THREE PERSONS SHOT DEAD

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27877, 27 January 1956, Page 12

THREE PERSONS SHOT DEAD

BODIES FOUND IN FARM COTTAGE

TWO YOUNG CHILDREN AND FATHER (New Zealand Press Association) HASTINGS. January 26. . The bodies of two children and their father were found in a bedroom of a farm cottage on the outskirts of Havelock North, a few miles from Hastings, this morning. All three had been shot in the head, and there was a shotgun lying on the body of the man. The victims were:— Wilfred Birdwood Beswick, aged 39, a farm hand, and his two children Alan Harry, aged 4 years 8 months, and Margaret Amy, aged 3 years 4 months. The mother is Mrs Alice Eileen Beswick. Indications are that the children died first, being shot with a .22 rifle, and their bodies were laid on the double bed. The man’s body was lying alongside the children. There was a gunshot wound in the side of the head. Mr Beswick was employed on the property of Miss E. E. Burbury, Simla avenue.

As far as is known his wife was absent from the house last evening, and the tragedy is believed to have occurred shortly after dark. The police found a note left on the top sheet of a pad on the dressing table in the bedroom.

The following statement was issued by the police this morning:— “The Hastings police were informed of a possible treble tragedy in Simla avenue. Havelock North, at the residence of Mr and Mrs Beswick.

“A party of police under Inspector M. Conway went to Mr Beswick’s residence. where they found Mr Beswick and two infant children dead in bed. “It would appear that the children were first shot in the head and the father has taken his own life. At the present time, there are no suspicious circumstances or indications that anyone else is involved.”