Murder shocks Penguin

A neighbour found Lehman Joseph McHugh, 84, and Anthony James McHugh, 62, dead about 12.30pm in their Arnold St home, which had been ransacked. They had last been seen alive at 5.15pm on Friday.

Detectives and forensic staff converged on Penguin yesterday as police began a manhunt, which they confirmed was a murder investigation.

The exact cause of the deaths has yet to be publicly revealed, but the men are thought to have been victims of a home invasion.

One of Lehman's oldest friends, Don Dicker, who grew up with him in the Camena farming district between Penguin and Riana, described him as "one of the nicest persons you'll ever meet".

Mr Dicker, 75, of Burnie, said he had last seen "Leemy" on Thursday when Mr Dicker had visited him.

"I was here last Thursday at 3.30pm, but little did I think that when we shook hands to say goodbye that that'd be the last time I'd see him," he said.

I've known him almost my entire life. Although he was 10 or 11 years older than me, we were great friends.

"We knocked about together spud- digging on various farms."

Mr Dicker said Lehman had been crippled with arthritis and found it difficult to walk, and Tony had had to stop work recently because he had been starting to suffer from arthritis himself.

Tony moved to Arnold St from his Ulverstone home to take care of his father three weeks ago.

After growing up in Camena and playing football for Riana, Lehman moved to Penguin, where he lived with his wife Melvey (nee Haulman) and Tony, their only son.

Mr Dicker said Mrs McHugh had died some years ago.

Lehman worked at the Burnie's pulp mill as an operator in the chemical house and lived at Penguin for about 40 years.

Tony worked at the pulp mill in administration and later in offices in Melbourne.

Dudley Corbett, of Penguin, who used to travel to work in the same car as Lehman and worked with Tony at the mill, said both father and son had been absolute gentlemen.

"They were unassuming, gentle people, and this is what everyone is finding it so hard to come to terms with ... that they should end their lives like this. It's such a shock," Mr Corbett said.

"It's incredible something like this could happen in quiet little Penguin.

"The town is in absolute shock. It's a blot on the serenity of the place."

Central Coast councillor and former Penguin Town Clerk Terry McKenna said the incident had devastated the community.

"People here just can't believe it. They're people that were held in such high esteem - harmless, very good people: very community-minded, very nice, very obliging."

Mr McKenna said the McHugh family had been early settlers in the area, and Leemy's grandfather had been a member of the first Penguin council.

Another resident, who would not be named, said Leemy had been a terrific bloke.

"Every town's got someone like him. I wouldn't know a person who had a bad word for him: he was someone everyone looked up to," he said.

"He was very dry-witted."

Lehman's brother Trevor, who died about 10 years ago, had been princi- pal of the Glenora area school at Derwent Park.

Police said the killings were defi- nitely not a murder-suicide.

"There is no one in custody and there have been no formal inter- views," Det-Insp. Robert Gunton said.

"But we are following several lines of inquiry.

"The forensic examination of the scene is going to take another 24 or 48 hours, so we will know more after that."

Police would like to hear from anyone who had knowledge of the two men or saw any person or vehicle moving in the Arnold St area after 5.15pm on Friday.