Swift arrest in Operation Painter

Operation Painter staff are pleased with the swift arrest for the murder of street worker Susan Sutherland in Christchurch earlier this year.

The investigation came on the back of five homicide investigations in the Canterbury district this year – all of which have resulted in arrests.

OC Operation Painter Detective Senior Sergeant David Harvey says the investigation was a methodical and exacting operation which he knew would take time so he’s pleased that there was such a quick result.

Susan’s body was discovered in a vacant city section on a side street early in the morning of Saturday 16 April. David says the ability to contain the scene with minimal inconvenience to the wider public or pressure to open the street quickly, (as had happened in other recent Christchurch homicides) meant the scene examination was able to proceed without being rushed.

“This was very important as it was obvious that there would be a lot of information but finding it and ascertaining the relevance to the inquiry took time,” says David.

David says from the first day of the inquiry the importance of the street workers in gathering evidence was obvious.

“There was always the possibility that the offender had approached other street workers so they had to be questioned. Unfortunately stories began to circulate about the driver of a vehicle Susan was seen getting into. These were reported widely in the media which created difficulties as the inquiry needed to be focussed on the evidential relevancy of the sightings. It was too early in the investigation to be able to make the assessment as to whether this was the person whose vehicle that Susan had got into,” says David.

“As a result a clear distinction between several scenarios/incidents was continually reiterated to the media to ensure that these incidents were kept separate in people’s minds until, if ever, there was a clear link. “They sounded similar, but we needed to treat the incidents as separate until there was clear evidence that they were connected or were the same,” he says.

Common to all of the scenarios was a white car – possibly a Honda Prelude – while some featured a male, race unknown, but described as having a dark complexion.

“I stressed to the inquiry that the incidents and white vehicles, for which the descriptions varied, may have been totally unrelated and so the inquiry kept very open mind as to their relevancy,” says David.

The race of the offender was also kept very wide and non-specific because of the uncertainty. Recently appointed Ethnic Liaison Officer Constable Rakesh Naidoo liaised with community groups and assisted officers with cultural protocol.

David says uniform staff, both traffic and general duties, were invaluable to the investigation as there were 1592 white Honda Preludes in the Canterbury area alone that needed to be checked.

“They were able to ‘turn over’ and note details of individuals driving vehicles of similar descriptions in Canterbury. The details that were supplied through these notings were very important to the ultimate success of the investigation,” says David.

“Their assistance was greatly appreciated as the inquiry was committed to exclude each vehicle, which would have been a mammoth and time-consuming task if an arrest had note been made.

A 30-year-old South African male was charged with the murder of Susan Sutherland on 23 May and appeared in court on 8 June.