MURDER AND SUICIDE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 62, 14 March 1930, Page 9

MURDER AND SUICIDE.

FOCH AVENUE TRAGEDY. EVIDENCE OF INSANITY. POTTER'S FITS OF MORBIDITY. Little new light was thrown, at t!ie inquest, held before Mr. F. K. Hunt. S.M., yesterday afternoon, on the shocking tragedy which occurred at 21 Foch Avenue, Dominion Road, on February 19, when Mrs. Agnes Beesley, aged 43, was found dead, with her throat cut, and William Potter, who had lodged at the house, was found suffering from self-inflicted injuries which caused his death. The coroner returned a verdict that Mrs. Beesley died as the result of wounds inflicted by Potter, while he was insane, and that Potter committed suicide while of unsound mind. The evidence traversed no new field so far as the actual circumstances of the tragedy were concerned, but a letter from Potter to his niece in Dunedin svas handed to the coroner. Mr. Hunt read it, but gave no indication of its contents, except to say that they showed the. dead man's mind to have been unbalanced. Chief Detective Hammond said the letter was clear evidence to this effect. On Friendly Terms. John Frederick Beesley said he married his wife in 1919 and there were three children, aged nine, seven and six years. For the past two years the family had lived in Foch Avenue, and Potter, who had been an hotel porter, was living with them. Witness had known Potter for a number of years, and he was on friendly terms with the family. Witness had not noticed anything peculiar in his demeanour. They all had breakfast together, and witness left in search of work at 8.30. He ili'l a day's work and returned home at 0.15. The children met him, and the eldest said: "Mummy is not at home." Witness discovered that one of the windows was slightly open, and he entered' the house. He found hia wife huddled up on the floor in the dining room. She was dead. Her clothes were disarranged and they were covered with blood. The body was cold. There was a pool of blood on the floor, and she was lying in it. In the front room he found Potter lying on the floor between the bed and the fireplace. There was a gash in'his throat and another in his chest. Witness said: "Can you tell me who has done this?" but he could not reply, although he tried to speak, and made gestures, pointing to his head, and holding his head in his hands. Witness called the next door neighbour, Mr. Nicholls, and summoned Dr. Gunn.

"I had not noticed anything wrong in Potter's manner," said witness. "'He was very friendly to me and to my wife and children, and I had no suspicion of anything wrong. So far as I could see he did not give any indication of mental trouble, and he made no mention of suicide. I think he had very little money, as he often said he was running short." He was of a quiet disposition, and witness had never known him to quarrel. "Peculiar and Morbid." Mrs. Irene May Nicholls, 10, Foch Avenue, said she last saw Mrs. Bees ley at 11 a.m., on February 19. About the same time.she saw Potter walking along Avenue, Init noticed, nothing-wrong in his manner. He appeared to be peculiar and morbid at times, and some days he would not recognise witness, but pass on without speaking.. On other occasions he' .-would .be quite.normal and exchange a pleasant. greeting. . Mrs. Beesley one day told witness that Potter was peculiar. She said he was getting old, and sometimes,' for no reason at all, he would not speak. On several occasions witness had seen him sitting on the back step holding his head between his hands, and refusing to speak to anyone.

Constables Belcher and Taylor giwe evidence as to the position of the bodies, and Detective O'Sullivan also described the shocking scene which the interior of the house presented. In the room where Mrs. Beesley was lying, witness found a fragment of. watch-ohain which had belonged to Potter.. Mrs. Beesley had cuts on the hands and arms, and the/e were signs o" a violent struggle. Chief Detective Hammond said there was one witness who would have been able to give evidence as to Potters mental condition, but she had been called to Napier on account of sickness. The coroner remarked that the letter which Potter had written to his nince in Dunedin was a clear indication tliat the dead man's mind was unbalanced at the time.