DETAILS OF THE TRAGEDY. Gisborne, Dec. 11.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 325, 15 December 1888, Page 4

DETAILS OF THE TRAGEDY. Gisborne, Dec. 11.

Whex the District Coroner and party reached the scene of the triple tragedy at Waipiro on Kiidny last, they at. ouce ect about arranging for an inquest. An examination of tho premises showed how deliberately and without attempt at concealment a most revolting butchery had been committed. Behind the counter of the shop were large pools of blood, and distinct red boot-prints were to be traced allo\er thestoie. On tho counter was a bundle of clothing which the perpetrator of the deed had been purchasing before the murder, and whi< h had been wrapped in paper parcels. The articles were of :i nature which Maoris ■would select, some hand kei chiefs and dress i material being of the gaudy patterns j usually worn by natives. On the floor near the counter was a piece of piper on which Pook had been calcua Ling the amount of pui chases. the sum totalling £3 15s. Placed alongside a box were two axes, a large and j small one, the blades ot both of which weie covered with blood and hair. An iion bar used to secuie the door lay on the counter, and from the b oody marks on it this had evidently been used duiing the fatal assault, it is thought to deal the first blows. The cashbox was lyincj locked on the floor, and with the exception of a few papers its contents nad all been removed. On the floor, *atiunted with blood, was a soft white felt hat, which, from the signs of hair and skin, was on the, head of the : iemale victim when she was stiuck on the side of the head with tho blunt, weapon. The store had evidently been ransacked, but to what extent plunder had been taken cannot be estimated.

DISCOVERY OF THE CRIME. From the tracks both in the =tore and in the house, it would seem that only one person had been engaged m the ciime. At any rate the bootmaiks, wheie\er t-jaoed, weie exactly of the same size. The door of tho shop, which, judging from the stains and spots upon it/was open dining the struggle, had been closed and seemed by the nunderer, and the back door was found locked. Across the back yard to the dwelling-house adjacent footprints could be traced, and impi-essions from the same boots were to be found in all the four rooms of the house. In the bedroom where the child was found lying on the floor unconscious from his injuries, there \\ as a pool or blood. The scene of the murder was lirsfc visited by a lad named Edward Swan, who went to see his sister (Mrs Pook) at nine o'clock on Thursday morning, beiore pioceedingon ji visit to (Usborne Not receiving a reply to his knocking at the door, he entered the house. On going through the back of the J dwelling into the front rooms, he discoveied the child, a boy of five years, on the floor by the bedside. The boy hastened away to the nearest neighbour, Mr Hamilton, schoolmaster, toi assistance, and bursting open the door of the store, they discoveied a heartrending scene. Behind the counter lay the two bodies of Mr and Mis Pook, That of Mr Pool: was hing flat on the back, and in a peaceful attitude, he having apparently succumbed ivithouu much struggling. Mrs Pook s body "was lying paitly on that of her husband, and she had e\idently died in agony. It is thought that a blow on the head stunned Mr Pook, and whilst .he lay on the fioor his neck was deeply cut with one of the axe.", which v, eie quite new and sharp, and taken from a bundle in the store. He then bled to^eath. The blow on the head leceived by Mrs Pook would have been sufficient to instantaneously kill her, but the murderer had horribly mutilated her body, her head being almoab severed irom the trunk.