GISBORNE TRAGEDY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 78, 2 April 1927, Page 11

GISBORNE TRAGEDY.

fimiA PRESENT BY CHANGE*

•pSLAX XH riNDING MURDERER 5

SECONSTRUCTIOX OF CRIME.

rfLjlßy.-Telegraph.—Own Correspondent) £ GISBORNE, this dajv \- Xα* is only host returning to Stomal after the Ehock caused by the caws of the tragic happenings of Thursday nighi» "when Mrs, Pettit was shot afead by George Edward Nowell, who iitenFards took his own life. "- The wedding which the party were celebrating took place very quietly in the afternoon. The bride, Miss Winnie Ben3ieti> a daughter of the Rev. F. A. Bennett, of Hastings, had been living in a with Misses Faulkner and R. ißolmes, two dental nurses, and it was at Sbe "bach," a small bungalow in Hirini Ssfcreet, that the party gathered. The Mr. Jim Oman, is a son of ifcfr. G. B. Oman, of Gisborne. It was only by chance that Mrs. Pettit tens a member of the party, for if her inaid had not returned unexpectedlv during the day, it is unlikely that shie yould have attended. Her three children fcre aged ten, seven and five years, Nowell's Movements. ~ " The police have ascertained that JfowelL after leaving the house, returned ,to his boarding-house, which is not far distant, entered his room by the window, and got a shot-gun from a -wardrobe. The marks of his blood-stained hands Were on the window-sill, wardrobe and clothes. How long he stayed in the room it is not certain, but on leaving it he walked to Harris Street and shot himself. It was more than an hour after Mrs. Pettit was shot that Nowell's body was found. In the meantime the police were making investigations at the house. Mr. Pettit was the- only one who had eeen and recognised the murderer, and after being told by Mr. Pettit that NbweH was the man, <he police went to the boarding-house, but Nowell had gone. Appeared Normal. From evidence given at the inquest, and from other information, it appears 4£at Nowell gave no indication of his intention to commit the crime. When talking to friends earlier in the evening Be did not Tefer to the wedding. It is surmised that he found out later of the wedding, and became enraged.