A MYSTERY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 31, 6 February 1925, Page 8

A MYSTERY.

MURDER OF LONG AGO. IKULL FOUND AT WANGAEHTJ.. VAIL I'liUIA" INTO f-.R.-IN Recently there xin? in.-nle mi a farm ,1 XX angaeliu. near the se.i coa-t. in t l "' cVaii.niiui ilis'riii. .1 gruesome ,ii... ..v .1 . inniaii rciliii'li. doing bis agri'-ult'iiei „ir-uit-. The tiinliiig nf -be remaiiililllllillly excited hi.- cnWity. I.nl imagine iii- surprise «-hi 11 I"' mioic 1,,-clv cx.iniincl lb.- skull and 1..1111.1 iintlniibtv'l rxiileiii- uf a murder. Inf. ihe brain etivi'v bn-i 1 n drixc, .-, I.ir.e lllli'. xxhicll pr..nudes sonic ."in. Ibe . i,e,,,,,5-uiie.-s n-e ~..' llliilke llios, referred o In .lu.l.es ix. I'l . " I'lien lliel. Ilclici's wife. k .1 1111.' uf ibe tent, and took an li.i,n„.er in 'iei ban 1 and went forth 1111 m bun. and s.iio'e the nail into hi- temples and fastened i: int., the ground, lor be --a-- fast asleep and wen,v. .-.. !„■ died."" The nail, which t.->-,1..v Is si ill lirnily eiiibedde.l in the skull, mi- of the oldfashioned .-,|ii„rc ci,l ll„:- 1.ni.l type, made bx- band fioin n sheet ni iimi. I Yinsi.Oral,ie f,,r,e iniisi haxe boon tied!, for tin- nail carried with i' sp'inters <•{ the skull, in the ..-1,1 c xnix- that a 1111 1 drixen through 11 piece of' board would do. and through nil those years il ha-l-ciiiaiiied (irmly ill thai position. The mnl tn "a large .1.-.,-.- fixes the approximate date uf tli- i.rinb'r. I* bas been examined by i-xivf' - b.-ic ivl.o stale that this da-- of rail x,as '.n universal use nliou. 110 (car- agu. 1,,-:',, re bein. replaced by what is m-w kn.m 11 as the round xi ire nail. The skull is that ..[" a xvhiio man, from '__ to .'I.", years of age, xvith what teeth remain in a good slate of prcsetxat ii in. Placing these facts together, ii i« I surmised that tin- murder xvas cornI milted sonic oil to 70 years ago. I .\s lo the ninth,- no "one can tell. TI 1 may have been a robbery i.r a quarrel I between txvo mates, nr ihe unfortunate victim may have been atta-ked by a Maori while ho slept alnneside 1 be'old traflic route betxveen Wellington and Nexv Plymouth, the murderer being able I to slip quietly a way. The murderer ci identic bid all tr/i," = nf his crime by burying , be body about a spade deep in the bmelv spot. -X 50n.,1, of ihe locality reveale.] no other exhibits that might' lead tn id.-ntili. a-

t ion. I 111 those days the coast xvas tbe road ! between Wii'npaiiiii and Wellington. ! there being an accommodation lions- at. the xarious rixcrs xvhich required to b- I forded. One of ihedc houses xvas situated near the scene of the tragedy! in tho early days. wliicli xvas then and i« noxv a Inm-v spot. The rim-li road did not follow the b-ar-h nil the wnv ou account, of drifting .-and an.l the nature of the country, but the beach xvas hupped xx bore possible on account, of the hostile nature of the n,,sixes Traces of the old route ,-an still he seen in parts, and more particularly at Nukiimaru. Numerous persons have mystei iously disappeared on this coastal road, and no trace has ever been found of them. Inquiries locally have brought, out. the names of at least three xvho disappeared lietxreen Turakitia and Wnnganni, one of I hem being the. senior partner of one of Wellington's .-oft poods houses, xvlin left Turakina for Wanpanui, nnd never reached his destination. The Wnnganni magistrate, Mr. J. Is. Rarlon, had the skull submitted to him. lie states thai it would be useless lo .attempt, to bold any inquest, but the j publicity may bring the matter under I the notice, nf some of llie. younger generation who had heard their father, j mother, or relatives speak of some friend who had disappeared on thia | route. There is an old saying, "Murder xiill 'out,'' but the. chances of finding the . perpetrator in this instance arc vcrv I remote. However, there is just a ,«.s.-i----bility that. at. this late date the i_cnf.it xlof the unfortunate man niav be established. A radiograph photograph has Iveen taken of the skull, and shows in a graphic manner the embedded nail.