APPALLING TRAGEDY IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 810, 9 September 1887, Page 29

APPALLING TRAGEDY IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

A FAMILY MURDERED. The following appalling particulars are taken from the Sydney Evening News of August 29th : The terribly startling intelligence was taken to Inverell on Saturday morning that a most revolting tragedy had been enacted at Bukkulla, twenty miles distant, whereby an accomplished and respected lady and her three children became the victims of the frenzy of a madman. The fact that the murderer is a man who, by virtue of his family connections, and his own career, had been held in high esteem as being a gentleman in the truest sense of the word, increased the horror with which the news was received. L was known for many years that he was pronouncedly eccentric on some points, and though this was taken little notice of by his friends, surprise was expressed when the lady, who became one of the victims of the tragedy, and of whom he was passionately fond, consented to become his wife. Mr Wadham Wyndham, who has been guilty of this atrocity, is the son of the late Mr John Wyndham, of the well-known Dalwood Vineyard, on the Hunter river, and who may be termed the father of the wine-growing industry of the colony. The family has always been held in the highest estimation, and were but known to be respected. Bukkulla Station, for which a splendid reputation existed some years ago as a horsebreeding centre, was the property of some of the brothers, including Wadham, and the latter devoted a great portion of his time to the development of a magnificent vineyard near the homestead. About the time this was in a flourishing condition, reverses caused the brothers to sell the run, but Wadham Wyndham managed, by untiring industry and perseverance, to secure his vineyard, and has remained its proprietor ever since. Shortly after the sale of the station he found himself in a position to marry, and espoused Miss Keene, daughter of the manager of Gurleigh Station, Liverpool Plains, though considerable misgivings were felt by his acquaintances as to the advisableness of his taking such a step. The justification for such doubt has now been realised in a most dreadful manner. He has been an adherent to that form of religious belief adopted by the Irvingites ; and his eccentricities have been so marked in connection with religious matters that he was openly said to be mad upon them, though his kindliness and probity were such as to lead all to think it was a most harmless mania. Not long since he destroyed five valuable brood mares (it is alleged) by cutting their throats, and allowed a large quantity of wine to run to waste: these strange actions were supposed to be intended as sacrifices. The horrible nature of the

murder and mutilation of Mrs Wyndham and her children may be gathered from the appended account of the inquest, from which also may be gathered an idea .of the mental condition of the perpetrator. The bodies were buried in the family vault at Bukkulla on Sunday, and Wyndham taken to Inverell lock-up, where he will remain until his conveyance to Armidale Gaol on Wednesday. The eldest son, Norman, 10 years of age, who was not killed outright by the murderous attack, was able to made a deposition before he died,as follows, hut became too weak for further recital, and died very soon after ceasing to speak : —“I am suffering great pain from my wounds. I wept to bed at 9 o’clock last night, and whs asleep. I was awakened by hearing my mother screaming. I went to bed again. About 1 o’clock I ran to my mother, and saw my father hitting her with his fist. My father cut me in the side with a butcher’s knife. This was after my mother was hit by father. I had my nightshirt on then. I could not see what he hit my mother with. It was after I came back from Asimus’ bed that I got my hurts. I did not see my mother after I went to Asimus, and have not seen her yet. I tried to get away from my father when he was cutting me, hut he held me. My father hit my mother on the head with a flat stone. This was in front of the house, and near the door. My mother was screaming at the time. My brother and sister were then in bed. My father kept at it all night. ”

