BURNED TO DEATH.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LX, Issue 10831, 1 April 1932, Page 3

BURNED TO DEATH.

WIDOW ALONE IN LOCKED cottage. Sydney, March 12. Police discovered the charred body of Mrs Barbara Marion Selfe, 58, widow of a reputedly wealthy business man, in her cottage at pen-man-parade, Nonna,nhurst, last night. Mrs Selfe, who lived alone, had been dead about a week, and police say that the burns were sufficient to have killed her.

Neighbours had not seen the woman since 10.15 p.m. on March 3, when some one caught a glimpse of her through a window. She appeared quite well and healty. A relative, Miss llhoda Selfe, a step-daughter of the dead woman, visited the house shortly before 10 last night. Her repeated knocking, was not answered, and she became alarmed and rang the Hornsby police station.

Sergeant Mathie and Detective Walsh could not open any of the doors, and had to burst in the front door to get in.

Lying near the body was a butt of a cigarette, and police think that she off while smoking, and was 'burned before she could awaken to protect herself. Senior Detective-Sergeant Lynch took charge of the inquiries, with De-tective-Sergeant Garlick and Detective Walsh, and they were told that Mrs Selfe had a substantial banking account, and on occasions kept large stuns of money in the house. She had lived alone for some time.