OWHANGO SHOOTING

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 September 1933, Page 5

OWHANGO SHOOTING

FARM HAND MISSING NO TRACE SINCE TRAGEDY [PEB PRESS ASSOCIATION.] TAUMARUNUI, September 4. An inquest on the body of Jean Rosoman, who was shot at Owhango on Sunday at 8.30 a.m., was held to-day before Mr W. Thomas, J.P., acting Coroner. After evidence of identification it was adjourned. The police now do not think that the pick handle found near the body was used by the murderer. The victim was shot through the head with a pea-rifle. The bullet entered the head at the back of the left ear, coming out on the right side of the below the eye. A detached whare about 20 yards at the rear of the cowshed where the tragedy occurred on Laing’s property had been occupied for some time past by a young man, John Grylls. It was noticed by the Laing family that the door of this whare was shut at eight o’clock on Sunday morning, but it was lying opeii -after the tragedy of the girl was discovered. It is stated that the door would’not remain closed unless the whare was occupied, because the only way to keep it closed is by fastening it with a plug from the inside. From this it is inferred that the whare was occupied before the tragedy, and was unoccupied immediately after. The police are endeavouring to get in touch with Grylls, but so far they have not located him. No one in Owhango saw Grylls on Sunday, eitherbefore or' after the tragedy. No one in the vicinity of the tragedy heard the report of a gun, and so far no gun has been found. Mr Laing states that there was no gun on his property prior to the tragedy as far as he knew. On Saturday evening Miss Rosoman attended a dance in Owhango hall. She returned to Laing’s residence shortly afte ( r midnight, and she appeared to be bright and cheerful when she went to milk on Sunday morning. The victim had lived with her sister, Mrs I). Laing fori the past twelve months, «tnd had assisted -with the milking, and separating.

At the cowshed, apparently, two shots were fired, one of which missed, as two spent cartridge cases were found by the police on the floor of the separator room.' The fatal shot was' fired through the wall of the separator room at the girl, who was standing in an open 'space near the door a few yards away, where she was washing cans.

-John Gryllswas employed by Mr’D. Laing on the farm, but his engagement terminated on Friday last, and he w T as to have vacated the whare today (Monday). Grylls was last seen at a dance which Miss Rosoman attended in Owhango on Saturday night. The police have traced the footmarks of a man from the cowshed across a ploughed field to a bank of the Whakapapa River, nearby. In addition to the local police and detectives, ten constables from other districts have arrived to take part in a search for the missing man.