THE INQUEST. Mr W. W. Fraser, coroner, held an inquest on the bodies at Bukkulla, on Saturday. Sergeant Travers deposed : At about half-past 7 this morning I proceeded to Bukkulla. On my way I met "Wadham Wyndham, his brother Hugh, and six other men, near Goomoorali public-house. Mr Hugh Wyndham said, “Travers, Wadham has murdered his wife and children, and attempted to stab me ; put tlie handcuffs on him.” ' I did so, and told him I required him to come hack to Bukkulla. At first he objected, but ultimately returned with me. Shortly after Dr Vallee arrived, and from something that Hugh Wyndham said his brother Wadham remarked, “ Has not Norman, the eldest son, gone ?” and one of the party said, “No, he still lives.” Wadham Wyndham replied, “The knife that I stuck him with was blunt.” On arriving at his home Wadham Wyndham said, “I want to see Norman.” We entered the house and proceeded to his bedroom. He moved a sheet from off the bed on which lay a dead body, and said, “This is my dear wife.” He then went to another bed in the room, and, removing the sheet, I saw a child lying on the bed. He said, ‘ ‘ This is my dear Adele.” We then went across to a cottage at the back of the house, occupied by a man named Asimus, and there uncovered another dead body lying on the sofa. He said, “This is my boy Clifford ;” then went to a cottage at the rear of the wine cellars. Knowing that Dr Vallee was attending on Norman, I would not allow Wyndham to go in. He called out to the boy Norman, “Are you all right?” The boy replied, “lam all right, father. ” Wyndham cried out, “Hurrah, he still lives, there are no bones broken ; this is a mystery.” He then quoted some Scripture. Some time after I charged W. Wyndham with wilfully murdering his wife, Elizabeth Sarah Wyndham, Adele Wyndham, his daughter, and Clifford Wyndham, his son. Shortly afterward he said, “I pierced their hands and feet and sides. ” I subsequently found a table-knife, bent in the blade, with stains of blood on it. I showed it to Mr Wadham Wyndham, and he said, “ Yes, that is the knife, a very blunt one. I had a job to get the knife through.” He also said, “ there should be the fork with wh ch I pierced them.” I found several knives and forks in the sideboard drawer. On showing them to Mr Wyndham, he said, “ that is the fork I pierced them with.” The fork (produced) is a carving fork, and has blood on the prongs and handle. I also produce nine other knives found in the same drawer. They are all more or less stained with blood. In one of the back rooms I found a nightshirt (produced), It is very much stained with blood on the shoulders and arms. There is a piece tom out under the right arm, apparently recently done. Mr Wyndham said it was his. I subsequently examined the body of Mrs Elizabeth Sarah Wyndham, and found the right side of her skull battered in, and a hole sufficiently large to put my fist in. The left cheek bone was greatly bruised and swollen. I also found four pierce marks on the left side. I fitted the carving fork to the holes, and found they fitted exactly. Tlie feet were also pierced, and the hands also. I examined the body of the girl Adele. She had four cuts on the forehead, and the right side of the skull was beaten into a pulp. She had two pierced marks on the breast, two on each foot, and two on each hand. The marks appeared to have been made with a fork. I then examined the boy Clifford. The left side of his skull was battered. His left side was pierced in two places, as also were his hands and feet. I asked Wyndham how he came to make the hole in his wife’s and boy’s heads. He came out of the verandah, and kicked a stone which was lying on the ground (produced). The stone is heavily stained with blood and a small portion of brain. There was a quantity of blood lying where I picked up the stone, and also some human

