Demands of farming help Guy family cope with their loss

Scott Guy. Photo / Supplied

After almost three months with no idea why Feilding farmer Scott Guy was murdered, his family have turned to farming to get them through the reality that he's not coming back.

"It really does start to rip us apart," said Scott's father, Bryan, pleading for anyone with information to speak out.

"Somebody knows something. If they have their own son, sibling or father, they know how they would feel about it. It's had a big effect on the wider family."

The information would not have to be certain or be proved.

Scott was shot several times on his farm's driveway between 4am and 7am on Thursday, July 8.

The subsequent police investigation has followed leads from Auckland to Invercargill.

Police have focused on three aspects of the case: three stolen chocolate Labrador puppies, two unidentified cars seen driving away from the property, and the missing murder weapon.

Police believe the two cars drove away from the property separately between 4.30am and 5am, but descriptions of the cars have not been released.

Details of the murder weapon have also been limited, described only as a shotgun. Police have searched bush near the property for the gun.

Three chocolate Labrador puppies, worth up to $800 each, are thought to have been stolen on the morning Mr Guy was killed.

Police have fielded hundreds of call about the puppies, from Remuera to Marlborough, but they have not been found.

"As time goes on, it doesn't get any easier - there's no doubt about that. The reality sinks in that he's not coming back," said Bryan Guy.

"Just not having any closure makes it that little bit harder."

Another lead has taken the investigation to Invercargill, where Mr Guy attended a farming conference with his brother-in-law, Ewen MacDonald, two weeks before he was shot.

CCTV footage at Stadium Southland, where the conference was held, had already been erased, but police said they had received a positive response from many participants.

The conference is unlikely to be central to the investigation.

"They're not telling us what their theories and leads are, and we don't ask either because we don't want to speculate," Bryan Guy said.

"The more you think about why or who or how, the more it churns you up. Better not think about it and leave that to the police."

Police had returned to the family several times to clarify statements and ask further questions.

Kylee Guy gave birth to their son Drover Grahame Scott Guy on September 16.

"We're absolutely delighted. It's been a real ray of sunshine, to have something positive," Bryan Guy said.

Mrs Guy has moved away from Feilding to an undisclosed address, still afraid that the killer is out there.

But "nature just keeps on going", he said, and a busy calving season had kept the family distracted.