THE MOSSVALE TRAGEDY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 293, 5 April 1921, Page 5

THE MOSSVALE TRAGEDY.

j 1- - ' *, MAJOR LA6ARTE BEFORE^COORT. PRISONER CHARGED WITH •MURDER. ; (By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) Received April 5, 11.10 a.m. • SYDNEY, , April 5. The trial has commenced of Major Labartc, who is charged with murdering his wife at Mossvalo last December. Ho entered a plea of not guilty, and in a statement from the dock declared that ho had no recollection of committing tho tragedy or the details thereof. Ho knew after the hearing of the evidence that ho must have killed liis wife and Constable Mitchell, but jiq had no remembrance of doing so. He said that in losing his wife ho lost, the person dearest to him' in tho world, and Ho would not .wilfully have done her or Constable Mitchell aiiy harm._, _ ' , Evidence was generally similar to that ‘at “tho inquest’ and it showed that accused had been drinking heavily and was, drunk at the tiin o of the tragedy.—A. and N.Z. cable, f . ■'•‘[A cablegram received from Sydney on December 18 stated that a double tragedy occurred in Mossvalo, where Major Lubarte, a returned soldier, shot his wife dead and also shot «v policeman dead. A number of police were kept at bay for two hours before they succeeded in effecting his arrest. Since his return from the war Major Labartc had suffered from pains in the head, and was strange in manner. 'After shooting his wife, in the presence of her maid, no telephoned the police and informed them of tho tragedy. When they arrived ho opened firo upon them, ami shot Constable Mitchell dfcad. Reinilorccments surrounded tho house, but wore kept at bay by Labarte’s fusillade. Eventually a constable managed to effect an entrance while Labarte was watching other police, and escaping two shots discharged at him as he closed, ho managed to overpower Labarto after a desperate struggle]