A WOMAN'S DEATH.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 190, 6 May 1908, Page 7

A WOMAN'S DEATH.

'■ -—; / THE INQUEST. THE HUSBAND'S EVIDENCE. [BT TELEGRirH. —TKESS ASSOCIATION.] - ' ' ■ ■ Dunedin, May 5. The adjourned inquest. touching the death of Catherine Cornish, said to have beon found dead in. the passage of tho Stirling Hotel on Iriday afternoon, was resumed, to-day. Richard Cornish said lie found his wife on afternoou lying on her face in tho passago. She; was dead, and the body v/as cold. , To the Inspector: My wife was in "the sittingroom adjoining tho bedroom '. on Thursday night. Sho was: lying fully dressed on ,tho sofa. , My, .wife was. worso for drink when. I covered lie'rup. It was between 2.15 and 2.30 in the afternoon wlion I got up and dressed-myself. I. was going towards tho bathroom when I found ,my , wife lying in the passage., I 'noticed no, wounds or incisions about the ■headi I noticed that the coal-scuttle was upset at tlio entrance: to the sittingroom, as if deceasod had fallen over it. The trousers produced are mino. ' ' The polico linnded the garments to' witness. Round tho rims of the ; ankles were blotchos of greasy red. : - Witness: If those are blood-stains.l know nothing about them. , . The Inspeotor: Wero you doing anything that would cause biood to attach itself: to your clothos ? .... Yes, 1 was killing a pig—(bore his voice faltered). At least, I didn't kill it, but I assisted the barman (Taylor) to do so. I held it while ho stabbed , it. ' Stuck it, I mean. Witness went on to reply to the Inspector as follows:—Between tho time of placing tho body on the bed and tho time tho doctor ai> rived,- a strango man, whoso name he did jiot know, had taken advantage of witness's absence at the funeral yesterday to clear out without paying. ■ Witness and wifo did not livo peaceably together. As long as she was not drinking, they wero tho best of friends. During tho last four or five months deceased was often drinking to excess. Dr. Burnett, of Balclutha, said when ho arrived at the hotel tho body was warm. Deceased's hair was matted with blood. There was a out about one and a half inches long on the right side, of the head just abovo the forehead. Both eyes were black, and tho face and head wore swollen. There was a bruiso on the right hip, and several more on other parts' of the body. Tlio wound on tho scalp must havo been caused by contact with a substance haying a sharp edge. Tho skull was fractured in tlio region of tho cyo, and in diroct line with the wound on the scalp. Tho ; brain was congested. In his opinion death ,was duo to : compression of tho brain. Congestion of ■the j brain could bo caused by alcohol. A fall'might havo caused- the injury. If a healthy individual had received the same injury, ho did not think tho result would be fatal. Witness was under tho impression that deceased had fallen on the coal scuttlo, but could not say how tho impression camo to his mind. Elizabeth Bennot, cook at the hotol, also gavo evidence: Cornish was sober on Friday afternoon. Witness: did not undress the body and put a clean nightdress on it. Cor-' nish and decoased lived on very good terms. Tho inquest Was proceeding when tho latest message came to hand.