The attempt to kill the Queen
Declassified secret documents have confirmed an assassination attempt on Queen Elizabeth II in Dunedin, and potentially implicate New Zealand police in a ‘‘cover-up’’.
On October 14, 1981, teen criminal Christopher John Lewis hid in a deserted toilet cubicle on the fifth floor of a building overlooking the Royal parade. He wanted to assassinate the Queen but his gunshot missed. Incredibly, although the 17-year-old was arrested he was never charged with attempted murder and media, who heard the shot, were told it was a falling sign.
Why?
The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) has now released previously classified information to Stuff after The Snowman and the Queen series was published in January.
The NZSIS documents include the file , which is dated November 9, 1981 and marked ‘SECRET’.
The documents, released under an Official Information Act (OIA) request to the intelligence agency, reveal unnamed NZSIS officials were investigating the assassination attempt, after initial media reports questioning whether an attempt had been made.
The documents confirm police officers and members of the public heard ‘‘what they took to be a shot’’.
Police initially downplayed the incident, telling local and international media the sound of what appeared to be a gunshot was, in fact, a council sign falling over.
It was later revealed the then 17-year-old Christopher Lewis fired a shot as the Queen exited her motorcade at the Otago Museum on the afternoon of October 14, 1981.
An NZSIS official was given access to police reports, including interview notes, after the arrest of Christopher Lewis and two of his teenage off-siders.
The newly released NZSIS file references ‘‘two persons who may well be fictitious whom Lewis would only describe as Snowman and Polar Bear respectively’’.
According to Lewis’ police interviews he commanded the National Imperial Guerilla Army, alongside a higher ranker person known as the Polar Bear while The Snowman was the leader who ordered the fledgling army ‘‘to terrorise Dunedin’’.
While police expressed doubts over Lewis’ claims over the existence of the shadowy pair, the NZSIS investigated the allegations.
NZSIS had ‘‘no knowledge’’ of the National Imperial Guerilla Army organisation, and did not believe it was linked to the rightwing National Front movement, which was pro-monarchy.
‘‘They are a figment of my imagination,’’ Lewis later conceded to police.
The NZSIS documents appear to vindicate claims made by Tom Lewis, a former Dunedin detective who went public about the assassination attempt in 1997.
After he went public it prompted another memo from NZSIS – also released under the OIA – to an undisclosed recipient.
‘‘(Christopher) Lewis did indeed originally intend to assassinate the Queen, however did not have a suitable vantage point from which to fire, nor a sufficiently high-powered rifle for the range from the target,’’ the memo concluded.
Tom Lewis, who is no relation to Christopher Lewis doubted the complete truth would ever come out.
‘‘It will be like ripping the scab off . . . so much pus would come out.’’
The released information, which included a handdrawn map, confirmed the shot was heard in the vicinity of Dunedin’s Walsh St, metres from the royal motorcade.
That supports statements by two witnesses – including a former soldier – who told Stuff they heard a shot nearby.
The documents noted the same unnamed NZSIS official asked questions of the Police Terrorist Intelligence Unit (PTIU) following media reports of the shot.
According to the NZSIS file, Lewis gave a ‘‘long meandering story’’ to police about his selfstyled army, known as National Imperial Guerilla Army, which he used to keep his accomplices in line ‘‘to feed his own delusions’’.
It took police some time to get the full story from Lewis, but when coupled with the multitude of charges, ‘‘the following points appeared certain’’, the NZSIS document said.
Those include:
– The possibility a firearm was discharged in the vicinity of the Queen was highly likely although it may not have been aimed directly at the Queen or the royal party.
– The police received a .22 rifle with a discharged cartridge in the breech from the fifth floor of the Adams Building as a result of Lewis’ admissions.
– Lewis possibly fired a shot at a nearby road at the time in question, although he does say that he changed his mind about wanting to hurt anyone.
– The angle of fire and range would have made it difficult for the Queen to have been a target. Buildings screened her from the firing point except on four occasions of about two seconds duration.
– Police ballistic tests subsequently found the bullet’s trajectory was more likely to have passed high above the crowd than to have been fired at a road. Lewis will not countenance this suggestion.
The earliest NZSIS memo was written after Christopher Lewis appeared on initial armed robbery and burglary charges, and while his accomplices were bailed he was remanded in custody.
‘‘Current police investigations into the shots have been conducted discreetly and most media representatives probably have the impression that the noise was caused by a firework of some description,’’ the report said.
‘‘There is a worry, however, that in court the press may make the connections between the date of the offence and the Queen’s visit.’’ Former news editor at Dunedin radio station 4XO, Allan Dick, recalled being called into a meeting with a high ranking detective who said reports of a shot being fired were not true.
‘‘We all left that meeting more mystified about what had happened,’’ Dick said.
‘‘I have no doubt the matter was covered-up, the cops were embarrassed – they didn’t want the media to know and we got embarrassed that we allowed ourselves to be snowballed to such a degree.’’
Tom Lewis said despite the initial ‘‘push from journalists’’, the latest tranche of released documents confirmed police wanted the matter to disappear from the outset.
‘‘Once you start to cover-up, you then have to keep covering up the cover-up,’’ Tom Lewis said.
The documents revealed that while the police investigation was ongoing, police did not intend to charge Christopher Lewis with anything more than unlawful possession and/or discharge of a firearm.
That revelation stunned Tom Lewis, who said the teen was facing a charge of treason, and then attempted treason.
‘‘We knew we would get home on attempted treason.’’
Those close to the case alleged political interference came into play over fears the country would lose future royal tours due to the security lapse.
After the incident police told media that Christopher Lewis, who was never charged with treason or attempted treason, shot at a road. He was sentenced to three years jail.
Christopher Lewis went on to commit a string of armed robberies, sparked a mass police manhunt, was given a taxpayerfunded holiday and was then charged with murder.
He electrocuted himself in his Mt Eden prison cell while on remand on September 23, 1997.
After being approached by Stuff about claims of a cover-up, a police spokesman said: ‘‘Given the interest in this historic matter, the Police Commissioner Mike Bush has asked the Deputy Commissioner National Operations, Mike Clement, to oversee an examination by current investigation staff of the relevant case file.
‘‘Given the passage of time, it is anticipated this examination of the old file and its associated material will take some time. NZ Police will share the outcome of this examination once it has been completed.’’
‘‘Given the passage of time, it is anticipated this examination of the old file and its associated material will take some time.’’ Deputy Commissioner National Operations, Mike Clement
The Snowman and the Queen is a Stuff series looking at the life and crimes of Christopher John Lewis, a self-styled teen terrorist and trained ‘‘ninja’’ whose bizarre criminal antics kept police busy from his school days until his strange suicide in prison at age 33.