Leo Sylvester Hannan, also spelled Silvester, was convicted of one murder, in Wellington in 1950, and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1962, knowing he had terminal cancer, he asked to see the lawyer who had represented him at that trial and told him that he had killed two elderly sisters at Wairoa in 1942 and a man at Wairoa in 1948. No court has tested that account.
The three events are separate and years apart: Wairoa in 1942, Wairoa again in 1948, and Wellington in 1950. One is a conviction. The other two rest on a confession.
Hannan lived an itinerant life in the lower North Island and spent much of the 1940s in prison. His criminal record shows that he was out of prison when the Smyth and Brunton deaths took place. His date of birth and his upbringing are not on record.
Rosamond and Annie Smyth were sisters, aged 74 and 63 in 1942. Annie was born in Kaiwharawhara, Wellington, in 1878. The sisters came to Wairoa together in January 1941.
They were killed at Wairoa on or about August 8, 1942. A large police inquiry followed, led by Chief Detective J. Bruce Young of Wellington, and a reward of 500 pounds was offered. Police questioned people who had had disputes with the sisters.
On January 19, 1943, the coroner returned an open verdict of "murder by some person or persons unknown." The mystery was still described as unsolved in 1966, and there were a number of suspects but no conviction.
In December 1948 Herbert Brunton, an old man, was killed at Wairoa. Bruce Young, the detective who had led the Smyth inquiry, also investigated this case, and it remained unsolved.
In August 1950 Frederick Stade was killed in Wellington. Hannan was tried for the murder in the Supreme Court at Wellington. He was represented at the trial by George Joseph. He was convicted in October 1950 and sentenced to life imprisonment. The date of arrest, the date the trial opened and the full wording of the sentence are not on record.
In 1962, knowing that his cancer was terminal, Hannan asked to see Joseph. He told his former lawyer that he had killed the Smyth sisters, and that he had also killed Herbert Brunton at Wairoa in December 1948.
He died in October 1962, still serving the life sentence.
Only the 1950 killing went before a court. For the Wairoa deaths there was no trial and no verdict, and no charge is on record. The coroner's 1943 finding on the Smyth sisters was an open verdict. The confession was made to Hannan's lawyer and was not tested in court.
Around August 8, 1942: Rosamond and Annie Smyth killed at Wairoa.
January 19, 1943: coroner returns an open verdict of murder by some person or persons unknown.
December 1948: Herbert Brunton killed at Wairoa; the case remains unsolved.
August 1950: Frederick Stade killed in Wellington.
October 1950: Hannan convicted of murder at the Supreme Court at Wellington and sentenced to life imprisonment.
1962: Hannan, terminally ill with cancer, tells his lawyer he killed the Smyth sisters and Herbert Brunton.
October 1962: Hannan dies while still serving his sentence.