[1] In October 1928, Bayly's cousin, 17-year-old Elsie Walker, was found dead in some scrub in a scoria pit in Panmure, Auckland, with a bruise on her head.

[1] Bill Bayly and his wife Phyllis had been dairy farming at Ruawaro, near Huntly, since November 1928.

Some speculated that her husband had killed her and fled, but it soon became evident that both Lakeys had been the victims of foul play.

Two days later bloodstains were found on a wheeled frame near the boundary between the Lakey and Bayly farms, bloodstains were discovered on Bill's sledge, Lakey's guns were found buried in Bayly's swamp, and chemical tests revealed charred bone fragments on a shovel taken from his dairy.

Police finally buried the remains of Samuel Lakey alongside those of Christobel in Huntly cemetery in 2015.