FOUND SHOT

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 October 1929, Page 3

FOUND SHOT

BEAUTIFUL VICTIM OF TRAGEDY. A beautiful 19-year-old girl and her mother were found shot dead in their home at Eastwood, near Kent Elms Corner, on the Southend arterial road. They were Mrs. H. Weston and her daughter Joy, and the house where they lived was White Gate House, Princess Avenue. Two unusual and pathetic features attended the discovery. The bodies were lying in the girl’s bedroom, both dressed in their night clothes. Near the body of the daughter was a bouquet of flowers, while a bunch of flowers was pinned to the breast of the mother’s clothing. Miss Weston’s black cat was also found shot in, the room, and. there was a note addressed to a neighbour saying: “Please bury Tibby decently and take the fern and pot in the ’front room for . your trouble.” » The tragedy is believed to have taken place early the previous morning, when neighbours heard reports which were thought to be the backfiring of cars on the road. The mother and daughter took possession of the house at Easter, but little was known about them in the immediate neighbourhood. Mrs. Weston, however, had once remarked that she had previously lived at Bury St. Edmunds. A curious fact was that practically every day, the two drove out together in their car, always taking the same direction —towards Bury St. Edmunds. A neighbour stated: “Mrs. Weston was always tastefully dressed, I understood, that; she earned money by writing articles. Miss. Joy Weston was one of the happiest girls I have ever met. No one knew whether Mrs. Weston was a widow or whether she was living apart, from her husband. “Joy was very much attached to her mother. In fact, the two were almost inseparable. They were always out in their car together, and seemed the greatest of pals. I seldom saw Joy with any other friends. I think financial worries connected with the car were preying on Mrs. Weston’s mind.

“Generally speaking, they seemed a happy couple, though I had an idea that they had had some financial loss recently.” The tragedy was discovered, owing to the visit of a representative of a motor car firm at Bury St. Edmunds, Mr. Edward Saiers, who called to take back Mrs. Weston’s car. He could get no reply, and. visited the house again next morning. Noticing that the milk and morning paper had not been taken in, he informed the police, and an entrance was forced. Another neighbour said: “The mother and daughter were very nice people and very affectionate. Mrs. Weston once showed me a photograph of a beautiful garden at her former house. She never spoke of her husband. The daughter was very goodlooking. They had had a motor car for some weeks, and were out in it every day. They appeared depressed at the thought of losing it.”Mrs. Weston and her daughter had not made any close friends in the. neighbourhood, and were reserved, in manner. The, impression was that they had lived in more prosperous circumstances. Before going to Eastwood they lived for a time at Brandon, Suffolk. Mrs. Weston was about 50 years of age,