The Star: June 27, 2019

The Star Thursday June 27 2019
6
NEWS
news online at www.star.kiwi
Rewards to solve crimes: Do
Last month, police
offered $100,000 for
information leading
to a conviction in
the unsolved Angela
Blackmoore murder
case. So how do
police rewards come
about and are they
ever claimed? Sophie
Cornish reports
MORE THAN a month after
revealing the $100,000 reward,
police are still searching for Miss
Blackmoore’s killer.
The 21-year-old was 10-weeks
pregnant when she was stabbed
39 times in her home in
Vancouver Cres, Wainoni, in
August 1995.
Her two-year-old son was
sleeping under the same roof
at the time of her death – an
investigation that has since been
dubbed Operation Vancouver.
Head of the investigation,
Detective Sergeant Todd
Hamilton said there has been
no update to the case since
announcing the reward on May
18.
More than 40 calls were
received on an 0800 information
line by the end of May.
The reward will remain in
effect until October 16.
The homicide case, along with
many others around the country,
remains unsolved and no one has
ever been held to account for the
young mother’s death.
Offering rewards for
information which leads to an
arrest is not uncommon in New
Zealand. But rarely are they ever
claimed.
Detective Sergeant Ross
Tarawhiti has worked on
two high-profile cases which
have offered rewards – the
disappearance of Tuitania (Tui)
Barclay in 2002 and Yoon Sook
Chun in 2009 – neither of which
were claimed.
He believes rewards are mainly
offered as a last resort tactic.
“For a lot of cases, it’s gone a
long way down the track and it’s
UNSOLVED: Detective Sergeant Ross Tarawhiti has worked on two high-profile
investigations which have offered rewards but remained unsolved. These were the
disappearance of Tui Barclay in 2002 and Yoon Sook Chun in 2009.
Mallory Manning Angela Blackmoore Yoon Sook Chun
just given to try and generate
some public interest to try and
hopefully find someone who
maybe is looking for a bit of
money and could be motivated
by that. It’s a last resort most
of the time . . . police national
headquarters have to be satisfied
that every other avenue has been
exhausted,” he said.
Canterbury University
professor and crime expert Greg
Newbold said the “last ditch
effort” by police is often to entice
people whose allegiances and
loyalties may have changed.
“When the crime is fresh in
people’s minds and they know
the perpetrator or something
about it, they may decline to
speak, out of loyalty. It might be
their boyfriend, husband, best
friend, someone close to them
who knows about it.
Ten years down the track,
those people might have fallen
out, they might not know each
other anymore and the
fact that there is a lot of
money being offered,
that might sway them
to think: ‘Oh well, he
deserves it and I need the
dough’.
“The perpetrator may
be old, they might be
infirm, the person might
be unable to even go to
trial,” said Professor Newbold.
Detective Inspector Corrie
Parnell spoke about this during
the announcement of the reward
Greg Newbold
for Operation Vancouver.
“With the passing of time
allegiances may have changed and
we’re appealing to anyone with
information that might help, no
matter how small or seemingly
insignificant, to contact
us,” he said.
Professor Newbold
doesn’t believe guilt or
conscience would play a
role in someone coming
forward with information
many years later.
“If guilt and
conscience was a factor
they would have come
forward a long time ago. What’s
going to tip the balance will be
the money . . . it’s easy to have
a conscience when you have
$100k going into your pocket.”
Protection or immunity may
be offered in return for valuable
information.
“Immunity against prosecution
will be considered for any
accomplice to the murder,” was
stated during the reveal of the
Operation Vancouver reward.
However, Professor Newbold
said it would be highly unlikely
that a “clean skin” – someone
without a criminal record –
would be targeted for giving
evidence
“The chances of retaliation are
almost zero . . . but, if they are in
the criminal world there would
be, because they have broken the
code.”
So what’s been offered and
what’s been claimed?
Rewards will often expire
without being claimed.
The conditions of each reward
vary, but Detective Sergeant
Tarawhiti said rewards are
mainly given out when police are
given information that would be
sufficient to enable a prosecution.
In the case of Mrs Chun and
Ms Barclay, neither rewards were
given out due to “insufficient
information,” he said.
“We did get some information
but a lot of it was speculation and
things like that, it wasn’t anything
of substance. Had it of been, we
would have obviously paid out. It
never progressed further.”
In 2008, the New Zealand
Herald reported that in the
five years prior, New Zealand
police had offered $800,000 in
reward money – but not paid out
a cent.
In 2014, the cold case of the
disappearance of Tui Barclay was
re-opened, with police suspecting
foul play and offering a $50,000
reward for information.
It expired without being
claimed in January 2015.
There have been no confirmed
sightings of the Dunedin motherof-three
since September 17,
2002.
In 2003, police said strong
leads suggested Ms Barclay went
to Christchurch and linked with
a local gang.
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