Questions over public response to teacher's murder

Slain retired schoolteacher John Rowe will be buried today, as the brother of another murdered teacher hits out at the lack of public response over Mr Rowe's killing.

Mr Rowe, 78, was beaten to death in his bed by intruders who broke into his Opotiki home last Tuesday.

He was a well-known figure in the town and taught mathematics at Opotiki College for 18 years until 1984.

His funeral was to be held at the Anglican church in Opotiki this morning.

Harley Dear, brother of Tokoroa teacher Lois Dear who was beaten to death in her Strathmore Primary School classroom in 2006, said yesterday he was disappointed by the lack of public response to Mr Rowe's death.

In a letter to The New Zealand Herald, he said Mr Rowe's murder in his Opotiki home ranked alongside his sister's violent death.

His sister's murder had been followed by street marches and a town rally, but there had been no such reaction to Mr Rowe's death.

"I'm just wondering why we haven't had any sort of national disgust," he said.

"The lack of public outcry over John Rowe's murder sends a comfort signal to criminals to carry out business as usual."

In his sister's case, the publicity had served two purposes, Mr Dear said.

"It was a motivator for people to give information to the police, but it also showed we weren't alone in our disgust. We weren't alone in thinking, 'Hey, things have gone too far in this country'."

Detective Inspector Rob Jones said yesterday that inquiries were continuing and a 30-strong investigation team was look at video footage from sources in the town in an attempt to gather more information on Mr Rowe's death.

Police were also working through a list of persons of interest.

Mr Rowe's family have been reluctant to speak publicly about his death, but police said they planned to meet them after the funeral and it was possible they would hold a press conference later in the day or on Tuesday.

- NZPA