Olive Walker (Unsolved Murder)

It was early winter 1970 in the city of Rotorua on the North Island of New Zealand. On the evening of Friday May 15th, 18 year old Olive Walker wrapped up warm and set out on foot to her sister's house across town, to babysit her nieces and nephews. Around an hour later Olive was spotted near the Odeon cinema in the centre of Rotorua, only ten minutes from her destination. This was the last time Olive was seen alive.  A short time later multiple witnesses reported hearing screams from a nearby residential area. Within hours a group of teenagers discovered Olive's body in a highway rest area just out of town. The killer was long gone but had left some vital clues to their identity.
 
Sources for the episode can be found here

Transcript

Olive Walker

Rotorua is a city located within the Bay Area Region on the North Island of New Zealand with a population today of around 60,000. It is known for its geothermal activity, including bubbling mud pools, hot springs, and geysers. Rotorua is also home to a significant Maori population and offers visitors the opportunity to learn about Maori culture and traditions. The city is surrounded by beautiful lakes and forests, making it a popular destination for outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, and fishing.

This picturesque part of the world is home to the Walker family, who have lived there since the 1960’s. In 1970 a tragedy befell the family that decades later continues to affect them deeply.

It was early winter and the evening of Friday May 15th 1970 was cold and crisp. 18 year old Olive Walker had arranged to go over to her sister Mary's house and babysit her nieces and nephews. On Thursday she had asked her father if she could spend a day or so at her sister's home in Malfoy Road near the city centre. This was about an hour from the Walker family home on Leslie Avenue in the north west of Rotorua. As a note, in reports the address is given as Leslie Street but a Google Maps search only brings up Leslie Avenue.

Olive telephoned her sister about the arrangement but, for whatever reason, decided to head over later on in the day. At 6.45pm she left the house and made her way on foot, wrapped up in a fawn coloured duffle coat to shield her from the chilly night air. Underneath this garment Olive wore a red pair of cotton slack trousers and a red and green patterned long sleeve jumper. On her feet she wore red socks and sandshoes, which in the UK we would call plimsolls.

A little over an hour after leaving, at 7.50pm, Olive bumped into some former school mates outside the Odeon Cinema on Pukaki Street. I believe this is now the site of Destiny Church. This marks the last time Olive was seen alive. From here it is thought the 18 year old made her way down Amohau Street and then onto Ranolf Road before arriving at Malfoy Road. Shortly after she was last seen numerous witnesses reported hearing screams on Malfoy Road. The screams were heard at different locations along the road, which could indicate that the person screaming was doing so from inside a travelling car. 

At 11.30pm a group of young people were out having fun driving along State Highway 5 which runs between Rotorua and Tumunui. They were 8.5km/5.3miles south of Rotorua Post Office, near Rainbow Mountain and on the edge of the Whakarewarewa Forest Park when they pulled off the road into a rest area. There were numerous rest areas in the locality. This one was raised and could not be seen from road level. It was accessed by a gravel track. As the teenagers pulled into the parking area the car headlights illuminated a picnic table at the far end of the rest area. This was about 35 m from the road. Just behind the bench, lying in the supine position was a partially clothed body. In panic the young people fled and raised the alarm.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jack Collins got the call that night to attend the scene at the rest area. He had been working on another case, a missing person’s inquiry an hour's drive east in Awakaponga. 34 year old mother of three Betty McKay disappeared on April 12th 1970. DSS Collins was asked to leave that case and come to Rotorua straight away to investigate the brutal slaying.

As a note Betty Mckay was never seen again and her case remains unsolved. There are well-established theories about what happened to her. Her case is not thought to be related to the events detailed in this episode.

DSS Collins arrived at the rest area and noticed that there was a large pool of blood 9 to 12 metres from the body. It was theorised that this was the spot the body had been taken out of a car. It had then been dragged to the picnic table which stood in the most secluded spot of the rest area. There were obvious wheel markings in the soft ground near the pool of blood as well as noticeable footprints surrounding where the body lay. The victims' shoes had been removed. A pair of sandshoes believed to have belonged to the victim were found nearby.

