A CHRISTMAS TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9400, 5 January 1894, Page 5

A CHRISTMAS TRAGEDY.

.7;:"... m.. ' :■ - ; A WHOLE FAMILY MURDERER t A shocking tragedy occurred on Christmas morning a.b Adelaide involving the loss of ~ no fewer than five lives, constituting a family named Oxley, who, only a few weeks , ago, came Ito Adelaide, and took a house and small fruit shop ip Sburt-atreet. Henry : Oxley, the husband, aged 33, had been em- ' Ployed boundary riding in the southeast tor 15 years, and married Emma Hotlines, ' a servant on the station, 11 years ago. 1 The family consisted of two girls and a boy. There was no suggestion that Oxley ; had ever treated any of hera unkindly, and their friends aver that he never gave way to < drink, but was thoroughly sober and indus--1 tfjous, and also of a very hapny disposition. That he was provident was shown by the fact thab he was able to pay £110 for a fruit business in Sturt-sbreeb a few weeks ago. Only a few days after starting in the shop 1 Oxiey's manner changed, and he became very despondent. On Christmas morning, at eighb o'clock, an ostler was on his way to groom his horses. Ho bad occasion bo cull at Oxiey's backyard, and finding no one about and being unabje to make himself heard, he entered by the doorway. His ' suspicions boing aroused ho looked into the 1 rooms, whore a terrible sight meb his gaze. In the sitting-room lying on the sofa, which had been made up as a bed, was Oxiey's little boy dead, lying on his right side, with 1 a fearful gash on the left side of the skull. The brains were protruding, and the walls and floor were covered with blood. In a bedroom adjoining were two little girls lying in one bod, arranged with their heads opposite each other. Both had awful ! wounds in the heads. A large bed in the same room was occupied by Oxley and his wife. The woman was lying dead next to 1 the wall, on her right side, with marks of fearful blows on the head. The husband 1 was partly lying over the bad quite dead, 1 he having cub his throat with a razor. The police were informed of the tragedy without delay, and took charge of the house. Two doctors visited the house with all despatch, and finding the girls still breathing, had them taken over bo the hospital in an ambulance van, bub from the first thore was no hope of their recovery, and during the morning both died. The doctors say the tragedy must have been committed about 5 or 6 o'clock, as the man and his wife and boy were nearly cold when found. The woman had probably received the fatal blow while asleep, from a blunt instrument. The police found a tomahawk in the room reeking with blood, and no doubt the blows were struck with it, both the sharp and blunt ends being used. The tragedy must have been committed with great celerity, and the blows given with strength and determination, for, although the neighbourhood is thickly populated, there were no signs outside of the horrible work Oxley was doing within the house. Mrs. Oxley was 34, and was the daughter of an old Narracoorte resident. The evidence at the inquest showed that Oxley was fairly well-to-do, bub was unfortunate in having £1300 locked up in one of the suspended banks. He came to town a fortnight ago and purchased a greengrocery business. Oxley began business on the 16th, and soon appeared dissatisfied with it. On Christmas Eve he lent one of •his horses to some carol singers, who returned it about 5 -o'clock on Christmas morning, at which hour Oxloy left his house, and had achat with one of the party, referring mostly to business. He must have committed the murders almost immediately on re-entering the house. The neighbours heard no sound. One witness narrated a conversation she had with Oxley and his wife on Friday. He complained of the heat, and said, " Mrs. Day, this day a year ago I was the happiest man in the world." Mrs. Elizabeth Waley, who had known the Oxleys a long time, said she never met a happier family. He was the best father she ever knew, and idolised his children. Mrs. Oxley told her on Sunday that her husband was ill. According to Mrs. Oxley, her husband said there was a groat weight on him which he could not carry, and which he could nob shake off. He had a tight feeling about the waist, and witness thought he had had a sunstroke. He kept on saying he had been deceived and disappointed. Mrs. Oxley said, Well, Harry, why didn't you have a doctor? 1 will see you have one to-morrow." ftmong Oxiey's effects was a letter signed by the i!ev. A. Wheeler, Anglican clergyman at Narracoorte, stating that Mr. and Mrs. Oxley had been most active and zealous in church matters there, and expressing the hopo that they would similarly labour in the future. The jury, after a short retirement, returned a verdict that Harry Oxloy had committed the murders and that he also took his own lifo during a fit of insanity.