THE GLENBROOK MYSTERY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2232, 10 December 1896, Page 15

THE GLENBROOK MYSTERY.

Sidney, December 2, The lagoons and waterholes at Glenbrook have ' been dragged for the missing bodies, bat without success. A peculiar coincidence in connection with the caee ia that a man giving the name of Captain Lee Waller shipped for San Francisco from Newcastle last month. It has transpired that tho teal Frank Harwood, whom Bntler is Bupposed to have represented, i« at present manager of a mine in Western Australia. B Uler is said to have somehow ootained possession of one of Harwood^s te>iimon'alß. j , The Newcastle police hive obtained almost certain proof that Butler sailed from Newcastle by the Swan Hilda, for Ban Ffuncisco, nnder the name of Lee Weller. He obtained a license to ship from Captain Edie, shipping master, in Sydney. The vessel sailed on the 23 rd November, and Wwller came aboard the same morning. Wheu bis baggage was being hoist e:l aboard it slipped into the sea, and the man was in a great state of mind until a very weighty package was recovered. The search parcy at Glenbrook have found no trace of the bodies of the missing men, but came across a locket belonging to Lee Weller. December 3. The Glenbrook mystery, which causod snob, a sensation during the past week, became more acute when Butler's movements ware placed beyood doubt yesterday, and reached a .climax this evening, when news was wired through announcing the discovery of the body of yonng Preston, buried 2ft underground about a mile and a-half from Linden. . The original Haywood, whose name Butler assumed, resides at Coolgardie, and has informed the police that some time ago he was robbed of certain docamvnGP, including a miner's right. It -was, no doubt, on this latter document 'hat Butler posed as a, mining man. -i police officer will probably leave by the Miowra on the 12<;n met to intercept Butlei. When Waller lef* Sidney be took with bim a considerable quantity of clothing and jewellery. Later. The police merely uncovered the back of the head of a m*n who ia lying faca downvrards in'a grave,- but by t,he shortness and cplonr of the hair it. is assumed to he that of Preston. The body will not be completely exhumed nntil to-morrow, when the coroner and medical men will arrive. The gully in which the body was found is the place where Butler and Preston were last seen together. December 4. The body of Pre3ton was found in a deep and lonely gully close to the month of the oave, bnt little care had been taken in buTyJcg it. It was thought that the grave bad been arranged in euoh a way that water from the overhanging rock would drip fato it, and thaß cause rapid decay. , Supposed tracks of Butler and Welter have been picked np, and further discoveries are exp»cted" today. A I suggestion has been made to despatch a steamer from one of the southern ports in New Zealand to intercept the sailirg vessel Swan Hilda, in which Butler is said to have left Newcastle for San Francifico f • Shipm asters consider the Bogge*tirin feasible. /• . The work of •. exhuming , Preston's body began this morning. It lay on its back with the- head turned to the left 6ide, the legs drawn np out of shape. The left. arm was. crashed nnder the side and the right arm pressed behind the back. The general appearance showed that the grave was too small, and the abdomen had beei/pressed by weight, probably of a body, so as to cram it into the space. The body was fearfully crashed and much decomposed, but a friend of Preston completely established identification. The whole sarroundinga were most pitiful. The body was placed in a coffin and taken to Penrith for an inquest. The post mortem showed that death was due to a gunBhot wonnd in the brain, in addition to which there were two fractures of the skull. A man said to resemble Butler has been arrested at Port Macquarie. December 5. The inquest on the body of Preston, who ia believed to have been murdered near Glenbrook, has been adjourned until Tuesday. The medical testimony at the inquest on the body of Preston brings out as clearly as though it had been enacted before one's eyes that Preston and his mate bad camped for the night in the gully where the body was found. Whether the grave was dag before or after the deed was committed remains a mystery, bat it is fairly certain to assume that Preston was sitting down at the edge of a' pool of water when his mate potted him from behind. Probably he was going to have a wash. One . boot was off and the sock of -the same boot partly drawn down. A bullet had passed through the bate of the skull, coming out at the root of the nose and splintering the bony rtructnre; then the murderer tied a towel round his mate's body and dragged it along the ground about 15 paces to the hole where it was found. The boot was left behind, to j MLDicked. no krsearehere. From the com- 1

posed appearance of tha features death must have been instantaneous. Tbe witness Thompson, at whose restaurant Butler stayed, saw the men leave the train at the Emit Plains on October 19. He met Butler again in Sydney on the 29ib. Witness said " Hallo I got buck, again." "Yes," replied Harwood. "What, is tbe matter?" queried Thompson. "Oh, the young fellow knocked up, and I had to | come back to look for another mate," was Harwood's reply. Thompson suggested bia son, and Harwood retorted, "Y«s, I bad thoughts of him." They agreed to talk the matter over that nlgbt, but Harwood did not turn up, and they never met again. When Hitwood was s'ayiogat witnftua's place he had two revolvers— ordinary bulldogs — acd a knife and a Winchester rifle; and when he gob out at the Emu Plains he had a rills with him. December 6. Excitement over the Glenbrook mystery has reached fever heat owing to the discovery of another body, that of Weller. Hundreds joined in the search to-duy, and during the forenoon two residents of Glenbrook, scaicning iv a gully a mile west of the-town, came across ground recently disturbed, with iwiga and stones piled on top nnder the ledge of a rock similar in many respects to the conditions at Preston's grave. ' The party also found a pick with which the grave *vad evidently been dug, and a rr-agszine bearing 1 Waller's name was discovered aeav by. On tha arrival of the police sufficient earth was removed to disclose the remains of a human body in an advanced state of decomposition. One side of the face, however, was in a sufficient state of preservation to make the identification of We ler absolute. The victim had his knees drawn up under the chin, and the body had apparently to be jammed into the hole. How be came by bis death will not be known nntil the post mortem examination to-morrow. One side of the face bears the appearance of being crushed in. A third man named Desah is missing. He went to Gsrmawtowa, in tbe Albury diatrict, and a search will now be Instituted there. The Eictradltioo Court meet,? to.-iaorrow to draw up the neoaßsary papers with respect to the arrest of Butler, and Directive Roche will immediately after the eittiog proceed to London to interview the authorities of tha Foreign Office, to have the documents put in j propar order for the extradition of the murderer if arrested. Constable Conroy, who very nearly decided ' to accompany ButJer on one of his prospecting toure, leaves by the Miowera en roue to San Francisco in order to arresb tbe accused. December 7. The inquest on Weller, one of those murdered near Glenbrook, has been adjourned till to-morrow. The medical examination disclosed a heavy revolver bullet flattened against the right side of tbe skull. It entered just below the left ear and pierced the brain. D^ath must have been instantaneous. The bullet was evidently fired at a short range. The evidence in tha Extradition Court disolosed no new facts of importance, but cl-3nrly establitfWcl Bntler's connection with Preston and Weller, and the fact; of bis shipping at Newcaatls for San Francisco. While at Newcastle he exhibited a quantity of jewellery, believed to be WeUer'e. His luggage included a revolver and a plentiful supply of ammunition. The court granted a warrant for the'arraßt, of Butler for the murder of Preston and Weller.' Detective Roohe has Left for England armed with the necessary papers to obtain Butler's extradition.