THE LATE TRAGEDY IN OTAGO.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7996, 14 October 1887, Page 2

THE LATE TRAGEDY IN OTAGO.

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST. DETAILS OF THE SHOCKING DEED. The inquest on the body of Edward Loft took place on Monday. The following, among other evidence, was adduced :—: — Mr. Maunsell stated : When I got to Reynold's place Loft was close to the house. He was talking very rapidly about someone. He had tho appearance of a man in delirium tremem. I could not tell from what he said whether he had shot the woman himself or whether someone else had done so. I asked him where 1 Mrs. Loft was, and he told me she was in the house. I went into the house, and found I her lying in a pool of blood. She was shot through the right lung ; the ball had entered below the right collar-bone and' come out at the blade-bone behind. She was bleeding very profusely at tho -time, and also vomiting blood, but was quite conscious. I stopped the bleeding at once. While I was in the house at the farm the police arrived. They asked where Loft was. I told them he was outßido, und warned them to be cautious, as n man had come in und told me that Loft was loading his pistol. As the polioe were going up to him he put the pistol into his mouth aud shot himself. 1 did not beo him.' do that', but I wont out immediately afterwards and found that he was not quite dead. On examining him I found that his front tooth had been knocked out and hia spine fractured. The bullet was lying just • under the skin of tho back of the head, between the hat and neck. Tho ball had fractured the cervical vertebras. I found that a bullet had gmzed Mrs. Loft's hand, tearing tho skin from tho forefinger and the thumb. Sho had also been utruck with a bullet on the left side, but the bnll had evidently hit one of tho steel ribs in her staja and glanced off. She told mo that she «md her husband generally visited the farm on a Sunday. This morning when they left to go to it her husband seemed quito right. She mentioned that he had been drinking very heavily for the last week.