A SHOCKING DISCOVERY

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10922, 24 August 1928, Page 6

A SHOCKING DISCOVERY

HOW THE DEED WAS DONE. STONE IN A HANDKERCHIEF. AND A POCKET-KNIFE. DUNEDIN, This Day. Details of the double tragedy at Watati seem to reveal a brutal murder'. The scene was the grounds of the Orakanui mental home. The murdered woman, Peggy MeImres, aged 25, was employed as a nurse on the staff, being recently transferred from Seaeliffe, while Thomas Ellis, about 35, was employed as a bricklayer at Seaeliffe by the Love Construction Co. _ Just before midnight Constable Pearce was awakened by a man named O’Neil, a member of the- hospital staff, who stated lie had heard groans from the drive, and going put found Ellis staggering about with his threat cut. Pearce, on going out to the scene, found Ellis dead. He returned home, but later was awakened with the news that a nurse was missing. After a search her body was found amongst the scrub beneath the pine trees. She was lying on a travelling rug, her head terribly bashed, and her throat cut. The deed was apparently done with a stone tied in a handkerchief and pocket-knife.