Multiple blows killed teacher
19 July 2006Â
By MIKE WATSON
Tokoroa teacher Lois Dear died of multiple blows to the head, face and upper body, an autopsy has revealed.
Residents already reeling from the popular 66-year-old Strathmore Primary School teacher's death have been told police suspect the killer is a local.
Police say the long-serving and dedicated teacher was attacked in her classroom between 8am and 9am on Sunday. Her body was found by assistant principal Janine Baird later that day.
Ms Dear's blue 1994 Toyota Corolla was found dumped two kilometres away beside the Tokoroa Catholic Church in Mossop Rd.
Ms Dear's daughter Jan Armstrong said her mother was such a caring person she even hated animals being hurt. "Whoever's done this mistreated Mum worse than an animal."
Detective Inspector Garth Bryan said police were keeping an open mind on whether a weapon was used and if one or more attackers were involved.
"Her injuries were the result of multiple blows and not stab wounds," he said.
Police suspected the culprit or culprits were local.
"Given that they were out walking in the community early on Sunday morning leads us to suspect that they are from the town.
"But they could also be transients passing through the town."
Police had received several reports of Ms Dear's car being seen in the township on Sunday morning.
Strathmore Primary principal Murray Kendrick said the murder of Ms Dear, described as the school's "elder stateswoman", had yet to hit the community fully.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"The reality has not yet started to hit home and probably won't until school is back.
"Young children know she has been killed but do not have a concept that she had gone for good."
The school would reopen this morning with a special assembly "so we can remember Lois".
The classroom where she was killed would be dismantled in the "long run", he said. "I know personally if I was a teacher I would feel uneasy working there."
Parent Miri Craig said her children knew Ms Dear had been killed.
"They just can't comprehend the reality that she won't be there.
"It might hit them hard when they are at school."
About 100 people attended an inter-denominational blessing of the school yesterday afternoon.[/b]
