ROTORUA TRAGEDY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21244, 14 January 1939, Page 6

ROTORUA TRAGEDY

Finding of Murder and Suicide I Coroner Criticises Conduct of Husband By Telegraph—Press Association ROTORUA, January 13. The inquest was commenced before the Coroner, Mr W. L. Richards, today, into the death of Gladys Lane, married, aged 40, and Lewis Cottington, aged nine, son of Mrs Lane by a previous marriage, on the morning of January 5„ Mrs Lane being found lying on the bed in a bach which she occupied with her husband in Ti Street, Rotorua. She was unconscious and had a deep gash in the throat, while beside her was lying the body of the boy with a rope knotted tightly round the neck. Medical evidence was to the effect that the woman’s injv~ies were self-inflicted, while those of the boy were not. Dr. H. Bertram said he had been attending Mrs Lane for some time. She was in a condition which would tend to cause nervous unrest, and it was possible that she had caused the injuries responsible for her own death and that of the boy during a brainstorm caused by puerperal insanity. She had frequently attempted to discuss her domestic troubles with him, stating that she was not happy with her husband- and that he was trying to get her money away from her. Mr R. B. Chadwick, who appeared to watch the interests of the estate of Mrs Lane, said Mrs Lane had approximately £lOOO when she married Lane, but had very little when she died. He asked witness whether Mrs Lane gave him any indication of what happened to the money. Dr. Bertram said she did not, but she told him she would not separate from her husband, because if she did he would get her money. He advised her to see a solicitor to see whether she could get matters straightened cut. Husband’s Evidence Arthur Leicester Lane, aged 27, a carpenter, husband of the deceased, said he married her at Wellington in May, 1938. The boy lived with them when they came to Rotorua. He said that for a fortnight before the tragedy has wife had been in a very nervous, upset condition. On December 31 they had a difference of opinion about the motor-car and he removed his sleeping quarters from the bedroom to the garage. On the evening before the tragedy when he returned from work he found her in bed. She seemed very worried, but he did not take a great deal of notice as she had been like that for some time. He was awakened about dawn the next morning by his wife knocking on the door of the garage. She was weeping and wanted him to return to the bedroom so that “they could part friends.” He refused, telling her not to be silly. She went away saying “Don’t blame me for anything I might do.” When he went across to the house to get breakfast he found his wife’' bedroom door locked. He procured a key and found her lying on the bed with a deep gash in throat but still breathing. The boy was lying beside her almost covered by bedclothes. He immedi'ately summoned the police and a doctor. There was a letter on the dressing-table. 111-Treatment Denied Witness denied that he had ever been cruel to his wife or that he had ill-treated her. Asked by Detective White how he explained the statement made by Mrs Lane in a letter to hei’ daughter in Auckland that he had nearly knocked her head off her shoulders and that he was a cur and a bully, he said he could not explain why she should write such a letter. Their married life had/been happy until she became so irritable that he left their bedroom and went to sleep in the garage. Emma Stock, who resided in another section of the house occupied by the Lanes, and James Shannon, a labourer, who occupied the room adjoining the garage in which Lane was sleeping, said that they had seen some signs of unhappy relations between Mr and Mrs Lane, but Miss Stock said she had seen nothing which justified the terms used by Mrs Lane in her letters regarding her husband. Questioned by Detective White, Lane said that he did not know that his wife’s bank book showed that her account had dwindled from a credit of £6OO/4/- a few months ago to £l6 before her death. He had had nothing from her with the exception of a few pounds while he was in Wellington. He admitted that he had not been as considerate as he might have been to her before her death, but denied the general allegations of cruelty and neglect. ‘'lnconsiderate Action” “I do not think that I can complete this inquiry without commenting briefly upon the inconsiderate attitude of the husband toward his late wife,” said the Coroner in returning a verdict that the boy died from strangulation inflicted by his mother, and that the mother died from wounds selfinflicted. Mr Richards said that it must have been evident to the husband that his wife was in a delicate state of health. At the opening of the inquest for identification purposes Lane had appeared overwhelmed by grief, but subsequent evidence had disclosed that he was not very considerate towards his wife during a critical period. Although he did not consider that the tragedy was altogether avoidable, owing to the woman’s state of mind, he suggested to the husband that it was preferable to have shown consideration during the woman's lifetime rather than an abundance of tears after her death. That kind of sorrow frequently was of very questionable sincerity.