A STRANGE CASE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 127, 22 September 1896, Page 3

A STRANGE CASE.

CABLES.

- DISCOVERY OF HUMAN REMAINS. Syx>xe«, Sept. 20. A peculiar case is being investigated at Nowra, where a skull and a number of bones have been found. The former has been identified as that of a girl, but medical testimony declared that the others do not belong to the skull. In 188G a girl named Emma Bourne mysteriously disappeared, and a witness at the inquest this week gave some, startling evidence which seemed to indicate that there had been foul play. The girl resided with her stepmother, Mrs Newton, up to the time of her disappearance. The girl's brother testified that when Mrs Newton's husband was on his death-bed he wrote asking the dying man if he knew anything about his sister, and that he would never divulge the secret. Witness got no reply, but subsequently learned that Newton had penned an epistle not to be posted till after his death, but Mrs Newton destroyed the letter. Witness suspected foul play. Mrs Newton, in her evidence, denied any knowledge of the letter. Another witness testified to certain utterances of Mrs Newton in denying striking the missing girl with a slippanel, and that there appeared to be some secret between Newton and his wife regarding the girl. The jury found that they believed the skull belonged to the girl Emma Bourne, but that there was no evidence to show how death was caused or to incriminate anyone.