$100,000 reward in death case
Police have offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information on the suspicious death of an 88-year-old Gisborne man in 2013.
‘‘Immunity from prosecution may be considered for any accomplice, not being the main offender, who provides information or evidence to police,’’ police said yesterday.
Russell Allison was a World War II veteran, a loving dad and granddad, a respected farmer, and a devoted husband to wife Marie, who died seven years before he did.
He died when his house at Te
Karaka, near Gisborne, was burned to the ground in the early hours of January 25, 2013.
Police have been investigating the case ever since and in a Cold Case episode last month they revealed there was one ‘‘person of interest’’ who kept cropping up.
Eastern district criminal investigations manager Detective Inspector Rob Jones said the investigations team was ‘‘encouraged by the information we have received’’ as a result of the show but ‘‘we know there are still people who can help us finally solve this case’’.
He said the team was still interested in the movements of a blue-coloured Nissan March car that travelled from Tauranga to Matata¯, Ta¯neatua and po¯tiki and then in the direction of Te Karaka in the hours leading up to the fire.
‘‘Police will pay out a reward of up to $100,000 for material information or evidence that leads to the identity and conviction of any person or people responsible for Mr Allison’s death,’’ Jones said. The offer of a reward will remain in force until April 30.
Among the new information revealed on Cold Case was that Allison received a disturbing phone call on January 24 from a ‘‘person of interest’’ known to both Allison and son John.
The call lasted 22 minutes and left Allison extremely distressed.
John Allison said his dad told him the call had included ‘‘a little bit of a threat’’ and it led John to make doubly sure his father was safe before he left the house about midnight.
Police will not reveal the identity of the person who made the call.
John said it was a person he had ‘‘real concerns about’’ and he told police about the call immediately after the fire.
It was also revealed that the fire started in the kitchen and tests had shown there was nothing to indicate it had been an accident or due to an electrical fault.
Critically, the show revealed that a forensic locksmith had proved that the back door to
Allison’s unlocked.
It can only have been opened from the inside as the only key for it was inside the house.
John had ensured both doors were locked when he left the house. He left the front door key in the usual place, on a water tank outside the house. Only a small group of caregivers and one other family member knew where the key was kept. The key has never been located.
Another new piece of information was that police had located an ‘‘item of interest’’ on the lawn outside Allison’s house that had been deposited there some time after the blaze started. Police will not reveal what the item was. house had been