Wellington businessman John Barlow was convicted of the murders of father-and-son financiers Eugene and Gene Thomas in 1995 after two earlier trials ended in hung juries. An appeal to the Privy Council in 2009 failed, but Barlow was released from prison the following year, still maintaining his innocence.
Transcript
Announcer: Police are putting our posters with pictures of 68-year-old Eugene Thomas and his 30-year-old son Gene in the hope someone may remember seeing the two men last Wednesday. Police also want to speak to anyone who saw a two-tone silver-grey aqua marine Holden Commodore on The Terrace or in the James Cook central carpark or in the suburb of Kelburn on Wednesday evening. At the same time a contingent of 72 recruits from the police college have been brought in to help search the Happy Valley tip. Despite a handgun being found at the dump yesterday, police say they'll continue to search the tip until they're satisfied they've covered the whole area. They expect that to take them at least another three or four days. Meanwhile, the focus of the inquiry is now on the man who's come forward claiming he's the main suspect in the Thomas killings, the 48-year old businessman and gun collector from the Wellington suburb of Karori, says he realised he was the main suspect when the police released a picture of his car. However, the man is proclaiming his innocence and says he'd be very surprised if there's enough evidence for police to arrest him. This morning the man conceded he dumped something from his collection the day after the killings because he thought it was something police would be unhappy with.
John Barlow: Well, all I can say is that I certainly didn't take and I'm sure that'll be evidence in due course. I most certainly didn't take a murder weapon. And I presume that that is what the police are searching for and they said they found a gun, but they stepped up the search again today. So, I think the police probably feel that it's not the murder weapon either.
Announcer: The man stopped short of saying he had dumped a gun but in replied to a question asking if it was insane to dump a gun at the tip. He said it was the safest place to take something that might be dangerous to anybody.
Using this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PA-Group-00685)
Reference: EP/1995/3935
Sound file from Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision – Radio New Zealand collection. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. To request a copy of the recording, contact Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision (Murder - Thomas double murder inquiry/Reference: 20419)
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.