HOUSE SET ON FIRE.
A CORONIAL INQUIRY. a NEW PLYMOUTH, November 28. “ I find that the house was set on fire by some person or persons ” was the verdict of the coroner (Mr R. W. Tate, S.M.), following an inquiry into the cause of a fire on October 12. The evidence showed that when the fire was extinguished three clumps of inflammable material were found in the cupboards and sitting room, each with a piece of candle, which had been lighted, standing in it. The material had been soaked with kerosene. Mrs Mary Mather, owner of the house, which was insured for £750, and to which the damage was about £2OO, had been seen to enter the house previously with a bottle of kerosene, but this she said was to clean the windows of the house, which had been vacated by a tenant two days earlier. Bags had been tacked over the windows, but Mrs Mather said that these were to keep the neighbours from looking in. Mrs Mather, aged 68. and her grandson. aged 18, were closely examined. Sensational allegations were made by witnesses concerning the methods adopted by Detective Meiklejohn in the course oi his inquiries, and regarding these the coroner added to his verdict: “I do not believe the statements in the depositions reflecting on the methods of Detective Meiklejohn.”
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19281204.2.278
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Otago Witness, Issue 3899, 4 December 1928, Page 76
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223HOUSE SET ON FIRE. Otago Witness, Issue 3899, 4 December 1928, Page 76
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