BRUTAL MURDERS

Taranaki Daily News, 3 August 1932, Page 5

BRUTAL MURDERS

TWO WOMEN killed lonely farm tragedy. DAUGHTER’S SAD HOME-COMING. 1 Two women were brutally murdered in a lonely homestead, about three miles irom Cooma, New South in mysterious circumstances on the Sternion of July 20. Victims of the tragedy were: Mrs. May Irene Ham, aged 40, and Miss Ettie Tucker, aged 21, Mrs. Hain’s maid. . The two women were shot at close range through the heads, on the verandah of their home. The murderer then dragged their bodies abox.l 50 yards from the°house to a feed shed, where he endeavoured to hide evidence of his terrible crime. The bodies were buried beneath some sacking and bags and empty crates were piled on top or them. The murderer then apparently attempted to obliterate the trail of blood which led from the verandah to the shed. , The Willows, a station property owned bv Mr. Harry R. Hain, a stock and station agent, is situated in * lonely locality and the homestead stands at a considerable distance from any other habitation. During the day the eight children in the family are absent at school at Cooma and Mr. Hain s business renders it necessary for him to take long journeys into the surrounding districts. The two women were thus always alone for several how" during the day.

LARGE POOLS, of. BLOOD.

On the afternoon of the tragedy the eldest daughter, Moya, rode into the town to visit friends and returned about five o’clock. She tethered her horse in front of the house and ran into the building, calling to her mother. Receiving no answer, she searched every room, to° find the house deserted. On the verandah she was horrified to find large pools of blood. . Frantic with anxiety, the girl followed a clearly visible trail of blood to the shed. Pushing open the door she peered into the semi-darkness and was surprised to see that all the feed crates had been piled in one corner. Pro- . trudinw from beneath this pile was a woman’s foot. She frenziedly flung the crates aside and made the gruesome discovery of the bodies of her mother and the maid. She immediately communicated with the police. < A large body of police raced out in ears from the town to the homestead. When they arrived the girl, who is about 17 years ofhge, was hysterical with wrief and fear, and almost incoherently told the story of her discovery. POLICE INVESTIGATIONS. Police, accompanied by a doctor, examined the bodies and found that Mrs. Ham had been shot at close range through the front of the head and that Miss Tucker had been shot through the back of the head at equally close range. Shocking wounds had been inflicted and the women had died instantly. Reconstructing the crime, the police determined that the’murder had been committed while one of the women was usino- the telephone. They ascertained that°Mrs. Hain had telephoned a friend at Cooma about two o’clock, some time after her daughter had left for town. They believe that Mrs. Hain had just replaced the receiver when she was hailed by her slayer, who had crept up behind her while she was speaking. She turned round and probably exchanged a few. words, the shotgun was produced and a shot fired at point blank range. Miss Tucker, who was probably inside the house, heard the report, it is assumed, and rushed out to the verandahShe saw at a glance what had occurred and turned to flee. The murderer raised his gun again and fired the second barrel, again with fatal effect. APPARENT ABSENCE OF MOTIVE. Apparently the man knew the movements of the family, for he deliberately set about removing traces of his crime. Efforts had been made to obliterate the bloodstains on the verandah. He probably dragged the bodies to the edge of the verandah and threw them into the warden while he set about wiping up the blood, for the ground near by was soaked with blood. He then dragged or carried his victims to the shed, one at a time, and returned to attempt to cover up his tracks. The police are satisfied that robbery was not the motive for the terrible crime. The house had not been disturbed in any way. Mrs. Hain, who was formerly a Miss Ecclestori, of a wellknown Monaro family, was highly respected and popular throughout the district and the police were at a loss to assign a motive for the crime. A pathetic feature of the tragedy was the return from school of the remainder of Mrs. Hain’s family. They were taken back to Cooma to the homes of friends. Mr. Hain was inspecting some grazing property at Adaminably throughout th® day and did not learn of the crime until late in the evening. He was so overcome by the news that he broke down. The body of Robert Audley, aged 25, whom the police suspected of the crime and who had been employed by Mr. Hain, was found hanging from a tree on the day after the murders, about & mile from the house. A gun lay near by.