Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 21 April 1952, page 1


Murder Of N.T.

Taxi-driver:

2 Migrants Held

BRISBANE, Sunday.-Two New Australians held at Mount Isa for ques-tioning after the shooting of a Darwin taxi-driver on Friday will be charged with

his murder.

' Detective-Sergeant E. A. McNab, of Darwin,

'and other "police' are"

flying the 750 miles

to Mount Isa with the warrant and extradition papers.

Until they arrive the men will be held on a charge of stealing the dead man's taxi.

The victim was George Grantham,' 42. His body was found yesterday in scrub off the Stuart High-way, 13 miles from Darwin. He had been shot in the back of the head, and there was a knife wound in his chest.

The two New Australians arc Jeir Koci, 20, Czecho-slovakia^ and Jonas Nopotry, 19," Rumanian.

Police held them for ques-tioning yesterday afternoon,

between Mt. Isa and Clon-

curry, about 1,200 miles by road from the scene of the crime.

They told police they

were held up by two men in the taxi between Duchess and Mi. Is^a .and forced at gunpoint to drive the taxi.

Police then began a wide search for the two alleged hold-up men, covering an area bounded by Camoo-weal, Cloncurry, Duchess, and Dajarra.

Grantham was first missed early on .Friday morning when he failed to return

home after a midnight job.

He was in the habit of carrying large sums of money, and police believe that when he was killed he had between £500 and £600.

BODY IN SCRUB

Police, taxi-drivers, and residents began a search tor Grantham and his cab on Friday morning, which con-tinued throughout the night.

Two local residents searching along the Stuart Highway yesterday saw wheel tracks leading into the scrub. They investigated and found pools of blood and then Grantham's body.

The two New Australians

will appear in Mt. Isa Court of Petty Sessions to-morrow. They will then be taken back to Darwin by car. The journey will take at least three days.

Grantham had lived in

the Northern Territory for many years. At his funeral to-day Darwin's 60 taxi-drivers carried mour-ners free of charge.