SHOCKING DOUBLE MURDER & SUICIDE.

Colonist, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8063, 6 October 1894, Page 2

SHOCKING DOUBLE MURDER & SUICIDE.

BESIEGED BY A MURDERER. A FEARFUL NKMT^ANDiIO HELP Immense exoitement was occasioned in town yesterday when it became known that a double murder had been committed at the Tophouse) a telegraph station located amongst the mountains ol the interior of tbe Nelson Province, and some fifty miles distant from this place by the nearest road. A feeling of horror, too, combined with intense commiseration for tbe haplees woman, was aivused when it was le.rnt that the wife of the murdeied telegraph officer had been besif ged by the murderer, and tbat the p:or woman, whose husband had not returned home, had had her worst ftars aroused by having beard the discharge of a gun. It was not till late in the afternoon that any detailed information was obtainable, and as Eoon as possible an " Extra " was issued from this office.

The particulars of this terrible crime, so far as aseertainable at present, are as follows :— FEARS AROUSED. About half -past two o'clock yesterday morn'ng the midnight operator in the Nelson Telegraph Office was ju« completing his work, when he wai nalural'y filled witb conslernation upon hearing a somewhit indiaict sigaal from the Tcphon3B wire, oaUing for help. Hi 3 consternation was increased when he made out that the menage was bung s.nt by Mrs "Wallis, the wi'e tf the telegraphist and lineman ia oharge of the Tophoase St .tion. A Pin ABLE Of:?. Mra Waliis is not an expert operator, bat the was able to send along the words " he^p, help," and then merely to add that something frightful had gone wrorg. Mr Ca'ders, Chief Poa'maeter, was &t ones oalled, andhe hurried to the O r-ce. An endeavor was made to get communication wi.h Mra Wa'liß again, but the attiiap!; was unsuccessful, snl it is eurrxi ed that the had sweoned. However, after about a-qaart r of an hour communication w s again obtained, atid it was learnt from Mis W allis that a guv bad been need outside and i hat eoaeone was trying to break into the office. Afcer that notliing faitber could be got horn Tophouse till late in the morning, FURTHER EFFORTS TO AID. ' i The Police both here and at Blenheim were immediately informed that something very serious hid occu red at Tophouse, and Sergt - Major Pratt at once sent Trooper Kel'y with instructions to Constable Knapp, at Spring Grove, to proceed to the scene at once, and Constab'e Phair proceeded by the morning tiain to Belgrove, with the intention -of joining Constable Knapp. Between teven and eight o'clock yesterday morning communication with Mri Wallis was again obtained, but all that could be got was " My poor Willie," " My poor Willie," and it was very evident from this in conjunction with the news of ihe gun being fired that torn. thing had happened to Mr Walli-', and the greatest anxiety was felt in the Office regarding him. LEAKING WIttES DISCLOSE A TRAGMDY. Duiin? the day, news came ia from Longford, wh eh is about 44 miles en tha other eiJe of Tophou;e, from which it gradually bcoama cle^r that a terrible tragedy had happened. To better explain whit follows, wa may here state th*t the road fr.m Nel-oi Iranchei at the Tophouse, which is about 47 mi'es uwiy from Ne's n, one branch loading away to the Buller and the ether towards Blenheim, and tie tel6Rraph fta'ion stinda on a 10 iorc section right at the fo k of t ie roacs, wbi'eup jn an eminence about 10 chains along the road towards Blenheim etinjs the Topbouse Aocommod aiicn House, kept by Mr N. longnay, tha pesitions and distanoe being described as about the same reia ively as thsse of t aeNelsou Post Office and the Church on the Hi-1, the Acc.mmodation Houee oocupying ihe h ; gh ground. AID FROM LAKE RUN. Mr John Ken'a Lake St^t od, 12 miles beyond Tophoaeo towaids the Buller, ij connected with the Tophouse S;ation by tel> phonp, and Mrs Wallis rang up and told Mis? Kerr tbat s.metirng terrible had happened, and Mr Kerr despatched hi 3 ton Robi'lt tj Tophouae to sei what was w ong. How marjy formed the party, we are unable tt present to soy, as until the eveniog, when Mr Warne, who has charge of the Longford St tioD, arrived there, to commuoioalion could be obta:ned with Tophouse, and the only neas gieanel was from Longford, where lira Warne, by induction, oou d overhear what was sent along the k iree from Keri'd Btßtion toTophouee Mr Warns received o.dera from Nelson to at onoa proceed to Topboufe, and he left at 10 in tbe mornirg. From wbat was overheard by Mra Warne, it wag learned that Robert Kerr, just before reaching tbe Tophouse Station, heard a shot fired, ani he fouad poor Mis Wallis ia a most distracted state, and Mr Wallis lying dead in the paddock with a horEe rug over him. Later information shows tbat i»f.er a search, the dead body of a young man named John Lane, a cousin of Mr Longney's, was found at some elutjnce, and ou& of sight from Wallis' body, whi'e on the verandah of the Accommodation House was found Wi liam Bateman, a brother of Mra Lo:gn?y, also deid. It appears thst Mr and Mrs Longney were away at Blenheim on a vitit, and had left Bateman in charge during their &b;ence, there aleo being in the house Lane, the goveru3es and two of Mr Longney's children.

