Operation Safe: Investigation into unsolved Wellington City sex attacks

Ngaio sex attack
Wallace Street attack

On 16 April 2007 Wellington Police formed a special squad to further investigate eight sex attacks that have occurred in the past 18 months.

Head of Wellington Police CIB, Detective Inspector Mike Arnerich, says that because all but one of these attacks have occurred in a small 3km area, police are investigating to see if there are links between them.

"Most of these attacks were 'blitz' attacks from behind on women aged between 19 and 22 years in the early hours of the morning. Some of the women were on their way home from a night in town and obviously we are concerned that they have been followed by the offender."

Before Operation Safe was established, all of the files were open investigations, but they were assigned to investigators who already had heavy file loads, says Detective Inspector Arnerich.

"The purpose of the special operation is to give staff some time, space and expertise assistance to further investigate these files. We also want to determine whether the attacks are linked and how many offenders are actually involved.

"The investigation team has already made significant progress and we are now confident that at least three of the attacks are unrelated, and the other five attacks may be linked with two different offenders involved.

"The expertise of the Police Criminal Profiling Unit has been used to help analyse offender behaviour."

The Operation Safe squad has been set up on a temporary basis involving a Detective Sergeant, a Detective Constable and two other investigators.

Ngaio sex attack

Wellington Police are appealing for information to help identify the man who viciously raped a young woman last year.

The Operation Safe team is determined to capture the man responsible for the sexual attack that occurred around 1.25am on Thursday 29 June 2006 in Ngaio Gorge Road, Wellington.

Operation Safe team leader, Detective Sergeant Damian Murphy, says police have a full DNA profile of the man and are appealing to the public to help identify him before he strikes again. "One name will break the case wide open."

Just after midnight, the rapist approached a 22-year-old woman on Thorndon Quay near the Capital Gateway Centre and walked with her as she headed home.

The woman left Bunny Street at 12.07am that morning to walk home. She walked through the railway station grounds to Thorndon Quay and headed north on the footpath on the right hand side of the road.

Man loitering outside Capital Gateway Centre, Thorndon

As the woman walked past the Capital Gateway Centre, she was approached by the lone man who had been loitering outside the Gateway Centre.

Police believe the rapist had a specific reason for being in that location, at that time.

Why was he there? Had he just finished work? Was he waiting to be picked up?

The male approached the woman and spoke to her, before walking next to her as she headed home.

They walked along the pavement on the railway station side of Throndon Quay before walking into Old Hutt Road.

They walked along Old Hutt Road before crossing into Kaiwharawhara Road near the traffic lights outside Spotlight.

The man walked alongside the woman as she headed up the left hand side pavement of Kaiwharawhara Road and into Ngaio Gorge Road.

At about 1.30am the man dragged the woman into bushes in a secluded dark area half way up Ngaio Gorge Rd, where he subjected her to a particularly vicious rape.

Detective Sergeant Murphy says the attack was so vicious that even neighbours on the other side of the valley could hear the woman's screams, and they called 111.

A man was seen back in Thorndon Quay about 10 minutes later and then again in Sar Street, Thorndon. This man may have been the offender.

Detective Sergeant Murphy says: "I believe the offender had a specific reason for being in the area and could have been living in the Wellington or Porirua area. The community can help to solve this vicious crime.

"We believe he may be from Fiji. We have been working with the Fijian community who are keen to cooperate and help police identify this rapist. The Fijian community are actively assisting the investigation, but we have not yet identified everyone who traveled to New Zealand from Fiji and it is possible the rapist has since left New Zealand."

The rapist is described as:

• Pacific Islander
• Aged in his late 20s
• Spoke with strong accent, possibly Fijian
• Short hair at sides and longer on top
• Large obvious lips
• Fat nose
• Small eyes
• 5ft 10 inches to 6 feet tall
• Slim to medium build

The Police need help to identify this person.

Police would particularly like to hear from owners and occupiers of premises in the area and workers based in and around Thorndon Quay.

A police appeal notice has been delivered to premises around the Thorndon Quay area recently asking people if they can help identify the rapist from his identikit picture.

Identikit picture of Ngaio sex attacker - can you help identify him?

Q: Do you recognise the male in the identikit picture?

Q: Have you seen him in the area at any time?

Q: Does he work or reside in your building now, or did he in June 2006?

Q: Does he visit your building or a nearby building now, or did he in June 2006?

Q: Is he a contractor, security guard, cleaner, delivery person or other employee at your building or a nearby building in the area, now or in June 2006?

If you can help, please contact:

Anyone who recognises the man in the identikit picture or who has information that may assist the investigation should contact:

Detective Sergeant Damian Murphy, Tel: 04 381 2010.

Wallace Street attack

In the early hours of Thursday 13 July 2006 at about 2:15am, a 22-year-old female student was brutally assaulted in Wallace Street.

Police need help from the public to identify the male responsible for this cowardly attack.

The victim walked home from central Wellington along Wallace Street. As she neared the corner of John Street, she was rushed from behind by a lone male offender.

The offender wrapped a piece of material around the victim's neck and strangled her with it, before dragging her backwards into the garden of a nearby house at 141 Wallace Street. The house was empty at the time.

The victim fought back bravely and struck out at the offender with keys she was holding in her hand. She could have caused an injury to his face.

The offender continued choking the victim who suffered a nosebleed and ruptured blood vessels in her eye, before falling unconscious.

After subjecting the victim to this horrific ordeal, the offender ran off along Wallace Street, possibly heading north.

Police were called by a female witness who came across the distressed victim at the corner of Wallace and John Street.

Skull cloth found at the scene

The attacker left a distinctive piece of material behind. It is a black cloth with a pattern of white skulls printed on it. Some of the skulls have hand-drawn symbols on them such as a swastika, an upside down crucifix and the numbers '666'.

Detective Sergeant Murphy says the piece of material is very distinctive.

"Someone will recognise it as belonging to someone they know. The key to solving this brutal attack is identifying who had this piece of material."

Can you help identify the Wallace Street attacker?

Q: Were you in the area of Wallace Street around 2:15am on the early hours of Thursday 13 July 2006?

Q: Do you recognise the piece of material in the photographs?

Q: Do you know of anyone who had a piece of material like this?

If you can help, please contact:

If you have any information that may assist Police to identify this piece of material or the person responsible for the attack, please call:

Detective Sergeant Damian Murphy, Tel: 04 381 1020.

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