PICTURESQUE STEWART ISLAND SHOCKED BY SAVAGE CRIME

NZ Truth, Issue 1152, 29 December 1927, Page 5

PICTURESQUE STEWART ISLAND SHOCKED BY SAVAGE CRIME

THE name Andre Jose, or perhaps more popularly, Andrew Josey, had become inseparably associated with Stewart Island history. He was a quiet old man who could look back over a period of half a century on the island, where he lived industriously and conscientiously by the humble occupation of fishing. If one wanted romance, no better venue could be imagined than Stewart Island, the Maori name for which, "Rakiura," means "Land of Heavenly Glows."

If one wanted an important link in the history of the country, this remarkable region could supply that, too. But the word murder seems pitifully out of place here, where all that is peaceful and tranquil is symbolized by natural surroundings.

Old Andrew Jose had no enemies. He asked no favors and had achieved independence by the steady industry of his many years on the island. Yet it was strange indeed that the old man had to be sent from his pleasant island existence to eternity through the ruthless hand of the murderer.

A man named Arthur Valentine, an accountant to the Bluff Harbor Board, was later arrested and charged with wilful murder. He died last week. Until the whole facts are brought out there can, of course, be no room for conjecture. The only undisputed facts at pre-

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Sp ecial Commissioner.) . = Old Andrew Jose, highly respected octogenarian fisherman of Stewart Island and^ one of the old identities of j the far south of New Zealand, is no more. j His brutally severe demise at the hands of a murderer not yet discovered has caused a wave of justifiable | indignation to sweep, not merely through the locality where he was well and favorably known, but throughout the j Dominion. ' ' . j For, surely, since the Maungatapu murders in 1 866, the history of this country cannot point to anything more | brutally savage, nor criminally despicable than the battering to death of a harmless, inoffensive old man living in 1 peace and quiet in the picturesque far south— Stewart Island. The alleged murderer died in custody. | Itlilllll Jllll IlllllllifrilllllllljrillTllllllllMlfJlllllMlllltllltllllltlMlllllllMllMlJXllllllllllllFlllllllllljrillllllllllltlllllMintilllMlMllriMlUllllllMDTMllllMllKCllClMllllJll IltttllfJtllfllllllflllllllllltllltlllllilflltllllltlllltfllllllllltrilllllllllllllllllllllltllfltltlllllllttlltlfllllflllltllllrllllllllltlllllllllillllttlllllttlllllllMlllltllllllllllKl'lTltllltMllltllr^

sent are that Jose is dead; he had, without doubt, been murdered and the man charged with the crime has followed his alleged victim to the grave. Horseshoe Bay, where the murder was perpetrated, is a quiet, pretty little spot just over the spur from Half Moon Bay. It was there that Old Jose could be seen regularly plying his nets and troubling no one. A Javanese, the old man was quiet, even-tempered, cheerful and .industrious. In the early morning of Wednesday, December 14, Mrs. Walschleger, the landlady of the house where Josey was staying, was awakened by the old man crying . out: "Help, help! He is killing me for my money!" This was accompanied by a commotion in the room above. She rushed out of the house for a neighbor and subsequently the police were summoned. Josey was dead when they found him. terribly battered, presumably by some blunt instrument. His. face was horribly disfigured, the floor was splashed with blood and there was every indication of a struggle having ensued. Valentine, who had gone over to

two of the Brooklands boys had been despatched for the police, he returned to the Walschleger house. There he found Mrs. Walschleger, over-wrought by the ghastly turn which, seemingly, the customary placid, euay-going affairs of the island had taken and she was crying bitterly. Shortly afterwards, Constable Woodley arrived with District Nurse Heaton, but poor Josey had suffered injuries which placed him absolutely beyond all hope of recovery. The interior of the little room Lipstairs was an absolute shambles and for a moment the constable could not see the old man's body.

