FOUR PEOPLE DEAD

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 20 July 1928, Page 7

FOUR PEOPLE DEAD

TRAGEDY NEAR BENDIGO. MURDER OF THREE ALLEGED. COTTAGE, DESTROYED BY FIRE. . n:t.\l I‘resa Association —By’ Klee trie Telefciui i, Copyright.) (Australian Press Association.) MELBOURNE, July 19. William Manning and his wife perished in a. fire which destroyed a cottage at Junorton, near Bendigo, occupied by an orohardist named Walker. It is alleged Walker fired a number of shots, three of which struck his own wife and that the Mannings were shot dead. Walker then .allegedly set the house afire ami the Mannings were incinerated. Mr# Walker escaped with two small children. The latter summoned the neighbours’ assistance. A; later message says Mrs Walker has died in the Bendigo. Hospital. Walker’s body was found in a tank. The lower portion of the face was shot away and the legs were badly burned. Portions of three, guns, cne of which had been used, were found in the ruins. Manning’s two boys, the eldest aged five, gave the alarm to a neighbour, who summoned the i>oliee. The police said they had been let out of the house by Walker. In the meantime passing raihvaymen. saw the house burning and, on investigating, found the bodies of Manning and liis wife in the blazing debris, and Mrs Walker in the garden in a critical condition. All the victims had been shot, and Mrs Manning’s hand was missing. A knife blade believed to have been associated with the tragedy was also found. The motive of the crime is unknown. Manning was formerly a partner with Walker, and only recently occupied the fa.rm, while Walker lived a. few miles distant. His wife was visiting the Manning family, recuperating after an illness.