A NORTHERN TRAGEDY.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 1980, 23 November 1921, Page 5

A NORTHERN TRAGEDY.

EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST. (Per Press Association.) WHANGARBI, November 22. At the inquest concerning the dual tragedy at Kara on Saturday last, the evidence disclosed that the two brothers lived together. The elder one was found dead on the floor of the house with a bullet wound in the head. The younger one was found dead in the bush later, also with a bullet wound in the head. In the case of Edward Thomas Smith, a verdict was returned that death was caused by a wound, but there was insufficient evidence to show by whom it was inflicted. In the case of John Martin Smith, the verdict was that a wound caused death, and was self-inflicted. [A telegram published on Saturday stated: Edward Thomas Smith, aged 34, one of four returned soldier brothers, was found dead by two of his brothers yesterday, lying on the floor of their residence at Kara, twelve miles from Whangarei, with a bullet wound in the head. The circumstances did not suggest suicide. Later, John Martin Smith, aged 10, the youngest of the brothers, was also found dead in tho bush, two miles from the house. The body was crouched over a discharged gun, and the youth had apparently shot himself.]