THE MANGERE MYSTERY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12268, 12 May 1903, Page 6

THE MANGERE MYSTERY.

INQUEST CONTINUED.

MRS. MORRIS' DYING DEPOSITIONS.

MAORI YOUTHS SUSPECTED.

NATIVE SETTLEMENTS SCOURED BY

POLICE.

INQUIRY AGAIN ADJOURNED.

The circumstances attending the death of Sarah Morris, aged 80, a widow of independent means, who resided entirely alone in a cottage at the back of Ihumata Point, a solitary part of Mangere, again formed the subject of an inquiry before Mr. T. Hutchison, S.M., coroner, yesterday. _ The Onehunga Courthouse, in which the inquest was held, was crowded. Detective Maddem was present on behalf of the police authorities. A NEIGHBOUR'S EVIDENCE. Andrew Ronnie, a farmer residing at " Heritor.," Ihumata, stated that deceased lived a very solitary life. Her cottage was quite isolated, the nearest house to it being fully a-quarter of a mile distant. His own liouse was a mile away. He rented Mrs. Morris' land for farming purposes, and whenever he happened to be passing he called upon the old lady to see that she was all right, He did so about half-past two on February 25. She did not reply to his knocks at the door, and he therefore calletLout to her through the window of her bdfljroom. xiie bottom sash of the window was up, but the curtain prevented him seeing inside. tie told her who he was, and asked if she were all right. She said she had gone to bed early, as she was feeling tired.' He inquired whether be could do anything for her, and she said, "No; I can get up." In reply to an invitation to send Mrs. Rennio to her she said, "There is no need." He then told her he would send somebody round next morning, and went away. A circumstance which struck him as peculiar was that the gate of the enclosure in which the house wa3 situated was thrown open wide. He had never known the gate to be left like this before. He was aware that Mrs. Morris had been unwell for some time. She informed him, in reply to a question, that she had not been well for eight, weeks. At Christmas she was down with influenza. So far as he knew, she had never had a fainting fit.

TWO MAORIS. Campbell Rennie, a boy of 12 years of age, stated that on Tuesday, February 24, he went to Mrs. Morris' grounds to draw water from the pump. Whilst there he saw two young men —Maoris — about 20 years of age. They spoke to him. One of them he knew, having seen him before; the other was a stranger. The shorter one of the two —the Maori he had seen beforeasked him who lived in the house. He replied, "Mrs. Morris." They then went, away, and he had not seen them since. This was the first time he had ever seen these Maoris near Mrs. Morris' residence. When they left him they walked away in the direction of the native settlement at Ihumata, three-quarters of a mile distant. To a Juror: When lie first saw the Maoris they were half-way between Mrs. Morris' house and the pump, where he was standing, but he could not say whether they had come from the house or not. A SHOCKING SPECTACLE. William Rennie (14), brother of the last witness, deposed that on February 26 he went to Mrs. Morris' house to inquire how she was, and knocked at both doors for about five minutes without getting an answer, although he could hear somebody moving about inside. Eventually Mrs. Morris came to the side door. She was only partially dressed, and had to support herself by holding on to the furniture until she reached the door, against, which she afterwards leaned. Her eyes were discoloured afid swollen her hair and face were covered with blood, and her clothing was also bloodstained. He asked her whether he could do anything for her. She answered in the negative, and, wishing him " good afternoon," closed the door. It was then between eleven and twelve o'clock. He had gone to the farm for the purpose of pumping water from the well. It was customary whenever any members of his family were in the vicinity of the house to call upon Mrs. Morris to see how she was getting on. Agnes Rennie, wife of Andrew Rennie, stated that in consequence of information she received from her son Willie she called upon Mrs. Morris on Thursday, February 27, and found her in the diningroom in an almost helpless condition. She was leaning against the diningroom table, but fell and was caught by witness. Her face was discoloured and swollen; her hair was matted with blood; she had only a chemise on, and this also was bloodstained. There were cuts about her face and ears. When witness proceeded to bathe and dress her she frequently cried out with pain, as one or other of her wounds was touched. She seemed unable to explain the cause of the injuries, but she was able to indicate the places where things that were wanted by witness in attending to her could be found. The old lady further gave directions about the disposal of .certain articles in the event of her dying. Witness and her daughter remained with deceased that night and also the next nif?ht. During that time Mrs. Morris made no complaint of having been the victim of an assault. Up to the following Tuesday, when she was removed to Mr. Mclntyre's residence, she made only rambling statements. A HOUSE OF BLOOD. To Detective Maddern: Witness said there was a pool of blood, about a yard in extent, on the kitchen floor. There were also what appeared to witness to be indications of a struggle by deceased in the blood. To the Coroner: There was a sum of between £40 and £50 in an unlocked drawer in the house. To Detective Maddern: Witness was not aware that deceased had had a fall two or three years before. Had anything of the kind occurred she must have heard of it. The old lady sustained a black eye onco whilst chopping firewood, but this was a long time ago. _ A fortnight after the removal of Mrs. Morris to Mr. Mclntyre's witness called upon her. She was quite sensible, and made a statement to the effect that she received her injuries at tho hands of two Maoris. One of the men knocked her on the side of the head; the othet man similarly ill-treated her. After this she knew nothing of what occurred.

