THE OTAKEHO TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11854, 4 January 1902, Page 3

THE OTAKEHO TRAGEDY.

_ 4&~ » ,_ ._ THE INQUEST. ~. ; ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS. The inquest on the three victims of the Otakeho tragedy was held .it ten a.m. ■on* January 1. before Mr. J. Hunt, aoting-coroner. ' j Inspector Gillies appeared for the police, - | and conducted the inquiry, Sergeant Bernard and Constables Whitehouse and Quinu being also in attendance. . William Leith, labourer, deposed that he saw Hill, and was at his house from seven to nine p.m. on December 50. Seeing Hill's head bandaged, "witness*; asked tho -reason,; and 1 the reply w-as, .''Long'; William struck me,", and: Hill further } stated '•; that- he was weeding carrots in garden, and that W. H.Blenuerhassett commenced to throw clods at i him. | Hill - then wont over to the hedge: to toll his assailant what he thought of him. : The latter then threw a broken : piece of j guard-rail post at him, hitting him with the jagged ' end in ; the ; forehead Blehnerbasse 11' s j wife came and;; took ' him away. ' Hill i told; witness that he I" bled like a pig',' from the .wound. .The post was, about 2ft long, ■ and: Hill went bade to look for it iu the afternoon, but it was gone. , When"he: had left it in the : morning, about ten o'clock, it was covered with blood." He saw 'Sill-at}; his house at about, a quarter to eight. a.m. on December 31. He asked Hill if ' his" head • had i pained him through the night. The, latter replied,"'- No,, ho had slept well." Witness left him; about ten minutes': to .eight,- and wont to work at a. quarry,. about six or seven chains from Hill's , house. About twelve minutes past eight ,he ;: heard cither two or throo gunshots' in succession, and : about", two or three minutes later - another shot in the direction of Hill's, house. The „ first shots were in the direction of Hill's gate on - ' the road. Ho then \ heard screams;- and about ;10 ■ men from the"pit rah tip, and found W. ■A. Blennerhassett lying in the road,; about"4oft from Hill's gate. His wife was there at..the time. - He was dying or i dead. Witness saw a dray about 18yds away, containing six cans ,of milk, and W. A. Blennerhassett lying over j the cans in a dying condition. Tho face was covered with blood from a gunshot ; wound in the -forehead. Some men - : 1 jumped '.up'in the cart and; stretched: the body out to see I if there was [ any life left, but found ? there | was not. The bodies wore left there till the [ arrival of Constable. Quinn. .'..-; He ; then;-,went' to Hill's house, and found him lying on, his j back ? dead; with a gun; and small ■ piece of, [ board lying near his right , hand. v, Witness identified the gun produced, which contained two empty cartridge cases. Ho saw a wound near "deceased's left vest pocket which , was tho cause of death.; He ; worked for Hill for about ten. weeks tin to October" last. He knew there was bad"feeling between Hill and the Blennerhassetts ;i the former told him so. : (One of the' causes was the ; raising of a loan | for the road by the Board, in consequence of | which Hill said he was paying twice as much rates -as . Blennerhassetts." Hill yi always blamed' them , for using : undue influence in order to get the loan carried. 'J- There . had been several quarrels between -the, parties, I and the 'neighbours stated .that it had been I going on for years. Hill was well known as a good -,- shot. - i Dr. Hardman Good, Manaia, stated. that he had examined Hill's body, and found there | were two' gunshot wounds in the '-,;breast,within 2in of each other, just below the left j nipple. He .was satisfied that ? the wounds ; were made with the: gun almost if not ; acj tually touching „';; the , chest, ? and : that \ the wounds could have ;been.. self-inflicted. There • was also a flesh wound on the -.; forehead, ' but the bone .was not ; injured. It ' could have been inflicted with a stick or a ; stone. Had also ' examined the bodies of : Wm. A. and W. H. Blennerhassctt. "The latter had been shot twice in the, head and neck, the first shot, entering the forehead diagonallyfrom the front and right, probably, from, a distance of about 10 yards, tho second passing through the collar into the back of the peck at a distance of about three yards.' Blennerhassett saw Hill ; coming but ;of his 'gate,, withy his gun, and' apprehended danger, and was turning round to come homo,. it would correspond with the direction of the first shot. ; W., A. Blennerhassett had a gunshot wound on the right breast*above, the ; nipple, from! a direction, slanting slightly ,to (he right. -Mid at a distance of one or i two yards. Witness was satisfied that any of | tho wounds on ; . either deceased were v suffi- | cient to cause death.: . - I To the Foreman: He did not thinki the j I wound on : Hill's - forehead was sufficient *to -. cause temporary mental derangement.' Had i heard that Hill : had Vfallen* from his -i horse ! some years ago ; : and suffered concussion of the: brain; another injury on the head after this might have an ill-effect. ' /Wm.vLeith, recalled, stated that when , lie j arrived on the scene the >cart, wasv, turned round towards home.. - Catherine Blennerhassett, -wife of, W. H. ••. Blennerhassett, gave evidence that on? her husband's : return.: from; the factory Von -" De- i cember 30 he had a quarrel with Hill, y Since j the carrying of the loan -1 there > had been7an -feeling on? Hill's 'part .towards ] her. husband. Whenever Hill met him by himself ; or with the children the,: former would j quarrel with him. : : On account of \ this she! was ; always : afraid of something ,; happening. At the (time in ; question' she - saw her husband standing outside -Hill's, hedge, and saw; Hill throwing roots at her husband, and the latter throwing them back. -J She ran.