Police deadlock in Levin rooted in legal dispute over late mother’s house

The house in the center of a 24-hour police standoff in Levin.

WARWICK SMITH/Things

The house in the center of a 24-hour police standoff in Levin.

A four-year property dispute between brothers was a big factor in a Levin man’s 24-hour standoff with armed police.

Police are still considering whether Paul Kenneth Smith, 62, will face charges after he barricaded himself at his home in Bledisloe St on Thursday, with indications that he had weapons.

Armed police and emergency services blocked streets and evacuated 80 residents, while a negotiating team was called in. Police described it as a self-harm incident.

A fire broke out at the house Friday night and Smith was taken to Palmerston North Hospital. The cause of the fire has yet to be confirmed.

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* Levin’s standoff comes to a fiery end as residents of Bledisloe St return to a sense of normalcy

Emergency services sprayed the house with water on Friday evening.

WARWICK SMITH/Things

Emergency services sprayed the house with water on Friday evening.

A police spokesperson told stuff by Monday, the officers had completed the site investigation.

“The man is in a moderate condition in hospital and charges are being filed.”

Police did not answer questions about the cause of the fire or whether weapons were found at the home.

Residents said Friday they had been warned of a bomb threat or chemical threat, but the Manawat area commander, Inspector Sarah Stewart, said the information had not come from the police.

Smith’s struggle to stay in the house stemmed from a legal argument with his brother Thomas Smith over their late mother’s estate. Veronica (Vera) Smith passed away in August 2017.

Warwick Smith/STUFF

STUFF journalist Conor Knell covers Bledisloe Street, Levin, a neighborhood returning to normal, in the wake of a police crackdown on a Bledisloe Street resident.

According to Supreme Court rulings, her will appointed Paul Smith as the sole executor and administrator of the estate, obliging him to divide the remainder of all assets equally between himself and his brother.

When Paul Smith failed to fulfill his obligations within two years, his brother tried to take him out of the role.

Associate Judge Ken Johnston ruled in May 2021 that Paul Smith would be removed as executor and trustee.

Vera Smith’s wishes were not lightly brushed aside, he said, but in nearly four years nothing had been accomplished to divide the estate.

Attorney Douglas Rowan was charged with taking over the administration, intending to sell the house with the amount to be split between the two brothers.

A resident of a neighboring street, Jason Larsen, says windows and doors in the house had been boarded up in the months leading up to Thursday's standoff. The porch at the front of the house had also been taken apart.

Warwick Smith / Stuff

A resident of a neighboring street, Jason Larsen, says windows and doors in the house had been boarded up in the months leading up to Thursday’s standoff. The porch at the front of the house had also been taken apart.

Paul Smith continued to live at the address, but in April of this year Rowan requested a warrant to vacate the property, as his presence made it impossible to sell the house.

Though Judge Johnson expressed sympathy for Smith, he ruled that he was an illegitimate occupier who could muster a defense against the application beyond “basic, unsworn charges” against everyone involved, including the court.

Smith was given until July 11 to vacate the house.

He called stuff Manawatū newsroom in an agitated state on Thursday morning, saying he was about to be evicted, had weapons and chemicals in the property and would resist attempts to remove him. The police were then notified.

Smith previously had grievances with police about a bizarre home invasion at the Bledisloe St house in 2017.

His mother Vera Smith, 88, had a heart attack when a man entered the house and sat down in the lounge at 3am.

The intruder left after a struggle with another resident of the house, taking nothing.

She died five months later from what a coroner ruled to be a heart condition after being hospitalized with chest pain thought to stem from angina and anxiety.

Vera Smith was the victim of a break-in at the same house on Bledisloe St in 2017.

DELIVERED

Vera Smith was the victim of a break-in at the same house on Bledisloe St in 2017.

Police had a suspect at the time, but couldn’t find him until it was too late to report the burglary.

They also investigated the death of Vera Smith, which they said was not suspicious.

Paul Smith told Stuff in 2018 he was upset, officers never recorded a formal statement from his mother about the break-in.

“An ambulance immediately took her away. When she got home, she didn’t hear from them again,” he said at the time.

“When she was taken to the hospital, I can understand that, but when she was discharged and came home, why didn’t someone contact her?”

Police said they had not taken a formal statement from Vera Smith, but that she was briefly spoken to by the officer on duty.

Paul Smith told Stuff in 2020 he still believed someone would be brought to justice for the burglary, but not the person the police ended up detaining.

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