NZ Justice Minister Power turned down calls for independent inquiry in Crewe Murders
It was a long shot, I know. To think that a politician might actually do what is right instead of what is easy…well, that’s what dreams are made off and Vidocq was dreaming big in this case!
But the news is in and now rudely awakened, we read in the New Zealand Herald that Justice Minister Simon Power has turned down calls for an independent inquiry into the 40-year-old murder mystery of the Crewe Family.
“In response, Mr Power said he understood the interest in seeking closure, but his hands were tied. Neither I nor my ministerial colleagues can direct the police to reopen the case. Due to the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and police, responsibility for deciding on any new investigation of the case rests with the police.”
According to the Constitution, indeed a minster cannot order the police to reopen a closed case but nothing stands in his or her way to order an independent inquiry. At this point, the Crewe Murders are under review by a senior police investigator, Detective Superintendent Andy Lovelock. However, he will not be looking for new suspects.
I have a series of articles on DCC about the Crewe Murders, click here.
Categories: Cold Case News, Forensics, Miscarriages of Justice, Unsolved
Tags: Actual Innocence, arthur allen thomas, Autopsy, Ballistics, Crime Scene, Cruelty, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Finger Printing, Forensics, Gun Fire, Identification, Investigations Division, Jeanette and Harvey Crewe, Miscarriage of Justice, New Zealand, Partial Finger Printing, Police, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions