Nearly 40 years after a caretaker at a union building was killed picking up a suitcase with a bomb in it, the chief suspect has died. A never-before-released transcript reveals what the man told police, writes Sam Sherwood.
Just before 7.30am on March 27, 1984, a man walked through the front door of Wellington’s Trades Hall carrying a suitcase.
He carried on down the foyer towards the Coachworkers Union print room and placed the faded light-green suitcase, with its handle wrapped in cloth, on the ground behind a wall.
On the other side of the wall, the Federation of Labour’s Wellington District Trades Council were set to spend most of their day discussing Prime Minister Robert Muldoon’s controversial wage freeze.
The suitcase sat undisturbed until 5.19pm when Trades Hall caretaker Ernie Abbott was locking up for the day. Curious about the discarded luggage, Abbott picked up the suitcase - and triggered a mercury switch hidden inside. The explosion of the bomb killed Abbott instantly as the force tore through the passageway of the Vivian St building.
His beloved dachshund, Patch, somehow survived.
The Trades Hall bombing is believed to be one of the first examples of domestic terrorism in New Zealand, more than a year before the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior became synonymous with the phrase in the national consciousness.
The police investigation to determine who the man with the suitcase was started with more than 550 suspects and thousands of exhibits, but 39 years on detectives still do not have enough evidence to lay charges.
However, circumstantial evidence did point to one person, marine engineer Edgar Kidman, a former army sergeant with experience in handling explosives including gelignite.
The Herald on Sunday can reveal Kidman died in May 2021 with a cloud of suspicion hanging over his head. And for the first time, a transcript of his interview with police from the time can be shared.
“I can tell you honestly that I had nothing to do with the Trades Hall bombing,” Kidman told detectives.
The case remains open and police tell the Herald on Sunday they’re “very confident” they know who was behind it but for now, lack enough evidence to meet the Crown solicitor’s guidelines for prosecution.
The man who lived on the roof
Ernie Abbott lived in the caretaker’s flat on the roof of the Trades Hall building with Patch.
The three-storey building, completed in 1927, is a neoclassical building in design and is seen as the home of the Wellington union movement. Outside the building above the door are the words engraved “Labor Omnia Vincit”, which translated means “Labour Conquers All”.
Abbott’s role included getting rid of rubbish, and keeping public areas, including the bathrooms clean. If the lights went out or the lift needed fixing he would either do it himself or arrange for someone to come in.
Wellington Tramways Union secretary Henry Stubbs says Abbott was “totally committed” to the union movement, had been the vice-president of the Cleaners and Caretakers Union for several years and was made a life member of the union the day before his death.
“He was pretty cantankerous, and could be a difficult curmudgeon from time to time, but a lovely guy, a nice smile and generous as.
“Whenever he won on the horses he would always donate some of his winnings… that was Ernie.”
Abbott moved to New Zealand from the United Kingdom and was a sailor in the Merchant Navy.
Former secretary of the Wellington District Council of the Federation of Labour Graeme Clarke says Abbott was “just part of the furniture”, who was loved by the kids who would visit the hall and got on well with everyone.
“My most prominent memory of Ernie was arriving into my office, which was staffed by poms, and World War III had broken out because Ernie had managed to get in some provocative word, picked an argument, got them all arguing with each other and disappeared.”
Former secretary to Trades Hall, Lynette Stutz, interacted with Abbott on almost a daily basis. She describes him as a dapper dresser who was “very union-oriented”, and pleasant, but also someone who loved to stir up an argument.
The bombing
On March 27, 1984, Ernie Abbott began his daily routine at about 7am as he made his way down from his flat on the roof of the Trades Hall to the ground floor of the building using the lift.
As caretaker for nearly 20 years, it was his job to open the front and back doors of the building, something he would usually have done by 7.15am.
The 64-year-old would then go about his morning, including letting Patch out to play in the park.
Meanwhile, Stubbs took the bus to work, getting off on Taranaki St and walking to the hall.
Before arriving he cleared the mail and entered the building via the back entrance at about 7.30am.
Stubbs then walked to his office on the ground floor where he worked alone.
“As I came in I saw the suitcase and thought nothing of it, I just left it. It was just outside the passageway going down to my office… if it had been outside my door I would’ve said what’s this? And I would’ve picked it up.
“I just noted it and as I came in and out of my office periodically during the day it was still there. I just acknowledged it and left it there… one or two people came into my office, the odd bus driver, a member of my executive and it was just there.”
The suitcase was placed in an area which led to the exit at the rear of the Trades Hall, meaning it was unlikely many people would have actually seen it.
Stubbs attended the meeting of the management committee along with Clarke. Behind the wall, as they spoke sat the suitcase.
