PATT E R Ni IN L EA D (Continued from page 6)

Ballistic Expert of B.C. Provincial Police
7 Proves Lie to Roediger’s Story

ough and efficient handling of the
enquiry, Young took photographs
of Donald Lawrence's back, which
had now healed.

Lawrence was then asked about
his ammunition, where he kept it,
and so on. Donald replied that he
had 12 full boxes of shot shells in
his bedroom, which he showed to the
investigator. These shells were of
various shot sizes, the largest being
No. 4. However, he pointed to an-
other box of sundry shells in current
use, which contained an assortment
of cartridges among which were four

containing 3B shot. Of American
' make, these were identical with the
yapty shell found in the woodshed
tid the one previously found by
constable Craig in the bedroom.
Chere was no doubt that Lawrence’s
wounds were made by a type of
“buck-shot,’” but Young went to
the hospital and obtained from the

Merville General Store

KOK ok
Groceries - Gas and Oil
teeny oe Ea
MERVILLE V.I., B.C.
Fishermen's Lodge

CHARLIE CHAPPELL, Proprietor

OYSTER RIVER

B.C.

WILLOW POINT STORE

G. G. ADAMS, Proprietor
GENERAL MERCHANTS

Willow Point, R.R. No. 1
CAMPPELL RIVER

Page One Hundred

of Self Defence

nurse in charge of the operating
room the box which Dr. Wilson
had so carefully preserved. In it,

there were eleven shot and a number
of lead particles. They were 3B shot
which measure slightly less than a
quarter of an inch in diameter. Shot
of this kind is not used for bird
hunting, but occasionally for shoot-
ing deer or other large game.

Returning to his office in Victoria,
Detective Sergeant Young began his
ballistic tests. Securing a box of
identical shells with 3B shot, he
fired a series of shots at a cardboard
target. In all some 19 tests were
made and the targets preserved. The
shots had been fired progressively at
distances from one inch, up to fif-
teen feet. From these targets, a
graphic chart was prepared showing
the maximum and minimum cone of
fire produced by the Remington shot-
gun at different distances. It then
became quite apparent, even to the
uninitiated, that the gun must have
been held some considerable distance
away from Lawrence when the trig-
ger was pulled. In fact, it would
have been a physical impossibility
for Lawrence to have even had a
finger on the gun when it was dis-
charged. For the tests showed that
to produce a lead pattern such as the
one borne by Lawrence, the gun
would have to be held about eight
feet away from him. In any event,
taking the extremes of possibility,
Young stated that the gun could not
have been closer than five feet, nor
more than ten feet at the moment of
discharge. As there was only one
shot fired outside, according to both
Roediger’s and Lawrence’s stories,
the position of the fence post, the
pieces of wadding found near the
‘steps, Lawrence’s position on the
verandah, and this definite distance,
placed the gun inside the shed when
it was fired.

All the evidence now tended to

Phone 86-R

Ken Forde, Prop.

Ken’s Repairs

Willow Point, B.C.

“When it's too tough for the
others, bring it to us.”

bear out Lawrence's testimony. How
then had the shot been fired through
the woodbox? Lawrence did not
know. There had been no shot
through the wall when he left the
house. The only conclusion, there-
fore, was that Roediger himself had
aimed the shotgun downward into
the wood container and pulled the
trigger while alone in the house. But.
why? There could only be one
answer. Roediger had deliberately
planted evidence of self defence.
Knowing that after Lawrence had
been killed, it was theorized, he
would be charged with the killing.
So he had to have credible evidence
of an attempt on his own life by
the victim of the “accident’’ as he
would have called it. Coupled with
the hole in the woodbox, were the
hat on the table (Roediger’s), the
writing pad, the pen. All carefully
thought out to corroborate his story

Mc & Mc

Sporting Goods
Furniture, Home Furnishings
Home Appliances

Courtenay BiG:

SIMMS
SERVICE & GARAGE

BUICK - FONTIAC
G.M.C. TRUCKS

COURTENAY

SUNNYDALE GOLF CLUB
Sandwick, B.C.

Three Miles North of Courtenay,
Vancouver Island

Headquariers for the
Ancient Order of the "Peach"

Schulz General Store
GROCERIES

Dry Goods and Confectionery
BLACK CREEK, B.C.

THE SHOULDER

STRAP