The Gatton Murders.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3025, 6 January 1899, Page 5

The Gatton Murders.

ylbkV^^at^^b^ tie tiin'e 1 of the 3 murder: '"TrireS'^nepf ftf'.ia : M»^tecl, were ' oohcirnedlDty^earer^.trlkewhenMrchael 'Murphy was outwit^ the Infancy,' and It is declared tb.t they regarded M arphy l: w"tte?r ( enemy:'^Tjiejr;' were a^<ju»!ikted with the locality. '"/'.' '. .'""" i / " The oomm&atoneit' bf'ttie police and preaa repbrterafaave" arrived aft an understanding regarding v the sup'preSßlori of news, the . publication of whioh might interfere with tWoouraebfjaatioe. : • MriJTNeii, * "brother-In.l»^ t Iniipeolal fnWrwewraiAtes'how he discovered the bodies. He Is only a recent arrival In the dTatrioV Wbiin Michael / Murphy and hia ,iisterß did not return home, their mother became anxloaa/anJl saked M'fteil to look for them. The wheel , of the dogcart had a peculiar wobble, and it waa^ by this imeana that he picked up the track and traced It to the paddock, sphere the bodies were found. PARTIQULABS OF THE OBIME. Newspapers to hand by the. Aorangi at Wellington give farther particulars of the .Gatton murder. It appears that the crime was committed on the nigbt of Boxing Day. A race meeting w^aa held at Gatton on that day, and was attended by/ the Mtoses Murphy and their brother They had arranged to attend a danoe in the evening, but as the arrangementa In obnheotion therewith fell through! they.left Gatt^g, for home In a dog cart, at 10 p.m. What'transpired after they had gqt some distance from thts township la not known, but aa the party had not reached home by 8 o'olook on the following morning some, little uneasiness began to be felt by, the parents. Eventually Mrs Mnrphy despatched her son-in-law to Gatton to make inquiries. On his way along the road he noticed the track of a oart having gone through a ilip panel off the main road. Following the track, he continued on till he had passed- through about a mile of wattle scrub whn he came across the dead bodies of the two young women and their brother. The horse, which had been shot dead, lay a short distance off. There were severa' marks of violence upon the glrla* bodies, and it was evident they had each been outraged before death. The plaoe where the murders were committed is a very lonely spot. It Is on the aide of a barren mountain spnr, at the foot of which there Is a ohain of blllaboogs, or water holes. It Is somewhat puzzling to understand bow the dog cart was driven to the place where it was fonnd, as the ground Ib thiokly covered with wattle scrub, and even in daylight It would be no easy task to drive a vehicle over It. At the time the tragedy was enacted there must have been fairly bright moonlight ; but the faot that the murderers — It is generally conceded that there must at least have been two— seleoted this out-of-the-way spot for their dreadful deed Infers that they were thoroughly acquainted with the distriot. The Murphy family are highly re9peoted In the neighborhood, and it U not enppoßed that either ill-will or robbery was the motive of the attack. Young Murphy was a big powerful man, sft lOin in height, a thorough baohmna, aud an excellent horseman Those who knew him best are of opinion that he must either have been Btunned o? killed outright before either of the girls w&b assailed. A farmer who resides In the locality has Informed the police that on Monday night he heard screams, which apparently proceeded from the violnity of the spot where the bodies were found, and another man states that he heard a sharp report like that of a firearm. On Friday it was telegraphed that there had been no fresh discovery that morning, but late on Thursday afternoon the trackerß, while quartering over the ground near the Blip panel in the fenoe, oame across a heavy hammer and also a small riding switch* They also found indications in the shape of tracks behind the Btump of a tree wh'oh led them to the conclusion that at least one of the mnrderers had lain in hiding at that place for Borne time. The presence of the hammer, together with these indications, ia regarded by the police aB conclusive proof that the diabolical deed was as deliberately planned as it was carefully carried out. So far as can be Been they did not use the hammer, for there are no stains on the head or baft of It, but the faot that 'hey had provided themselves with Buch an implement seems to show clearly the cool and methodical nature of their dreadful preparations. The police are busy working on tha slightest clues. They believe that aa -the residents are beginning to tell what they koow of little Incidents prior to the murder they will get important cine?. They have fakea possession of a revolver which was found on a man who ia a stranger to the district. It is alleged that the revolver is of the same calibre as the cartridge case found at the scene of the outrage. The op nion of everyone In the neighborhood is that the outrage pn these particular girls was deliberately planned, beoiuae oa the night of the murder a Mias Low rode past the^scene along the road Bhortly before 9, aud saw a man standing at the slip rails, while shortly after that a Mrs Carroll rode past, and also Baw the man, who made no effort to interfere with either Miss Low or Mrs Carroll. On the day when the viQtims were burled fl»g«J were flyiog half-mast all over the town, and about 1500 persons attended the funeral. The ceremony at tho grave waß painfully impressive.