The victim had been beaten viciously around the head, causing horrendous injuries. No identification was found on the body so it wasn't until the following morning that it was confirmed to be that of 18 year old Olive Walker. Tragically her father had driven past the rest area late on Friday night and seen the flashing lights and large police presence. He had no idea his daughter was the cause. 

Olive's sister Mary, whom Olive had been going to see that night, found out about the discovery of the body when she turned on the radio that morning. Needless to say the Walker family were heartbroken. Olive’s mother had left the previous Wednesday for a week's holiday in Auckland. She returned on Saturday to mourn her daughter with the rest of the large Walker family.

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Olive Oriwia Walker was born on May 9th 1952.  She had celebrated her 18th birthday less than a week before she was murdered. Olive was the third youngest child in a family of 10 and  attended primary school  at Moerewa, in the Northland region of North Island. In 1963 the family uprooted and moved 447 km, 277 miles south to the city of Rotorua. Olive’s father had a job as a milk and cream delivery person. In Rotorua Olive continued her education, first at Western Heights School and then Western Heights High School. She left formal education when she was 16 and worked for a time at a local nursery. She left that position at Christmas in 1969 and then stayed at home doing jobs for her mother and father around the house; helping out with the running of a large family. The Government Department for Labour were keen to find further paid employment for Olive and suggested she join a sheep shearing party that was soon to be travelling to Hawkes Bay, a three hour drive away on the east coast of North island. Olive's father wasn't keen on his daughter going away and said he was happy to look after her financially until she found another job. According to an interview with Olive’s father shared by the New Zealand press association on May 18th 1970 his daughter couldn't find a job she liked. 

In the interview Mr Walker speaks with great affection and admiration about his daughter. She was a likeable and lively person in whom he had great confidence and trust. She would often go out with one of her younger brothers and he never worried for them as they were both sensible young people. 

Olive had a gentle character and was excellent at looking after young children. She enjoyed going to discos organised by the local police, though she was too shy to talk with boys or ask them to dance. The “Sensing Murder” documentary broadcast in early 2006 describes Olive as  being young for her age and a slow learner. I would say she was a vulnerable young adult. 

A postmortem was carried out by Dr E.W Ensor of Rotorua hospital. Olive had sustained massive injuries to her skull which effectively broke it into seven pieces. She suffered fractures, bruising and brain contusions and lacerations. Olive’s chin had been punctured. DSS Jack Jones later said that any one of the injuries would have been enough to kill her. 

The rest of the body did not display any signs of bruising and there are no defensive wounds on the hands or arms. The attack was solely focused on Olive's head. Time of death was said to be between 9.15 and 10.55pm on Friday evening.

The head wounds were caused by a heavy, blunt object with sharp projections. There were two distinct types of wound pattern, which could mean two weapons were used. The weapon or weapons have never been recovered. A hammer, tyre iron and spanner have been put forward as the most likely murder weapons. 

The investigation was led by DI J A McCarthy, the head of the regional Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) for Hamilton and Rotorua, but within three days this responsibility had been handed over to DI P M Gentry of Auckland CIB. McCarthy returned east to take the lead in the Betty Mckay case. 

Shortly after taking over control of the operation, DI Gentry told the press that there was no clear evidence that Olive had been sexually assaulted, though he added that her clothes were somewhat disarranged. We now know this to be false. It may be that early investigators were holding this information back for investigative purposes or to protect Olive. Rotorua Police Detective George Staunton confirmed in 2006 that spermatozoa was found inside Olive’s underwear and on her body which makes it seem likely that a sexual assault had taken place. The 2006 episode of “Sensing murder” states that it was believed that Olive had been a virgin and had not been sexually active in the past. Most modern day sources and news articles about the crime state that Olive was raped.

DSS Jack Collins worked as Gentry’s second in command. Many years later he confirmed that some blood believed to have come from the killer was found at the rest area; presumably on or near the body. It was said to be from a common blood type. (Presumably O positive or A positive, though I can’t confirm that).

Rotorua police got straight into analysing the evidence left at the scene. The rest area itself was searched thoroughly. DI Bill Beck of Rotorua CIB took various items from the scene for forensic experts from the Department of Scientific and Industrial research (DSIR) to examine in their Auckland lab. The tyre tracks and footprints left at the scene were also studied and potentially revealed some key details about the killer.

