A SORDID ENDING.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 116, 17 May 1924, Page 19

A SORDID ENDING.

A DREADFUL COUPLE. > At a Grimsby inquest some light was thrown on the mystery surrounding the deaths of August Davies, a painter, and his wife, Sarah Ellen Davies. Davies disappeared, and (he same evening the police found the decomposed body of his wife in a room in which she lodged with her hus- ' band. The following morning Davies' body i was found floating in a dock. I The coroner said a post-mortem examination of the body of Mrs. Davies showed that the cause of her death was probably shock from burning, and Davies' brother would tell the jury that Davies bad told him n little time before that his wife had ,been burnt. i "lam afraid," added the coroner, "that both the man nnd his wife were addicted to drink, particularly the husband." | Evidence was given that the couple had lived in one room for 11 years, and that the woman had not left the room for several years. The police said the room was in a filthy condition, and there were no bedclothes, clothing, food or crockery. j A doctor said he came to the conclusion :she had been dead from three days to a week, and that death was due to burns, scalds, and shock. I The jury found that Mrs. Davies died from scalding and burning, and there was no evidence to show how she came by her i injuries or where. They found that Davies committed suicide, and that there was no .'evidence to show the state of his mind.