YARRA TRAGEDY.

Gisborne Times, Volume LVIII, Issue 9643, 15 March 1923, Page 7

YARRA TRAGEDY.

STORY OF DISPOSAL OF BODY

FORMER HUSBAND’S EVIDENCE.

Frank Bonfiglio, the former husband of Hannah Elizabeth Mitchell, who is charged with murder in connection with the Yarra tragedy, told a sensational story at the inquest of how ho carried a girl from a bedroom in Nurse Mitchell’s house to the bathroom, of how Nurse Mitchell performed an operation, and how the girl then lapsed into unconsciousness, from wjiich she did not recover. He went on to describe how the body was taken away in a car at dead of night, and buried under fern leaves in a gully in the hills. “She will be eaten by some animal in a few days, and nobody will know who she is if she is found,” said Nurse Mitchell, according to Bonfiglio. Bonfiglio, a marble mason, said: I was married to Hannah Mitchell in 1919. On November 15 last year I saw her at a shop, and she suggested that we should go to the Caulfield races. Wc went to see her at_ the house in Burnley Street that night. She asked mo to go in and sing a song, but I went away. 1 returned at 9.30 p.m., and she again asked me to go in and sing. I went into Mrs Mitchell’s bedroom. She said something about a girl being in the house, and she left the room for twenty minutes She said: “The girl took bad. Take your coat off and help to carry her to the bathroom.” I went to No. 3 bedroom and saw a girl in a double bed. Mrs Mitchell told the girl to put an arm round my neck, and in this way I assisted Mrs Mitchell and .Mrs Milward to carry the girl to the bathroom. Mrs Mitchell performed an operation, and then told Mrs Milward to get her son to fetch some brandy. This was done. After that Mrs Mitchell said: “I can’t do any more for her. lam tired. i tliink she is gone.” The girl then became unconscious. She was carried back to the bedroom and put to bed and given some brandy. Mrs Mitchell went into her own l oom and I followed her, and she sqid: “A doctor couldn’t do more than I have.” I said: “Why didn’t you get a doctor in the first place?” and she replied: “Don’t worry me % Let me rest.” The girl was still unconscious. Mrs Mitchell said she was going to bed, and while she. was out of the room Mrs Milward said: “It is a shame to see a girl die like that.” After bringing a cup of coffee Mrs .Mitchell again said she was going to bed, and told me to do the same. I replied: “I cannot leave the girl like this.” I remained with the girl and Mrs Milward. Then I saw the girl stop breathing. I went out and told Mrs Mitchell about the girl, and she said: “I am tired; I want a rest.” I said: “You might do something for her,” and she replied: “I suppose she is dead.” I said: “Will you see her?” She then went into the bedroom and covered the girl’s face with a sheet, saying: “She’s gone! Get to bed and have a rest.” She bolted the door and went to bed, while I sat in a chair in Mrs Milward’s bedroom. Continuing, witness said: “On the following night a taxi arrived, and Mrs Mitchell told me to go for a drive in the fresh air. She told me she had got the car to take the body to Healesville. I asked her why she had not told me before, and she said: ‘'lf vou will not help there are people who do this and will do it again. They have not a car.” “At about 2.30 a.m. Nurse Mitchell went into the room where the body was. Mrs Milward and I followed her. The body was wrapped in a blanket and was fastened with safety pins. Mrs Milward, Mrs and .Miss Mitchell were in the room. Nurse Mitchell. Mrs Milward and I carried the body to the car in the yard, and placed It between the front and rear scats. I went to the wheel. We drove to White Horse Road, and passed Madame Melba’s place, and continued until the road ended. It was then 4.15 a.m., and the day was breaking. .Mr Scott Murphy: What did you do then?—We pulled down the rails and took the body from the car. Who carried the body?—Mrs Mitchell, Mrs Milward and myself. Where? —We carried it down a deep gully. Mrs Milward stopped halfway, but Mrs Mitchell and I carried it on further. What did you do with it?—We laid it down. Mrs Mitchell removed, tfip blanket and covered the body with long fern leaves. On our. way back Nurse Mitchell said: “She will be eaten by some animal in a few days. Nobody 'will know who she is if they find her.”