TRAGEDY ON FARM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19976, 19 June 1928, Page 8

TRAGEDY ON FARM.

THE LOSS OF TWO LIVES. mother and daughter shot HUSBAND AROUSED BY REPORT. SAD DISCOVERY IN BEDROOM. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] NEW PLYMOUTH, Monday. A sad tragedy pointing to murder and suicide occurred at Huirangi, a district about 10 miles north of New Plymouth, in the early hours of this morning. The victims, mother and daughter, were:— Mrs. Elenor Emma Surrey, aged 49. Miss Benys Surrey, aged 19. There were four persons in the house at the time of the tragedy, the other members of the household being Mr. Percy H. E. Surrey, the husband of Mrs. Surrey, and his son, who lived on their farm on Te Arei Road, a few miles off the main road, between New Plymouth and Waitara. Mr. Surrey, senior, who, owing to illhealth, occupied a room separate from his wife, was awakened between one and two o'clock by a dull, muffled sound, followed by a scream from the bedroom across the hall in which his wife and daughter slept. His son heard nothing, but when the father went to his wife's door he found it was locked. He immediately went out on to the verandah, and entered the room through the window. He found his daughter lying in her bed with a gunshot wound in the breast. She was still breathing, but died almost immediately. The mother was found on the floor near her own bed. She was dead. No Sign of Struggle. Alongside, resting against the bed, wis a single-barrel shotgun, belonging to Mr. Surrey, and an empty cartridge was found on the bed clothes. A candle was burning on the dressing table, and lying on Mrs. Surrey's bed were her spectacles and an open book. Both women were in their night attire, the scorching of which indicated that the shots had been fired at close quarters. In addition, Mrs. Surrey had on one stocking. It appeared that the daughter had been shot in Hter sleep, since the room was in no way disturbed, and there were no signs of any struggle. A doctor and the police were summoned at once, and Dr. Adamson and Constable Palmer, from Waitara, reached the house shortly afterwards, but the doctor could only pronounce life extinct Mother in 111-Health. Subsequently investigations were made by Detective Meiklejohn and Inspector Eraser, of New Plymouth. Mrs. Surrey, it was stated, had been in ill-health for some time, and had been attended by New Plymouth doctors. Frequently for nights she would be unable to get any sleep. Except that it was the outcome of depression and ill-health, no motive can be suggested for the crime, the police theory for which is ono of murder and suicide by Mrs. Surrey. The husband, too, was in poor health, and the family retired early on the previous evening. Mrs. Surrey brought her husband in a drink after he was in bed, and that was the last time he saw her. The shotgun was always kept in the back of the house, and it is believed that Mrs. Surrey had put on her stockings when she went to get it, and had removed one on her return. In addition to the two children who were at home, there are three married daughters living in North Taranaki, where the family is widely known and highly respected.