William Fraser McIntosh was found lying in his own wood shed, murdered at Moa Creek in Otago on September 28, 1949.
He had left for work after lunch in the afternoon on his farm, just like he always did.
He was going to bag some rabbit skins and move some sheep.
His wife Margaret was expecting him to return around 3pm to listen to a Ranfuly Shield rugby match on the radio.
Initially she was not worried when he did not show, but by 7pm with no sign of him she became increasingly concerned.
She called a neighbour and a search was organised. William, 63, was found an hour later facedown in the wool shed with his head bashed in.
The only lead the police had was the appearance of a stranger wearing a light blue suit at the house shortly after William had led to work. Margaret said the dark haired man asked her the location of a nearby neighbours house which she gave him. He told her then he had made a mistake and left.
He never turned up there and was never seen again.
Police began the search for a weapon, draining local ponds, but in the end an axe believed to have blood on it was found in a wood shed.
The residents around the area became terrified, locking themselves in at night and local farmers kept their guns on hand.
Police offered a 500 reward but no one ever came forward.
The inquest held at Alexandra courthouse was packed.
A pathologist believed William had been killed by three blows to the head by an axe.
One witness, William James McEwen, had been cutting wood nearby. He had a view of the main road throughout the afternoon - and he had not seen any car or person except a public works van.
No one knew a reason William would have been killed.
Which led to a possibility that the man seen that day was actually looking for the neighbour John Sullivan. But that only raised more questions because Sullivan told the inquest he did not know the man, why he would be looking for him or want to hurt him.
In the end no one was ever brought to justice for William’s murder.
William was born on August 3, 1877, to Alexander and Ellen McIntosh. He had married Margaret in 1911.
He is buried in Andersons Bay Cemetery.
Pic by Tony Litvyak.​