THE EYRE MURDER.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 September 1920, Page 3

THE EYRE MURDER.

STILI, A MYSTERY. SUSPICIOUS HOOF PRINTS. The murder of Mr. Sydney S. Eyre, while asleep in his home at Pukekiiwa on Tuesday night last, is still shrouded in mystery, though the police have been conducting a vigorous search for clues since they arrived on the scene of the tragedy (says the Auckland Star). Until the opening of the. inquest the murdered man's body and/the room inwhieh the grim act was perpetrated was carefully guarded against any disarrangement from when the police first took charge. The hodv of the victim presented a spectacle to those who saw it, .the top of the head having been blown clean off. The walls beyond were also liberally spattered with hlood, right over the head of the bed which was occupied hv Mrs. Rvre when the shot was bred. The w if,,' s ' bed was a double one placed alongside this wall at the side of the room, the deceased sleeping in a single bed immediately under the window. As the body lay'after the murder one hand was raised up, the lingers almost touching the window sill, this attitude having been caused by muscular contraction after death or as the result of an awakening movement, possibly at hearing or seeing his murderer just as the deadly shot was discharged full at his eyes'. TRACKING HOOP PRINTS. Though no footmarks could be found outside the window/later search revealed a number of hoijf marks, which the detectives considered were made by a mounted horse. The police officers set off to track these hoofprints in a motor car, and after making certain investigations were expected to communicate with Superintendent Wright this morning on their return. Owing to the bad state of the roads, however, the car broke down on its return, so that the result of the search party's Inquiries was not definitely known at the time of going to press. Superintendent Wright, aecojnr nied i by Petective Sweeney and Aoting-deteq*

tive O'Brien, journeyed from Auckland by tho Rotorua express this morning, the train making an especial stop at Tuakau to enable the superintendent and his officers to alight. The party immediately proceeded by motor car to the scene of the tragedy, and are remaining at the house this afternoon till the return of Sergeant-detective dimming and Constable Fox from their trail of the mysterious hoof marks.. NO SIGN OF FOOTMARKS. A peculiar circumstance, and one that helps to shroud the crime in deeper mystery, is the fact that the closest search by the police officers failed to reveal the slightest trace of footprints outside the window through which it is almost certain the murderous shot was fired. This is the more singular from the fact that the ground to within a few feet of the house had been recently ploughed, yet neither on this soft soil nor on the intervening space could any footmarks be detected. The height of the window sill above the ground would also have precluded the possibility of any save a very tall man from levelling a Weapon at the sleeping man from outside the window. This difficulty had apparently been surmounted, however, with the help of a child's little play waggon, which lay against the outside of the building, and which would enable a medium-sized man to stand high enough to rest the barrel of a gun on the sill. That the crime was committed somewhat after this manner is practically conclusive from the general appearance of the victim and the interior o.f the room when inspected by the police. The wall over against the open window beyond the bed was slashed with the blood of the unfortunate man, who had evidently passed from sleep to death with barely"a muscular tremor, as the body was lying as the victim had slept, with the arms partlv folded across the breast. It is assumed that a double-barrelled shot-gun was the type of weapon used for the murder, but when the murderer made off he evidently took his gun with him, as no sign of any was found in the vicinity. Guns were kept in the house, but it is understood that none of those showed any indication of having been recently discharged, GATES WIDE OPEN. It is understood that the police officers found that all the gates leading to the road from the property had been left open, and the suspicious hoofmarks were found to be leading down the Pnkekoho-Glen Murray Road, in which direction there are thousands of acres ot heavy bush, in which a furtive might successfully conceal himself for some tune. Sergeant. Cowan, of Pukekohe. and Constable Thompson, of Tuakau, were also of the motor party which followed the trail of the hoof marks. The house in which the murdered man and his family lived is a fourroomed one with a lean-to. There are no covers on the floors, and the walls are not papered. The farm, on the other hand, is a very nice one, and kept in good condition. \ NO DIRECT SUSPICION YET. The Superintendent stated this after■noon that the police had very little to act upon in the way of clues.' He added that they had been busily engased in interviewing persons who might be able to throw some light on the tragic circumstances, but at the present stage no suspicion could readily be attached to any individual or individuals. The police have taken charge of a single-barrelled shot-gun found in the house, intending to have it closely examined. They are of opinion, however, that this gun has not been recently discharged. The late Mr. Eyre, who was a native of Auckland, having been born in Parnell, was the recipient of a certificate of public recognition, signed by the Mayor of Victoria (8.C.), for his patriotic services as a member of the 50th Gordons in the war, with which Canadian regiment he saw service in Russia and Siberia. Mrs. Eyre was formerly a Miss Hallimore, of Tuakau, and their five children range in age from 17 years down to four years.