 In all 11 distinct footprints were found at the rest area close to the body. As that part of the rest area was the furthest from the road, few people had been there recently and so the footprints stood out all the more. The damp weather also meant clear indentations had been created in the soft muddy earth. Police had little doubt these prints belonged to the killer.

The footprints were made by a work boot manufactured by the Kiwi-Flex brand. These were standard issue to employees working in the local forestry industry and in the nearby Waipa sawmill. The mill was just across the ridge from the rest arena, maybe a five minute drive away. What's more the size of the boot was deemed to be a size 6 (this is the same size in the UK or about a 6.5/7 in the US) This is relatively small for a man's foot. Police inquiries found that only about 5% of that brand and model of work boot was made in a size 6.

The tyre tracks were also fairly unusual. Three of the tyres were of the same type and one was different. Based on measurements taken of the markings left at the rest area it was calculated that the turning arc of the car was about 9.4 metres. Investigators discovered only 7 models of car had a similar turning arc. 

These key facts led Police to reveal that they were looking for a man short in stature. Lead detective DI PM Gentry added that they believed him to have driven a Hillman or Humber car on the night in question. Hillman and Humber were British car companies. Humber bought out Hillman in the late 1920s and Hillman then centred on the smaller car market for Humber. Humber was bought by Chrysler in 1967. They were popular cars in 1970.

The evidence clearly pointed to the perpetrator having the aid of a car in the completion of the attack and murder, but those closest to Olive said there was no way she would have accepted a lift from a stranger. As is standard in any murder investigation, close attention was given to those in Olive’s life. Family members, friends and those associated with Olive and the Walker family were all interviewed and checked out. All had alibis or did not fit the known evidence i.e. a size 6 shoe. If, as it was looking probable, the perpetrator was someone unfamiliar to Olive, they must have used coercion or brute force to get Olive into the car. Remember screams were heard that night all the way down Malfoy Road.

 Two weeks before the murder Olive had complained to her parents that she thought a man had followed her in a Humber car while she was walking down the street. This car fits the evidence concerning the tyre markings found at the scene but it is unknown whether this event was connected to the murder.

Police were keen to hear from anyone who had seen Olive after 7pm on Friday night. At first they believed Olive had been picked up in the car close to 7pm and likely near the intersection of Clayton Road and Taupo Road. This was a mere ten minute walk from her home. After former school mates of Olive came forward to say they had seen her near the Odeon cinema closer to 8pm this timeline was revised. All public transport operators in the area were checked as police had a theory that Olive may have taken a bus or taxi ride on Friday night. This avenue yielded little information.

Investigators asked members of the public who had been out driving on Friday evening and might have passed the rest area on Highway 5 to come forward. In particular they were looking for a man in his 30s who was picked up by a young couple in Rotorua 17.47 between 2 and 3am on the morning of Saturday  May 16th. That's just a few hours after Olive’s body was found. The couple met the man on Amohau Street, Rotorua and gave him a lift to Waipa, 5 km/3 miles away, where his car had run out of fuel. The spot was very close to the rest area where Olive was found. I do not know if this person was ever traced.

A possible lead materialised  after two sets of independent witnesses came forward and recounted seeing a fight at 9pm on Friday night. This incident occurred on the street outside the Rotorua hotel. The fight was between a male and a girl. The girl was described as being Maori. She was wearing a duffle coat similar to the one worn by Olive when she left her home that evening.  I am unsure if this incident was ever confirmed to have been connected to Olive’s murder.  Modern accounts of the events of that night do not mention it.

Police put out a plea for anyone who had seen a driver of a car who was burning car mats on the roadside between Rotorua and Taupo on the day after the murder. I’m guessing a witness must have come forward telling of this rather bizarre spectacle, which in turn prompted a request by investigators. It’s unclear if detectives were ever able to shed more light on this incident. 

By August 4th police had talked with over 4000 persons and checked a thousand cars. A team of 16 detectives had been working 7 hour double shifts in an effort to find Olive's killer. A reward was put up for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer. The NZ Press association said the amount given was £3000 (though the currency had switched to dollars in 1967 it was still given in pounds). Sadly this did not lead to the breakthrough the family and the police were hoping for. By November 1970 22 detectives from all over New Zealand had worked the case and a staggering 25,000 staff hours had been spent. However at this juncture the team of detectives shrunk considerably and many of the homicide specialists who had been working on it returned to their home cities. It was left to the local Rotorua police force to continue the hunt for the killer. 

