Stolen puppies-murder link focus of inquiry

Scott Guy's dog sits waiting on his ute during his funeral service in Feilding. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Three puppies worth up to $800 each were stolen from the Feilding property of farmer Scott Guy in the hours before he was shot dead, police have confirmed.

The chocolate labradors were discovered missing from Mr Guy's property on Aorangi Rd, south of Feilding, on July 8 - the morning he was found dead in the driveway of his home.

A post-mortem examination confirmed Mr Guy, 31, died from several gunshot wounds.

Police this morning said the puppies had gone missing, but later confirmed they had been stolen.

Detective Inspector Sue Schwalger said police were trying to establish whether the theft was linked to Mr Guy's death.

The puppies were among a litter of eight housed in an outbuilding on the property about 80m from where Mr Guy was shot.

He was killed sometime between 4am and 7am and the puppies were discovered missing hours later.

They were last seen about 5pm the previous day when they were fed by a family member.

"We're not saying that the theft of the puppies is actually attached to the shooting and killing of Scott Guy. We need to keep them separate before we can actually link them," Ms Schwalger said.

"We still have a period of time where someone could have come (and) stolen the puppies as an isolated event."

Six of the puppies had been advertised for sale on flyers in local businesses from late June.

There had been a limited amount of interest in the puppies because they had not been on sale for long, Ms Schwalger said.

"It's not like it was widely known that they were up for sale."

Chocolate labrador puppies were worth anything between $100 to $800 each, depending on breeding. The Guys had listed theirs for about $700.

Police were asking people who had seen the advertisement and called the number to come forward.

Anyone who took the puppies should also come forward, so police could eliminate them from their investigation.

Police would also like to know if anyone was offered a chocolate labrador puppy or knew someone who had received one.

Yesterday they said there had been two earlier acts of vandalism on the Guy property, but were yet to find a link with the murder.

They confirmed windows were smashed and walls were tagged with graffiti while the Aorangi Rd house was still being built in January last year.

A farmhouse, which was sitting on trailers so it could be removed from the property, was set alight in October 2008.

Police were yet to establish a motive for the murder and were looking into Mr Guy's background.

They were still focusing their investigation on the Feilding area but would investigate any possible leads.

"The community response has picked up slightly, but unfortunately a lot of that is rumour and innuendo, and whilst it's good to have phone calls we actually need to talk to people who have viable and credible information," Ms Schwalger said.

She denied the lack of details about Mr Guy's death had fuelled speculation.

"I'm not able to manage the rumour and speculation. Because people don't have answers they'll come out with their own."

Mr Guy left a wife Kylee - pregnant with a child due in September - and a two-year-old son.

Police said he had got up early as usual to go milking on the day of his murder and drove his ute to the end of his driveway. He stopped and walked around to the front of the ute, and it was then that he was shot and killed.

- NZPA