TBE MURDEREE. Bateman was in Belgrove on Thursday, and it is stated that he had bean drinking there, but for that we- cannot vouch, and we are informed that Mr Robert Stewart, of the Gordon Accommodation House, met Bateman in Eeay's Valley on Thutsday afternoon making his way home, and that he did not then appear to have beea drinking. TflE VICTIMS. Lane and Wallis went out just before dusk hare shooting, but whether tbey ever again came home alive is a matter of conjecture only. Mr Calders, Chief Postman t.r, received the following telegram at 4.30 p,m yesterday: — " The three bodies of Messrs Wallis, Lane, and Bateman were found near the Accommodation House known as the Tophouse. Bateman appears to have shot his two victims, and this morning shot himself on the verandah of Longoey's house. He was seen this morning walking about the i h llside with a gun in his hand, apparent:y out of his mind. Mr and Mrs Longney, pro- j prietors of the hotel, are absent at Blenheim, i and they left Bateman in charge." A SURMISE.

It was surmised that Bateman became mad with drink and committed the awful double crime, and that on discovering tha next morning what be had done be made away with himself, and that the ehot heird ty Robert Ke;r as he approached was that by which Bateman took his own life. This view wjs confirmed by the following telegram received by Sergeant-Major P^att, at 7.30 p.m., from Constable Knapp, at Tophouse ; — " Found body of Mr Walli?, telegraphist, 1, ing in paddock behind station with gunshot wound in neck, dead ; also, John Lane, lying on road beyond Tophouse, with gunshot wound behind ear, dead. Both men shot by W. Bateman, who afterwards shot h.mself on the verandah of Longney's Accommodation House. Will bring bodies to Foxbill to-moi row evening. Please have Coroner and jury ready kr inquest. " A COMFORTER.

Mr Warn 9 from Longford, arri7ed at Topbouee about 6.39 p.m, p.nd tle oonstitles at about 7 o'clock. Miss Kerr proceeded from the Lake Station to Tophouse as soon as she beard ihe tatira of the occarrence, enl did what she possibly coald for Mrs Wallia, who, af.er the t rrible night she had passed through, besi°ged bj tbe madman, and with the nor.ible fear for her husband's safe y, was nearly dem-nteJ. It is thought that Mrs Wallis must have seen the bedy of her husband in the morning and placed upon it the horse rug, with whiah it was found covered by Mr Robert Eerr. Mr Gaidars received information last night that Mia Wai v Vias in a very bai and distressing condition, and was being taken to Mr David Kerr'd house, whiah lisa abous 7 miles nearer Neleon than the Tophou3<-, for the night. THE ACCOMMODATION HOUSE. Mr Lingney was acquainted of the re being something wrong, and he left Blenheim yest.rday morning' for Tophouse. Mr and Mrs Longney bai left Bat em an, who was a brother of Mrs Longney, in charge of the house, but there wee also left f era a

governess, Miss Wylie, whose friends reside in Nelson, and two of th 3 children, bat neither of these was molested. THE MURDERED MEN. Mr William ' Wallis wag about 34 or 35 years of a,.;e. He was bom in the Wood, Nelson, and his wife, who is junior by some two years, was also born ih the tame locality. Ihe parent 3 of Mr Wa'lis subsectuen ly lved at Motupipi, Takaka, where Mr Wallis, senior, waa in bus ness as a brewer. The murdered man and his wife were married übout twelve years ago, but they have no childi-n. Up till May last they lived for about seven years at Cable Bay, where Mr Wallis was lineman and had care of the batteries, while with his wife he had charge of the telegraphists' quarters. At Cable Bay they both made many friends, and gained such goodwill and esteem that about five months ago Mr Wai is was promoted to the charge of the Tophouse station, for which place they set out in the best of spirits, having formed many plans for making their new home a happy one. Mrs Wallis is of somewhat delicate constitution, and her relatives are naturally fea>ful of the result of her terrible experience. She hag two brothers residing at Wakapuaka, and one of these, Mr Moulder, set oil last night to meet his sister.

Mr John Lane, the other victim of Batcman's frenzy, was ab:ut 26 years of age, and is very well known about Nelson. For sometime he was in the employ of Mrs Mcorhouse, and his brother is a well known Salvat on Army captain. He has a sister marriel to a son of Mr E. Pattie, of Eiwaka. Lane came to the Colony some few years ago from England, and after leaving Nelson took up land in the North Island, but about two jears ago ha broke hi* leg, which continuing weak, he gave up his land. He was a cousin of Mrs Longney's, with whem he had been staying for a few months. ! THE SUICIDE. William Bat:man was a brother of Mrs Longney, a taker by trade, and about 30 years of age, For some considerable time he had teen working on stations in the vicinity of the Tophouie. INQUEST. Arrangements are being made for holding an inquest at Foxhill to day.