The few articles which comprised Josey's unpretentious little bedroom suite had been hurled • left and right, the condition of the cubicle clearly indicating the desperate fight which Josey had made for his life.

There were blood splashes everywhere — on the Avails, on the floor, on the bed and bed-linen, whilst the simple bed on which poor Josey had found so much restful comfort in his advancing age was literally turned upside down. The struggling men had caused the mattress to cant, dislodging the wooden laths and causing the bed to partially collapse. Whilst Constable Woodley was examining 1 the room he found the body of Josey, hideously lacerated, resting on the laths and covered by the mattress and bedclothing which had been piled on top

His clothing was almost saturated with blood, whilst the facial expression and apex of the skull were battered to the most horrible degree.

Kerosene had been spread over the floor and it seemed as though the per-

son who had committed the dastardly assault had conceived a scheme for firing the place, thereby erasing effectively any trace of evidence which should place the murderer within the law's apprehension.

Seemingly, however, whoever was the cause of Josey's death had insufficient stamina or determination to carry his original plan into complete effect.

Although there is the suggestion that someone had attempted to set fire to the bedclothes — and it is understood that part at least of the bed linen was partially burned — there is not, us yet, any direct proof that these were not so damaged on some previous occasion. The fell work had apparently been done with a short, thick piece of manuka, about two feet long by two and a-half inches thick and evidently taken from a wood pile. But although at least a dozen blows were struck with the full force of a strong man's arm, no marks were visible on the surface of the weapon.

As soon as the nature of the tragedy had been established, a telephone message was transmitted across to the mainland and shortly before one o'clock in the afternoon the tug 1 arrived with DGtGctive John Carroll, from Invercargill, and Sergeant Tonkinson, who 'has charge of ' the Bluff police area. It was then that "Valentine was taken in charge, placed aboard the boat and handcuffed. When the tug arrived at the Bluff landing-stage a big crowd had gathered. The house in which the murder was committed stands near the edge of a 100ft. cliff overlooking a point of Horseshoe Bay, in one of the loneliest and most secluded parts of Stewart Island.

Visitors who are desirous of viewing Horseshoe Bay from this particular vantage point have nearly threequarters of a mile to walk along a bush track, after they have alighted from a motor-car which takes them nearly two and a-half miles along the road from Half Moon Bay.

The scenery is delightful and poor Andrew Josey must have spent many a delightful hour amid the restful quiet of his island home.

That is the tragic story of poor old Andrew Josey's end. It will be hard to think of Stewart Island now without the familiar figure of the old Javanese fisherman bent upon his oars at dusk bringing in the nightly haul of fish.

No tourist in that region saw Stewart Island without being told the story of the murdered man. Fifty years is a long time to spend in a remote place like the "Land of Heavenly Glows" and there are those old identities who can recall the coming of this stranger to settle on the island.

Essentially a native settlement Josey was beloved by natives and whites alike, particularly the children, and if greater tribute was required as to his popularity it would be hard to imagine a more pathetic picture than was presented the Sunday following

the floor behind the counter, with a narrow cut approximately four inches above the right temple, whilst a heavy plush-covered weight, used by draughtsmen, was found lying at his feet. '

All the notes had disappeared, but the silver remained where it had been placed by Valentine just before he was allegedly assaulted by an unknown assailant.

Not a trace of the thief or the missing money has yet been found and it was evident that whoever assaulted Valentine had studied the lay-out of the building and had familiarized himself with the routine of the office.

The weight with which the alleged thief struck Valentine had been taken from the draughting office upstairs. What happened to that missing £ 240 still remains unknown. However, this mysterious incident is another story. And" the man who could have thrown most light on the strange affair—the alleged murderer of old Andrew Josey — is now dead. For word was received last week that Valentine, while awaiting: trial on the capital charge, had died suddenly in custody. Heart failure, it is stated, was the cause of death.

It appears that when Valentine came before the court a few days after his arrest considerable comment was aroused by his haggard features and evident mental anguish.