CHILD MURDER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10407, 3 April 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

CHILD MURDER.

FIENDISH BRUTALITY WREAKED ON A WEST HAM INNOCENT. At an inquest on the body of a newly-born jiale child, held by Mr. Hilleary at the King's Hoad, Weak Ham, the details of the injuries inflicted on the child prior to death were calculated to inspire even the most callous with horror. The body was found on a piece of waste ground near Whalebone Cottages, hidden amongst a mass of paper and old clothe 3, with a piece of tape tied tightly round the neck. The tinder, a labourer's wife, banded it to the police, who passed it on to the divisional surgeon for a postmortem examination. The result of this examination was given at the inquest, when Dr. Urogond eaid that the primary cauee of death was strangulation by the tying of a stay-luce tightly round the neck and cutting deeply into the flesh. The body, which was that of a fully-defe-loped child, was charred all over, more particularly the head and face, the flesh § being burned off and bones exposed, Several bones had also been fractured after the burning. There was a strong odour of paraffin about the body, and the doctor opined thufc this had been pound over the body to facilitate the burning. (Sensation,) The body had been so burned that it bore Uμ aipecb of a charred egg-shell, and it wai almost impossible to say how long the child bad lived. The coroner adjourned the eaee to give the police J«i opportunity of" finding oub I