DEATH OF TWO BROTHERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20584, 6 December 1928, Page 10

DEATH OF TWO BROTHERS.

TIRAU FARM TRAGEDY. SISTER’S SAD DISCOVERY. Further particulars of the tragedy which resulted in the death of two brothers, Stanley Owen Chapman, aged 21, and Bruce Trevor Chapman, aged 16, at f a jfarmhouse three miles from Tirau, are furhished' by the Hamilton correspondent of the New Zealand Herald. Apparently, states this correspondent, the elder of the two shot his brother with a .22 Winchester rifle and. then committed-.suicide with the same weapon. ' On Saturday evening Stanley Chapman went to the pictures at Tirau with his sister Eileen, and returned home at about 11 o’clock. Their parents, Mr, apd Mrs Chapman, and other members' of the, family retired to bed as usual and Stanley and his sister went to bed shortly after they came home. The two brothers slept in a room at the rear of the house off the back veranda. Bruce Chapman had gone to bed early in the evening, and it is thought that he was asleep when his brother came home. On leaving his sister, Stanley went to bed as usual. About 2 o’clock in the morning Eileen Chapman heard a noise in the backyard and went outside. She saw nothing and entered the room where her brothers slept. Bruce Chapman was then found lying in bed in his nirfit attire with a bullet wound in the temple. His brother had disappeared. , The family was aroused' and assistance called on the telephone. Several neighbours were summoned, and Dr S. L. Haslett was brought from Putaruru.’ As soon as a number of neighbours had arrived a search was made for Stanley Chapman. Fearing a double tragedy, Eileen Chapman led a party tp;-a bridge crossing a creek, about 300 yards from the house. It was thought the young man might have drowned himself as there is four feet of water under the bridge. ■ , -. While they were examining the bank the searchers heard a groan, and Stanley Chapman was found lying on the approach to the bridge with a bullet wound in .the forehead. He was practically unconscious and the rifle was lying beside him. He was carried back to the house and died shortly after the arrival of Dr Haslett from Putaruru at. 6 o’clock. ' In the meantime first aid attention had been given to the younger brother, but he died without regaining consciousness before the doctor arrived. Neither he nor his brother made any statement concerning the tragedy. Constable Cotter- and Constable Hay were summoned from Putaruru and arrived early in the morning. It is stated that Stanley Chapman had been ill and depressed f'.v some time and was unable to sleep at night. He had had two breakdowns in health and was preparing to go away to recuperate. • Owing to the illness of his father he had been managing the farm, which is over 1000 acres in extent, and the responsibility worried him. During the last few days he had seemed more depressed than usual and had complained of insomnia. The two brothers,. although exceptionally reserved and of nervous temperament, were on very, affectionate terms and. never quarrelled. The gun used was their own property and was used by them to shoot rabbits. Though Mr and Mrs Chapman and their family were sleeping in the house the sound of the rifle shot was not heard by them, but' as the rifle was of small calibre the report would be muffled. Mr Thomas Chapman) the father of. the deceased; has lived in the district for a number of years and'*s well known as a successful sheep farmer.