Clarke, who was sitting about two metres from the suitcase for most of the day, says the focal point of the meeting, which included several prominent trade unionists, was regarding industrial action to break Muldoon’s wage freeze, which would be further debated at the council meeting that evening.
The meeting came amid a period of high tensions between unions and the then-National Government.
Before leaving the building at about 4.30pm Clarke and the president of the council, Pat Kelly, went to pick up bundles of leaflets from the print room opposite where the suitcase was.
“Pat actually saw the suitcase, but he didn’t pick it up because he had his arms full of leaflets, and I never noticed a thing and we left for the meeting.”
Abbott had spent part of the afternoon focused on a problem with the water which stopped running mid-afternoon.
He approached Stutz for advice on what they should do.
“There was no water and the toilets weren’t flushing. It was a bit of a quandary really, so Ernie and I walked around the building internally to see if we could figure out why there was no water in the toilets.”
The pair then went to the roof and realised the issues related to two large water tanks situated near Abbott’s flat. It appeared the issue had been caused while workers were trying to repair part of the roof.
While discussing the situation Stutz checked her watch and realised it was just after 5pm and she had to rush to get her children.
“I said, ‘Jesus Ernie, I’ve got to go because I’m late…’
“I left him on the ground floor because I knew he’d be checking the building and then locking up, so I rushed out to get my car to go to the daycare.”
It’s believed Abbott, who was intending on heading to the meeting, then went about checking the offices and doing his final tasks, which included locking the doors, when he picked up the suitcase.
‘We were under attack’
The force of the bomb caused significant damage to the ground floor, shattering the old-fashioned steel pane windows on to the footpath and blowing a car parked outside on to the other side of the road.
Stubbs had only just arrived at Fraser House when news began to spread about the bombing.
“We were all shaken, not sure what was going on… we were stunned. There was a sense of urgency and anxiety.”
On arriving at the hall there was debris spread outside and emergency services were on the scene.
While standing outside, people began to hear that someone had been killed. Given Abbott was always the last one in the building, many suspected it was him.
“We were milling around and I remember the police saying we might need someone to help identify the body and I said well I might be able to help… and then we learned there was not much to see of the body and it wasn’t going to be a pleasant site,” says Stubbs.
Abbott was eventually identified by a tattoo on his arm.
Stutz was still in the car with the radio playing when news broke about the bombing. She rushed back to the scene and was struck by the devastation it had caused.
“It was just horror really. How could this be happening?
“It wasn’t something you associated with New Zealand.”
For many of those standing in front of the building assessing the damage, it appeared to be an attack on the union movement.
“We could see we were under attack and we were under threat and this was devastating,” Stubbs says.
Clarke believes the target was the hall itself.
“It was a symbol of the union movement, a place where a lot of organising activity took place and the person who planted the bomb was a terrorist who had no respect for life, no respect for other opinions.”
Instead of causing angst amongst union members, the attack appeared to embolden many.
“Actions like that don’t work,” Clarke says.
“It was only going to make us redouble our efforts because we lost someone to the cause.”
Abbott’s funeral was held in Wellington’s Old Town Hall with 2500 packing the auditorium.
The service began with Abbott’s favourite song, Sierra Sue, and ended with the trade union song Solidarity Forever.
“Ernie Abbott is the victim of an outrage that we never, ever believed could happen in this country of ours,” Pat Kelly told those in attendance.
“The testimony that that type of monstrosity is unacceptable to New Zealand people is by your very presence here.”
Operation Trades Hall
Police’s scene examination of Trades Hall lasted more than a month as they meticulously looked for clues that may lead to the bomber, collecting thousands of exhibits for further examination.
Meanwhile, detectives had more than 550 named suspects they needed to look at.
A key to solving the case and lowering the pool of suspects was determining what was inside the bomb as well as who had the expertise and motive to commit such an attack.
The investigation revealed the bomber set a 60-minute stove timer with a mercury switch. This meant as soon as Abbott picked the suitcase up, the mercury tipped, connecting the circuit and detonating the bomb.
Police also believed there were two bottles of accelerant, likely petrol, inside a Teal brand soft drink bottle and a bottle sealed with an Asti Riccadonna cork. There was also an Eveready 6-volt battery.
The explosive was equivalent to three sticks of gelignite, police said.
The device was wrapped in newspaper and fragments from the scene were identified as coming from the June 18, 1977 edition of the Evening Post, specifically pages 9, 10, 19 and 20.
There were also fragments of a Rica banana sticker on the side of the suitcase. The sticker was unusual as most banana imports were Bonita, and Rica had been used during a shortage in the mid-1970s. The suitcase model - manufactured by Flight - was last made in 1971.
