A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11056, 6 May 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY.

A FATHER BUTCHERS HIS WIFE AND family. TRIPLE MURDER and suicide. The inhabitants of the peaceful little town of Twickenham were startled on March 11 bv the news of an awful tragedy that had occurred in their midst, A highly-respected townsman, it was said, had slam his w, and two children, afterwards ending his We bv Ins own hand. Mr. Herbert Gooda e, the owner of the Twickenham Monumental Works, Cedar View, Richmond Road an establishment mainly devoted to the production of ornamental tombstones and other funereal sculpture, was in the habit of per- ! sonally admitting his employees to the works at. about six o'clock each morning. He was almost invariably punctual, and so, when on the Saturday morning lie did not open the entrance gate of the establishment till a little after a quarter-past six a.m. Ins workmen were somewhat surprised. Mill, thev noticed nothing unusual m his mnnne alien ho did admit them. He appeared cheery as ever, remarking genially in repon se' to his workmen's greetings," have overdone it a bit this morning.' His men, of course, understood this to mean that he hud slept bevond his usual time. Meanwhile, Mr. Ooodale retired into his house, No. 1, Cedar View, a one-storeyed buildin,' which is only separated from the works bv, small alley. At. No. 2, Cedar View, next, door to the house of Mr. Herbert hoodale, lives his father, Mr. James Ooodale, a gentleman who, although nearly 80 years of age and long since retired from active siness, is still hale and hearty. He was in the habit of visiting his son early each morning. and it would appear was generally awakened bv the stir and bustle going on from ail early hour at No, 1, his bedroom being separated from his son s by a thin partition wall. Waking in the morning shortly after seven o'clock he observed with a certain degree of wonderment that the noises which he was accustomed to hear coming from his son's house were absent, As time went on, lie noticed, with increasing astonishment, that this unusual silence persisted. Becoming anxious, he at last determined to go downstairs and inquire at his soil's house to see if all were well. To his surprise he obtained no reply to his continued knocking, and on attempting to open (lie door found that it was locked. Then examining the windows he found that they, too, were locked. Much alarmed, lie ran into the masonry yard, and, with the assistance of one of the workmen, dragged a barrel to the front of his son's house. Standing the barrel on end, Mr. Ooodale, sen., clambered on to a ledge projecting from the wall about live feet above the street level, and peered into his soil's bedroom on the upper lloor. Uttering a cry of terror he forced the bedroom window open and climbed into the room. What he saw made him re.'dil, stupe!!".".! and sick with horror. '1 here, on the bed, lay his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Martha tJoodaie, partially clothed, lying in it pool of blood, and with a terrible gash across her throat. Next her lay her little three-week old infant, still unnamed, its head almost severed from its body. On the lloor was the eldest child of the family, a pretty little maid of but three summers, . dead, her companion in death being her father, whose, throat was also cut. Near at hand lay a blood-smeared razor, and there can be little room for doubt that the instrument had been used to terminate the lives of the whole family, the father having killed his wife and children and then used the weapon upon himself. The condition of tho bodies, however, showed that the awful deed must have been committed but a short time before it was discovered. It was evident that Mrs. Goodale and her children could not have been killed long before the husband-father committed suicide. A neighbour stated:—"l knew the (lend man well, and a more genial, heart v man 1 never met in my life.' He was in the prime of life, only 38 years of age. His wife, a sweet woman, was a couple of years younger. I knew Herbert Goodale for years, and during our friendship he always struck me as possessing an exceptionally well-balanced mind. lie was a thorough business man, active and alert, 1 never knew him to be depressed or to show any signs of mania. He was always apparently happy and gay. He had influenza some time back, and was very ill, but he showed no signs of weakness after lie had recovered." Asked if there was much likelihood of the deed having been induced by religious ( mania, as was believed by the people in tho , district, the neighbour said " Very little. True, Goodale was a religious man, a vegetarian, I believe, and a temperance advocate. Rut lie was no fanatic. 1 can only account , for it by one of those sudden attacks of mental disotder which cause some men to run amuck. Otherwise it is incomprehensible.''