THE MURDER NEAR PAPAKURA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4711, 19 December 1876, Page 2

THE MURDER NEAR PAPAKURA.

P' . FURTHER PARTICULARS.

Yesterday morning we despatched a reporter to Papakura, for the purpose of th» brutal- murder that was. .perpetrated at Ararimu, abbot 14 miles from -Papaktira, on -Saturday, morning succeeded -i». obtaining considerable additional information' relative to-this tragedy."* Although -the- ac-_ count lif the: murder /which appeared in onr lssue of yesteyday t '\raß «übßtantiany*cor r e C t<" yet it had to be supplemented by many. items of public interest ~ That the murder has been a premeditated deed is beyond doubt, from the circumstances attending the - commission of that heinous crime. As stated in. our issue of yesterday, Curtia and Shanaghan were at variance for years past • but it would appear, from what has trans- ' pired since the murder was committed, that Curtia was more to be blamed than Shanaghan. Curtin—who had been an old golddigger, and who, after amassing some money, had turned his attention to small farming- at Ararimu—made up his mind to make money as soon as he possibly could and was consequently a hard-working man! and somewhat penurious in his ways. He is said to have been what is ordinarily termed " a bad neighbour," and exceedingly arena to his neighbours' cattle trespassing upon his land.- -Shanaghan's farm adjoined his, and! whenever any of Shanaghan's cattle entered upon his (Curtin's} land, he exhibited signs of vengeance, and made use of threats) towards his neighbour which amounted to a violation of the law. - The other neighbours who were not in any. way concerned in Curtin's and Shanaghan's quarrels, it ia stated, frequently remonstrated with both, and advised them as to their unseemly contentions and altercations, but their advicea proved-utterly unavailable, at least so far aa Curtin was concerned, for he appeared to have entirely disregarded all friendly remonstrances, and to have acted according to hia own capricious impulses, which are said to have been always mingled with if hot open enmity' towards Shanaghan. The immediate cause of the quarrel which resulted in Shanaghan's death, appears to have been the trespassing of one of his pigs upon Curtin's paddocks. Knowing that Curtin would be exasperated! at such trespass, Shanaghan hastened to take the pig home, and whilst doing so Curtin, who seemed to have been watching his neighbour's movements very narrowly, addressed Shanaghan in very rude and offensive language, which resulted in a fight with sticks between both parties. According to Curtin's own statement, Shanaghan got the worst of it, and was so disabled aa to have enabled his assailant to tie his hands . and feet with ease, thereby rendering his victim quite unable to defend himself, as well as exposing him to the mercy of the elements ;. or, in other words, leaving him in a lonesome place, where his cries could not be heard, to die, if no Samaritan happened to pass by and administer to his urgent necessities in the excruciating circumstances in* which he was placed. Cruelly leaving his victim in this half-dead and helpless state, Curtin rode to the Resident Magistrate's residence, to lay information againßt Shanaghan for assaulting him (Curtin). On interviewing Captain Jackson, and making his business known to that gentleman, several questions were put to him as to the nature of the assault which he alleged had taken place, when he (Curtin) admitted that he had succeeded in tying Shanaghan with a strap to a tree, and left him there. Captain Jackson having refused to grant Curtin's application, the latter at once applied to Mr. Martelli, a local Justice of the Peace, for a warrant to apprehend Shanaghan," but did not succeed. He then proceeded to the township of Papakura, and applied to the Clerk of the Bench there (Mr. Shanaghan) for a warrant, but was told by that gentleman, as well as by the magistrates to whom he had previously applied, that the warrant could not be granted on the grounds alleged. All these applications were made on Saturday, the day the murder was committed, and on the following day (Sunday) Curtin repeated his application at Papakura, and called at the police-station there. By the time he had called, information had reached the station that Shanaghan had been found murdered, and that Curtin was the perpetrator of the deed, whereupon Constable McLellan, with characteristic promptitude, arrested the accused, and confined him in the lock-up. On being arrested, Curtin indignantly denied having murdered Shanaghan, although he admitted tying him up and leaving him in that wretchedly helpless state. On Sunday Constable McLellan proceeded to Ararimu to take charge of the body and to make arrangements for an inquest. On examining the body he foundsevere marks of violence on it, —such marks as lead anyone to infer that the man had been seriously maltreated. There were several -wounds and bruises about the head, besides contusions in other parts of the body; indeed it has been stated by others who saw the marks of violence, that the woundsonthe head were, of themselves, quite sufficient to have caused the death of Shanaghan. It was also discovered that Cnrtin had taken a piece of rope from his own house, apparently for the purpose of tying Shanaghan, and that the piece was one which had been cut off by a knife from a larger piece. Curtin's clothes were found to be saturated with blood, which leads to the belief that he must have had a hand-to-hand encounter with Shanaghan after the latter had been wounded to the effusion of blood. In Curtin's but were found a loaded gun, a sword, and a pistol, but none of these weapons had been used by him in assaulting Shanaghan, although it is suspected that they were kept by him for no proper purpose. He alleged that, being an old digger, and sometimes liable to be rudely attacked whilst on the goldfields, he deemed it necessary to be at all times well provided with offensive weapons. The feeling at Ararimu, Drury, and Papakura against the prisoner is very strong, and it is believed that if he were not in the custody of the police he would have been Lynched. In appearance he is a somewhat diminutive fellow, about five feet four inches in heigUc, and by no means a pleasing countenance, but the reverse. He looks cross and snarlish, and his eyes glisten as if he overflowed with indignation. He is carefully watched in the lock-up by a constable, and there is little fear of his escape. Yesterday morning the Resident Magistrate (Captain Jackson), the Clerk of the Court (Mr. Shanaghan), and Constable McLellan proceeded to Ararimu, to hold an inquest on the body. A jury was empanelled, and the body was duly viewed; but in the absence of a legally qualified medical practitioner from Auckland the inquest was adjourned till Thursday morning next, at Springfield (six miles from Papakura), at halfpast ten o'clock, when all the witnesses and the prisoner will be in attendance. In the meantime the body, which is in a state of decomposition, will be interred, bnt not before a post-mortem examination is held thereon, for which purpose Detective Jeffrey is in charge of the body, and will, probably, not return to Auckland till the inquest is over. On Sunday and yesterday a large number of the neighbours assembled at the deceased's house to sympathise with Mrs. Shanaghan, who has been in a pitiful, distracted, and melancholy state since the death of her husband. Not only at Ararimu, but everywhere in the district, strong sympathetic feeling for her exists. Her husband, it would appear, was weU liked by the neighbours : with the exception of Curtin, with whom few could well agree. Mrs. Shanaghan, who has one child, was only married about two years ago, and was then a new arrival from Ireland. Although she is not left entirely destitute, she may be said to M left unprovided-for.jmd it is not. improbable that a subscription will be. made for_her. Curtin is reputed to be worth about ±ow> after paying his'= debts. /He .to.'*,"* 1 living somewhere in the Waikato district. Later particulars state that the wounds on Shanaghan's head must have been matw

