Stan Graham runs amok on West Coast

Graham shot dead three policemen and fatally wounded two other men before escaping into the bush. One of New Zealand’s largest manhunts ended when Graham was shot on the evening of 20 October. He died of his wounds the following day. Ultimately, seven men were to die as a result of his shooting spree.

Eric Stanley George Graham, known as Stan, was born and bred on the West Coast. At school he was described as slightly reserved but fairly well-behaved. He was a member of the Kokatahi gun club in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Stan Graham married Dorothy McCoy in December 1930 and shortly afterwards the couple moved to a dairy farm at Koiterangi (Kōwhitirangi). They had two children, a boy and a girl.

The Grahams maintained reasonably good relations with their neighbours but generally kept to themselves. By 1940 they were struggling financially. The Westland Co-operative Dairy Company had condemned cream from their farm and they lost money in a cattle-breeding venture. A neighbour noted an apparent deterioration in Graham’s state of mind.

In May 1941 police were directed to collect all .303 rifles from householders as part of the war effort. When Constable Ted Best called on Graham to get his rifle, he first said he didn’t have it and then promised to send it to him. When no rifle arrived, Best made a return call on Graham. He was told that if the police wanted his gun they would have to prosecute him. This ‘police persecution’ came on top of the Grahams’ suspicion that neighbours were poisoning their cows.

On 8 October 1941, Constables Edward Best, Percy Tulloch, Frederick Jordan and Sergeant William Cooper went to Graham’s Koiterangi farm after a neighbour claimed Stan had threatened him with a rifle. Graham met the policemen at his front door. The precise sequence of events is unknown, but Cooper, Jordan and Tulloch were shot dead, while Best would later die from his wounds. George Ridley, an agricultural instructor, became Graham’s fifth victim when he arrived at the house. He was to die in March 1943 from wounds he received that day.

Graham fled into the bush and the ensuing manhunt was overseen by the Commissioner of Police, Denis Cummings. Hundreds of police, soldiers, home guardsmen and volunteers were involved. On the evening of 9 October Graham returned to his farm and exchanged shots with home guardsmen Richard Coulson and Gregory Hutchison. Coulson died immediately and Hutchison the following day. Graham was wounded but eluded capture until he was shot and fatally wounded on 20 October, after 12 nights at large in the bush.

Image: Stanley Graham (DNZB - Te Ara Biographies)