Police also created a forensic profile of the bomber which described them as a loner, possibly a hoarder who had difficulty maintaining relationships, was angry and fixated, had experience with explosives and held a grudge against the union movement.
In August 1984, police searched Kidman’s home in Breaker Bay. Inside the home, police found four Teal brand soft-drink bottles, electrical tape, a packet of detonators, safety fuses and a torch without its battery.
Also inside was the Evening Post dated June 18, 1977. Pages, 9, 10, 19 and 20, which were found inside the suitcase, were among the pages missing.
Kidman was first interviewed at the Wellington Police Station on August 23.
The 49-year-old spoke about his life, and how he was born in Wellington and attended Rongotai and Wellington College.
He then did an aircraft engineers apprenticeship with a firm in Wellington Airport. However, before his time was up the firm “went broke”, and the three apprentices were laid off in about 1956.
Kidman then spent several months working for a heavy engineering business, where he was a member of the union.
After a few years of taking “odd jobs”, he joined the Army in 1961 as part of the New Zealand Scottish Regiment before he requested and was granted a discharge in 1964.
Kidman got married in 1965 and had two children. He and his wife divorced six years later.
“The reason for the separation was that my wife wanted a more social life than myself,” he told police.
“This was only one of the reasons.”
From 1962 Kidman started “a marine engineer’s life”, first serving on a boat called Golden Star.
In about 1969-70, Kidman went to Western Australia and was involved in dredging and later prospecting inland from Port Hedland.
He also spent about a year on the Wahine salvage operation as the chief salvage engineer before forming a company in 1971 with his father. At the time of the interview, he was still the director of the company.
“Through my Army training I have had minimal experience with explosions,” Kidman told police.
“Since becoming involved with prospecting I have had more experience with explosives. I have used gelignite, blue coated cortex, slow and safety fuse and cartridge detonators.”
Kidman said he had not used explosives for “some years”, and was able to go and check his cheque butts for an exact record if required.
“I have nothing for or against unions,” Kidman added. He said he was a paid member of the Marine and Power Institute, which was like a union.
Kidman admitted he had used the same type of battery police had asked publicly for information about for his lanterns.
He described himself as a “social drinker”, and did not drink by himself. He thought it had been about three or four months since his last drink.
He said that on the day of the bombing “as best my memory serves”, he was home all morning and then at 1pm attended a meeting at BP House held by the Mineral Exploration Association, of which he was a member.
On the way home, which was “well after 5pm”, he stopped to get petrol in Miramar when he heard about an explosion at Trades Hall.
“I can tell you honestly that I had nothing to do with the Trades Hall bombing on 27 March 1984. The last time I was in the Trades Hall was many years ago.”
The officer then asked a series of questions about items found in Kidman’s home.
The four Teal bottles had been there for a “long time”, as had the insulation tape. The wire that was found was an electronic circuit wire, he said, for some electronic work he was doing.
He could not recall ever using any electronic detonators but confirmed the safety fuses and packet of detonators found were his.
The officer then asked about the Evening Post papers.
“I never get around to throwing things out. As you can see, there are papers here dating back for many years.”
Kidman was then asked to explain why he had certain pages from the June 18, 1977 edition.
“As you can see, I have ringed certain items of interest to me on the pages and that’s why they would be taken from the centre of the paper. I think if you looked hard enough you would find the rest of the paper from that day lying about somewhere. It could even be wrapped up in some of the parcels.”
A police job says Kidman called police the day after his interview to say he wanted to change his statement as he was wrong about where he was on the day of the bombing.
“I knew I was in town and I now remember where I was. After lunch, I went into Parliament and went to a select committee on energy and commerce. I would have arrived about 3pm and left at about 5.15pm when the select committee adjourned for the day. I was to give evidence that afternoon but they ran out of time and I gave evidence the next day.”
He gave the names of several people at the hearing and said they would be able to confirm his attendance.
“By the way, I am still worried and I will find out the identity of the person who told you about me. If it was my neighbour I will get him. I gave him a burst this morning.”
Police did not have enough evidence to lay any charges and the case remained open in case they received any further information.
More than 30 years on, in 2017, Inspector Warwick McKee reviewed the file.
Two years later police announced they had been collecting DNA samples from suspects, including Kidman, which they were going to analyse with items found at the Trades Hall.
“The team that did the scene examination did an absolutely magnificent job,” McKee tells the Herald on Sunday.
“Every skerrick of evidence or items down to paint and pieces of paper and clothing and burnt items were seized… so what we did was we went through the exhibits and over the last few years identified a number of key exhibits, about 50, that we could analyse and potentially source DNA off.”
