A FAMILY BUTCHERED BY A RELIGIOUS MANIAC.

Clutha Leader, Volume XVIII, Issue 917, 12 February 1892, Page 5

A FAMILY BUTCH ERED BY A RELIGIOUS MANIAC.

A terrible tragedy was disclosed on Tuesday p.orr.iiig at Tauranga in tho f'ny of Plenty, where a man named Munro attacked his wife ;ind children in bed and be.tt or.t their br.iin.s with ;i iht iron. The family lived in a fourroomed cottage, and Ihc discovery was made by the milkman wh^n goiiv.; his rounds. On opening th- 1 door he s.iw tho eld"st hoy lying on the floor jusr, at tho entrance to the kitchen in a pool of liloul ami apparently dead. On "oin rr into t,li« kitchen lie *htv Mrs Munro lying oil the floor, apparently dead, and battered about the head almost beyond recognition. Further examination showed that the other three child--len had also been attacked, and an awful sight presented itself in the hedi'oor;,. Tho second hoy had apparently been slaughtered in his cot. and the third boy and baby were lying battered in bed, having evidently be en sleeping with their mother. They all appeared to have been attacked in bed ai.d were all attacked tho same way. The fat' er appears to have got up towards daylight, and seized a flat iron by thej handle and jobbed it into the lands of his victims. They were all struck about, the head in Ihe simc way, the. point of the iron having born I driven into the skulls over and over again. The In by had evidently been struck unconscious at once, as when foun 1 it vims lying quite- peacefully with its head on its liyht hand. Mrs Munro would appear to have not out of bed, as she had a petticoat on, and had evidently rushed out of the room either to esu.ipo from the maniac or else to protect one of her infants. She was seriously mutilated, almost the whole" of the back of her head being driven in and the brain protruding, l'ieces of skull were picked up on the kitchen floor. There are marks ot a violent and desperate struggle haviug taken place, the sides of the room beincr marked with blood and hair where she had fallen or been knocked against it in the desperate struggle for life. The victims are— Grace Emma Muuro (the wife). 3d years : George, aged six ; John Hugh, aged five ; Alexander, three years ; and Lilian, aged nine months. The father's age is 03. The two eldest boys lingered till 11 o'clock when th'-'y both died nearly at the same time. The baby lived till a little past 1 o'clock, and then expired. Xone of them recovered consciousness. On being arrested Munro admitted he had killed them all and said " Glory Hallelujah," ?.nd when asked how he did it said " with a flat iron," and that God told him to do it. He was taken to the police cell, where he continued howling, screaming and singing hymns, and though conscious of what he hud done, did not seem to j have any idea of the enormity of his crime. He has been liable to homicidal mania for soir.c time past. Since he was a boy he has been subject to epileptic fits, and some two or three years ago developed religions imnia, which culminated in such dangerous symptoms that he was sent to the Auckland Lunatic Asylum. After being there some few mouths his wife yielded, against her better judgment, to the earnest solicitations of his relatives, and lie was released from the asylum: Of late he has aaaiu developed very dangerous symptoms, audhas threatened the lives of his family several times. The day before the fatal deed was done he said he had a sacrifice to make. Dr Bullcn repeatedly warned Munro's relatives of the danger of his being at large, especially to his family, but iinfortunately no notice was taken of these warnings. In his lucid intervals Munro was an affectionate husband, fond of his children, and a most temperate man. At the inquest on Wednesday, a verdict was returned of wilful murder against Duncan Muuro, v/ith the rider that he should never have been let out of the asylum, and had not been properly looked after by his family. Latest, accounts report that Mis Munro continues unconscious, and in a ciitieal state, but there tire hope:* tint both Jihe and the rtmamipg el'ild may recover,