-; down; and brought her husband away, yHe a'was. terribly upset. She was satisfied,; that .her husband had wo ill-feeling ;> towards ; ; Hill. On December 31 her • husband left : with " his first load for the factory, about seven o'clock, and with , the second load - about a quarter- : past eight; she was not quite sure ,of the time. She was anxious,; and' from the verandah , watched her husband driving; along ; till:; he reached a? hollow in the road near Hill's .'■ gate. She lost sight of him.for a-moment, I and saw a figure in dark clothes '■, coming i from Hill's gate. * She saw something on his shoulder'which witness thought Kwas dike : a gun or a ■ stick. She -' then ; ran, and };' immediately heard a shot.. When .witness reached the' cart tho horse was turned towards <j the ditch, feeding. l Her husband was lying over the cans,: partly kneeling. (Witness here corroborated the' previous witness's evi- i dence re the bodies). ' :•:-'; .".-'-■ '"_•:'-'.,' :".'''.; To the Foreman: Witness saw blood :on Hill's face when she went "down to them : when they were quarrelling on December 30.■: There was no wound on her husband. She i heard three shots altogether. Hill ! had left before sho reaohed tho scene. She;.saw.;her, father working cutting hay, but she -did; not see him getting over the fence. '-There.was no ill-feeling between Hill and her;father, so far as she knew. - - , "-.- Elizabeth Blennerhassctt, wife of W. A.; Blennerhassett, i sen., deposed that : her, husband left home about five minutes past eight to cut hay in a paddock opposite Hill's orate. About five minutes later she heard - two shots in quick succession. ,: She opened the door and saw smoke from the shots coming, from the road by Hill's gate. She ran down and found her husband,just dying, with a terrible wound in the breast; she also saw her son : in-law dead in the cart. Witness said. "Where is that man. that did that deed V" They told witness he was also dead. ; She knew there was ill-feeling between her son-' in-law and Hill, but not between her husband' and Hill, who was a relative— second cousin. W. R. Bateman, labourer, : Skeet Road, stated that on December 28 he saw Hill riding near Mr. Outfield's, and W. H. Blennerhassett was following, walking. He heard Hill call the latter a b— thief, when Blennerhassett threw a stone at him. Hill repeated the remark, and then Blennerhassett drew witness' attention "to the words, and * asked ; him' if he heard what was said. Witness did not reply, and then Blennerhassett picked up j another stone, and ran after Hill; and threw it at him. Blennerhassett then returned, and said to ? witness \ that Hill had i called . him . a thief, and that he would make him prove his words. He also said,'"*rl will catch the — yet." Witness knew that tho parties were bad '< friends. "He did not know. the : cause definitely. He thought it had lasted about 12 months. ■;;-;' Percy 'C Cutfield, farmer,", Taikatu ? Road, stated that while passing Hill's place,'between nine and ten a.m. on ' December ■ 30, Hill was in the paddock, and W. H. Blennerhassett was standing in the road. '~ He heard someone say, "You are ah— clog," and would say it was Hill's. voice. He. would say there had been a row,: and that this was; the tail end of it. He saw Mrs. ; Blenner-; hassett there, and Hill was . going towards: his house. , Witness did'not see his face. She had just run up, so witness presumed there was some serious quarrel between them.;| There had been ill-feeling between - them since the passing of the loan. ■ Constable Quinn, in his evidence, stated I that after the bodies of the; Blennerhassetts I : had been removed to the , house of 'W. ",-' H. | Blennerhassett, he went to Hill's house. 'He 1 found , Hill j lying; dead, , 9yds \or ; 10yds : - from the back door," from a gunshot wound about j the waist. ; The- clothing was singed. There' was also a wound ton ? the;' forehead.; From the-' position of;,the body, the gun, and the ! stick, he was fully, satisfied that: the manshot .himself.;:.;: He;; searched the body, and found ; the loaded cartridge (produced) :in the" j coat ; pocket, which corresponded to the?two: ( J empty cartridges in the gun. ? On searching"i the 'clothing of W. H. Blennerhassett, found j three stones (produced) in the right-hand "coat pocket. ■_ R The v Coroner stated that he thought the jury, would have no difficulty.i» bringing in \ their verdict. Ho thought' from the evi- ' dence, especially of Mrs. W. 11. Blenner-.'.hass-eti and Lcit'tj, that it was a case .of pre-

■■; '"■ r ~—~ ■. . ,- ~.■■■ » ■•,.- , ;:;■}: V* meditated murder and suicide. ; -There-.hadi'.'.-f'.V-.-""i been no suggestion-or proof of any insanity ;.'.','• on Hill's part, and " the doctor's evidence proved that the wound inflicted by W. H.> Blennerhassett was not sufficient to J affect; : Hill's mind. v .The-' jury returned -? tho ■■ following verdict:'-. "That William Arthur ; Blennerhassett and. William Harold Blonnerhasselt met their deaths on Tuesday,, December 31, at tha ,"' ' ,' hands''of William Hill.' by gunshot wounds, and that-the, aforesaid .Williair Hill after- ■ wards shot himself to cteatli on the same day, by the same means,":",' Mrs- W. 11. Blennerhassett is left a widow With"' four; young- children, the . r eldest being a girl, six and a-half.years.'and the youngestonly seven months. Hill was well known and. spoken ot.by all the. settlers as having borne the character of .a. quiet, inoffensive man. . ■ • -