Stan Graham Rampage

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Case Details

Crime: Mass Murder (Spree killing and manhunt)
Location: Kowhitirangi, West Coast, New Zealand
Date: 1941-10-08
Victim(s): Sergeant William Cooper, Constable Edward Best, Constable Percy Tulloch, Constable Frederick Jordan, George Ridley, Gregory Hutchison, Richard Coulson
Perpetrator(s): Eric Stanley George Graham
Motive: Paranoia over neighbours allegedly poisoning cattle, financial stress, refusal to surrender firearms for WWII war effort, confrontation with police
Verdict: Graham was shot by police on 20 October 1941 during manhunt and died of wounds the following day.
Sentence: N/A — killed during manhunt
Evidence: Crime scene at farm, multiple shooting victims across two days, 12-day manhunt involving police/military/Home Guard/air force, Graham found hiding near hollow tree stump
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On 8 October 1941, dairy farmer Stanley Graham shot and killed four police officers — Sergeant William Cooper and Constables Tulloch, Jordan, and Best (Best died later) — at his Kowhitirangi property on the West Coast after they attempted to seize his firearms. Agricultural instructor George Ridley was also shot and died in 1943. Graham disappeared overnight and returned on 9 October, killing Home Guardsman Richard Coulson and fatally wounding Gregory Hutchison. A massive 12-day manhunt involving police, the Home Guard, army, and air force — one of New Zealand's largest — ended when Graham was shot by Constable Quirke on 20 October. He died the following day. The case was NZ's first mass murder and inspired the 1981 film Bad Blood.

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