The Rev. M. Ivirkbrid-e asked, through the coroner, if there was not a large clot of blood upon the vallanee of the dressing-table in the front bedroom.

Before putting the question to the witness the coroner read from Dr. Scott's depositions a description of the blood stains which he found. These included a large gout of blood upon the floor of the kitchen, splashes of blood several feet high upon the walls, bloody finger smears upon the furniture, and in Mrs. Morris' bedroom a clot of blood upon the vallanee of the bed and bloody finger smears upon the window curtains. Witness said this was an accurate description of the two rooms. There was, however, a second bedroom containing largo blood stains on the vallanee of tho dressingtable.

Elizabeth Griffiths, daughter of the postmaster at M.ingere. said she was present when deceased made a statement, which was written down, to Mrs. Gillespie. This occurred 011 March 12 at the residence of Mr. Mclntyrc. Mrs. Morris was conscious, and knew what she was saying. The statement was to the effect that deceased was knocked ciown by two Maori youths. Deceased was a healthy woman and not subject to fits. THE DYING WOMAN'S STATEMENTS. Constable Tapp, stationed at OnehunTa, deposed that on March 16 he went to the residence of Mr. Mclntyre, where Mrs. Morris was lying ill, and took down a written statement in tho presence of Mrs. Gillespie, the nurse. He was informed by Mrs. Gillespie that deceased was at the time in a letter condition than she had been up till then, no following was tho statement: — e ui wo natives came over to work at the ..ettlement. They used to corne every dav. r>,," c ? y 7 0, ? e of the Pounced upon me. I ey '7 been workmg there three days. On thofourth i day the two pounced upon wN I fef y tl,o were going to the Waikato. They came every day and got their food. I gave it to them outside in tho yard They were half-castes. Thev came inside the kitchen and got their food Ihcn they pounced on me. They hit me. 1 hey were both Europeans. When they pounced on mo they both hit me, first one and then the other. They were both young men." "

The Coroner : You took down exactly what she said, I presume, without attempting to edit it in any way? The statements are very contradictory. Witness: I wrote down her words exactly as she syoke them. Constable Tapp further deposed that, in reply to a Question addressed by himself, deceased said the youths who assaulted her were Maoris who came to Ihumata about the end of September, and stated that they had been fishing. Asked her age, she said 48. The Coroner: Rubbish! Haven't you got the figures inverted! Did she not say her age was Si i

