MURDERS AT OROMAHOE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17251, 29 August 1919, Page 7

MURDERS AT OROMAHOE.

CONCLUSION OF INQUEST. WOMAN VICTIM'S DEATH. BULLET FOUND IN BODY. [BY TELEGRAPH. SI'ECIAI. SE^ORTEK.] KAWAKAWA. Thursday. The adjourned inquest into the death of the woman victim of the Orcmaboe shooting tragedy was concluded at the Kawakawa Court before Mr. J. D. Hall, J.P., and a jury of six last evening. Photographs were put, in as at the former inquest concerning the death of the man lhimaera. N'gatikawa Apiata, examined by SerI geant Catsseiis, gave similar testimony to j that which he hud given at th previous ; inquest. He said trie deceased woman, Mareaua Tukimuanna. was the step-sister j of Ihimaera, and jived ■with him in a tent jon the hillside, lie last ~,„• her towards evening on August, l.». m. was then at . the wnare plantation. He. did not vitit j the whare where lhimaera. lived next I morning. The only cause >•' trouble he I knew of between Ihimaeia and Mrs ■ Ashby, senior, was the " makuta '' power ; used by lhimaera. 801 - of them were ; tohuugaa, and there va* bad feeling between them. Dr. Green stated that re examined the woman s body when he went out to Oromahoe, and found one small wound over the heart. She tod not been dead more than 24 hours. He found in the postmortem examination that she was a wellnourished Maori woman of advanced I years but he could not estimate her ace : lhe body bore no marks of vi, We except the wound i, ; the second I rib space from which considerable ■ blood had flowed. In the . left | cavity of the heart he found a : small bullet of .22 calibre (produced). j Death was due to effusion of blood j caused by the wound described. In his opinion death was caused by th bullet he found in the heart, and death would occur .n a few seconds after the wound was received. Hori Tukimoanna gave similar evidence to his previous testimony, adding that 1 a went over to the tent the morning after the shooting to see that dogs and mn c'id 1 not molest the woman's bod v. He hi,,,self did not disturb the bod v. Constable Dempsey repeated hi* evidence regarding Ins journey to Qromahoe, the finding of th e woman's bod y- and seeine the wounded man. He removed the body to the hospital morgue, and was present on Saturday.. August 16. when The post-mortem examination was made receiving from the doctor the bullet found mi the woman s body. Witness produced he sing.et and blouse he took from the. body of the deceased woman, the blouse showing a hole over the left breast corresponding .with the wound in the body and a similar hole in the sam position m the singlet. There we.re etains of | blood on the garments. I . This concluded the evidence, and the / j jury retired at 8.45 p.m. After deliberat- / i J ls J ajUar Jl er of an how the jury re- / turned Mr. Hall announcing that they / 1 found that the leased woman met her / | death on Thursday night, August 14, 1919 f - | at Oromahoe, by beine shot by some per- ( son or persons unknown. " !