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Murder victim implicated in major
drug-making ring
29 April 2005
By ELEANOR WILSON
The victim of an execution-style shooting in Christchurch was a former gang
member implicated in an major methamphetamine manufacturing ring last year.
The identity of the man, a 42-year-old father of two who was a former member of
the Road Knights gang, was confirmed by police yesterday although his name was
suppressed in court.
He was shot in Stanmore Road about 5am on Wednesday.
Last year, he was to be a key defendant in a high-profile drug case but the
drugs charges against him were dropped before the trial.
The Press learned yesterday that police were looking for another former Road
Knights gang member implicated in the same drugs case who absconded while on
leave from Christchurch's remand prison on Monday.
Anthony James Brooking, 34, failed to return from compassionate leave granted so
he could attend the funeral of his grandmother.
This is thought to have been a ruse, as his grandmother is said to have died
three years ago.
Brooking, who originates from Timaru and is described by people who know him as
"stocky but an absolute bulldog", is now "wired up on crystal meth and not
sleeping", according to a Press source. Police have made no mention of Brooking
in their media comments and his absconding was not made public by either the
Department of Corrections or the police.
A spokesman for the department confirmed last night that Brooking was still at
large.
"What has happened, he was granted bail by a district court to attend a family
member's funeral and accompanied by his sister. He never turned back up," said
the spokesman, who confirmed that Brooking had been missing since "late April".
It was not his agency's responsibility to check Brooking's story, he said. The
court system decided whether a remand prisoner was granted leave or not.
During evidence presented against the dead man at a pre-trial hearing last year,
it emerged that members of the drug ring were plotting to double-cross each
other as police closed in on them.
AdvertisementAdvertisementCovert electronic surveillance by detectives recorded
plans to sideline a king-pin in the operation and instead use the dead man's
network of contacts to shift the drug.
Meanwhile, police continued their hunt for the killer yesterday but have so far
failed to recover the firearm used.
However, a woman has been arrested and charged with assaulting the homicide
victim.
Inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Long confirmed she and the victim
knew each other, but refused to comment further.
"As a result of the inquiries we've conducted I don't believe there will be gang
reprisals."
Police contingents, backed by the Armed Offenders Squad, made a series of raids
on Christchurch properties on Wednesday, including properties in McGregors Road,
in Linwood, and Union Street, in New Brighton.
Long has confirmed the victim "had gang associations" but said police were not
worried about gang-related reprisals as a result of the murder.
He said: "As a result of the inquiries we've conducted I don't believe there
will be gang reprisals."
Police were yesterday investigating a possible car chase leading up to the
shooting.
"Police would like anyone who saw two or more vehicles travelling from east
Christchurch to the Stanmore Road scene before 5am yesterday (Wednesday)
morning, in a manner that caught their attention, to contact them," Long said.
"There would not be many vehicles on the road at that time.
"We believe that there were at least two vehicles travelling together, maybe
erratically but certainly in a manner that made them obvious."
Police have also confirmed that the victim did not live in the Stanmore Road
area.
Many gang members and Timaru associates of the homicide victim were already
aware of his death yesterday.
One Timaru woman, whose husband was a close friend of the victim, said she was
very shocked by the news.
She warned that he was a "very popular" member and the killing could shatter the
fragile peace which had existed up to now.
She said: "You don't really hear from the gangs any more. You will now, though.
There's going to be a big funeral. He was a very popular boy."
The victim was living in Christchurch, but had a girlfriend in Timaru, the
mother of their 12-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son.
"He was a nice guy. He was one of the people my husband could talk to," said the
family friend. "He was a hell of a good dad."
A police forensic team was yesterday conducting a fingertip search of the scene,
using metal detectors over the road.
A car, thought to have been abandoned by the killers around 200m from where the
body was found, was taken away for examination.
