THE MAUNGATAPU MURDERS.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 82, 5 July 1866, Page 2

THE MAUNGATAPU MURDERS.

FINDING of the BODY of JAMES BATTLE. INQUEST ON THE BODY. THE FUNERAL. FINDING- OF STRYCHNINE AND A REVOLVER. The confession of Sullivan, coming as it has from a criminal who has merited and but narrowly escaped the extreme penalty of the law, has naturally been looked upon by many in Nelson with a considerable amount of suspicion. It has been supposed that not only was he an accessory to the foul murders which have struck the whole colony with horror, but that both in Nelson and at the Grey, and also in Australia, he has taken a principal part in deeds of this kind. However this may be, up to the present time everything which he has revealed in connection with the late murders has, as far as can i be, proved correct. Acting according to the directions given by Sullivan, a search party proceeded on Monday to the spot indicated as the burial place of the old whaler, James Battle. On Tuesday morning, at about one mile from Franklyn's Plat in the direction of the Heringa, and about one hundred yards from the road on the left-hand side, one of the searchers named Baker, observed some ground displaced and the fern torn up by the roots. On searching a few inches beneath the soil the body of the unfortunate old man was found, buried with his face downwards, the spot being concealed as far as possible with leaves and logs. The body, head, and face, were coated with the black soft soil. This news was immediately brought into town ; and the corpse, slung on poles, was brought down by the party to the Bpot where a bullock-dray was in waiting to bring it into Nelson. It was deposited in the engine-room at the Government Buildings. The same evening an inquest was held, and the body identified by several witnesses, after which, the inquiry was adjourned until yesterday morning, in order to enable the medical men to examine the corpse and ascertain the exact cause of death. In this instance the murderers had spared their powder. Not a wound was found on any part of the poor fellow's body. But vivid marks on the exterior of the windpipe pointed, as in the case of Dudley, to the means which these New Zealand Thugs had used to slay their victim. Even these, however, were so slight, as to render it certain that the murderers were accustomed to. the kind of work. There were no signs of awkward manipulation. Two marks on each side of the windpipe, which appeared like the impression of the finger and thumb, showed the work was done by no stranger to it. At the inquest held before the Coroner yesterday, a verdict, that "the deceased was wilfully murdered," was at once returned. "In the afternoon, at two o'clock, the remains of the murdered man were placed in the hearse which was to bear him to the grave. The procession which followed him up the Wakapuaka road was large, over 150 persons attending, amongst whom were many of the Search Party. First came the hearse, with policemen walking on each side ; then followed about 100 diggers, and four mourning carriages filled with the friends of the deceased and the members of the Search Committee. The grave where his four fellow sufferers were buried was again opened, and " Old Jamie" now rests side by side with those who fell by the same Inhuman hands as himself. Yesterday the revelation by Sullivan that a revolver and a bottle of strychnine had been concealed by the gang in the neighbourhood of the town was acted upon. Sullivan expressed himself willing to point out the place, and having been placed in a cab wherein sat Captain Clouston,the Acting-Go-vernor of the goal, and Sergeant-Major Shallcrass, both armed with revolvers, he directed them to drive over the Collingwood Bridge and to leave the hop-gardens on the right ; they passed down the second turning and then into Tasman-street, where both revolver and poison were said to be hid. The poison we understand was found at once, but the search at the time for the revolver failed. This weapon has since been found by some boys who at once placed it in the possession of Mr. Shallcrass. The object of keeping the strychnine is said to have been to make away with parties of men too numerous or too well armed to be dealt with by other means. In such an event the gang would make friends with them and, camping together, contrive to drop the deadly poison into their water or tea, and await the almost instantaneous results. A more terrible and awful scheme has probably never been conaocted or disclosed. Sullivan's confession with respect to the murder of Mr. Dobson has no doubt before this resulted in the recovery of the body. He has indicated the spot so minutely that there cannot be the slightest difficulty in discovering it. It is marked by a conspicuons looking tree, which stands out in such a peculiar manner that it is