An inquest into Olive’s death was held in January 1972. 7000 people had been spoken with and 1800 cars had been checked but police seemed no closer to catching the killer. Coroner E C East concluded that Olive had been murdered by a person or persons unknown. 

Inquiries continued at a slow pace. DSS Jack Collins, who had been second in command in the investigation, had been transferred out of CIB and sent to another city to work. I will come back to the reasons behind this a little later. From what I can see Collins did periodically work on the case but from uniform rather than the detective branch. In December 1974 Collins flew from Hamilton, where he was now based, to Dunedin, a city on the South Island of New Zealand. He travelled there to interview a man in connection with Olive’s murder. Just days later it was announced that the conversations with the man had led nowhere and nothing came of this lead. 

Over those first couple of years police eyed 370 suspects, but not one stood out from all the rest. The case went cold and years passed.

Ivan Milat was one of Australia's most notorious serial killers, responsible for the infamous "Backpacker Murders" that took place in the 1990s. Between 1989 and 1993, Milat lured seven young backpackers, both Australian and international tourists, into the Belanglo State Forest in New South Wales, where he brutally murdered them. The victims were found with signs of extreme violence, including gunshot wounds and stab wounds, leading authorities to a protracted investigation. Milat's capture in 1994 came after one of his would-be victims, Paul Onions, escaped and later identified Milat. In 1996, Milat was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. 

Following this there was speculation concerning other murders Milat may have committed in Australia and possibly New Zealand.  As he was known to have visited the country.  I have found an interview between Journalist Kent Caddick and retired police officer Jack Collins from 1996 in which a possible link between Milat and the murder of Olive Walker is discussed. Collins thought it unlikely. Milat remained notoriously tight-lipped about other possible crimes. He remained unrepentant and denied the crimes he was convicted of until his death in 2019. 

The Caddick/Collins interview also touches on whether Olive's death could be connected to two other similar crimes that happened in New Zealand around that time period. The first is the 1969 murder of Jennifer Beard. Jennifer Beard, a 25-year-old Welsh schoolteacher, was travelling through New Zealand when she went missing on New Year’s Eve  while hitchhiking from Haast to Wanaka on the West Coast of the South Island. Her body was discovered three weeks later under a bridge near the Haast River, sparking a massive police investigation. Jennifer had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Despite extensive inquiries and several suspects, no one was ever charged with her murder. 

The second case is that of the 1975 murder of Mona Blades. 18 year old Mona disappeared while hitchhiking from Hamilton to Hastings on May 31, 1975, to attend her nephew’s birthday party. Witnesses reported seeing her get into an orange Datsun station wagon, but she was never seen alive again. Mona’s case remains unsolved.

In the aforementioned interview Collins said that a potential link between these murders and Olive Waker was looked into by detectives during the 1970s. In my research I read that Detective E T Mitten from Dunedin came to look over the case in September 1972. Mitten headed the investigation into Jennifer Beard's murder. According to Collins investigators concluded there was no connection between the killings. Although equally as tragic and sharing some similarities it is believed they were not victims of the same perpetrator.

As an aside, there have been developments in the Jennifer Beard  case over the last decade including revelations about a confession but I won't go into those here. I may cover her story in another episode.

Almost a decade later, in July 2005, former detective Jack Collins was interviewed again, on this occasion by the Rotorua Daily Post. By this point Collins had been retired for 20 years and still looked back with disappointment that he had not been able to solve Olive’s case. He spoke about his frustration about collecting so much evidence, the tyre tracks, footprints etc. but never being able to catch the killer. Collins did not believe the killer was any of the individuals that were spoken to back in the early 1970s. This appears to be an opinion he kept until his death in 2011. Collins believed the killer was not known to Olive and that it was a sexually motivated “stranger” murder, meaning the victim was not known by the perpetrator. 

Over the years the former detective had thought a lot about the case and had developed a hunch about who the killer was. I believe this person of interest was not on the radar back in the 1970s. In 2005 this unnamed individual was serving time in prison for committing a number of rapes and a murder. It was a “stranger” murder. 

