SENSATIONAL AFFAIR

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11409, 4 January 1923, Page 5

SENSATIONAL AFFAIR

JOHNSONVILLE DISCOVERY CHILD’S BODY FOUND BURIED NEAR COOPER'S HOUSE. MAN AND WIFE UNDER ARREST. POLICE CONTINUE DIGGING OPERATIONS. Sensational rumours are afloat concerning possible developments as a result of investigations made by the police at Newlands, near Jodinsonville. THE ARREST. Just a few days ago the arrest was reported of Daniel Richard Cooper and his wife, Martha Elizabeth Cooper. The charge against them was one of having attempted unlawfully to detain the infant child of Hugo’ Lupi and Lily Lister. The pair have been before the Magistrate’s Court,' and at present they are on remand and are in the police cells. THE POLICE AT WORK. Since the arrest of the Coopers, police have been working in the grounds which surround the honse the Coopers . occupied, and yesterday they discovered, about twenty-five yards from the house, the body of a child. BODY OF CHILD. The body has been brought to Wellington, and at present lies in the morgue. An inquest will he opened without delay, but the initial proceedings will be formal. An immediate adjournment will be applied for, and' the inquiry is unlikely to be Seriously gone on with until further investigations have been made by the police. EXCAVATIONS CONTINUE. The ‘ police investigations at Newlands continue, and as there has been no cessation of the digging operations those who pass by' that way conclude that it is considered not unlikely that more bodies will be unearthed in tlie grounds. d SCENE OF THE DISCOVERY.

The scene of the discovery is a place colled Newlands, about a mile east of Johnsonville, where the accused'. Cooper, kept Hie local post office. The house, which ha® just replaced one which was burnt down- recently, is situated -on a two-acre section about two hundred yards from the nearest residence. It is built on' the side of a bill sloping down towards the east and north, aha is surrounded by a belt of high fiiw. It is a modern type of wooden cottage, well finished, and having a verandah.- dumps of native bush are scattered! all over the section, and on the north side there is a smalt gully: On the east side of the house there is a large patch of long and rank grass, while in front of the house which faces the north there is a small piece of ground which has been under cultivation. Also on the section on the north side is a whare and a shed. NINE CONSTABLES DIGGING. Throughout the week nine constables have been making extensive / excavations all over the section. The garden has been rooted up, the grass hae teen out, and a large amount of undergrowth has been cat away. Holes have been dug every two or three yards, and even some of the adjacent-section belonging to Mr FSliott has been turned over. The soil is mostly composed of hard clay, and necessitates frequent use of the -pick. FINDING OF THE BODY. • The position where the 'body was found is due west of the house, and between twenty and twenty-five yards from it. The hole, which is about two and a half feet deep, is situated in a clump of native shrubs. -The accused has been in residence there for about two years. The body of the child found was m a state of decomposition, and woe judged by Dr. Wright to have been about two months old when it was buried. The searching is ( to continue, and there is stall a. great deal of ground mostly covered by gorse to he investigated. Besides his wife, accused had also two young daughters living with him.