THE LATE MURDER NEAR WHAKATANE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4487, 31 March 1876, Page 3

THE LATE MURDER NEAR WHAKATANE.

An Opotiki correspondent of the Bay of Plenty Times has an account of the examination of Himiona te Rua before the Magistrates, from which we take the following extracts :—The Bench was composed of Messrs. H. W. Brabant, R.M., C. Thompson, J.P., and Major Goring, J.P., also Wepiha Apauui, Hira te Popo, and Te Meihana, Native Assessors, representing three different tribes. Captain Preece conducted the prosecution on behalf of the Crown, and Mr. C. D. Litchfield acted as interpreter. Great excitement prevailed in the settlement, but the natives behaved in a most quiet and orderly manner, chiefly attributable to the great influence our worthy R.M. has acquired over them during his administration here. The prisoner is a tall well-made man, of a quiet and prepossessing appearance, and is a direct descendant of a powerful line of chiefs called Tiketu. The case for the prosecution being closed, the prisoner received the usual caution rendered in his own language, after which he desired to make a statement. He then commenced by describing the death of some seven or eight of his friends and relations, all, as he solemnly declared, under the evil influence of witchcraft exercised by Te Marae; one in particular he I described as having at the point of death 1 cried out, "Oh, the evil spirit of Te i Marae is biting me insideTe Marae being at this time at another settlement many miles away. Prisoner also stated that there had been a great gathering of the tribes some years ago, naming five of the East Coa3fc tribes, that they had met as a court of enquiry and had appointed two great chiefs as judges on the subjcct of the death of the great chief Tiketu, said to have been caused by enchantment exercised by Te Marae ; that this court and the whole of the tribes had then decided that Te Marae was guilty and should be killed, and that on every occasion since, when any one of these he mentioned had died, the general voice had been that Te Marae should be killed as payment. Prisoner next described how he came from his home with the express intention of killing Te Marae ; how he went to a settlement in the night where he knew that the inhabitants were all away at the time, and there got a gun out of one of the unoccupied whares. He then travelled all day until towards evening, when he arrived near the plantation where he knew his victim was working ; here he met a child and made enquiries of him, and the two went together to the potato patch ; immediately on seeing the supposed wizard he ran forward and shot him without warning. He then described his escape inland with great minuteness, corroborating in many instances the previous statements of the witnesses, and concluded with an account of his capture by a party of natives sent after him. The feeling among the natives is of a very mixed nature ; many of them sympathise warmly with him, saying that he was only doing what he believed to be a religious duty devolving upon him in consequence of the death of his friends, while others as strongly condemn him.