TWO MEN SHOT

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 February 1942, Page 2

TWO MEN SHOT

AFFRAY AT WATAROA. HOTEL LICENSEE ARRESTED. Two men were seriously wounded in a shooting affray at Wataroa, on the Main South Road, in the early hours of this morning, and the licensee of the Wataroa Hotel, John Morresey, 35, married, was later taken into custody in connection with the shootings. Shots were heard outside of the Wataroa Hotel at 4.20 a.m. and an investigation disclosed that two men had received gunshot wounds. They were:— „ . Aage Anton Pederson, 39, single, a mill-worker and miner, of Wataroa, and Thomas Walsh. 31, single, a farmer, of Waitangi, near Wataroa. Walsh had been shot in the right side of the body, and Pederson, who is better known by the name of Pierson, had been shot at the back of the right arm. The injured men were attended by Dr. A. C. Corban, who recently took up practice at Wataroa, and later in the morning were removed to the Westland Hospital, being taken from Wataroa to Hokitika by aeroplane. Pederson’s injury was, apparently, the most severe, causing the loss of considerable blood, and he was taken to hospital first, the aeroplane making a return trip for Walsh. Details of the shootings are lacking as, apparently, there were no eye-witnesses apart from the principals. It is believed that Walsh and Pederson had been in the Wataroa Hotel, but were in the act of getting into a motor-car near the door when they were shot, at about 4.20 a.m. The shots were heard by a garage proprietor, on the opposite corner of the street, and on investigation, he found the wounded men, with the licensee of the hotel, Morresey, standing nearby. Morresey was only partly dressed. Constable R. R. Pawsey, who is stationed at Wataroa and who lives only a short distance from the hotel, was quickly on the scene, and took Morresey into custody. News of the shootings was communicated by telephone to Inspector D. L. Calwell, in charge of the police district, at Greymouth. Constable R. G. Busch, of Ross, and Detective-Sergeant H. E. Knight and Constable W. Roughan, of Greymouth, immediately proceeded to Wataroa to assist in the preliminary investigations. Walsh is a well-known settler ol the district, and has been farming at Waitangi, near Wataroa, for some years. He has a number of relations in the district. Pederson, or Pierson, is not a native of the district, but has been on the West Coast for some years, rollowing the occupations of a miner and sawmill worker. He had recently been working at a sawmill near Wataroa. and to-day was to have taken a new job at another mill in the same district. Morresey is a former resident of Greymouth. He took over the license of the Wataroa Hotel about 1938. He is married, with four children, aged eight, six, four, and two years. It is believed that the shootings took place at fairly close range, and that the wounded men suffered multiple injuries from pellets, the weapon used being a shot-gun. It is stated that two shots were fired. A Press Association message from Hokitika concerning the shooting stated that the affray followed a senes of arguments at the hotel. Walsh and Pederson went to a motor-car outside the hotel when Morresey appeared with a shot gun and asked for Pederson. In the subsequent shooting, Pederson was shot through the right muscle, below the shoulder. The shot made a small wound at the point of entry but burst the flesh on the other side into pulp, while many pellets scattered down the right side. Walsh was shot in the right side of the abdomen, below the ribs. The message also stated that, following the shootings, Morresey went for the doctor and informed the police. , t Reports from the Westland Hospital this afternoon indicated that the two men received serious wounds, but they are not regarded as being dangerously ill Pending X-ray examinations, this afternoon, full details of the nature of the wounds could not be ascertained. It is likely that the arrested man, Morresey, will be brought before the Court at Hokitika, to-morrow.