PATHETIC TRAGEDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18772, 28 July 1924, Page 6

PATHETIC TRAGEDY.

DEMENTED WIFE'S ACT. KILLING OF LITTLE SON. THEN COMMITS SUICIDE. SAD MOUNT ALBERT CASE. A mother apparently suffering acutely from dementia killed bar little boy with a razor at Mount Albert early yesterday afternoon, and then immediately took her own life in a similar manner.

The unfortunate victims of a destructive impulse were Helena Harriet D'Ath. 42 years of age, wife of Mr. Edward Arthur D'Ath, retired farmer, residing in a (comfortable home in Mount Albert Road, Mount Albert, and their son, Harold Charles D'Ath, a bright lad, nine years old. A report from the Mount Albeit Police Station to Auckland Police Headquarters during the afternoon stated briefly that Mrs. D'Ath, who bad been suffering from a nervous breakdown, necessitating medical attention, had taken the life of her son Harold by cutting his throat with a razor and thereafter had committed suicide by cutting her own throat. The report added that Dr. J. F. G. Richards, of Mount Eden, had examined the bodies, which had been removed to the mortuary. Inquiry revealed the fact that the double tragedy had occurred in exceptionally distressing circumstances. The deceased woman had been indisposed for two years, while during the past six weeks she had suffered acutely from nervous breakdown in which, it was stated, delusions formed an outstanding feature of her indisposition. She was attended by Dr. Richards, whose treatment of the patient was supported by the attendance of a trained nurse during the past three weeks. These delusions included what seemed fco be a fixed belief that someone was going to poison her with arsenic or strychnine. This delusion was mentioned in a letter found in the pocket of her dressing-gown after her death, and there was also in the note, which was addressed to the police, a reference to | suicidal intention. A tragedy had been I premeditated.

Screams in a Bathroom. One characteristic of the delusions was, it is said, proneness to suspicion. Thus when any stranger visited her home she became suspicious and pressed to know everything about the visitor. It appears that this habit of thought actually provided an opportunity for a tragic act. There was a visitor shortly after midday yesterday, and Mrs. D'Ath asked a, housemaid to tell the boy Harold that his mother wanted him. After the maid had gone for the boy, Mrs. D'Ath walked from her bedroom, where she had been lying down in her dressing-gown, along the passage. She met her little son at the bathroom door, put her hand "' on his shoulder, and said, as she led him into the bathroom, that she wanted to speak to him. They went into the bathroom, and the mother shut the door.

The nurse, Misu Florence E. JamesWallace, followed them at once; and tried to open the bathroom door. It was locked. The nurte, hearing; Mrs. D'Ath talking in whispers to the boy, was under the impression that her patient was merely seeking information about- the visitor. A scream within the bathroom caused immediate alarm. The nurse tried to enter, but could, not force the lopk. She called out to Mr. D'Ath, and then ran round to the bathroom window and gained entrance to the room, which revealed evidence o£ a dreadful occurrence. Stricken Boy Bans ior His Father, Strangely enough, the boy was not in the bathroom. The condition of the mother compelled immediate attention. She was staggering about the bathroom bleeding copiously from a wound in the left side of her throat. She was able to speak, and told this nurse that ate had cut Harold's throat and also her own. Nurse James-Wallace placed Mrs. D'Ath in a chair in the bathroom, but her condition was hopeless. She died within two minutes.

Investigation showed that the little boy bad had sufficient strength, despite a terrible wound, to get out of the bathroom, and make his way along the passage to the back door, through a breakfast room, and a kitchenette. On gaining the open he ran round to the front of the houise, and there, falling into his father's arms, immediately collapsed and'texpired. It appears that the demented woman took the razor from a small cabinet in the bathroom and, while speaking softly to her son, slashed his throat on the right side, the jugular vein being severed.

In a pocket of the deceased woman's dressing-gown was found a letter addressed to the police. It was given by Constable McGlone, of Mount Albert police station, to the coroner, Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., who held a preliminary inquest on the bodies at the morgue, where formal evidence of identification was submitted by Mr. D'Ath, who is left with two little girls.

The inquest will be resumed to-day at the Magistrate's Court at 4 p.m. \