THREAT TO KILL

Timaru Herald, Volume CLII, Issue 22371, 8 September 1942, Page 2

THREAT TO KILL

Soldier Wounds Girl SYDNEY, Aug. 21 A young American soldier shot and seriously wounded Miss Lilian Gwendolyn Lloyd, aged 33, an usherette, at the Brisbane Lyceum Theatre last Tuesday night, then committed suicide. Earlier, the soldier had threatened by telephone to kill Miss Lloyd and her boy friend. The shooting occurred about 10.30 p.m. in the staff dressing room at the theatre. The soldier had evaded two military police placed at the entrance of the theatre to detain him. Miss Lloyd was wounded in the abdomen and thigh. After he had shot her with his .45 calibre revolver, the soldier shot himself through the head. He died in hospital two hours later. Interviewed in hospital, Miss Lloyd said: “I was on duty at the theatre when there was a phone call for me. It was from this soldier, and be threatened to kill both me and my boy friend with his revolver. I rang off and got in touch with my boy friend, who told the police. I thought we would be safe. “After the show, I went into the dressing room to change from my uniform to go home. I was still nervous about the threat made earlier, and when I heard the sound of footsteps and a thumping on the door I was properly frightened. I crouched against the wall as he entered. I was too terrified to cry out. I saw the flash of the explosion and then another, and felt two sharp, agonising thrusts in my body. I don't remember anything more until I woke up in hospital.” Detectives who examined the room found that the third bullet had gone through the soldier’s head and pierced a wall of the dressing room.