The Inquest.

Thames Star, Volume III, Issue 1665, 20 April 1874, Page 2

The Inquest.

Tlie inquest was held: it the Courthouse, Shortlarid, at 2 p.m. -this day, before J..E, M_acdonald, Esq, Coroner, and a jury. The jury having assembled, elected Mr. W. Litchfield as. their and .then proceeded to, view the body which was lying at,his own house, after which i the following, evidence was taken. ; • ■■•* • :The Coroner said he had not called theevidence.of'.a.medical man in this 'case as from what he had gathered the deceased met with his death from an ,accidei^t, v but ,if the jury were not satisfied'aii adjournment would take place for a postmortem examination. Mr. ,W. H.;; Grace was sworn as interpreter. " ■"" Elizabeth (a Maori)' the wile of the deceased was sworn, and stated—l am the wife of the deceased, John Duncan. He died on Sunday last. 1 was with him. on the Thames Eiver—on^that day hunting for pigs. ; He had a gun with him. That is the gun (produced); He had shot two pigs when he heard the dogs barking again. They had another pig, which my husband kijiedt with:: a knifes He .then: loaded his:-'guhv: ;He*sat on thd pig'and lit his pip%. The gun was lying on the ground with the muzzle towards him. ;il'e_ h sa^to-iHe.i^ <i-]S'^e,j^ill ; fa lJ£ > e this pig to where the others are," and drew the gun towards him by the muzzle to give it to me, when it exploded. My Jiusband-rput his arms' across' his chest. r' I put his head on my lap. He called me by name and 5 died. I left him and went towards Mr. Gibbons' mill and; »cried out for help, but could not make anyone hear. I then tried to swim the river. When in the water I looked back, and saw canoes in .the., creek. I went back -for one as I cpjild not get;across. did so, "and spoke !t6 some natives, and came into Shortland and gave information. There was no one with my husband but 'myself. I tried to swim tho river but could not. As my husband loaded the gun he was walking.l; When the gun was lying down I did not notice wether it was cocked. It was scrubby ground where the la,st .pig was killed. I have been living with my husband seven years. "V^e have been always on good terms except a few trifling quarrels. I once saved his life by, rescuing him from drowning when he was sinking. We had no quarrel lately.—The witness's deposition was read over to her, to which she affixed her mark. Constable Madill, sworn, said—l received information of the occurrence about 8.30 last night. According to instructions I proceeded with the last witness to the scene of the. accident. I found the deceased about a mile from the river in a swamp. About 10O,yards from where the body lay I found two dead pigsl and the pouch produced. By, the body wag a dead pig. The head of the deceased was resting on the body,of the pig.., ,TJ»e body of deceased was lying on its left side. By it ,was> a single barrelled -gun 1 with 'the muzzle towards, the, body v I examined the body* and found ,a ■ bullet wound in the left shoulder about the collar-bone; also a bullet mark coming out at the, bac)c of ,the right shoulder. The clothei of the: deceased were . saturated with' ,blood, as was the ground round him. ,The left cheek and nose were almost eaten away. I brought the body down to Shortland. The bullet had evidently-.entered lower in the body than it had gone out. The death wound most likely occurred exactly as the deceased's wife has described. ' ' Ihe deceased's two dogs were by the body when I found it, and could not be induced to leave it. The jury after consulting for a few minutes returned a verdict pf accidental dejth. #--{■ ■ - : -'I'^fj • ■