‘A role model family’
A serving police officer has been charged with murdering his wife and shooting her partner, leaving the community they lived in ‘‘shattered and devastated’’.
A policeman accused of murdering his wife is being described by members of a ‘‘shattered community’’ as being part of a ‘‘role model family’’.
From a special court hearing at his Southland Hospital bedside, Constable Ben McLean, 47, yesterday entered no plea to charges of murdering Verity Ann McLean and the attempted murder of Garry William Duggan. He was remanded in custody till May 18.
The 47-year-old, who was offduty at the time, allegedly shot dead his wife and tried to kill Duggan at the victims’ home in an industrial building on Otepuni Ave in the suburb on Newfield on Tuesday night.
Duggan, who was understood to be in relationship with Verity McLean, suffered several gunshot wounds and phoned emergency services at 8.19pm.
Ben McLean turned himself in to Invercargill Police Station 40 minutes later.
Duggan, a truck driver in his 40s, is understood to be in a stable condition in Dunedin Hospital.
Ben McLean’s alleged Anzac Day attack could be the first of its kind in recent New Zealand history involving a serving police officer. The constable has worked on road policing cases and road safety campaigns in the Southern District Policing team since graduating as an officer in December 2007.
When asked what might have led to the shooting, Ben McLean’s mother said it was ‘‘a very, very long story’’.
‘‘I’m holding up OK, I’ve got a lot of friends and family,’’ she said.
She did not know how her son was.
A friend of the McLeans, who did not want to be named, said yesterday she had know the pair, who have three children aged under 20, ‘‘for years’’.
‘‘To me they were just a role model family . . I am very sad for everyone involved.’’
Ben McLean, who was injured in the incident, was ‘‘a great person’’, she said. She could not remember when she last saw him and his wife together.
‘‘At the end of the day, I don’t know what’s happened.
‘‘They’re just lovely people and it’s just devastating for everyone involved.’’
Phil Brocks, owner of the property where the shooting took place, said he saw Verity McLean just hours before the shootings.
‘‘I was talking to Verity yesterday [on Tuesday] and it was about lunch time. She was good as gold.
Brocks said over the past few weeks, Brocks had been in touch with Ben, Garry and Verity.
‘‘I am close to Ben, but I have been friends with Garry for a long time and he’s a really great guy.’’
A second friend of Verity McLean, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she was ‘‘a lovely lady’’.
‘‘[She was] a caring, happy, great mum.’’
Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt said the shootings were hard on the small and tight-knit community as many people knew those involved.
‘‘I was contacted by the police and they informed me, without naming any names, what had happened.
‘‘People are just quite shattered and devastated by what’s happened,’’ he said.
‘‘Of course being a relatively small and tight-knit community, a lot of people know several of the people involved and I think that makes it a lot harder for everyone.’’
At a media briefing last night, the Southern District Commander, Superintendent Paul Basham said the community, including police, were ‘‘shocked and dismayed’’ by the shootings.
He would not say what kind of gun had been found at the scene, but did say it was not a policeissued weapon.
‘‘This is obviously a huge tragedy for everyone involved. We are dealing with three different families who are affected,’’ Basham said.
‘‘We are also supporting police staff . . . who are naturally very shocked and dismayed at what has taken place.’’
Basham promised a thorough, impartial investigation.
Senior investigators – Detective Inspector Steve Wood from Dunedin and Detective Superintendent Peter Read from Canterbury – were in Invercargill to help lead the inquiry.
‘‘I fully understand the shock this incident has caused . . . while devastating, this is a one-off event and we cannot recall a similar tragedy like this in recent times to allegedly involve a serving police officer.’’
He asked anyone with information to come forward to help police ‘‘piece together’’ what happened.
‘‘[She was] a caring, happy, great mum.’’ A friend of Verity McLean