THE SATHERLEY SENSATION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 228, 1 October 1897, Page 2

THE SATHERLEY SENSATION.

A REWARD OF £500 OFFERED

Inspector Pender has left for Blenhe" to personally direct the investigation int the Satherley mystery, so as to endeavtmt to follow out the jury's verdict of -n-iifnj murder, and bring the crime home to th guilty person. In this work thel nspect c has lus hands strengthened by the Govern ment's offer of a reward of £500 for inf mation which shall lead to the appreh° r sjon and con notion of the murderer U" A plan of the locality of SatlierW wanderings on the night he was last seen by his friends-r-compiled from evident adduced at the inquest, and takinw in th river from its source to outfall—ifas w e prepared with much care, and an examin^ tion of it must give ample scope to th police for theory-building. The plan (gar! the "New Zealand Times") bears pro^ nent marks upon various spots deservin" ! close attention according to evidence. Th river takes a winding course, and .aeatlv half-way between the place where some money and a stick of tobacco were found and the distant railway bridge is the spot where the body was found,, caught & a snag. Now, was the body thrown, into th* water from the town paddock (supßoanj. ! the case murder) and carried by tne.jicll which rises and falls considerably in lile* 1 j heim, along its unusually winding course? ! Did the murderer or murderers carry the | corpse that distance away and drop it, j n the water where it was found ? or (supposing the case one of suicide) did Satlierlv wander out of his way, in an opposite direction from his home, and fall into the water whilst crossing the railway bridge? Or, yet again—for mystery ever deepens when theorising — supposing it a case of disappearance, did Satherley, whilst leaving Blenheim, accidently fall into the river from the bridge ? These are some of I the knotty points which the police have to | unravel during the inquiry now talcum i place. ? i The Nelson "Mail" of Tuesday last says : —" In connection with the mysterious disappearance of the man Satherley at Blenheim, and the recent recovery of his j body, many rumours are afloat. It is | gathered from police enquiries that some 13 days before Satherley's disappearance | two prisoners were discharged at WelhW i ton and returned to Blenheim, whence | they had been sentenced. One of these was a 'short thick man,' in this re.spect answering to the description of one of the two men said -to have been seen by a woman at Blenheim ' putting the body of a man into a boat. Sergeant M'Ardle called the attention of the Blenheim police to this matter some ! time ago, and certain inquiries were made, ! and now that Satherley has been found no : doubt the inquiries indicated will be prose- ' cuted with renewed vigour. It was further 1 stated that Satherly was an important witness against the ' short thick man ' when he got six years' hard labour for larceny in Blenheim. J> When Satherley was reporte4 to have "disappeared" a public subscription was opened in Blenheim on behalf of his family, but when rumours got about that he hid been seen in various places, the fountains of relief ceased to flow. We notice by the local papers that the list has again been opened and further subscriptions are coming in. There is also talk of a popular concert being given to aid the fund.