This man was only 16 at the time of Olive's murder and was small in stature, which Colins believed could explain the small footprints found in the mud at the rest area. Through Collins' own inquiries he found out that the man had links to the Rotorua area. 

I referenced earlier a TV program “Sensing murder” which featured an episode on Olive's case. “Sensing Murder” is a New Zealand show where psychics are tasked with trying to solve unsolved murders and cold cases. To select the psychic detectives the production company first gathered seventy people from all over New Zealand who claimed to have psychic powers and set them a challenge. They were provided with a picture of a victim from a solved murder case. They were then asked to describe the circumstances surrounding the murder and give details of the guilty party. Only three of the seventy  were able to say accurately what actually had happened. The company ran the same test in Australia and in this instance, from a pool of one hundred, five psychics correctly recalled the details of the case. The psychics appearing in the show were selected from these eight individuals.

Police involved in the Olive Walker case had mixed opinions about the validity of participating in such a show. Retired detective Jack Collins declined to be involved and was sceptical about any benefit it could bring. Another former detective, Bill Beck, who was also part of the original investigative team did appear on the show. Beck said he had an open mind and that in order to solve the case new information was needed. He thought it didn't matter where that information came from. 

Detective Sergeant George Staunton of the Rotorua police department, who had responsibility over the Olive Walker when the documentary aired in 2006 (he was handed the case in 2004), did take part in the TV show, although he maintained that the police do not hire mediums to solve cases. It is clear he wanted to do everything in his power to publicise Olive's story in hope that the increased publicity would lead to new information and flush out the killer from hiding.

Episode two of season one titled “Walk of Innocence” centred on the tragic events of Friday May 15th 1970. It was screened toward the end of January 2006.  The two psychics involved were Deb Webber and Adelle Dishcombe. Before appearing on the show they were told nothing about the murder. They were kept apart from each other and did not meet during filming. After being told they would be flying to New Zealand they were put under close supervision and not allowed to do any research. Deb had never been to New Zealand before. I believe Adelle did her filming first, a couple of weeks before Deb.

I’ll briefly go over some of what Deb and Adelle came up with as some of their conclusions were looked into by the police. To start both psychics were given a picture of Olive. Interestingly Deb didn't look at the picture for quite some time. Without prior knowledge Deb pointed to Rotorua on a map as the location of the murder. During their separate trips to Rotorua Deb and Adelle were placed in a car 8km/ 5miles from the scene of the murder and told to direct the car driver to the crime scene.

The rest area was no longer in use and was overgrown with vegetation. Deb stopped the car at the exact spot and after searching around walked to the exact spot Olive's boy was found. When it was Adelle’s turn she stopped the car just 5 metres away from the rest area. She walked to within 2 m of the left of where the body was found.  A Rotorua detective brought to the scene the duffle coat that Olive had worn on the night she was killed. It had not been washed since that night, though the blood stains had faded over the ensuing years. Both psychics were allowed to hold the coat to see if it would bring to mind any other details.

Both Deb and Adelle had a similar idea of the killer and what he looked like. They suggested the man had seen Olive before but probably did not know her. They thought he was a local and had been in trouble with the police before. They pinpointed the Waipa Mill as a possible place of work for this man. Both gave a similar description of the killer as older than Olive, dirty, possibly wearing overalls and both said there was something wrong with one of his eyes. Deb and Adelle both mentioned a tattoo on the man's neck with pointy lines. Adelle mentioned something about a button which provoked an interesting response from a former detective Duncun Holland who was working on the show. Apparently when Olive was found there was a button missing from her red slacks. This has never been located. 

Deb sat down with a police artist and together they came up with an identikit of the man. Deb thought the tattoo was of a small star and the man had a scar under his right eye. Deb even mentioned a first and last name. The first name was Doug. I won’t repeat the surname she mentioned in order to prevent any misidentification. 

Former detective Duncan Holland looked into some of the theories and ideas Deb and Adelle had proposed. A link to the Waipa sawmill was examined. It was hypothesised that the murder weapon could be a pickaroon, which was a common hand tool used by workers in the sawmill. A pickaroon is a log handling tool which looks a little bit like an ice axe. It has a sharp point and flat hard side. The producers of the show asked pathologists if a pickaroon could have made both wound patterns on Olive's skull. They believed it was a possibility.

