Napier siege: gunman's body removed

Police release photos of Molenaar's arsenal

Napier gunman Jan Molenaar's body has been removed from the house he was holed up in during a 50-hour siege.

The body was removed at 1.15pm today, police spokesman Grant Ogilvie said.

Molenaar was found dead in the main bedroom of his house at 11.52am on Saturday after a three-day standoff with police. His body will be taken to Wellington for a post-mortem examination.

At a press conference in Napier this morning, investigation head Detective Superintendent Rod Drew spoke of the "amazing courage" by police officers, neighbours and members of the public in the face of gunman Molenaar's "murderous intent".

Senior Constable Len Snee was shot three times and died instantly, it was revealed today.

Mr Snee, 53, of Taradale police, was killed around 9.30am on Thursday while conducting an apparent low-risk cannabis operation. Senior Constable Bruce Miller, 40, a community constable in the suburb of Ahuriri, Senior Constable Grant Diver, 50, a dog handler, and neighbour Leonard Holmwood were wounded by gunshots.

A post-mortem on Mr Snee's body was completed in Welington on Saturday. Superintendent Drew said today that Snee could not have survived his injuries.

"He was shot three times, one shot throught the left forearm, another through the upper torso, and a third through the lower torso. Neither shot to the torso was survivable; death was immediate. "

"Not only did the gunman fire without warning or provocation inflicting grevious bodily harm to the officer, he then ran down to the road and fired shots at Senior Constable Miller and Constable Diver as they dragged themselves up the road to find cover. It was then that Leonard Holmwood performed an act of bravery that may have saved their lives by grappling with the gunman..."

Police said it was possible there were still undiscovered explosive devices in Molenaar's house.

Police found a large array of ammunition including semi-automatics and military-style weapons in the fortified house on Chaucer Road where Molenaar kept police at bay for 50 hours.

"I can say there were about nine weapons in the rooms where he lies, and about the same number in the garage downstairs.

Mr Drew said the type of high-powered weapons the gunman used could cause damage more than a kilometre away.

"Police have been checking the immediate area. But we want to be sure, even though it is highly unlikely, that no one else has been injured by a stray bullet.

"I stress that it is highly unlikely anyone else is injured but let us be on the safe side."

He said the full examination of the crime scene would take several days. Intensive searching of Molenaar's house would continue today.

"We hope first to clear parts of the road where shots were fired. We will then be able to move our cordon to let some of those more immediate neighbours back into their homes."

BOOBY TRAPS

When police had intially gone to Molenaar's home they had found several cannabis plants, Drew said.

Later police were shown to the garage of the house where they found a sawn-off shotgun and bags of cannabis, he said.

When Constable Grant Diver went upstairs to inform Senior Constable Snee of his discovery he found Molenaar confronting Mr Snee with a firearm.

Booby traps inside the house included a number of things from electric currents being put on door handles to barbed wire strewn through the house.

The three police officers were not wearing stab-proof vests when they went to the home, but that was bore no significance as they would not have protected them in this case, he said.

Molenaar had two minor previous convictions, he said.

No previous police intelligence had suggested Molenaar would have firearms.

Molenaar's body, yet to be formally identified, remains where it was found in his master bedroom. It is likely to be removed today once preliminary forensic examinations are completed.

"As you know he [Molenaar] was found dead at Saturday... On the morning of Friday the 8th of May, police negotiators had been in touch with him, they had reported him to be in "low spirits".

At 1.05am he had told his partner he did not want to go out, he had enough, he didn't want to go to jail, and that he "shouldn't have done it". He wanted to do it "his way", he had said.

"At 1.23am he sent a text expressing his love and five minutes later a single shot was heard coming from the address," Mr Drew said.

'SOMETHING WAS BUGGING HIM'

Earlier today, Peter Molennar told Radio New Zealand that the last time he had seen his brother was two weeks ago. He said it "seemed as though something was bugging him" and he had mentioned his distrust of the police, though it had not seemed too serious at the time.

Peter said as soon as the siege began they knew that Jan would not come out alive and the family had begun planning the funeral as early as Friday.

He said there had been large amounts of support for the family, in particular for their mother Anna.

Peter said Jan was a family man, "quite intelligent...and switched on".

He said he was not aware of Jan's weapons stash and said Jan would have had it stored away from prying eyes.

"He may have had a couple but I didn't realise what he had. I don't think anyone had any idea."

Jan was very protective of his home and the police entering it while he was not home would have been enough to "set him off".

Peter said it was an "extreme overreaction. There was no turning back after that and he realised that".

He disputed claims that Jan was using pure methamphetamine and steroids and that he was a loner.

"He was just like everyone else, just getting on with life."

Peter also claimed that the officers had been watching Jan's house and had waited until he left before entering, a claim that was refuted by Police Association spokesman Greg O'Connor.

Mr O'Connor said it was meant to be a "low key" search warrant, carried out by the three policemen.

He also said the incident was proof that New Zealanders needed to allow police more freedom in order to do their job. He hoped it would see the rollout of Tasers fast-tracked to give officers more protection.

- Stuff.co.nz and NZPA