A MAN BLOWS HiS'BRAINS OUT

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 182, 11 December 1886, Page 5

A MAN BLOWS HiS'BRAINS OUT

Auckland, December 7. A young man named Theodore Behrens committed suicide this morning in his bedroom at Harbour View House. Death occurred from a pistol shot, w hich was fired into his brain Iroin the right temple The house in which -the occurrence took place until lately belonged to a Mrc Cashel, but a short time ago Moedames Fletcher and Roy took it over, at which time the deceased was a boarder. Behrena appears to have been a good-looking young fellow, of 22 years of age, with a dark moustache, and had been until latoly up at Raugiriri, where, with some other young fellows, he had been working on the Government relief, works, planting young forest trees. He came out with two other wellconnected young tellows from England in the Ruapehu, about two months since, and appears to have been quiet in manner, and almost a total abstainer. Searching for the raxson d'etre of the sad affair, we find he had a bad attack of typhoid fever some years ago, and has never appeared really right since, being at times, as his friends say "quite funny." Mr Shillington, of the Public Library, has noticed him at that institution, when he appeared to be wrong in his head. It appears that the deceased was well-con nected at Home, and yesterday called at Mr Young's, Romuera, to whom he brought letters of introduction from Home. No reason can be found for the deed, save that of bad health, already hinted at, Mrs Soutwell, who helps in the kitchen at Harbour View House, heard a noise like a shot thiß morning, at 9 o'clock, but put it down to be something falling, and later on Mrs Fletcher went to call the deceased who often lay in bed late. Opening the door she found, to her horror, the deceased sitting on the floor alongside bis bed, with his back against a i chair, his head leaning forward over his body ; a pistol lay in the great pool of slowly trickling blood, in which the body lay. When our reporter arrived, the body had been removed to the bed, where it lay a gastly sight, his pyjamas saturated with blood that had trickled from tho fearful bull9t wound in the right temple. On the table lay a letter, addresßed to one of the friends who came out with the deceaeed, Mr W. Cooper, A gold ring, and some gold and silver coins, were on the dressing-table. A remarkably large pool of clotted blood covered the floor, and the revolver with which the deed had been performed lay close to^the bedside. The body has now been removed to the Provincial Hotel, where an inquest will be held on it at 2 o'clock to-morrow. Mr Wray, who came out with tho deceased, caw him last night. He appeared all right then, and several friende caw him yesterday afternoon, when he was even jolly, and he appeared then to have nothing on his mind. On the letter, spoken of just now, being opened, it was found to contain instructions for the money left by the deceased at the bank, some £90, to be divided amongst his three friends —Messrs Wray, Claude Young, and W. Cooper, and finishes up by " damning this confounded country."