hair and pieces of skull bone. Having previously cautioned him, I asked Mr Wyndham what his object was in killing his wife and children. He made no reply. I produce a night-dress and flannel taken from the body of Mrs Wyndham ; it is saturated with blood, and portions of blood appear on it. I also produce Adele’s nightdress, which is also saturated with blood. At the foot of the large bed, and on to the verandah, I found drops of blood, and a pool of blood just off the verandah. There was also blood on the verandah-post, and leading to the diningroom. The wall also had marks of blood on it. I estimate Mrs Wyndham’s age at about 28 years. Catherine Rich deposed : At half-past 8 o’clock last night the Wyndhams were sitting at the fire in the parlor. Mr Wadham Wyndham was reading Scripture, and they were talking in a low tone to each other. At five minutes past 9 I went to bed. About twenty minutes to 2 o’clock this morning Norman Wyndham came and called me, saying, “Oh, Kate ! oh, Kate ! father is killing mother and Adele, and is going to kill Clifford. ” I jumped up and put on some clothes. Norman called out again, “Oh, Kate ! do make haste.” When I came out I heard Clifford calling out, “Oh, dada, oh, dada, don’t kill me.” I heard sounds as if he were dashing his head against the wall, or chopping him with a tomahawk. Norman and I then ran up to Mr Asimus, and when we were there about five minutes I heard Mr Wyndham callout, “Asimus, you have my boy Norman and Kate there. ” I did not see Mr Wyndham then. Asimus opened the door, and Mr Wyndham said, “I have got nothing on me ; you can come and feel my hands if you like.” Asimus brought Norman to the door, and his father took him away by the arm. When they got down to the house I heard Norman crying, “Oh, daddy, don’t kill me.” About five minutes after that Mr Wyndham came back to Asimus’. He was then in his nightdress. He said, “John Asimus, John Seller, Mrs Asimus, Kate Rich, come out. This is the Day of the Resurrection.” Asimus and J. Sutton came to the door, and Mr Wyndham said, “I have pierced Norman, my first born, in the side, through the hands, and through the feet, like Christ; I will fetch him up and show him to you, and he will listen whilst I talk to you.” He then left, saying he would get the boy, and returned in about five or ten minutes dressed in his clothes. He called us all out, saying he wished to talk to us, but no one answered him. He again called on us to come out, saying, “You are of this world, and I am of another ; I am a king and a conqueror. I commenced my deed at half-past 1, and will finish myself at half-past 5.” Asimus and Sutton went to the doorstep, and Mr Wyndham started shouting “ I have killed my dearly beloved wife, my dear Adele, and my boy Clifford. I have killed my firss-bom Norman, put my foot on his neck and killed him.” He then said good-bye to them, saying he was going to Graham’s and Bukkulla to tell what he had done. When I went to the door he was walking toward Graham’s. Norman Wyndham is now lying in one of the huts, suffering from injuries, and is unable to attend here.

John Asimus deposed: A few minutes after 1 o’clock on Saturday, Norman Wyndham and Kate Rich knocked at the door. My wife let them in. Norman was crying, and said he could not make his father out, that there was something up. We put the hoy to bed, and in five minutes his father came up and asked if his boy was there. He told me to give up his son, that he wanted him. I brought the boy out and gave him up to his father. He took him away to his own place, and I went to the men’s hut and woke them all up. I sent two to Westholm for Mr Hugh Wyndham, and went home. After Norman went away with his father I heard him call out as if his father was hurting him. When Mr Wyndham came to my place for Norman he was in his nightshirt. After calling up the men I saw Mr Wyndham going again to my place. He called us all outside, and said there was going to be a resurrection. TTis chief talk was about Scripture. I could hear Norman crying down at the house. Mr Wyndham said, “ I must go down, I hearmy beloved son; hisfleshis cryingout. ” He then left and came straight home. In about ten minutes he returned again, and asked for a drink of water. I did not give him any, but went outside to him. He left, but in about a quarter of an hour afterward he came back dressed as he now is. He called me out, and said, “I have killed my beloved wife, Adele, Clifford, and my first-born, dear Norman. I speared him in the side, and crucified him as Christ was crucified. I made holes in his hands and feet, but I did not nail him.” He then wished me good-bye, saying he was going to tell Graham and Mr Hugh Wyndham. He left in that direction, hut a few minutes after I heard him down here. When I next saw him he was talking to his brother Hugh in the paddock ; this was about half-past 2 o’clock in the morning. Mr Hugh, Mr Wadham, Sutton, Graham, and I then went round to the front of the house, and there saw the dead bodies of Mrs Wyndham and Adele lying together on the ground and covered with a rug. We watched Mr Wadham till the morning light, and started with him for Inverell. On the road we met the police and returned here with them. Mr Wyndham was, in the evening, playing marbles with his boys. Previous to this I had not noticed anything strange in his manner. After the medical evidence the jury re-

turned a verdict of wilful murder against Wadham Wyndham. He was committed for trial at the next Armidale assizes, to be held on October 7.