Fugitive ‘ninja’ hid under bus for 200km
The third part of a series looking at the life and crimes of Christopher John Lewis, a self-styled teen terrorist whose bizarre criminal antics kept police busy from his school days until his strange suicide in prison at age 33.
Christopher John Lewis steps into the hot bath, takes a sip of brandy and lights a cigar. On the television in his motel room is a news report of a large police manhunt for him.
The problem for police is they are searching on the West Coast, but Lewis is in Wellington, watching the drama unfold.
THE FUGITIVE
By the time Lewis finds himself holed up in a Wellington motel in May 1987, the young man has already been jailed three times.
His longest stint was more than three years in custody for a crime spree in 1981, which ended with the then-17-year-old firing a shot at Queen Elizabeth II during her Dunedin visit that year.
Lewis narrowly escaped treason charge.
After serving more time for burglary (including that of his former primary school) in 1985, Lewis was in his 20s and ready to make headlines again.
THE RUN
The former boy burglar appeared to be going straight. Now living in Christchurch, the 23-yearold a had a partner, regularly attended church, and had set-up his own ninja dojo. But his new civilian life did not last.
First, he hit a Christchurch BNZ bank and three post offices two in Dunedin - netting about $20,000. Armed with a fake pistol and a ninja sword, he eluded police and headed for the West Coast with his adopted kitten, Tiger.
Running out of cash, he returned to Christchurch to rob another bank. He was soon being followed by police, and after a high-speed pursuit in torrential rain through the Buller Gorge, Lewis deliberately drove off the road, plunging 10 metres into dense bush. He abandoned Tiger and fled.
Police told media the chance of Lewis surviving was ‘‘very slim’’ given the cold and wet conditions, but noted a diary found in his crashed car showed he previously survived in the bush for days.
That was thanks to his ninja skills, Lewis wrote in his memoir.
He’d first learnt the martial art Tae Kwon Do as a 14-year-old, but was drawn to the art of the ninja under the tutelage of the so-called Master Leong.
His martial arts training showed him ‘‘how to injure, or even kill someone with my bare hands’’.
He eventually ran his own ‘‘terrorism’’ courses in Christchurch under the guise of a Ninjutsu class, telling students he was a black belt, first dan.
After a week evading police in the bush, he came to a road where he spied an empty bus he hoped would take him south to Greymouth.
Placing his cash-filled backpack under the bus, he nestled on some pipes to make his escape. Unfortunately for Lewis, the bus travelled 100km to Karamea, and he was forced to return to Westport the same way.
Lewis then walked along railway tracks and at the Inangahua Junction he hitched a ride to Blenheim and flew to Wellington.
After securing passage to Melbourne by boat, Lewis flew to Auckland and stayed in a bedsit to await departure.
After a tip-off, he was finally captured at gunpoint by police.
He pleaded guilty to eight robberies and burglaries and was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years’ jail.
Considered a security risk, Lewis was sent to the toughest prison in the country - Paremoremo - where he found enlightenment.
THE BUDDHIST
Monks visit the young criminal who converted to Buddhism and is working on his rehabilitation. Five years into his sentence, he is released on parole.
It takes just four weeks before he is back inside following another bank robbery.
Freed again in 1995, Lewis and his then-partner move to Karekare, a small coastal settlement west of Auckland, to practise yoga and start a business selling herbal medicine for dogs.
He finds a studio and starts teaching the Korean martial art Hapkido, and later Ninjutsu.
But in a year, he will be awaiting trial again: he is accused of murdering an Auckland housewife.
Lewis maintained he was framed for murder by a former cellmate dubbed ‘Jimmy the Weasel’, who was paid $30,000 by police for his information.
Did Lewis really bludgeon 27-year-old Tania Furlan to death in her own home? How did his shoe print end up at the murder scene?
And how did the young criminal manage to take his own life while under prison watch?
Read the final chapter tomorrow.