TRAGEDY IN A TAXI-CAB.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 13948, 2 January 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

TRAGEDY IN A TAXI-CAB.

WIFE SHOT DEAD.

A tebbiiilk tragedy recently occurred in Upper Montague-street, Russell Square, a young man shooting his wife in a taxicab, and then committing suicide. It would appear that the crime was one of jealousy, as the couple had been separated for some time, and the husband, meeting his wife by appoinment in the West End, contemplated a reconciliation, but this proving abortive, he shot her, and then turned the weapon upon himself.

The name, of the man is William Barnard Davey. or Worksop, Notts, and his wife is a few years younger. Shortly before half-past eight in the evening Davey met his wife at the Haymarket Stores publichouse. He had apparently come un from Worksop earlier in the day to interview his wife, who, according to letters discovered in his pockets, had informed her husband that if ho wanted to see her she could bo found at the Empire. Davey ordered a taxi-cab to be in waiting outside the Haymarket Stores, and eventually he prevailed upon his wife to accompany him. He told the cabman to drive to King's Cross Station, where he said he had a train to catch.

The object of the interview with his wife was to obtain her promise to return home with him, but from what transpired subsequently Davey was unsuccessful. On the journey the driver heard a heated altercation between the couple, and when the cab had crossed Russell Square and was at the corner of Upper Montague-street, he heard the woman say, " Stop, stop ! Ho has got a revolver." The cabman immediately pulled up, but before he could descend* from his seat he saw the man seize hold of the woman and fire four shots at her at point-blank range. At the moment the driver was opening the door of the cab the man placed the revolver to the right side of his head and fired. He fell back upon the seat, whilst the woman was huddled up in the corner with bullet wounds through her left temple. The weapon had dropped from the man's hand on to the floor.

A constable, who was near at hand, drove with the cabman to the Royal Homeopathic Hospital, Great Ormondstreet, which is only two or three hundred yards away. Dr. * Marriott immediately examined the bodies and found life to be extinct, both persons having been shot through the brain. Davey, who was evidently well connected and in good circumstances, was dressed in a tweed suit and bowler hat, whilst his wife was fashionably attired in a dark purple costume, a large hat, and wore costly furs.

Quite a mass of correspondence was found upon the man, mostly letters concerning his wife, who had left him, and whom he had been endeavouring to trace for some considerable period. In one of the communications was a statement to the effect that he would commit suicide, but there was no reference to murdering his wife. He had evidently taken great care that his identity should in no way be obscured, as he left plain directions as to his residence and other matters. Throughout the whole correspondence there was a tone of deep despondency concerning the unhappy relations with his wife, and he had been greatly grieved at the mode of life she was living.

That the tragedy was premeditated is clear, from the fact'that he purchased a revolver in London, and procured a license in the name of Davey at a West End post office. The weapon was six-chambered, and five of the cartridges had been fired, four at the woman and one at the. man. There was also a reference in the deceased man's papers to the cavalry barracks atAldershot. Inquiries into the history of thet two young people reveal a sad story. William Barnard Davey was the son of a prosperous wine merchant in Sheffield—the late proprietor of the Thatched House publichouse, and when his father died came into a fortune which has been variously stated, but which amounted probably to £10,000. He was then 21 years of age, and the money appears not to have been wisely handled. It came into his possession only three or four years ago, and at his death he was absolutely penniless—a fact which seems to have had much to do with the tragedy. Indeed, he is stated to have spent at least one night on the Embankment. While the money lasted, however, there was no stint.

At Worksop, where his family lived, Davey was known as " the millionaire," by reason of his expensive habits and elaborate wardrobe. He made numerous excursions to London, and on one of these visits he made the acquaintance, in the West End. of Irene Rose Staples—a good-look-ing young woman, known on the stage, where she has appeared as a chorus girl, as Queenie Keys. He seems to have become infatuated with her at once, and married her in June of last year at the Strand Registry Office. She was then, according to the registrar, 21 years of age, and he three or four years older.

Matters did not go too smoothly after that. Davey's family declined to receive his wife, and though the couple visited Worksop, where his mother lived, no reconciliation was effected. After spending some time in the provinces, Mr. and Mrs. Davey returned to London, and took up their residence at a well-known West End hotel. For a while money continued to be freely spent, but the day came when there was difficulty in meeting tho hotel bills, and the couple left for more modest apartments at a flat in Bloomsbury. They then ceased to reside togethercontinuously, at all events. The husband divided his time between Sheffield and London, and when in the metropolis met his wife, whose changes of address were frequent, in the West End. Their acquaintances declare that their quarrels - were many, the financial straits of the husband being the common cause. On the Thursday Davey came up to /London from Sheffield, staying in 'the metropolis for the few days before he committed the double tragedy. In the morning on that day .Mrs. Davey met him in the course of a visit to a public-house in the Haymarket. The two remained together until the evening, and dined in each other's company, and it is believed that Davey had promised his wife that he would return to Sheffield, and would eventually leave the country. It was during the journey from the Haymarket to the King's Cross, where Mrs. Davey expected to part from him, when he left for the north, that the unfortunate man carried out his crime. The possession of the revolver and the contents of various letters found in the pockets of his clothes make it clear that the deed was premeditated.