'Stick-em-up' death secret for 36 years

By BRIDGET CARTER and NZPA

Roger Wilkinson has carried a secret for 36 years - as a teenager in 1965 he shot dead a friend in their Northland town.

The coroner ruled the death an accident and the case was closed.

But last year the 51-year-old made a confession about how his friend really died on December 17, 1965.

Yesterday, Roger Wilkinson, of Invercargill, was convicted of manslaughter and discharged in the High Court at Invercargill after admitting that his failure to take reasonable care using a firearm had caused death.

He was ordered to pay $750 to the Cancer Society.

Wilkinson told police his secret because he was a recovering alcoholic and wanted to come clean about his past.

Peter Walker, Wilkinson's best friend in 1965, said no one had a clear understanding of how the accident on the Wilkinson family farm happened, and no one had asked.

Mr Walker said the account of events that day never sat easy with him.

"I could not understand how the accident could have happened ... It was a puzzle to me.

"We didn't ask. We didn't go down that road," he said.

"All we knew was that it was an accidental shooting."

Wilkinson, then 14, told police in 1965 that he had used a tree to support a .22 single-shot rifle as he aimed at a bird. He had pulled the trigger.

The victim, whose name is suppressed, had jumped out from behind the tree. He suffered a fatal bullet wound.

A Herald report of the accident said attempts to revive the victim with oxygen failed and he died before he could be taken to hospital.

Wilkinson has since told police he and his friend had been playing "stick-em-up". One would point the firearm at the other, who would put his hands in the air.

That day, the victim had grabbed the barrel of Wilkinson's father's rifle when it was pointed at him. Wilkinson had pulled the trigger.

The rifle had a faulty safety catch. He told police it was so faulty the rifle would sometimes fire without anyone touching the trigger.

Mr Walker said Wilkinson and the 15-year-old knew a lot about guns. He remembered Wilkinson getting a new .22 rifle that year and showing it off to friends.

"He was pleased as punch with it," he said.

Hikurangi, 15km north of Whangarei, was a different world in 1965. Mr Walker and Wilkinson - "Bodge" to his friends - were fourth formers at Kamo High School in Miss Wise's B-stream class.

Wilkinson had pointed shoes and greasy hair and was mature for a 14-year-old.

In the summer holidays, the pair hung out hunting, fishing and shooting with other boys.

Wilkinson hunted mainly on his family's 61ha farm on Carter Rd near the township.

The next year was Wilkinson's last at school before he joined the Northern Advocate as a printer.

Mr Walker said his friend did not appear to be any different after the shooting.

Wilkinson's parents had sold up and moved into town after the killing. His father drove a taxi.

Mr Walker said the last he heard of Wilkinson before the shooting case reopened was that he was a contractor in Queensland.

He had married young and had children, but Mr Walker understood the marriage had ended.

Wilkinson's family were no longer in Hikurangi, he said, but members of the victim's family were.

The victim's parents - "heck of a nice people" - died 30 years ago.