GRIM SECRET OF RECLUSE.
WOMAN'S BODY IN HOUSE. SUICIDE BEFORE DISCOVERY. A. and N.Z. LONDON, Jan. 10. A woman named Mrs. Middleton, wife of a merchant marine officer, left her home in August last and went to live in a house in Regent. Park occupied by a man named Maltby, a tailor, who used the place as business premises as well as a dwelling. Maltby allowed the business to go to pieces and became a recluse. Prior to Mrs. Middleton's disappearance she liad frequently been seen motoring with Maltby, It is stated that the latter told, t,hq[.police that he had not seen Mrs. Middleton since she left him in August. Maltby rarely ventured from the house, and the Water and gas services were disconnected by the authorities. Armed with a warrant granted by the , sanitation authorities, the police broke into the house. As they entered two shots were heard. Maltby was found wounded in the head, and he died in a few minutes. The police found Mrs. Middleton's body bent double, with the face downwards in a bath. The body was in an advanced stage of decomposition. There was very little water in the bath.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18296, 12 January 1923, Page 7
Word Count
195GRIM SECRET OF RECLUSE. New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18296, 12 January 1923, Page 7
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