THE MURDER AT THE AROHA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6004, 14 February 1881, Page 5

THE MURDER AT THE AROHA.

[BYTELEGRAPH;^—own correspondent.] V: '■''' '■' Morgantown, Saturday. THE SEARCH OF THE POLICE.

Since writing yesterday, I have'gleaned the following particulars ' respecting the murder of Himiona. .i .. ' ■ • The scene ;of. the outrage, as well as the country, iu the immediate vicinity, was thoroughly searched yesterday by the police and.a; large.force of miners, but beyond the finding, of ahold hat and a walking-stick, nothing fresh has turned up. The pipe stem and greenstone:pendant found near the body were both identified. The pipe stem was claimed by a miner named Marshall, who states that he lost it on the evening of the night upon which the murder took place, but does not remember how or by what means it left his possession. The greenstone was recognised by a native named Kata as being his property. It was given to Himiona on tb,e 9th inst. SUSPICIONS OF EUROPEANS. During the whole of yesterday, and until a latfe hour last evening, the township was literally filled with men, the general topic of conversation being the murder. Various and conflicting were the theories advanced —■ some' stating that the murder was undoubtedly committed by Europeans, others asserting that the unfortunate man met his death at the hands of his own people, and, as is usual in such cases, that there is a woman at the bottom of,the whole business.! .'•,." MEETING OF NATIVES. Towards noon .yesterday the MaOris assembled to the number of at least 150, by far the greater maj6rity~being"Ngatikois, and a meeting was held in O'Halloran's paddock. All the 'circumstances surrounding the murder, were freely discussed. leading chiefs addressed the meeting, and all united in pronouncing the murder to be the work of Europeans. It is sincerely to be hoped for the sake of the place and the good feeling hitherto existing in the district.' that the whole matter will be satisfactorily cleared up. The natives are very dark, and are eying all and sundry'pakehas with an air of: suspicion. .'■. ■;•• • : ■ [from our, own correspondent.] • Grahamstown, Saturday evening. ' News of the.murder atTeAroha reached here last evening. ; Early this morning, Mr.; Kenrick,' R.M., .Sergeant-Major O'Grady, and- Dr. Huxtable proceeded to Te Aroha, for, the purpose of holding an inquest on the remains. ; Mr. G.. T. Wilkinson, of the ' Native 'Department, Shorthand, was. not informed of the occurrence, and received the first intelligence of the; murder, through the; columns of the Advertiser this mornings He also, started, for Te: Aroha, where, he will' . no" doubt prove of great, assistance in examining the natives. ..... . ; THE SUSPECTED MAN. 'The suspected man is imprisoned, for want- of better accommodation, in a bell tent. His hands are handcuffed behind his ■back, and he is securely fastened by means of a trace chain to the tent pole. ' "The ; 'Thames Advertiser, in its account,; has'the following particulars :—" The wound on the throat'looked most ghastly, being open about two or three inches, and exposing the severed windpipe. The opinion, of those who •sawit differ on this point, but it is the'geueral conviction that it was done with a knife not over sharp. We believe this to be the case from the fact that immediately below one ear there is a hole such as would be caused bv a knife being thrust into the neck preparatory to drawing it across the throat. With regard to the fractures on the skull, there is also a doubt as to how they were caused, some people believing that a toina,hawk was used, and others that they were done:with' a conical stone, which was found lying hear the body, and which was spattered with blood. The face, arms, and breast of the poor fellow were covered with clotted blood; and also the ground around. The appearance of the spot ''where the body was found leads to the inference that the murdered man did not die without a hard'struggle. 'The fern was trampled about, and the soil in some places knocked up, showing what a deadly struggle must, have taken place. When the body was discovered it was only clothed with a shirt arid a pair of trousers. The shirt sleeves were tucked up to the elbows, and the front was unbuttoned. Himiona's coat and hat were lying in the middle of the road, anu. in all probability were put there before the poor fellow was'assaulted. Constable McCleary, having obtained information to the effect that a Russian named John Westbrook had' been quarrelling with deceased the previous night about who should ride a horse down to a settlement below Omaha, proceeded to that man's tent, and found .some wet clothes hanging on a line. On looking closely at them he detected what he believed/ to be stains of blood. He .took possession of the articles and returned to the camp, where he handed them over to his superior officer, who had just come back from the native settlement, having been unsuccessful in his search. The two then hastened to the Sunbeam claim, where Westbrookwas working, and having charged him with the committaf of the crime, arrested him "and marched him to the barracks. Westbrook is a man of small stature, and about 35 or 40 years of age, and does not look powerful enough to overcome a strong, well-built fellow, such as Himiona was. He is, we believe, a sailor by occupation, but for the past month has been working Hone Worahiko's share in the Sunbeam ; claim." '