SUICIDE BY PRATT
Shot S.A. Premier
(N 3. .P A .-Reuter— Copyngnt) BLOEMFONTEIN, October 2. David Beresford Pratt, who shot and wounded the South African Prime Minister (Dr. Verwaerd) last year, was found dead - in a cell at a mental institution in Bloemfontein last night The Health Department in Pretoria said Pratt committed suicide. Pratt was found at 9 p.m. last night with a sheet tied round his neck. Yesterday was his fifty-fourth birthday. Pratt, a wealthy Englishborn farmer, was committed to Pretoria Gaol on September 26 last year after a Supreme Court judge found him to be an epileptic and mentally disordered when he appeared for trial on h charge of trying to kill Dr. Verwoerd.
At an earlier hearteg, Pratt had told the Court of his "immense feeling of relief” after shooting the Prime Minister at a farm show in April, 1960. Dr. Verwoerd was in hospital for a month with face wounds and later returned for an ear operation The Pretoria announcement said a letter addressed to the head of the institution wat found on the table in Pratt’s cell.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume C, Issue 29634, 3 October 1961, Page 15
Word Count
183SUICIDE BY PRATT Press, Volume C, Issue 29634, 3 October 1961, Page 15
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