A DOUBLE TRAGEDY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3713, 12 May 1925, Page 44

A DOUBLE TRAGEDY.

MAN AND GIRL DIE TOGETHER. FATAL GUNSHOT WOUNDS. ROTORUA, May 4. A man and a young girl were found dead with gunshot wounds alongside a motor-car, a Dodge two-seater, No. 20,605 on the shore of Roto-ma Lake at 10 a.m. A short time previously a roadman named Relph discovered a cur attempting to travel along the extreme eastern shore of the lake. He assisted the occupants and warned them that the route was impracticable. Ten minutes later he heard the report of a gun. On investigation he found the two bodies lying on the shore side of the car, the wheels of which were in the lake. Both were dead. The girl was shot through the heart, and the man through the mouth, the side of his face being blown away. The bodies lav exposed to the sight of passenger vehicles to and from the coast, and many were shocked and terrified at the sight. A COLD-BLOGDED CRIME. ROTORUA, May 5. It is understood that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Carl Olsen on a charge of abduction. A charge of manslaughter arising from the motor accident in which the Grahams were killed at Ngaruawhia was also pending. The gun used had recently been sawn off to fit the motor tool box. A coil of fuses and a tin of benzine were in the car, which had been recently purchased in Hamilton. Death in both cases was instantaneous. The girl had been shot at close range through the heart, and the man’s head was shattered, the gun being discharged in the mouth. It appears that Olsen after purchasing the car in Hamilton journeyed to Hastings, where the girl was staying -with her aunt. Apparently he secured the girl and left via Napier, Gisborne, and Opotiki, reaching the Te Teko Hotel on Sunday. They stayed there overnight in the name of Mr and Miss Clark, occupying separate rooms. They appeared to be in high spirits. An examination of the bodies indicates that the girl was shot through the heart at close range and the man’s head was shattered by the gun being placed in his mouth. On a seat in the car was a newspaper dated April 23. Tt was opened at the account of the Mouat tragedy. THE HOROTIU ACCIDENT. AUCKLAND, May 5. Tho deceased, Carl Olsen, was recently Involved in a tragic motor accident, which occured at Horotiu as the result of which Mr Bruce Graham, aged about 42 years, and his wife, who was about the same age, received injuries from which they shortly, afterwards died. Their daughter Daphne, aged 15 years, was seriously injured. Mr and Mrs Graham and their daughter were riding in a flve-aeater Dodge motor car which was being driven from Ngaruawhaia to their home at Horotiu by OUen. When they arrived at Horotiu, a motor-car, passing in the opposite direction, caused Olsen to sweTve nis vehicle. It collided with a telegraph post and capsized, catching fire at it did so. A ncign. hour quickly extinguished the flames, but

| when the occupants of the* car were extri- | cated, Mr and .Mrs Graham and their daughter were found to be in a critical j condition. Olsen escaped practically unhurt. Mr and Mis Graham died almost immediately and Mi s Graham sustained a fractured skull. ABDUCTION SUGGESTED HASTINGS, May 5. The most recent companionship of the man. Carl Olsen, and the 14-year-old girl Molly Moors, who were found dead on Monday morning on the shores of Lake Roto-ma, seems to have been begun with something in the nature of an abduction in Hastings on Saturday evening. The girl was a niece of Mrs O. Thompson, of Lumsden road, Hastings, with whom she had been staying for a fortnight. vShe is spoken of by those who knew her here as a quiet, nicely-spoken and pleasant girl, whose manner gave no indication of existing or threatening trouble. There was evidently a shadow hanging over the poor girl’s life, however, because she told a friend about a man of whom she stood in great fear. It seems that late on Saturday afternoon she left her aunt’s house to execute an errand in the town. There seems to have been no idea in her mind cf a prolonged absence, a* she took no overcoat, and, moreover, she had made an appointment to meet a girl friend in the evening. She failed to return and as the evening wore on, Mr and Mrs Thompson became anxious and set inquiries on foot, but they were unable to learn anything of their niece’s movements. They had no inkling of the true state of the case, until they read the brief telegrams from Whakatane an 1 Rotorua in last evening’s paper, reporting that the then unidentified bodies of a man and a young girl had been found at Roto-ma Lake. It is thought by her friends here that the girl had been sent to Hastings to keep her out of the way of someone. It is stated that she received a communication from someone on Saturday, probably the telegram (a torn fragment oi which was found on her body) sent by Olsen, asking the girl to meet him in Hastings. The belief here is that Olsen came to Hastings in his car, kidnapped the girl and took her off in the car to the place where the final tragedy occurred. OPENING OF INQUEST. ROTORUA, May 6. The inquest on the bodies of the victims of the Roto-ma tragedy was opened at 7.30 last night before Mr L. W. Richards, J.P., and a jury of four. Evidence of identification was given by the girl’s father, Alfred Sydney Moors, who stated' that his daughter nad been visiting an aunt at Hastings. A letter received indicated that she was well and happy. News reached him by telephone on Sunday that Mary was missing, and he asked the police to investigate. The next news he received was on Monday, at 3 p.m., when he heard of the-tragedy. The girl was -on friendly terms only with Olsen. He could form no theory of the cause of the act. The inquest was then adjourned sine die. RELATIONS BETWEEN COUPLE. HAMILTON, May 6. In connection with the Lake Roto-ma tragedy, it appeal’s that Mary Moors had been sent from her home at Horotiu to Hastings to escape the attentions of Olsen, who was boarding with her parents. It is said that- Olsen had openly declared his love for the girl to the latter’s father, who had pointed out the disparity in their ages. Just before the train left Frankton Olsen and the girl were seen holding a confidential conversation. AUTHORITIES VISIT SCENE. ROTORUA, May 8. Owing to sensational unconfirmed reports in various journals the Coroner, the jury, and the police visited the scene of the Roto-ma tragedy and reconstructed the events with the aid of witnesses on the spot.