said it cannot be mistaken. The latest intelligence brought from the Grey and Hokitika by steam, does not mention anything having been found, but states that exertions have been used in dragging the creeks and rivers without success. Mr. George Dobson's body, however, lies away from where we believe the search for it has hitherto been prosecuted. At first the murderers were content, after strangling him, to leave him with his back against a tree, but thinking that the discovery of the crime was thus facilitated, they returned and buried him. To what extent Sullivan's statement is true, that on that occasion as well as on all others, he was merely an accomplice, and not a principal, it is impossible to say. Although we have said that his confession with reference to the position of the bodies, arms, &c, has, up to the present time, proved correct, it seems quite feasible that he should have withheld the truth in other disclosures,

which might have rendered it impossible that a free pardon should he extended to him. It seems strange, and against all those principles by which such scoundrels as Burgess, Levy, and Kelly, are likely to be actuated, that on each occasion of a murder having been committed, Sullivan was chosen as the scout, whose duty it was to keep the road whilst the others took the lives. It seems far more likely that each in his turn was equally criminal, and that Sullivan is on a par with the others. The idea that he has, until lately, been a respectable storekeeper at Koorong is absurd, for in addition to the unmistakable expression which a lengthened sentence invariably imprints on the countenance of a convict, and which is quite apparent in him, he corresponds in every way with the description of the John Joseph Sullivan, who is so well known in Otago. A report has got about the town, that one of the three has hinted that in parts of Australia, and even in Koorong, where Sullivan's respectability, as he says, can be proved, he has left signs of his guilt. "We cannot ascertain as yet whether the report is true ; should it prove so, it is improbable that even now he will escape the gallows. Last night a rumour was in circulation in Nelson that the intelligence had been received at the Police Station here of the capture, on the West Coast, of two more men who are connected with the gang of which, at all events, we know we have the ringleaders. How far this was correct it was impossible to ascertain at the late hour we heard it. INQUEST ON THE BODY OF JAMES BATTLE. At half-past six in the evening of Tuesday last, an inquest was held on the body, at the Government buildings, before "W". H. Squires, Esq., Coroner. The following are the names of the jurors : — Nathaniel Edwards, foreman; John Tregea, Alexander Hunter, George Corser Saxton, Francis Trask, Eobert Pollock, William Akersten, George Sheppard, Alfred George Betts, Henry Byring Cox, Eobert Powell, Eobert Lucas, and N. T. Lockhart. The jury having been duly sworn, they proceeded to view the body of the deceased, and, on their return, the following evidence was received : — James Barton, having affirmed, said : I am the hospital attendant to the Nelson Hospital. I have seen the body now lying in the engine-house ; it is that of James Battle. He was admitted into the Hospital on -the 2nd of February, 1860, and he then gave his trade out to be that of a sawyer, and. said he was a native of England. His age then was forty-eight years. I caw him again about eighteen months ago, near Blenheim. George Jervis, being sworn, said : I am a storekeeper residing in Canvas Town. I have seen the body in the engine-house ; it is that of a man I have known by the name of " Old Jamie," who had been for 6ome time working at Wilson's accommodation house at the Pelorus, half a mile from Canvas Town. He was- clearing flax at £2 per acre. I saw him last on this day week (Tuesday, the 12th of June), before eight o'clock in the morning. He had a swag and I believe two long-handled shovels with him. On the following Sunday I made inquiries at the Pelorus Bridge accommodation house, and found that he had passed it on his road to Nelson. I also inquired at Dwyer's and Smith's accommodation houses, and found that no man answering to his description had passed that way. My reason for inquiring about him was that I knew he was coming to Nelson, and hearing of the loss of Dudley, De Pontius, Kempthorne, and Mathieu, caused me to ask about him. I had not seen him after Tuesday, the 12th of June, till I saw him to-night in the engine-house. George James Baker, being sworn, said : I have seen the body now in the engine-house. I was in the searching party looking lor the body of a man supposed to be missing. About half-past nine this morning, about a mile lrom Frankly n's Flat, towards the Heringa, and about 100 yards from the road, to the left side from here, mj attention was