In 1970 an estimated 200 men had been working at  Waipa sawmill. Unfortunately no personal records were in existence from that time so it could not be ascertained if anyone with the same name Deb had given had worked there. 

Duncan Holland’s research did lead him to find a person with a similar surname to the one put forward by Deb who had raped and murdered a young girl in the 1990s. The body was left at the side of the road like Olive’s. This person was now behind bars. This information was passed on to the police with the hope they would look into if the man had any connection to Rotorua.

It wasn't difficult to work out the identity of the man that Duncun Holland was referring to. In 2020 he was still behind bars for his crimes, having been denied parole. I am uncertain if he is still in prison or has now been released. I don't know if he was ever looked into for Olive’s murder; there is no evidence that I have seen that he was ever connected to the case.

I should say I do not know if this man is the same individual retired detective Jack Collins suspects of involvement in Olive’s murder. The man Duncun Holland is referring to would have been older than 16 when Olive was murdered, though only by a few years. 

The star tattoo was looked into by researchers who discovered that young offenders at a nearby borstal would often get similar tattoos as a right of passage. 

The identikit picture did bring forward some tips from members of the public. Some old names were mentioned that had cropped up in the past and one new name was given. Commenting on the identikit picture at the time the “Sensing Murder“ episode aired, police said that it did bear a resemblance to a man who had recently come to their attention for sex crimes committed around 1970.

Olive's sister Mary studied the identikit, saying it looked familiar but she didn’t know the man personally and doubted she could pick him out. 

The aftermath of the “Sensing murder“ episode was difficult for the Walker family. They were continually stopped by well meaning but intrusive members of the community who wanted to talk with them about the murder. Even though this was an emotionally draining experience for the family they told the Rotorua Daily Post that they were glad they had participated in the TV show. 

Several months after the episode screened psychic Deb Webber returned to Rotorua to do a live show at a local convention centre. Deb had worked on several “Sensing Murder” episodes but she felt the strongest connection with Olive. Her vibrancy and vulnerability had connected with her heart. 

In a Rotorua Daily Post article from September 16th 2006 police commented that no firm leads had come out of the TV show. When confronted with this news psychic Deb Webber said that she was surprised at the police’s statement, as it was not what she had been told, adding she was not allowed to talk about it.

Indeed eighteen months after the “Sensing Murder” episode aired it was confirmed that the man said to resemble the identikit had been looked into by police and it was possible he could have killed Olive. I presume this means he could have been in the area at the time. The man was a convicted sex offender currently serving a prison sentence for violent and sexual crimes, and  had around another three years more to serve. 

DS George Staunton was quick to throw caution to this news, saying that this individual was not the only suspect in the case. In fact they were still looking at around 100 possible suspects. Rotorua police were hoping DNA evidence might provide a concrete link between the unnamed man and the crime. Whether this process would happen at all was purely down to resources. An already stretched police force had to constantly make decisions as to where to spend money and which cases to prioritise.

At that time resources were being ploughed into cases such as that of Nia Glassie. The three year old was subjected to weeks of physical abuse before dying in hospital from massive brian injuries on August 3rd 2007. It was a truly sickening and emotionally exhausting case which eventually saw Nia’s mother convicted of manslaughter and her stepfather and step uncle convicted of murder. With so much capital being ploughed into solving current crimes like Nia’s, there was less resources to devote to cold cases like that of Olive Walker. 

A journalist from the town of Taupo on the north island, Chris Birt, wrote a book in 2012 which contained some startling new information concerning the investigation into Olive’s murder. “All the Commissioners men. Inside the Crewe Murder Inquiry” was ostensibly about the murders of husband and wife Harvey and Jeanette Crewe. The couple were shot in their isolated farmhouse south west of Auckland in June 1970. Another local farmer Arthur Allan Thomas was wrongly convicted of the killings and served 9 years in prison before being released. A Royal Commission was established which highlighted wrongdoing on behalf of a police detective, which included the planting of evidence. To this day the murders remain unsolved. 

