Edward Mark Best
| Edward Mark Best | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Near Morrinsville , North Island |
| Died |
11 October 1941 Westland Hospital, Hokitika |
| Other names | Ted |
| Relatives | 1 Wife 2 Daughters |
| Police career | |
| Department | New Zealand Police |
| Badge number | 2364 |
| Country |
 New Zealand
|
| Rank | Constable |
Edward "Ted" Mark Best (1899 – 11 October 1941) was a New Zealand police officer killed in the line of duty by farmer Stanley Graham.
Best was born the son of a farmer in Annandale, near the North Island town of Morrinsville, New Zealand in 1899. He joined the police at age 21.
In the mid-1920s, he was transferred to the West Coast, where married a woman from Hokitika in 1928, and had two daughters, aged nine and four at the time of his death.
His apparent ability to handle most community problems at a personal level made him a popular and effective policeman.
On 4 October 1941, a neighbor of local farmer Stanley Graham (who had previously been in dispute with the police), Anker Madsen, complained to Constable Best, stationed in nearby Kaniere, that Graham was accusing him of poisoning his cattle. Best decided to not arrive in order to give Graham time to calm himself.
On October the 8, he confronted Madsen with a rifle. Later that morning, Best attempted to discuss the matter with Graham but backed off with Graham pointing two rifles out the window at him. Best retreated to Hokitika for back-up and returned to the farm with Sergeant William Cooper, 43, and Constables Frederick Jordan, 26, and Percy Tulloch, 35.
After a short conversation inside his house, Graham shot and wounded Sergeant Cooper and Constable Best after Sergeant Cooper apparently reached to disarm Graham. He then fired at Constables Jordan and Tulloch as they ran into the house, killing them both instantly with the one bullet. When the badly wounded Cooper attempted to leave to obtain help, Graham shot him dead on the path in front of the house. Best was shot once more after allegedly attempting to plead with him, and died three days later. Graham also fatally wounded a field instructor for the Canterbury education board named George Ridley, who had entered Graham's property to assist any wounded along with an armed local, whom Graham threatened and disarmed. Graham then fled his house, but returned the next evening, when he killed home guardsmen Richard "Maxie" Coulson and Gregory Hutchison in a firefight. During that engagement he was wounded in the right shoulder.
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