,» a sharp instrument and not by a nd it i» somewhat strange that on examine 1 jjj Cnrtin's hut, .his axe -waa found in the rt with the head bomt «C The body was | aund by and "some' settlers, ring 6b ',itii'-.nicQ'i-wiik" ; the/b^ds'behind, •here were rope mark* on thie wrists, which ndics*ed that the hs*ds had been tied with i ro pe. " Tbere were also rope'mai*s_TO*nd thebody, and portioasofdeceaied'shadr were strewn about,' as if' a fierce struggle / taken, place between him and nis aa(»uant. Mrs. Shanaghan states, .that about 4 week before the murder took place, Curfcin observed to her "You will not have t""i long" —meaning, no doubt, her husband.

prom settlers who were ia town yesterday from the Ararimu district we have obtained some further particulars. Shanaghan belonged to the County limerick, and owned about 150 to 160 acres at Ararimu. Curtin ia a native of County Clare.' They were about the'laat settlers on the Wairoa side of the Ararimu district, and a right of road divided their: farms; their'hooses being between half-a-mile and three-quarters apart. "When Mrs. Shanaghan went round early on Sunday -morning, enquiring if her husband had been seen, she could-get no information till she applied to Curtin, who told her she "might go up there and find him," indicating the place where I;he body was found. She went with a dog, and soon came npon the body of her husband. She did not touch it. 'When the neighbours' were informed tuey came to the spot, and did not move the 'body, which was lying with the head retting on the hat. It was not till Constable McLellan raised the head that it tcis seen' that on the lower side was a severe cut. On Sunday evening the body <ras removed to the little Catholic Church at .ararimu, where several of the neighbouring rettlers remained-all night. The body was ! lid on a table, covered over, as it was not crashed till the coroner's jury should hare viewed it.

There can be little doubt that this dreadful affair has been caused by long-continued squabbling, irritation, and suspicion on both sides. Unfortunately these feelings are but too common amongst country settlers. People living in a large town are not really brought into such close contact with their neighbours as country settlers are. Their attention is more diverted amongst numbers, and their minds are not permitted to brood upon petty annoyances or fancied annoyances, as in the country. The type of mind which dwells npontrifles till they seem unbearable, which imagines insult and affront where none are intended, and which nourishes petty grievances, till something like monomania is the resolt, is generally of an ignorant and uncultivated class. Here were two men—honest and hard-working, having means enough, and who might have been thoroughly comfortable and helpful to each other, actually making their own and each other's lives miserable. Cm-tin seems to have been most strongly affected, which might naturally have been -expected. He had lived at Ararimu for some 10 years alone, devoting all his energies to increasing his wealth, becoming less and less social, and continuing night and day to brood over his quarrels and disputes -with his neighbour and countryman. A most miserable life, and certain to end badly!