The reason Olive Walker's case is referenced in the book is because Chris Birt claims there was very nearly a similar miscarriage of justice in the Olive Walker case. As part of his research for the book Birt talked with retired Detective Jack Collins. We have already heard a lot from Jack Collins but what he told Birt shortly before his death gave even greater insight into the Olive Walker case.

During the early 1970’s New Zealand had an unusually high number of homicides or missing persons cases that were proving difficult to solve. For example Jennifer Beard, Betty Mckay, Harvey and Jeanette Crewe and Olive Walker. 

Collins told Birt that he was put under pressure by his superior Assistant Commissioner of Police and national head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, Bob Walton, to focus the investigation on the wrong suspect. Walton felt Collins should be concentrating on a male relative of Olive who had a criminal record. Collins was against this as the individual did not fit the evidence. 

According to Birt’s book, a meeting occurred between Collins and Walton on July 5th 1970, and it was here that Walton made the suggestion to focus the investigation on a man connected to the Walker family. Collins refused to do it. The evidence pointed to a man of small stature with size 6 feet. As a result Collins was transferred to uniform. According to an article in the New Zealand Herald from June 27th 2012 Walton told Collins that he was finished. Although Collins did work the case periodically over the next couple of years, it was not in a leadership position as a detective.

From his meeting with Collins Birt alleges Walton then travelled to Aukland to a conference of detectives investigating the Crewe double murder. Birt thinks at this gathering he applied pressure on the team to find a quick resolution to the case and thus started the beginnings of a  travesty of justice. As a note, please bear in mind Bob Walton retired in 1983 a highly decorated police officer. He passed in 2008  so he is not able to refute the claims. 

Collins never told anyone about this matter and always publicly supported the police. However, he wanted the truth to come out before he passed away. His wife Irene said he never really got over the blow of being banished from CIB. Collins spent the last fifteen years of his career in uniform. After initially being sent to Wellington he then did stints in Hamilton and Gisborne before returning to Rotorua. He was able to retire at the rank of chief inspector but never worked in CIB again. 

Birt dedicated his book to the memory of Collins, who sacrificed his career to ensure an innocent man did not get wrongly blamed for Olive's murder. 

Stories about the individual said by police to look similar to the identikit drawn up in 2006 resurfaced in 2018. On July 27th of that year journalist Kelly Makiha ran a piece in the Rotorua Daily Post which saw DS George Staunton confirm that this man was now out of prison and living in the Rotorua area. However, as there had been no substantial new information or DNA developments there were no plans to question him. At this point the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) were reviewing the case. ESR is a government created organisation which plays a key role in many areas such as public health, the environment and  forensic science. In the latter they support the police, providing crime scene examinations and DNA analysis. 

We can hope that as forensic technology increasingly pushes the boundaries of what is possible in this field, this case will yet be solved. There is also the chance that someone might yet come forward with information, as allegiances do change over time. Detective Bill Beck thought it possible that more than one person was involved in the crime. He thought the car the killer had driven may have been borrowed. This would have to mean someone else knew about the murder. 

Twenty six years after Olive’s murder her extended family were struck by an eerily similar tragedy. On March 21st 1996 31 year old Tewhai Brown from Okere Falls, about a 2 minute drive north east of Rotorua went missing. The New Zealand Herald reported in 2006 that Tewhai was Olive’s cousin. The mother of six was last seen walking along State Highway 33 towards the city of Tauranga. Tewhai looked in high spirits when she was seen by dozens of witnesses, singing and dancing along to a yellow radio she was carrying. Tewhai had been a very happy go lucky woman all her life but after a relationship breakdown she had suffered from bouts of depression over the previous 6 months. 

A coroner has legally declared Tewhai dead but the family cling to some hope she may be out there still alive. There is also the fear she may have been picked up by a killer and suffered the same fate as her cousin.

Olive Oriwia Walker is at rest along with generations of her family in a Maori Cemetery near Rotorua. This includes Olive’s father, who passed away in 1982; he never got over the trauma of losing his beloved daughter.

If you have any information about the 1970 murder of Olive Walker you can call the Rotorua Police on (07) 3480099 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. 

Sources 

https://tinyurl.com/4xms5j6h