drawn to a fern having its roots upwards, and a log about three feet long, that appeared to be placed there. I went and examined the place. I first found the body a little above the hips at the back, after removing some earth and leaves. This part of the body was only covered by about half-an-inch depth of soil. I did no more before the constable Marten came up, when we removed the body. The man was lying on his face. In turning him over I considered he had been strangled because his chest and neck were much discoloured. I was number eleven of the Search Party. I am a general dealer, but am a tailor by trade, and reside in Nelson. The body is the one now in the engine-house. His boot was lying under the head part, and his hat lay towards his feet. At this stage, the inquest was adjourned until yesterday, when the jury again assembled in the Government buildings, at ten a.m. The first witness examined was :—: — Robert Shallerass, being sworn, said : I am the Sergeant-Major of Police. In consequence of information I received from a man named Sullivan, who is now in the gaol on a charge of felony, a party was sent out on Monday morning, the 2nd of July, to search for the body of a man named James Battle, who had been murdered on Tuesday, the 12th of June. The body was found in the place indicated, and was brought into Nelson last evening. It is the same as that now lying in the engine-house. Samuel Athanasius Cusack, being sworn, said : I am an M.D. residing in Nelson. I saw the body now lying in the engine-house ; it was pointed out to me as being that of James Battle. I found tbe body with the clothes on covered with mud. We removed the clotheß and washed the body; the body might have been that of a man of about fifty years of age. Allowing for the cold weather, it might have been dead a fortnight. There was no decay anywhere except in the slight separation of the cuticle, or whut is commonly called the scarf skin. There were no external marks of violence. A post mortem examination was made by Dr. Cotterell and myself. We opened the different cavities of the body. There was some slight congestion of the brain, but nothing very characteristic, There was a contusion under the skin, at the upper end of the windpipe, on either side. There was nothing noticeable inside the moulh of the windpipe or the air passages. The lungs were slightly congested, but nothing very remarkable. The heart was natural. There wan a little air in the cavity of the heart. There waß a contusion beneath the skin of the abdomen, a little above and to the right side of the navel, and a corresponding contusion on the intestines. The stomach was empty. By the Cobonee : Had I not heard the history of the case, I should not have said that the contusion on the wind-pipe would have produced death. It is possible that death was caused by a grasp of the hand. It is not a natural state of things to see a mark on the windpipe. The mark on the abdomen might have been caused by a blow or a kick. The state of a body depends so much on weather that I could not say exactly when death occurred. I cannot say with certainty the cause of death. The cause of death would be consistent with that of strangulution by the hand pressing on the windpipe. It is possible that he might have been killed by a blow from a shot in the stomach. The other cause, that of strangulation, \>ould be the more probable of the two. "By a Juror i I do not think it probable that

death could havo been caused by anyone standing on the abdomen of deceased, Charles Edward Cotteroll, being sworn, said : I am a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, practising in Nelson. I have seen the body in the engine-room ; it was pointed out to me as that of James Battle. I examined the body with Dr. Cusack I saw no external marks of violence. On opening the head the brain was found to bo slightly congested ; it was very soft to the touch und easily broken up. This was probably caused by being dead bo long. On examining the windpipe, underneath tho skin at the upper part, there was seen a contusion on each side of the Adum's-apple. Internally tho windpipe appeared healthy. On opening the chest there was nothing striking or abnormal, except a little extra congestion of tho right lung. When we opened the heart there was a little air in the right side. We have formed no theory respecting the presence of this air, except that putrefaction might have caused it. On opening the abdomen, I found the muscles on the right side of tho navel and above it bruised, and a corresponding tinge on tho omentutn (caul). I can't swear to any cause of death. The stomach was empty and healthy. The appearance of the body was consistent with strangulation. I found no wounds on tho body whatever. The jury, after a very slight consultation, returned s vordict, "That the deceased James Battle was •wilfully murdered."