MOUNT ALBERT TRAGEDY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3828, 26 July 1927, Page 36

MOUNT ALBERT TRAGEDY.

The following appeared in our second Edition of last week.

INQUEST ON THE VICTIMS. SOME NEW FACTS. AUCKLAND, July 18. Tb.e story of the Mount Albert tragedy •with a few new facts 'was retold when the inquest concerning the deaths of the victims—Ernest Whitby Kiddell, Louisa Jane Kiddell, Lorna Kiddell, and Collen Kiddell —was concluded before Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M. (coroner). Mr P. J. Ryan represented the Public Trust Office, ■which has control of the estate of the deceased. Fric Thomas Wilson, salesman for the Colonial Ammunition Company, said he sold a .52 calibre Winchester rifle to Ernest Kiddell on June 22. The deceased had also bought 100 rounds of smokeless ammunition ; but had declined to buy a cleaning rod or oil. A neighbour of the Kiddells gave evidence as to hearing the sound of shots on the morning of June 23. Senior Detective Hammond described the finding of the bodies in the house. Y.ye sou and mother, he said, appeared to have been resigned to death, but the face of the girl suggested that she did not know she was, going to be killed. Mr Ryan: Can you give any idea of the order of the deaths? The fact is important, in view of the administration of the estates. The father's estate so far is valued at £l7OO, and the son’s farm nt Mangaweka is valued at £lOOO. Mr Hammond said it was evident that the daughter had died first. The deaths of the mother and son were practically simultaneous. After this the father had shot- himself. It was clear the father had shot himself, as the bullet had gone right through the ceiling and the roof. Replying to the coroner, Mr Hammond said there was no evidence of the presence of drugs or narcotics. The Coroner: There is evidently no possibility of discovering the order of the deaths? Mt Hammond said he was satisfied the daughter had no part in the death pact. Several letters which had been written by the elder Kiddell to relatives were produced. Mr Hammond said they were of a private nature. On the back of the envelope of one letter was written in a different handwriting the words “With my consent, Lou.’’ The Coroner said he did not think any good would be done by publishing the Tetters, and he suggested that they should be forwarded to their intended destinations. Medical evidence was given regarding the cause of the deaths. There were no signs of struggles, death having taken place almost instantaneously in each case. The Coroner's verdict was as follows: “The deceased, Louisa Jane Kiddell, Laura Kiddell, and Collen Kiddell, died at West street, Mount Albert, on June 23, 1927, the cause of death being gunshot- wounds inflicted by Ernest Whitby Kiddell. There is some evidence to show that Louisa Jane Kiddell (his wife) acquiesced in this. I am satisfied that Ernest Whitby Kiddell died a little later, the cause of his death being suicide by shooting.”