CHILDREN FOUND SHOT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 86, 12 April 1927, Page 8

CHILDREN FOUND SHOT.

TRAGEDY NEAR GORE. FAMILY OF FOUR KXIXED. FATHER'S AWFUL DISCOVERY. MOTHER ATTEMPTS SUICIDE. (?.y T<:> ? ra?l3.~Special to "Star.") GORE, this day. V,T."n Cc-rge Cockburu Rao, working a- a fannir at Kniwera, plo/Ted across Luc }tiv.i<;oi-ka 0:1 his way aome for h:n.'\ yesterday I'.bou* 12.80 /clock, he little ihnr-ht ibut tragedy 1? .d stalked through his homo, and that the bodies r-i fi-iir children, shot by a peti-rifie, v.-evo lyi'.g in a UdiOom oil the kitchen and that his wife had attempted to con iuit ■ni'n-i'.le. Rao lelr lie house on the farm of Mr. W. A. Morris, where he and his wife an? unpluyed n; a married couple, about 7.30 o'clock yesterday morning to I'oiitiuvn ploughing vork in the iields. l'rom ;'ll lvp-ns his relations with his wiiV were hitppy enough, and no words ox ill-wili I'itsseil in tho family circle that morning. "Dear Mother, Forgive Me." Rae worked steadily till noon and on approaching the house about 1'i.30 he heard a shot tired and rushed to the Lack door. A nott> lay on the table, and <>u reading this the possibilities of the biuiatiuu dawned upon hid dazed mind. The note was signed by his wife and commenced: ''Dear mother, forgive me." ]t asked that certain small articles be given to her mother, and others to a sister, and concluded: "Love to all." On grasping, the signilicance of what was obviously meant to be a message froMi the dead, Rae rushed to the bedroom. Here he was confronted by a gruesome sight. His wife lay half u.cro-5 the bed. with a pea-rifle barrel, pointing upwards by her side, and blood fctain-5 showing where a bullet had entered her body just below the left breast. Jiosida her lay the dead bodies of three <>f their children, clothed in their nightdresses, while the second youjiue-st child gasped it? hist breath as tho horror-stricken father took &toc-k of the scene. Each child was .--licit, in the left :-ide, and one had two bii!l"{-> ia its abdomen.

Woman Taken to Hospital. Seeing that little could be done, the father rushed to secure the assistance (it the neare-t neighbour, Mr. T. Morris, a , brother of the owner of the farm. Mr. Morris later communicated with (.nre. and L>r. lingers and Constable ir'hugrue were sent out, and Mrs. Rae was removed to the Gore Hospital later in lire afternoon in a critical condition. "I'll'.' hn-piuil was visited by the coroner 1; ■ • night and Mrs. Rue voluntarily made a statement concerning the deaths <-i" ihe children. The contents of this Mai'-'iiicnt are not available for publiraiion and can only be used in certain , ...',,iiHlii : es. The Dead Children. Tlu" monies of the dead children, constituiir.u, the whole family, are: — ELIZABETH JEAN, 4V years. THOMAS, 2 years and g months. GEORGE ALEXANDER, 1 year and 0 months. MARY TRYPHENA, 10 months. The 1 "lilies of the children were left a'» the house till this morning, a"waitit:g the opening of the inquest. i'ho conclusion reached by the "Star" li ;i!c i'litative. who visited the scene of the iingrdy tl is morning was, that piubably three of the children were shut on tin: vemlidah, where bloodstains were in l>e observed, and were then tiikcn in 1 In , bfilroom by the mother. The rifle- nrig;!i;:!!y lay in the bedroom and ;i null;!:-.t i't cartridges were in the kitchen, i'roiu which those used by the mother (k>r,btlc.-s were taken. Mother Only Twenty-four. Mrs. Tryphena Clifford Rae, the mother, is 24 years of age, and the daughter of Mr. Erskino Beer, of Tuatapere. She has liocu married for more than five year-: anil, with her husband, has been c;;i Mr. Morris , Kaiwera farm for some two or three years. Some light on the nature of the tragedy i- ; thrown by the fact that the children wero dressed in their night alt ire. Tin- farmhouse is situated in an i-olated part of the countryside, on a bleak spot on the hills -with but few travellers passing and neighbours comparatively few. The condition of Mrs. Rae this morning was still grave, but she ha's a fighting chance of recovery. The inquest svas opened for identification purposes, ;nd adjourned.