Witness: No; she said, "I am 48 years of age." Mrs. Gillespie said to her, " You are 80," whereupon the old lady replied, "Am I?" He came to the conclusion that, notwithstanding the improvement which he was told had token place in her mental condition, that deceased was wandering in her mind. On March 25 witness accompanied Mr. A. J. Dickey, J.P., to Mr. Mclntyre's house, and Mrs. Morris' depositions were taken down on oath. The old lady had no idea that she was dying. He asked Mrs. Gillespie if deceased thought she would die. Mrs. Gillespie replied, " She does not. She never thinks that." SUSPECTED YOUTHS FED BY DECEASED. The statement made before the justice of the peace was to the effect that two Maori youths visited deceased's house on several consecutive dr.ys, and were given food. One day when they came deceased refused to feed them, whereupon they endeavoured to snatch from her hand a rope she was holding. Afterwards they pounced upon her, first one of them hitting her and then the other. The result was that she became insensible, and remembered' no more. Following upon this statement witness endeavoured to find the rope referred to, but without success. Willie Rennie told him he was satisfied there was no such article. Witness agreed with the description furnished by Dr. Scott as to the state of the rooms, except that the splashes on the wall were only 2ft high. In the kitchen there was an iron fender, with a sharp edge of copper, a wooden coal-scuttle, and a box. Near the fender there was a large stain of blood. He noticed that the lining boards in the room were broken; he secured several pieces; they were quite rotten, and would crumble in the hand quite easily. Detective Maddern: When was the affair first reported to you, Constable Tapp? Witness: Dr. Scott spoke to me about it when Mrs. Morris had been removed to Mr. Mclntrye's residence. POLICE INQUIRIES. To Detective Maddern: He did not know the date Dr. Scott told him that Mrs. Morris had been shifted to Mr. Mclntyre's house, and that she was very much hurt. He afterwards met Dr. Scott, and asked him how the woman got her injuries. The doctor said he could not tell now they were sustained.

Continuing, Constable Tapp went on:- "I said to Dr. Scott, 'Do you think someone has been knocking her about?' He said, ' I cannot say; very likely.' I asked, 'Do you think she has had a fit?' He replied, 'Can't say; quite possible.' The funny part about it is that Mrs. Rennie was there soon after the woman was found. She was conscious, but could not tell what had happened, although this was at a time when one would think she could tell."

To Detective Maddern: The statements were dated March 16 and March 25. They were taken at times when deceased was most conscious. He made inquiries prior to March 16

By a Juror: Deceased might have fallen in a faint, and been injured by the fender, which was of iron, with a sharp edge of copper round. The blood on the wall might have splashed upwards from the pool of blood cn the floor as it collected. The Coroner: What? To a height of 2ft? Witness : Yes. The Coroner: Let your nose bleed, and see if the blood mil splash upwards like that as it falls on the floor, even from the height of your head. If you think it possible you will find you are mistaken. Witness : In the doctor's opinion the blood splashed upwards. The splashes may have been caused, however, by deceased standing over the cheffonier, or there may have been blood on her hands, and the splashes may have been caused by the way she swung her hands about. A CLERGYMAN'S EVIDENCE. The Rev. Middlewood Kirkbrido, a Church of England clergyman, living at Mangere, stated that a day or two after Mrs. Morris had spoken to Mrs. Gillespie the deceased lady, in the course of a conversation she had with him, said she had been attacked by Maoris, first one hitting her and then the other. Witness was an executor under Mr. Morris' will. At the time Mrs. Morris was ill at Mr. tyre's residence she firmly believed that she was dying. She was perfectly composed in her mind when .she made fche statement about being attacked by two Maoris. He had a letter for her from friends in England, and proffered it to her. She told him to put it back into his pocket. "I have done with all things of that kind," she said. "I know that lam passing away."

ADJOURNMENT DESIRED. Detective Maddern intimated at this stage that an adjournment of the inquiry was desired by the inspector of police. The Coroner pointed out that the evidence as to the cause of death was already conclusive. If the evidence of Dr. Scott were accepted there could be only one verdict. He realised, however, that the police considered themselves in some respects upon their trial. There may have been a crime committed, and apparently there had been a delay. The two questions they had to decide were the cause of death, and whether anyone was concerned in bringing the death about.

Detective Maddern said he heard about the affair on March 31 for the. first time, and at once made inquiries. The police in the neighbouring districts had been scouring the Maori settlement, but the youths they were after had been chased away by the newspaper reports. They found copies of the newspapers in the settlement, and the older natives had been questioning the boys as to what they had been doing. The Coroner: Publicity is bad, then, at times?

Detective Maddern: In some cases publicity does good, but in the present instance its effect has been very bad. We hoped to put our hands on the youths before the old lady died. ~The inquiry was adjourned until Monday the 25th- at ten a.m..