Possum in trap alerts neighbour to man’s absence
A possum caught in a trap and a vehicle in a driveway alerted the neighbour of missing man Brett Hall to his disappearance.
John Thurlow, who lives on Whanganui River Rd next to Hall, raised the alarm after he noticed things where they shouldn’t be on the isolated property in Pitangi.
Thurlow detailed his relationship with Hall and the man alleged to have killed him, David Lyttle, in the High Court at Palmerston North yesterday.
Halcombe man Lyttle is standing trial for allegedly shooting, suffocating and killing Hall, before dismembering his body with a stanley knife and burying it in two locations on May 27, 2011. The body has never been found.
The Crown says Lyttle has, in an elaborate police sting, confessed to killing Hall. But the defence says the confession was forced and false.
On the morning of Tuesday May 31, 2011, Thurlow arrived at the site on Pitangi Track where Hall had been living and noticed Hall’s truck parked at an odd angle in the gateway and a possum in a trap nearby.
Thurlow thought this was odd for someone like Hall, who did a lot of possum trapping.
‘‘It was unusual for anyone in that line of business to leave a possum in some distress without dispatching it as soon as possible,’’ Thurlow said.
He also noticed ash on some corrugated iron, which he thought was unusual because Hall was usually organised and tidy.
Thurlow and Hall had an agreement to keep the gateway to the site free of vehicles so it didn’t scare sheep from going though, so it was strange Hall’s truck was left there.
‘‘That was a bit funny, the possum was a bit funny, and the fact that he wasn’t there was a bit funny.’’
Thurlow returned later that evening after speaking to another neighbour, Lyn Moorhouse, and they went to look for Hall again.
Thurlow shot the possum and fired two shots in the air with his .22 rifle in case Hall was lying somewhere injured and could signal to him.
That was when Thurlow ‘‘decided something was amiss’’ and after another search he went home and called police.
He returned the next morning to search again, and nothing had changed. Thurlow said he saw Lyttle at the entrance to the Pitangi Track, on Whanganui River Rd, on Thursday May 26, 2011, and Lyttle told him he was waiting for a building inspector.
The Crown says Hall arranged for Lyttle to build a house for him. Thurlow said he saw Lyttle and Hall together on Friday May 27, 2011, at the site, then saw Lyttle at the campsite over the next two days. Everything seemed ordinary. Since Hall started living on Pitangi Track, Thurlow had noticed more traffic on the Whanganui River Rd and on the track.
Senior Constable Alan Thomson was part of Whanganui search and rescue in 2011 and was involved in organising the logistics for the search for Hall.
Thomson spoke to Lyttle three times following Hall’s disappearance, as part of the search for the supposedly missing hunter, rather than for a murder investigation. Lyttle told Thomson he last saw Hall on Sunday May 29, 2011.
‘‘He also told me that [Hall] may go for a hunt through the Moorhouse cutting.’’
Lyttle told Thomson Hall had said he was going to Palmerston North on Wednesday June 1, 2011.
Thomson said Lyttle told him Hall had guns hidden on the property, because he had lost his firearms licence.
Thurlow never saw Hall with a firearm, but heard a lot of gunfire in the area, where people would go hunting or shooting tins.
The trial continues.