McKee says the blast would’ve destroyed a fair bit of DNA evidence, but was hopeful they may be able to get something.
It can now be revealed that police were able to identify Abbott’s DNA on some of the exhibits.
“It amazed us that after 30-plus years we could still get Ernie Abbott’s DNA off exhibits, this is how amazing DNA technology is.”
However, so far they have been unable to pick up anyone else’s DNA from the exhibits that were sent.
Police are now left with a decision as to what they do next with the rest of the exhibits.
“Potentially we could send off every exhibit we have retained that was taken from the Trades Hall at the time and get them all analysed but we made a conscious decision to send off the ones we thought would give us the best opportunity to get suspect DNA from and unfortunately that hasn’t come to fruition.
“It’s a fine line because it costs a fair bit of money sending exhibits… cost shouldn’t be a factor in regards to an investigation but it’s at the back of your mind in regards to budget.”
Asked what confidence he has that the mystery of the Trades Hall will ever be solved, McKee says he’s “very confident” he knows who was behind the attack. He won’t name the key suspect, but the Herald on Sunday understands it’s Kidman.
“We have evidence and items that were taken from his house that would indicate and I believe show that he was the offender at the time from the items that were identified from the bomb itself which clearly point to this person circumstantially being the bomber,” McKee says.
“But obviously with the solicitor’s guidelines and prosecution to arrest somebody you need good cause to suspect they’ve committed an offence and I have that with the person that I’m confident I know has committed the Trades Hall bombing, but again evidentially and likelihood of a conviction through a trial or court process we need that evidence to succeed so that this point in time we don’t have that.”
McKee says it’s “frustrating” to have such strong suspicion without the evidence required.
“Over the years I’ve made approaches to that person and spoken to him and done my best to elicit... a confession from that person, however, that person did not confess to the matter itself.”
He is confident Abbott was not the target of the bombing.
“It was certainly the unionists working out of the Trades Hall building.”
Nearly 39 years on, he says Abbott’s relatives are desperate for closure.
He appeals to anyone who has information to speak to the police.
“Anybody who has information that can be that final piece of evidence to get things across the line should come forward and assist police to give some resolution and conclusion to Ernie’s family who have suffered through this for 38 years.”
‘No way he’s the bomber’
The Herald on Sunday approached Kidman’s former home in Wellington. A man at the address did not want to comment, however, the following day a family spokesperson sent several texts regarding the case.
They say Kidman’s DNA does not match any DNA from the crime scene and that they believe he was innocent.
“There’s no way he’s the bomber. That is just stupid in so many ways,” they say.
Kidman hoarded newspapers and clipped articles about mining.
“He didn’t drink, wasn’t violent, couldn’t care less about unions.”
Kidman had done compulsory military training and had been a sergeant in the territorials.
Kidman earlier told police he had experience in explosives.
The person said many people from the time who had been in World War II would have had such experience. They also said mercury switches were a component of a lot of fridges and were common.
The speculation around Kidman “absolutely destroyed the family”, they said.
‘Abbott’s rest’
Walking into the Trades Hall nearly 39 years on from the bombing, past the entrance door are three paintings on the wall with the faces of the three people to be killed in union activity - Frederick Evans who was killed during the 1912 Waihi miners’ strike, Christine Clarke, who died in a picket line in Lyttelton in 1999 and Ernie Abbott.
A few paces away is a wooden booth. Inside people can sit on a seat made of timber salvaged from the bombing and watch three films about the union movement, including The Hatred Campaign, a film made by the trade union about the Trades Hall bombing.
“For the union movement, the bombing was not an isolated event. It was the logical outcome of a climate of hostility that had been deliberately fostered for many years,” the film begins.
Across the hall is the Ernie Abbott Room where the management committee of the Wellington Trades Council met on the day of the bombing.
Clarke, who is now the president of Wellington Trades Hall, is sitting in the same spot he was during the meeting, just metres from where the bomb went off.
“It’s a contemptible action. To put a bomb that you don’t know who it’s going to kill, but it’s going to kill somebody.”
Stutz says she’s not interested in “conspiracy theories”, and believes that as the years have gone on it’s less likely it will ever be known for sure who planted the bomb.
“I feel for the police,” she says.
“They’ve put so much work into it to figure out the whats and the whys and the who…”
She remains struck by what she saw that day, and still can’t fathom the rationale behind it all.
“For me, it’s still a sense of disbelief that anybody could do that… it’s still unbelievable. I don’t understand how people can do that to other people.”
Inside the Ernie Abbott Room is a poster made shortly after his death. Below a picture of Ernie is the phrase:
“If blood be the price of your cursed wealth: Good God we have bought it fair!”
