A GHASTLY CRIME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18323, 13 February 1923, Page 9

A GHASTLY CRIME.

BODY FOUND in YARRA. ARREST OF THREE WOMEN. REMARKABLE ALLEGATIONS The story of Eugene Aram is hardly ■ ***?!?■ sensational than that associated with the finding of a girl's body in the Kiver Yarra yesterday, telegraphed the Melbourne correspondent of a Sydney paper on February 3. Haunted by fear of discovery, the per-' petrators of the «murder seemed to have carried the body from point to point until what was believed to be a safe hiding place- was found. : Three women— Elizabeth • Mitchell, Margaret Mitchell and Margaret Milward—were arrested this morning, and appeared at the City Court to-day. Hannah Elizabeth Mitchell was charged that on or about November 18 she. did murder Bertha Coghlan, and the other two were charged with being accessories aitei the fact. All were remanded till February 12. Margaret Mitchell was allowed bail, but bail for the others vas refused. Hie name of the girl is believed to be Coghlan, and she was alleged to ha/e been last seen alive on Saturday, November IS, at a house in Fernleigh Street, ' Richmond. Early cn the morning of November 38, it is alleged that a motor-car was procured and 'the body of the girl Coghlan was taken from the house in Fernleigh Street to Coldstream, about 45 miles distant from Melbourne, in the Lilydale district.- , It is ' thought to have .been dropped in a gully and covered with ferns, the clothing first having been stripped off. A Search in the Bush. On Saturday. December 13, there occurred the sensational shooting of Frank Yonfiglio. Hannah Mitchell was charged with the shooting, and until arrested this morning was out on bail. On that Saturday detectives left for Coldstream and found certain things in the bush in the scrubby country. A few days later black trackers, assisted by dogs, were used in the Lilydale locality. Fourteen men scoured the district, and the bed of the Yarra in the locality was combed with drag-nets. Waterholes and pits in the scrub were searched, and it is alleged that traces of the body were found, but the body itself had gbne. ■ ' Then came a sensational midnight telephone call, and the finding of the body in the Yarra yesterday. The police have learned that the girl possessed a gold presentation medal, on which the name Coghlan was inscribed. She is believed to have come from the Omeo district last November to have her eyes tested. Incident on Bridge. The finding of the body of the young woman followed the report of a mysterious message received at the detective office on the previous night. Harold Montrose Sharkey Boyd, painter and decorator, living in West ■ Melbourne, was crossing Anderson Street bridge shortly after 11 p.m. on Thursday,, when a motor waggon passed him, and pulled up close to the kerb near the middle of the bridge. The engine was kept running. \ A man jumped out and took a large and bulky article from the back of the waggon. This, said Boyd, looked to him very much like a coffin. The thing was carried to the parapet and pitched into the river. It fell into the water -with a great splash. The men returned to the car, took out a smaller parcel, and threw this also into the river. Almost as soon as the man had re-entered the vehicle he drove away at breakneck speed in the direction of Richmond. Dragging Operations. Scenting mystery, Boyd immediately got into touch with the detective office, and Plain-Clothes Constable Smith, of the motor patrol, was sent to investigate. In the darkness he could do very little. With daylight Detective McGuffie and Constable Taylor took a rowing boat and dragging apparatus to Anderson Street bridge. After a lengthy search at the spot indicated- by Boyd they retrieved a motorcycle engine • and various motor-cycle parts. Continuing their operations, grappling irons at length found an object which apeared to be of, great weight. Again and again they failed to bring the object to'the surface. At the fourth attempt, however, the ! hooks held, • and it was then seen that they had retrieved a large sack containing something bulky. A boat was rowed to the bank, and with the assistance of some onlookers it was dragged out of the water. It was a big bran bag carefully tied up at the mouth with electric light wire. Inside were two parcels, one in a sack and the other in. a sugar-bag. A Gruesome Discovery. Cutting open the smaller bag a gruesome object met Detective Mc'Guffie's gaze. Inside was the skull and aumirn hair, apparently of a young woman. The hair was plentiful, and in a long plait, and was separated from the skull bones. In the large; sack was the body of the victim. It was decomposed, and past all recognition, but patent that it was that of a girl in her late v teens. ; There was not a" vestige of clothing about the body, but it seemed to have been packed in ferns, . About lewt. of blue metal had been placed in the outer sack to sink -the Although the death of . the girl had apparently occurred months ago, the condition of the bags indicated that they had not been 'in the river a great length of time. The coverings were -intact, and showed no signs of decay. There was little doubt from the first that this was the larger of the two objects that Boyd saw thrown into, the river on the previous night. Everything pointed to murder having been committed. / Detective McGuffie lost no time in 1 having the body taken to the morgue. After a cursory examination Dr. Mollison de- | cided to defer holding of the post-mortem ! examination till 9 a.m. to-day. # i Last night the detective office was alive. ! Cars hurried away full of men, and one ! returned with a woman, who was closely I questioned. ... ! Some time ago suspicions were aroused by the. police. The case concerned the condition of a woman admitted to hospital. A flue was followed, but it ran out - . ' . ..... Statement in Court. ? In the City Court, Detective Piggott said that it was alleged that early in November a young girl named Bertha Coghlan came from Omeo to Melbourne to receive medical attention. While in Melbourne she went to the house of Nurse Mitchell, and it would be proved that, on or about November 18, her dead body was lying in Mitchell house. Next day, Mitchell and Frank Yonfirrlio, her husband, went to the house in Faraday Street, Carlton, and . obtained a car. Early next morning, it would be .shown, the car proceeded to Coldstream, and in the car was a body, which had been hidden yt a fern gully. lOn December 13, Vonfiglio was in a hospital suffering from gunshot I wounds. . _ After a statement made by him, Detective Piggott and another detective went to Coldstream, and found certain things which indicated that something had been laid in the fern gully. They returned to the city and made a further investigation, and then returned to Coldstream, and found certain other things which indicated that a body, nad been ' removed. They got hold of the' car, and' found that the carpet on the floor was saturated with what appeared to be blood. What seemed to be bloodstains were found on the bottom of the car. Yesterday, the detective continued, Detective McGuffie dragged a body from the Yarra. In the bag were parts of ferns identical with ferns at Coldstream, and there were certain other things which would prove the identity. Detective Piggott said that Milward admitted • to the police yesterday that she was in the car, and assisted with the body, and she saw what Vonfiglio and Mitchell did with' the body. '