Died Because He Loved Too Well

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 8 (Supplement)

Died Because He Loved Too Well

YOUNG Police Constable James Arthur Prettyjohns died because he loved too well. No shadow marred Lis romance with Maisie Chapman, a draper's assistant, but the very intensity of his love brought with it the fear that one Oay lie might lose his sweetheart. Day by day the haunting fear grew till he put his head in the gas oven at her home in Watford, Herts.. England. They found him dead, and on the floor beside him they found this note: — "Maieie, darling I am perfectly eane. Please do not think of me otherwise, no matter what verdict they bring in at the inquest. "The only trouble is I love you too much; I am just a coward, and frightened that one day I might lose you. "Please forgive me, mother and dad a nd Vera and all. Good-bye. Please remember I love you all, and as you

can see. I love Maisie more than life. She made me live. God bless her and make her happy. "Muni, darling, please believe me when I say I love you and I am perfectly sane. I guess I cannot crumble with life." At the inquest, Maisie Chapman said she met Prettyjohns last August whi'e on holiday at Dartmouth, where he lived. They became engaged in October, when he was at the Police Training College, but agreed to break it off temporarilv when he was stationed at Wimbledon." The broken engagement made no difference, and he continued to go to Watford regularly. There was no trouble between them. The jury returned a verdict of suicide while the balance of his mind vu disturbed.