Boy Stumbles on Tragedy

Evening Star, Issue 19584, 16 June 1927, Page 6

Boy Stumbles on Tragedy

Woman’s Battered Corpse in Scrub He Sees Man Running Away [Psa United Press Association.]

CHRISTCHURCH, June 15. Some time to-day a woman, aged about thirty years, was murdered in some hroom in a paddock in Lake Terrace road, Bnrwood. About 1.30 o’clock a small boy, who was searching through the scrub for cows, found the body. Ho asserts that he saw a man running away from it. He communicated immediately with the Rev. C. A. Tobin, who went to the scene and found the body of the woman. The head was smashed in, two deep wounds being inflicted, one over each eye. The body was lying on its back, and was that of a short, fairly stout woman. Tho dark short hair was matted with blood, and there was much blood on the ground round about, indicating that there' might have been a struggle. The woman was dressed in_ a navy blue dress with black stockings and black shoes. A greenish colored cardigan and a fawn overcoat, fastened with one large button, were also worn. _ 4 black hat of some plush material, with a cerise flower in front, was under a bush about four feet from the body. The woman was wearing brown kid gloves, which were stained with blood. All round tho_ small open space in the broom, in which the body was found, were bloodstains. A light blue waterproof coat was smothered hi blood. The woman’s head had lain on it. Nearßy were a short umbrella of stylish shape, a brown paper parcel, and a small attache case. In the attache case wore a dean nightdress, a comb and brush, and other odds and ends of a woman’s toilet ■ equipment, _ On the blue cape were found pieces of bone, showing that the blows struck wore delivered with considerable force. The brown paper parcel contained two pairs of sires and a black fur. THE BOY’S STORY. The hoy who gave tho alarm is rained Eric Mura ford, and is about fifteen years of age. He states' now that he had _ seen a young woman of appearance similar to that of the deceased on a number of evenings. He had seen her meet a man at the tramcar, after which they walked down the road and went into the scrub together. Residents in the neighborhood state that on a number of evenings lately a man has been seen wandering about in the vicinity. The scene of the tragedy is only about 20ft from the roadway, and about a quarter of a mile from the Bnrwood soldiers’ monument. When the body was found about 1.30 p.m. the woman appeared to have been dead for some time. Chief Detective Lewis and his staff are now busily i: vestigating the case. Late this afternoon the instrument with which the woman was murdered had not been found. SAW HIM RUN AWAY. Tho youth, Mumford, states that he was just riding into the scrub in Lake Terraco road in search of his cows whan he saw a man, small in • stature and wearing a dark suit and a dark felt hat, running through the broom. At tho same time ho noticed a leg protruding through a gap in the scrub. The man was headed in a north-easterly direction, which, if continued, would bring him' on to Bottle Lake road. Tho boy immediately went to the spot, and gathering the position from a glance, rushed off to give the alarm. He did

not survey the location in minute detail, and thought that the body on the ground was that of a man. He did not see tho face of tho man who was running away. “I think T have seen the woman on a number of occasions,” added the hoy. “She used to come down Bottle Lake road and meet a tramcar at about midday. On it would .be a man in a tweed suit, with no hat and dark hair, brushed straight back. He would join tho woman, and the two would walk a little way, and sit down to have lunch. The woman always carried yn attache case similar to that found with tho murdered woman’s body. The man would be about twenty-five years _of ago, and the man I saw running through the broom, I judged to be also about that age. However, I have not seen the pair for nearly a month, and oven when 1 used to see them it was not every day. They would como on a Monday, and then I would not see them again until Wednesday.” It would appear that the woman was struck from the front with some heavy instrument. There arc two deep incisions on her forehead, one over each eye, and her head has been further badly battered. TUFTS OF HAIR FOUND, Dr Beveridge Davis, who examined tho body before it was taken to the morgue, found that in addition to tho wounds in the forehead there were wounds on the scalp itself. Thewouuds indicated that they had been inflicted by some heavy instrument, possibly iion. In tho scrub, four yards away from tho body, was found a tuft of human hair, brown in color, and about six inches long. It was not the color of tho woman’s hair, and looked as if it had been tugged out in a struggle. The woman’s hands were clenched, and although her gloves wore soaked with blood there was no blood on tho hands themselves, THE VICTIM IDENTIFIED POLICE FOLLOWING CLUES SEARCH FOR MURDERER (Per United Pkess Association.] CHRISTCHURCH, June 16. The victim has been identified as Gwendoline Scarff, of 11 Thorrington street, Cashmere, a single woman, aged twenty, in service. She was not living at home. Her father is Mr Walter Scarff, °a member of the Heathcotp County Council. From clues gathered it is believed that the Bnrwood murder was premeditated, and was committed with some weapon such as an axe. A tree in the vicinity lias been found cut freshly, and a piece of cloth was tied on a wirp fence nearby. This morning hoys found a bloody shirt on tho Bottle Lake road near the scone. The police are now' searching for the murderer in the city.