelignite (as has been suggested) and estimates of the magnitude of the blast are not being divulged.
There appears to have been no form of metal casing round the bomb, which was probably triggered by an electrical contact and battery and exploded with equal force in all directions.
Results of a post-mortem examination conducted by Professor E. F. d’Ath, head of the department of pathology at the University of Otago Medical School, this morning are “confidential to the Coroner.”
Detective-Sergeant L. D. Harrowfield and Detective Constable E. J. Stackhouse, of the Christchurch CJ.B, left last evening for Dunedin to assist in the inquiries for the person responsible for the bomb explosion. -Press, 7/2/1962.
Clues In Bomb Murder Mystery
(N.Z. Press Association) DUNEDIN, April 8. The police have released pictures of a Busch Jaeger pull-through 6 amp. switch and of a piece of pinus timber in an endeavour to trace the origin of the parcel bomb which killed the 62-year-old solicitor, James Patrick Ward, in his Dunedin office two months ago. The switch is identical to that contained in the bomb.
Detective Inspector A. I. Knapp, of the Homicide Squad, who released the pictures, said that these German-made switches had been on the New Zealand market for about nine years.
Sales had fluctuated with import restrictions, but in the last two years more than 1000 had come to electrical shops and other concerns throughout Otago. Used mainly for electric blankets and reading lamps they have a "pull through” action with the moveable section coloured red and black.
The switch contained in the parcel was of a white plastic material, and most of the Busch Jaeger switches follow this pattern. It could be, Mr Knapp said, that the constituents of the bomb were not recently acquired, and the assistance of the public was particularly sought in the identification of the trademark or name on the piece of timber.
The wood, 3-8in thick, had been sawn across to a width of 2in, and had probably been cut from a box.
The original box could possibly have been fairly old. according to Mr Knapp.
He is anxious to obtain information regarding the stencilled letters, most of which are about 1/4in high. -Press, 9/4/1962.
MURDER OF LAWYER
Police Have Lead
(N.Z. Press Association) DUNEDIN, May 8. It is believed that the police may have their first solid lead in the murder of James Patrick Ward, the 63-year-old Dunedin lawyer, who was killed by a bomb in his office 13 weeks ago.
Chief-Superintendent W. R. Fell, head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, it is understood, has been informed of new developments which may concern a man already in custody in connexion with other charges.
It was not known at police headquarters, Wellington, today, whether Mr Fell would be returning to Dunedin.
Rumour and speculation have been rife since the explosion in the offices of James Ward and Company, on the corner of Stuart street and Moray place, at 9 a.m. on February 5.
Mr Ward's death in hospital some hours later set off one of the most painstaking murder inquiries ever known in New Zealand. -Press, 9/5/1962.
Bomb Murderer Still Untraced (excerpt)
The first witness at the inquest today was a member of the staff of James Ward and Company, Batty Helen Taylor, who collected the mail and parcel containing the bomb from the chief post office shortly before 8.30 a.m. on the day of the murder. She took the mail back to the office where Mr Toomey began opening it.
“Among the mail was a parcel addressed to the firm,” said Toomey. “I removed the outside wrapping and saw that on an envelope attached to the inside wrapping it was marked: ’Personal, Mr Ward.’”
Toomey said he then handed the parcel to Ward.
“I think it would be about three minutes later when I heard a fantastic bang. My first impression was that the main office switchboard in the corridor had been blown out.” said Toomey.
‘‘I left the main office and walked into the corridor. I saw the door of Mr Ward’s office was closed. This was unusual.
“I went to the office and opened the door. I was immediately met by a smell like gunpowder, and I saw the room was in a state of chaos.
“The deceased was lying on his right side beneath the two windows facing Stuart street.
“At this stage he was unconscious. I supported his head, and when doing so noticed that his left hand had been blown off and that he had received injuries in his chest.
“I remained with the deceased and, at this stage, he regained consciousness and spoke to me by my first name.
“He asked that his head be raised and asked on several occasions what had happened He kept asking that his head be raised and his clothing loosened.
“He said: ‘Who could have done this to me.’
“He also asked for a doctor.
“I then sponged his face with water until the ambulance arrived. While waiting for the ambulance the deceased asked for morphine." Toomey said he accompanied Ward to the hospital to the ambulance and it was not until Toomey was in the ambulance that “I realised that it was the parcel that had exploded.”
Toomey, who had been a partner in the firm since 1951. said that Ward confided in him at all times. “I do not know of any threat made to the deceased." -Press, 11/9/1962.
The murder of James Ward remains unsolved. It is more recent than most of the stories in this blog and, because of that and the possibility of bringing unhappy memories to the surface, I have not until now thought of researching it.
But a recent encounter through a Fb marketplace transaction led me to a woman who claimed she knew who had done it. Patrick Ward, apparently, did a lot of divorce work and that was a natural direction for the police enquiry. There was also a deal of friction in Ward's family. But I was told that it was done by a family member of the woman I met. More than that, I cannot say. The police have not been interested in the family's suspicions. Perhaps they have their own, stronger, theories. Perhaps, although it is a famous New Zealand cold case, since all involved are probably dead it might be viewed as a waste of police resources.
James Patrick Ward was buried in Dunedin and his burial records reveal a further tragedy - six stillborn babies, buried between 1939 and 1951, and a two year old daughter, buried in 1942.
Photographs of the building to come.
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