PALMERSTON TRAGEDY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8448, 21 February 1899, Page 3

PALMERSTON TRAGEDY

WAS IT A DOUBLE SUICIDE OR MURDER AND FJCLO Dhl Sti > (Per Press Association.) Welmsotos. last' night. The Post's correspondent at Palmerston ; North telegraphs that the .Standaid states that whether .Mrs MeKain was a consenting party to her shocking f.ilc will, of course, never be cleared up, but the yciicr.il impression is that she was not, and there aic several apparently good reasons advanced in support of this contention. Previous to retiring to test she hail carefully put her hair in pins, while her undergarments were left about the room, as if j she had hurriedly ictired to rest and left them where they could bo conveniently picked up again. Then it was uy.ial for .Mrs McKain to take coffee and bread and \ butter and jam for supper, and no exception was made on Friday, all the food being consumed. Then the cheerfulness and hilarity displayed by her in the bedroom before goiug to sleep seemed to be so contradictory to the idea that she contemplated death in the night, while the fact that the tragedy did not. take place till early in the morning favors the idea that Mrs McKain was lirot shot in her sleep. Against that it is said that .McKain was heard as if dictating to his wife, and tli.il before they went to their bedroom they were standing in the passage looking at a case of birds, and she was heard to ask if she. would go and write something then, and he replied to the effect that later on would do. This is taken to support the theory that the letters were partly written by her, and with her knowledge also. Dr Reed is convinced from an examination of her eyes that she was awake when shot, but even that idea may only be due to the fact that she wat- awakened as the crime was being perpetrated, while with all due respect to the doctor the appearance of her body is opposed to the idea that she was awake, as her hand.-, were thrown careless on her bieast, her eyelids were closed, her lips slightly parted, and a peaceful expression on her face. " We regret," says the Standard, " that in the harry of the moment on .Saturday we suggested that a part of the letter was in the woman's writing, as a careful examination shows that the whole of the writing is McKain's, though there is a considerable difference between the pait written in ink and that written with an ink pencil. No pen and ink was found in the room, and the fact th.it the alterations and additions were made with a pencil goes far to prove that the letter must have been been wiitten beforehand and corrected that evening." In regard to the three shots, it appears that the first and second shots were heaid in the next bedroom at. 4.20 a.m. and 4.-10 a.m. The third shot was heard at (i o clock by the occupant of the bedroom opposite. At this time the occupants of the adjoining room were down stairs. That would leave the impiession that McKain shot his wife, waited 20 minutes, fired at her again, and then waited an hour and '20 minutes before giving himself the fatal despatch.

The questions arousing most interest are: (1) Did Mrs McKain sl'oot herself? (2) Was she shot by her husband with her consent ? (3) Was she shot by her husband without her consent ? "After a careful survey of the whole circumstances we (Standard) are forced to the conclusion that the deed was contemplated for some flays at least by the husband ; that the time was only selected on the impulse of the moment ; and that the wife had no knowledge whatever of the intended tragedy." The Standard states that the woman's features were peaceful while the man's were contorted. Palmeeston* Xorth, to-day. At the inquest a verdict was returned that McKain murdered his wife mid then committed suicide, At the inquest on the McKains the father of McKain said deceased was always reticent as to his financial matters. He last saw him at noon on Monday 13th, when the latter said he had transferred his money to Dunedin, and went into the post office to see if it had arrived back again. When he came out his wife said, " Has it come, Will ?" and he replied " No," and they turned deadly pale and looked very troubled. To the Foreman : If the tragedy had happened before their marriage he would not have been surprised, as Mrs Price would not give her consent to llie union, and they had often expressed the hope (hat Minnie would make it up with her mother. as they were afraid that something of the kind might happen. The consent was, however, gained on January Ist, and after that matters were apparently all right. The tragic murder and suicide of Mr and Mrs McKain whilst on their honeymoon has caused a great sensation, not only in Palmerston, where the occurrence took place, but also iv the Hutt and Wellington districts, where the parties were well known. Interviewed on Sunday, Miss McKain, a, sister of the murderer, said that the man was of a quiet, uncommunicative disposition, who had never given any indication of morbid inclinations. He was of an ambitious and very studious nature, and hia character was of the best. He was n brushmaker by occupation, but wast imbued with the idea that he was better fitted for clerical work With this end in view he tried to enter the Government service, but the fact that he had not passed the sixth standard was against him. His photograph shows McKain to have for his class a more thau usually intelligent face. The girl, who was a blonde, also had very pleasing features. There seems uo doubt that the pair had come to their lost penny through travelling about and had mutually agreed to die together. They appear to have been very cheerful on the night of the trngedj, and Were heard laughing and talking together and even kissing one another, by people who passed through the passage. Mrs Price, who was opposed to her daughter's marriage to McKain, is so seriously ill at Masterton that the news cannot be broken to her Mis McKain, the mother of the misguided youth, is prostrate with grief.— H.B. Herald correspondent.