Missing two years, was he killed?
Richard Hinkley was last seen alive two years ago. Now police have dug up his neighbour’s garden and accused him of murder. Sam Sherwood looks at Hinkley’s mysterious disappearance.
In late December 2015, Richard Hinkley made what was apparently his last phone call. It was to a relative and nothing out of the usual. As an only child, whose mother died when he was young and whose father lived in Australia, he often checked in with relatives, but rarely revealed any intimacies.
Instead, he would ask about family and have a few laughs.
The December phone call was no different. No-one heard from him again. Two months’ later Hinkley’s neighbour, Dion Louvain Lawrence, now 45, reported him missing.
Two years on, police have raided Lawrence’s home, accused him of murder – which he denies – and taken items for forensic testing.
He maintains he is innocent. Hinkley’s family have had to accept they may never find out what happened to him.
‘‘None of us have a clue what happened, I would really love it to be solved. I’m not the sort of person who wants heads to roll or people pay. That’s not where I’m coming from. I only care about my nephew,’’ Jill Martin said.
‘‘Answers would be good, closure would be wonderful for all of us.’’
‘Mysterious disappearance’
Lawrence and Hinkley lived in a block of five Housing New Zealand flats on Madras St, with Lawrence’s flat in front of Hinkley’s.
‘‘His other neighbours hadn’t seen him around and I supposed I hadn’t seen him as well so I thought maybe I should call someone about it. So I called Housing New Zealand and said we hadn’t seen him for a while.’’
Later that day police searched Hinkley’s flat and visited Lawrence.
The disappearance was first publicly announced in March last year in a media release. By this time Hinkley’s family had not heard from him for about three months.
More details about Hinkley were released including his description. He was about 184cm tall, of solid build with a shaved head. He was last seen at Kiwibank in Edgeware on December 12, wearing dark pants, a black t-shirt with a large white pattern on the front and a blue peaked cap with a dark logo.
‘‘We are building a picture of what may have happened to Richard and liaising with his family who have become increasingly concerned for his welfare,’’ Detective Sergeant Michael Freeman said at the time.
Freeman would later tell The Press that foul play and self harm were possibilities.
‘‘We are looking for a smoking gun at this stage, but we haven’t found anything.
‘‘We are working with some specialists to see if there has been any foul play. We still have an open mind on what happened to Richard. We simply just don’t know.’’
‘I didn’t murder him’
Police will not say what sparked them to raid Lawrence’s home.
They say they have worked in the background on the case for the last two years.
Days before last Christmas, Lawrence heard a ‘‘big bang at the door’’.
‘‘I’d just got out of bed and I’d been up for two minutes . . . it was the police and they said I had to grab my stuff and go with them. They really gave me no choice.’’
Police searched his flat for two days, dug up his garden and took items for forensic testing.
‘‘I told them they were wasting taxpayer money.’’
While his home was searched, officers took Lawrence to the Christchurch Central Police Station where they interviewed him and accused of murdering his former neighbour.
‘‘I said I don’t know a thing. I’m not involved.’’
Lawrence was, however, charged with breaking into Hinkley’s house in the days after reporting him missing, stealing and pawning his laptop. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and will appear in court next month.
‘‘It’s the only evidence they had. But really it’s nothing, but I doubt whether it will stand up in court,’’ Lawrence said this week.
He would not say what items police took from his home, but said he was yet to hear back from them.
‘‘I’m missing a lot of important stuff I need and I have no idea when I’m getting it back or anything.
‘‘I haven’t done anything so, no, I don’t think they found anything.’’
Lawrence said he and Hinkley always got on, but Hinkley seemed to have fallen out with other people who police should investigate.
‘‘If [police] are going to say he’s been murdered, well I didn’t murder him. So if I didn’t murder him that means someone else must have.’’
Lawrence says Hinkley was ‘‘a friendly guy, a bit different’’, but they got on.
In other interviews he said the prospect of facing a murder charge did not worry him.
‘‘There’s no evidence. I didn’t do anything so how can they charge me?
‘‘There’s a bit of anxiety that they could come up with some rubbish story, but the truth is out there, I don’t know anything about it.’’
‘Closure would be wonderful’
Jill Martin describes her nephew as a ‘‘very loving, old-fashioned lad’’ who belonged in a different generation. He was brought up in Christchurch and left home when he was 17, after his parents separated. His mother died in 2011.
He mostly kept to himself, she says. Her nephew was interested in Asian culture, learnt Chinese and had many Asian friends.
Health issues, which she declined to specify, prevented him from working.
Hinkley was deeply in debt when he went missing.
The Insolvency and Trustee service had granted him a No Asset Procedure, an alternative to bankruptcy when someone is $1000 to $47,000 in debt. Police are unaware of any bank transactions from his accounts since.
Not knowing what happened was ‘‘distressing’’, particularly for his father, who suffers from postpolio syndrome, Martin says. ‘‘He’s not a well man. ‘‘He’s got a lot to deal with as it is . . . it would be really nice if we could get an answer for him alone.
‘‘Should Richard be alive we want him to know how loved and respected he is for the kind, thoughtful and generous character he is.’’
Martin has been in regular contact with police over the last two years and says the case has been a ‘‘constant inquiry’’.
‘‘Now and then there is a lull, but they have been working hard that’s what I do know.
‘‘There’s been a lot of hard work attached to the disappearance of Richard.’’
The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Inspector Greg Murton, says the case remains a missing persons inquiry.
Like Freeman two years ago, Murton says police are keeping an open mind as to what happened to Hinkley.
Further inquiries and forensic testing would help them determine what occurred.
‘‘With him having made no contact with anyone in two years, we have very serious concerns for his wellbeing.
‘‘We follow up on any information that comes in. Therefore it could develop into a homicide inquiry if there is any evidence to support it.’’
He declined to comment on what led police to Lawrence’s home and what if any items of interest were found there.
He declined to say whether police had searched other areas.
Murton said a team of 12 had worked on the case recently, including CIB investigators, forensics and other specialists.
‘‘Anyone who has any information about who may have been involved in his disappearance should contact police and this can be done confidentially.’’
He remains confident he will bring the Hinkley family closure.
‘‘We are always positive we can achieve a result, this case is not different.’’
Anyone with information was asked to contact Christchurch police on (03) 363 7400 or anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
‘‘It could develop into a homicide inquiry if there is any evidence to support it.’’
Detective Inspector Greg Murton