INQUEST ON SERGEANT MAGUIRE.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12771, 18 April 1910, Page 2

INQUEST ON SERGEANT MAGUIRE.

Palmerston North, April 16. The inquest touching the death of Sergeant Maguire was held today beforo Mr A. D. Thompson, the Acting-Coroner, and a jury of six. Dr Martin gave evidence that death was caused by the suppression of urine and septic peritonitis, the effect of a gunshot wound. The shot had been a ricochet, and from the nature of the wound he judged that the shot had been fired at close quarters, there being considerable blackening round the wound. The track of the wound was upwards. He thought th© shot was fired sideways, or upwards from the ground, aud either or both of the men were lying down, or the sergeant was standing abovo the man who fired. Dr Martin also read statements made by the deceased shortly before his death. The statements were that he could not swear it was Powelka with whom he struggled, but the man had a big hard hat on his head. He struck the man in. the face with his handcuffs, and they closed and fell to the ground. He called Detective Quartermain, and the latter came and fired two shots. He was certain that the man fired first. That was the bullet that struck him. He was lying on tho ground when he , was struck by the bullet. Dr Martin also deposed that the bullet produced by Inspector Wilson as having been one of those in the revolver fired by Detective Quartermain was totally different from that extracted from deceased. Inspector Wilson deposed to having received the cartridge and revolver from Detective Quartermain. The bullets taken from the cartridges in Detective Quartermain's revolver were different in structure, size, and weight to that extracted from deceased's wound. „ . . Sub-Inspector O'Donovan, in his evidence, said that Sergeant :Maguire had in reply to a question put by the witness, as to why he had not taken a revolver with him, said, "I'm glad I did not. I would not have used it. At any rate I might have shotThim, but I'm better pleased that he shot me." Mr Hampton, the owner of the house where the. shooting incident took place, said he saw a man whom he thought was Powelka, go into h. ; s garden. . He fetched the police, and while he and Detective Quarte-vnain were searching the orchard, Sergeant ; Maguire. was in the front of the noise. He heard two frightened squeal*, which he , thought he recogn'sea as Powelka's,; Ho and Detective y-iar-termain rushed back to the front lawn, where two men were struggling. Wlieii some yards away they saw a flash, srd Detective Quartermain at onco trad in that direction. It was dark, and they did not see the sergeants assailant escape. Detective Quartermain said when they reached the lawn it was too da;k to see anything, but he saw tlie flash and heard a report. He then saw a figure standing up, and the flash '.acne from that figure. He then fired at the figure. It was too dark to De sure who the man was, and they we.*3 giving chase when they found Sergeant Maguire on the ground. While tJiey paused to see what was wrong w.th the sergeant, the man escaped, bergeant Maguire told witness at the time that he had closed with the man they saw, and both had fallen to the ground. The other man was up nr**.;* and had shot the sergeant while he was lying on the ground. Detective Siddells deposed to having found a green cap lying on the lawn, after the shooting incident. Alfred Robertson identified the cap as having been stolen, with some food from his house oa the Saturday nigut prior to the shooting. The jury returned. a verdict "That the deceased, John Patrick Haofc-*ta Maguire, died at the Publio Hospital, at Palmerston, on the 14th April, 1910, from the effects of a gun wo md wilfully inflicted by the man with whom he was grappling while endevouring to arrest him, at Erl Haaroton's property, „ in Ferguson stre-it east, on Sunday, April 10th, 1910.' "