A DOUBLE MURDER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 11049, 29 August 1896, Page 5

A DOUBLE MURDER.

BRUTAL CRIME. A SHOPKEEPER AKD HIS WIFE. OLD CHRISTCHURCHTIESIDENTS. [Per Press Association.] , WELLINGTON, Atrauarm News has just been received-that Mr ami Mrs Jones, who kept a shop at Bates, head of the harbour, were found murdered this morning. The place had bap. robbed and it is supposed that the thief'was the murderer. Mr Jones was a man of seventy, his wife being about five years younger. He was formerly 'manager for Mr Phristed, ironmonger, at Hokitika and Christchurch. .He kept a grocery store in Jackson Street,, and lived on the premises, no family feeing- with, them. . Between nine and ten o’clock last night Mrs Atkinson went for a tin of cocoa, but though a light was burning she could make no one hear. About eight or J doek this morning Mrs Hounslow went. The lamp was still burning, and she saw a man dying dead on the floor, and ran out scream* ing “ Murder.” Mr Godfrey, one of the railway workshops employes, ran up and found both Jones and his wife brutally murdered. The man had four or five stabs in the back, and the wife had her throat cut. Both were fully dressed) and were not in the bedroom, whence it is' inferred that the deed was done last night. Mrs Jones was covered with blood, and also had a cut on one of her hands from a sharp instrument, but no weapon was found. There are a number of neighbours all round, but no one appears to have heard anything. At present, robbery is supposed to have been the motive. • It is known that some time ago Jones was in possession of a considerable sum of money.

FURTHER PARTICULARS. Mr Jones was found on the kitchen.floor, and his wife in the passage by the front door. The latter was lying in apool of blood, which at first gave rise to the report that her throat had been cut, but a cursory examination fails to show any wound, and it is thought that she may have hurst a blood vessel through the shock, or in the effort of trying to escape. Jones had three stabs in the back. Nothing was taken from the house so far as is known. The police were early on the scene, v but the only clue so far is a heavy footmark outside the house. A man named James Shaw, employed on a bank contract at Petone, has been arrested on suspicion of being connected with the tragedy.

LATER DETAILS. It is supposed that the murder of Mr Jones and his wife took place somewhere between seven and nine last night, as a girl who called at the shop about nine to -* „ make a purchase could make no one hear,,** though she saw a light burning. Mri ' a Jones was stabbed below the nape of the neck, right.over the spine; also a little lower down to the left of the spine, and there was a third wound still lower down on the right of the spine. A quantity of pepper had been thrown in his face, while there was a quantity of loose pepper strewn round the room. Mr Jones’s body ' was found in the kitchen, and that of Mis Jones in a passage leading from the kitchen. There was no indication of a struggle, and on the kitchen table were the remains of a meal, apparently tea, which had been laid for two .people. A kerosene lamp was still burning. The. deceased leave two grown up daughters, both married, Mrs ‘Kirk, of Blenheim, being 1 one, and Mis Wade, -of Invercargill, the other. Mr Jones .was aged sixty-four, and did not enjoy the best of health. Mrs Jones was six years older, and of frail stature. The deceased couple lived-very happily, and were highly respected by the residents of Petone, where they were doing a good business in a general store. An .examination of the body of Mrs Jones, this afternoon, shows that she too died from being stabbed. There is but little doubt that the motive of the crime was robbery, as a cashbox kept on the premises is missing. The culprit or culprits, however, could not have got away with much money, as evidence has been procured that late in tha afternoon of yesterday the deceased was unable to cash a cheque for a small amount, bat as accounts are usually paid on Thursday evening by Petone residents, this may have led up to the crime. The* young man James Shore (not Shaw), who has been arrested on suspicion, is a. * wlLfcnawtt ja-i’etofto, wliQE^ha

iformerly played as a member of the 'Peton.o senior football team. He was iformedy employed as boner in the Gear (Meat Company, and is aged twenty-seven. Shore was brought into town this evening. A coroner’s inquest was opened this afternoon, but after the jury had viewed the bodies an adjournment was made until Monday xnomiiig.

POLICE THEORIES. . Inspector Pender and Detectives Campbell and Neill, with a posse of constables, have been at Petone all day endeavouring Ito unravel the mystery surrounding the murder. The police theory is that the motive was undoubtedly robbery, and that the perpetrator must have been aware that Thursday was the pay - day iof the several factories in the district. iMr Jones, they say, was in the habit of 'remaining open a little later on Thursday evenings, and it is believed that the shop jdosed about 7.30. The aged couple had then retired to the kitchen, and were about to partake of a meal when they met with an untimely death. The only unlocked door which led into the shop and dwelling (combined) was the kitchen door, and through this an entrance was made upon them. That murder was not the uppermost intention is evident from the fact that an attempt was first made to affect the sight of Mr Jones ‘by casting pepper in his face. Then, ipossibly, the murderer, seeing a chance of being obstructed in h.is plans, drew a knife, and, as the old gentleman was endeavouring to make his way through rfche sitting-room, which led into the shop, struck Mm from behind, and the victim idled where he fell. Mrs Jones, it is .thought. Seeing the murderous attack on {her husband, darted through the passage, which struck off at right angles from the □room where her husband was killed, with the intention of giving the alarm, but unfortunately only reached as far as the door when she was overtaken by the murderer, who buried bis knife deep into her right side. One of her hands was uplighted as if she had clung to the door handle until her life slowly ebbed away owing to hemorrhage. , Inspector Pender believes that the whole affair could have lasted only a minute or two. One of the neighbours’daughters was over at the side door of Jones’s place at nine o’clock, but there was no response to her 'knocking, and the Fleets, whose residence ■was about ten yards distant from that of .deceased, state that they heard nothing unusual last night. There was a rumour [in town to-night, however, that a noise was beard in Jones’s about the time the murders are supposed to have taken place, and this is being investigated by the police. The medical gentlemen who examined the wounds express the opinion that fibe weapon used must have been a very strong one with a keen edge, as the cuts are very clean. Search has been made all day for traces of the missing cash-box, but without isnccess.

Shore, who is in custody, is a power-fuHy-btdlt man, and has a wife and two children. When arrested he was at work on a stop-bank contract at Petone, -and appeared to be in his usual spirits. Beyond the remark that he was in liquor on the previous night he made no statement, and while being conveyed to town this evening he chatted on general subjects, but madeno reference to the charge on which he had been arrested. The police state that they have endeavoured to trace the movements of Shore last night, and that they have evidence that he was seen near the scene of the murder, but too much importance .cannot be attached -to this, as he lived near the Jones’s. Inquiries confirm accused’s statement that he was in liquor last evening, also the fact that one hotel had declined to serve Mm. When arrested no money was found on Shore. The prisoner will be charged to-morrow, but a demand will be asked.