MURDER AT GREEN ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1162, 7 March 1874, Page 4

MURDER AT GREEN ISLAND.

Intelligence arrived in Dunedin on Saturday night to the effect that a publiran named Patrick Long, the keeper of the Kaikorai Hdbel, had murdered a young labouring man named Nicholas M 'Donald, and the news of course caused a great deal of excitement. The particulars of the occurrence were brought in by three or four horsouien, at about ten o'clock at night, to Constable Anderson, at Caverskain, and he at once started for Green Island, and arrested Long, who nia-le no resistance, and was ac oneo brought into Dunedin in an omnibus, ai.cl lodged in the lock-up in Macla^gan street. Very little was known about the affair in town, on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning there were eager enrruiWes as to details. All kinds of rumours were abroad, none of which turned out to be strictly true. One of our reporters started for the scene of the alleged murder on Sunday afternoon, and before his arrival at Green Island was told that the township was in a state of disorder, and that there had beon sundry small ! tights going on diiring the day, the combatants being friends of the murdered man, .and friends of the man who, it is said, had committed the crime. This report also turned out to be untrue. A considerable deal of excitement of course prevailed, but there had been no breach of the peace, and there appeared to be a general feeling of horror at the cold-bloodedness of the affair. From what we were able to gather from the many statements that were given, it appears that the deceased man, whose name is Nichola i M 'Donald, left his home between eight and nine o'clock on Saturday night, and atter calling at Eagerty's Hotel, where he was paid by his employer, he went to the Kaikorai Hotel — kept by Patrick Long- — with a man, named M 'Sweeney. The two neon had ome drinks, and the deceased wished M 'Sweeney to go home with his wife, who was waiting for him in the road. An altercation between the two men then ensued, and as they wore talking loudly, the landlord, Long, pushed than away from the door, and stood at the entrance in order to prevent the t\\ o men coming again into the place, The deceased asked Long why ho had pushed him. Some more high -words were exchanged, and then a dispute arose between M' Donald and a man name Harry O'Cane. O'Cane knocked the deceased down, and according to the sfatements of several men who wore attracted to the place by the noise, kinked him. M'Donakl g"t up and O'Oanf knocked him down the second time. , The disturbance continued, and Long shut I the front door ot his hoif-e and went inside. The deceased then be_,au to knock at the door, and according to the statements of bo me of those who were there, threw stones fit the house in his endeavours to get the landlord to let him iti. Lnng then appears to have come out by the back door, with a revolver in his hand, and going round the side of thft house, approached the place where M 'Donald was standing. The man who was standing n< xt to the deceased was Mr Norman M'Uabe, and near him, was a man named I'earce. Long pushed M 'Cabe to one side, and saying " this is the Avay I servo such as you, who destroy my property,!' fired at M 'Donald, who fell at once. Long would appear to have been about 20 yards from M' Donald when he fired. It was almost impossible to g^ i t two stories alike about the occurrence. One version was to the effect that when the deceased was kicking at the door, Long went into his bedroom, took a revolver froni a drawer, went to the back door and fired a shot — it is supposed for the purpose of ascertaining whether the weapon was in order or not. Several persons aflirnx that they heard two shots, while others say that the revolver was only iired onee — when M 'Donald was killed. When the fatal shot had been fired, Long wont into his hotel again by the back door, entered the bar whistling a p ipuLir air, and commenced to serve drinks to those inside as if nothing had happened. "\Vhi>n lie went into the hotel there appears to have boon some little altercation between him and his wife, and he was heard to deny that he had iired a shot. Throe or four men at once started on horseback to give information to the police, and the first member of the force who received intelligence of the trimc having betm committed was Sergeant Anderson, at Oavursham. He at once started for Green Island, and having seen the body and satisfied himself as to the correctness of the information that had been supplied to him, went to tho Kaikorai Hotel, where he arrested the landlord Long, who treated tho matter in the coolest possible manner, and denied any knowledge of the affair. When tho deceased was shot, and fell on tho road, there wore several persons about ; and his body, which appeared to bo lifeless, was lifted and removed to a stone house a few yards ofl", kept by a man named Montague, where he had been boarding. From this place it was afterwards taken to a wooden house owned by ilr Eagerty, hotelkfcpor, where it now lies awaiting an inquest. With as little delay as possible Constable Anderson started for Dunedin with the prisoner, but was mot on the road by Mr Sub-Inspector Mallard and MountedConstable Henderson. Henderson brought the prisoner into town, and he was lodged in the lock-up in Maclaggan street until Sunday night, when he was conveyed to the Dunedin Gaol. Constable Anderson and MiMallard wont on to Greon Island, where they wero soon afterwards joined by Detective Bhury and Mounted-Constable Bovan. Enquiries wero instituted, and a search made for the weapon with which, tho deed had been

I committed. In the till in the bar of the Kaikorai Hotel a revolver case was discovered by the police, but tie revolver had not been found up to a late hour last night. Two or three wells in the vicinity were drained, and the bush round about was searched, but without avail. The production of the weapon is not of course absolutely necessary as evidence, as there were witnesses to the deed. Long has been in the district for some considerable time, and was formerly a driver in the employ of Messrs Marshall and Copeland. He is described as a quiet man, of about 33 years of age, and one of the last men who would have been suspected of being capable of au ;i cb of violence or bloodshed. M' Donald, the deceased, was a young fellow aged 22, a single man, and a native of Ayrshire, Scotland. He ha 1 ? only been in the Colony a few months, and at the tiin<2 of his death was in the employ of Mr Pearco — who has a sub contract for the erection of a bridge at Abbotsford. Long is a married man, but lias no family. The deceased was struck by the bullet on the upper part of the right temple, and of course his brain was pierced. From the statements of those who were present, it seema that he never spoke after he was shot. There was a pool of blood on the road at tbe spot where M'Donald fell, and this was covered with a braudy case, in order that the jury might be able to vir-w it when the inquest was held. Mr I. N. Watt, Coroner, will hold the inquest at 1 o'clock this afternoon at Mr Eaaerty's Volunteer Hotel.