Coldcase of 18-year-old Olive Oriwia Walker (1970)
“Basically, we’ve got a shy, timid girl who for no reason was murdered” (Sensing Murder, Olive Walker, PAGE 67).
In a community where locals always said, “It was safe to leave your doors unlocked when you went out,” (Sensing Murder, Olive Walker, PAGE 63).
The description of Rotorua, New Zealand, in the seventies could have been similar to that of most tight-knit communities at the time. My family and I visited eighteen years ago (2008) for my Grandmother’s funeral, Rotorua’s famous mud pools, and geysers, which were of great interest to all of us. All I remember is the smell, if you know, you know. Please keep in mind I was eleven or twelve at the time, and I knew nothing about ‘Sensing Murder NZ’ or even the name Olive Walker.
The Walker Family in Rotorua
The family moved from Moerewa (Northland) to Rotorua in the late sixties (1968) with ten children. Harry and Ngnuia Walker began settling into the community. As the Walker family settles into life in Rotorua, the third-youngest daughter, Olive, leaves school and starts working in a nursery among plants, which I find ironic, given that Olive’s family describes her as having a gentle nature, making her the perfect babysitter. As described by her sister Mary in the ‘Sensing Murder NZ’ TV show, “as far as my children were concerned, she was my babysitter[…]she was good that way,” (Sensing Murder, Olive Walker PAGE 63).
Olive Walker was described as a shy, gentle girl with a deep connection to children. On May 15 1970, Olive had agreed to babysit her sister Mary’s children, but hours later, piercing screams were heard along Malfroy Rd. Roughly at 11 p.m, a group of young people discovered a horrific sight. The car’s headlights revealed the horrific sight. Olive Walker. Her skull was crushed, and had been broken into several pieces. She might be eighteen, but this is the girl who would run up the driveway if strangers called at the bottom of the family drive.
Evidence was discovered at the scene. Tracks from an unknown vehicle and a boot print from footwear distributed to millworkers and forestry workers were shown at the crime scene. From a Bradford truck/van, a Sunbeam Rapier, or some other vehicle, the police don’t know. If you watched the episode, viewers might have been confused, as the very first episode didn’t highlight the cold case of Olive Walker; it was Tracey Ann Patient.
Olive Walker’s case was the first ‘Sensing Murder’ episode to be filmed.
Updates: A Suspect?
Deb Webber helped to create an identikit of the killer of Olive Walker, which was shown. What wasn’t shown is that a policeofficer in that room, when the identikit was produced, thought he recognised the person. I got the impression that the police know who was responsible, but they can’t prove it in court. The identikit resurfaced twelve years after the ‘Sensing Murder NZ’ episode first aired in New Zealand (2018), with the Rotorua Daily Post interviewing DS George Staunton, confirming (at the time) that the man similar to the identikit had been released and lived in the Rotorua area. Currently, there are no plans to question the man any further.
The latest update I could find regarding the case was a True Crime Podcast written and produced by a Welshman, John (last name unknown), on September 16, 2024.
Not surprisingly, one of the 370 suspects over the first couple of years of the investigation was the Australian backpacker killer Ivan Milat. A series of murders that took place in the 1990s (1989 – 1993). Milat lured seven backpackers from all over the world into the Belango State Forest, New South Wales, where they were murdered. Since Milat’s capture (1994), he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. According to an interview between journalist Kent Caddick and a retired police officer, Jack Collins (1996), a link between Milat and Olive Walker’s murder was thought to be unlikely. Milat died behind bars roughly seven years ago (2019).
The possibility of Olive Walker’s case being connected to other unsolved murders and missing persons cases in and around New Zealand in the seventies. The similar crimes are listed below.👇
🔴 Jennifer Beard, a 25-year-old Welsh schoolteacher, was travelling through New Zealand in the late sixties. She vanished on New Year’s Eve. It was said that Beard was hitchhiking from Haast to Wanaka (West Coast, South Island). Three weeks later, Beard’s body was found under a bridge over the Haast River. Jennifer Beard had been sexually assaulted and strangled. No one was ever charged with her murder.
🔴 Mona Blades, an 18-year-old hitchhiking from Hamilton to Hastings in New Zealand’s winter to attend her nephew’s birthday party (1975). Blades was last seen by a witness who reported seeing her accept a lift from someone in an orange Datsun station wagon. Mona Blades hasn’t been seen alive again, and her case remains unsolved.
🔴 Harvey and Jeanette Crewe were both shot and killed in their home again in New Zealand’s Winter in June (1970). The couple lived in an isolated farmhouse, south-west of Auckland. Another local farmer, Arthur Allan Thomas, was wrongly convicted and was released after serving 9 years behind bars.
🔴 Tewhai Brown from Okere Falls went missing in Rotorua (1996), roughly a couple of minutes’ drive north-east. The mother of six was walking along State Highway 33, heading towards Tauranga. The mother was described as being in high spirits, singing and dancing along to a yellow radio she was carrying (seen by witnesses). Tewhai had had a recent relationship breakdown, causing her to suffer from bouts of depression for about six months. The family keep hope alive that Tewhai Brown is alive and well somewhere, yet a coroner legally declared the 31-year-old woman dead. This case is connected (not how you would expect) to Olive, as Tewhai Brown is Olive Oriwia Walker’s cousin.
Please, if you have any information about the murder of Olive Walker (1970), then call the Rotorua Police on (07) 3480099 or Crimestoppers (NZ) anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Sources
https://personsunknown.buzzsprout.com/1775304/episodes/15752655-olive-walker-unsolved-murder
Persons Unknown Podcast (2024) Olive Walker (Unsolved Murder). Spotify. September 16, 2024. [Accessed February 9, 2026].
McCloy N. (2008). Sensing Murder Ninox Television. Olive Walker.