Edward Mark Best (1899 – 11 October 1941) was a New Zealand police officer killed in the line of duty by farmer Stanley Graham.

Early life and career

Best was born the son of a farmer in Annandale, near the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

town of

Morrinsville Morrinsville is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, with an estimated population of as of The town is located at the northern base of the Pakaroa Range, and on the south-western fringe of the Hauraki Plains. ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 1899. He joined the

New Zealand Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

at age 21. In the mid-1920s, he was transferred to the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, on the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

. In 1930, Best married a woman from the Arahura Valley, an area near his police house in Kaniere (less than inland from the larger coastal settlement of

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

). The couple had two daughters together, who were aged nine and four at the time of his death. Best's apparent ability to handle most community problems at a personal level made him a popular and effective policeman.

Death

On 4 October 1941, Anker Madsen, a neighbor of local farmer Stanley Graham (who had previously been in disputes with the police), complained to Constable Best that Graham was accusing him of poisoning his

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. The two farms were near Best's one-man police house in Kaniere, but he decided not to respond that day, in order to give Graham time to calm himself. KoiterangiIncidentMemorial01 gobeirne

KoiterangiIncidentMemorial02ShiftN gobeirne

On 8 October, Graham confronted Madsen with a rifle. Later that morning, Best attempted to discuss the matter with Graham but backed off with Graham pointing two rifles out the window at him. Best retreated to the larger "sergeant's station" in nearby

, then returned to the farm with Sergeant William Cooper, 43, and Constables Frederick Jordan, 26, and Percy Tulloch, 35. After a short conversation inside his house, when Sergeant Cooper apparently reached to disarm Graham, Graham shot and wounded Cooper and Best. Graham then fired at Jordan and Tulloch as they ran into the house, killing them both instantly with the one bullet. When the badly wounded Cooper attempted to leave to obtain help, Graham shot him dead on the path in front of the house. Best was shot once more after allegedly attempting to plead with him, and died three days later. Graham also fatally wounded a field instructor for the

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

education board named George Ridley, who was drawn to Graham's propertyalong with an armed localby the gunfire, looking to assist any wounded; Graham then threatened and disarmed the armed local. Graham then fled his house, but returned the next evening, when he killed wartime Home Guardsmen Richard "Maxie" Coulson and Gregory Hutchison in a firefight. Graham was wounded in the right

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...

during that engagement.

Aftermath

The ensuing manhunt was the biggest in New Zealand history. It was overseen by the Commissioner of Police, Denis Cummings. More than 100

from across the nation, with several hundred

New Zealand Army , image = New Zealand Army Logo.png , image_size = 175px , caption = , start_date = , country = , branch = ...

and

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...

personnel, searched the area for Graham for 12 days, with orders to shoot on sight if they found him still armed. On 20 October, after being spotted by two police constables and a local civilian carrying his rifle and ammunition belts, an injured Graham was shot by

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Constable James D'Arcy Quirke (one of the two officers who spotted him) with a

.303 .303 may refer to: * .303 British, a rifle cartridge * .303 Savage, a rifle cartridge * Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the B ...

rifle, from a distance of , as Graham crawled through a patch of scrub. After being shot, he was surrounded by almost a hundred police and army, to one of whom he reportedly told that he "could have shot some more". He died the following morning at approximately 5:25 AM at

Westland Hospital Westland Hospital was one of two hospitals in Hokitika, on the West Coast of New Zealand. It was founded in 1865 and closed in 1989. History The hospital was founded in 1865 to the south of the Hokitika River and rebuilt about 1875 to the no ...

and was buried at Hokitika

Cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

. Constable Quirke reported Graham told him, after being shot, that he was intending to give up later that night.Carson, Christopher
Graham, Eric Stanley George 1900 - 1941
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Wellington. Updated 22 June 2007.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Edward Mark 1899 births 1941 deaths Deaths by firearm in New Zealand Male murder victims New Zealand police officers killed in the line of duty People from Morrinsville