Stanley Graham
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eric Stanley Graham (c. 1900–21 October 1941) was a New Zealand mass murderer who killed seven people.
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[edit] Early life
Graham was born and raised in Longford, Kokatahi, New Zealand. He then moved to Kowhitirangi, an agricultural district 12 miles from Hokitika in the South Island where he worked as a farmer and where he lived with his wife and two children. He became argumentative and alienated from the community from 1938 onwards, alleging that neighbours were poisoning his cows. As income from his farm dropped he fell into debt and his behaviour towards others became more threatening. His behaviour took a turn for the worse and he started threatening and abusing neighbours passing his house. Graham and his wife practiced target shooting out the back of their home in the middle of the night. Graham was an expert marksman and had an assortment of firearms.
During 1941, he was in dispute with the police who wanted to relieve him of his .303 firearms because of his mental condition.
[edit] The day of the rampage
On October 8, 1941 Graham confronted a neighbour with a rifle. Later that morning Constable Edward Best, 27, attempted to discuss the matter with Graham but backed off with Graham pointing two rifles out the window at him. Best retreated to Hokitika for back-up and returned to the farm with Sergeant William Cooper, 43, and Constables Frederick Jordan, 26, and Percy Tulloch, 35.
Graham fired at them as they approached the house, and Sergeant Cooper and Constables Jordan and Tulloch were killed instantly, Cooper having at least four bullet wounds in his body.
More than 100 police and army personnel searched dense bush for Graham for 12 days. On October 20 an injured Graham was shot dead by police as he walked out of the bush. There were reports he was intending to surrender to police.
[edit] Reaction
A New Zealand movie, Bad Blood, was made about Stanley Graham and his chain of killings, as well as the dimensions of historical context and social injustice involved. There have been several biographical accounts of his life and the murders published in the intervening half-century since the tragedies occurred.
[edit] References
- Andrew Brown (Scriptwriter, Producer): Mike Newell (Director): Bad Blood: Sydney: Hoyts: 1983 [Video]
- Rex Holliss: Killer on the Coast: The Story of Stan Graham: Wellington: Denis Glover: 1953, 1959.
- Howard Willis: Manhunt: The Story of Stanley Graham: Christchurch: Whitcoulls: 1979: ISBN 0-7233-0629-X
- Howard Willis: Bad Blood: The Story of Stanley Graham: Auckland: Fontana Collins: 1981: ISBN 0-00-634925-0
