MR. W. E. PRICE'S DEATH

Thames Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 17833, 7 March 1930, Page 5

MR. W. E. PRICE'S DEATH

QUE TO GUNSHOT WOUND.

Ho Weapon Can Be Found.

NEIGHBOUR HEARS SHOT.

?JS IT A CASE OF MURDER ?

-•?<Bv Telegraph.—Press Association.) .: ' PALMERSTON N.,. Mar. 7. : Facts pointing either to murder • <or suicide surround the death of Mr Walter Edwin Price, builder, of 3?almerston North, who was found -dead in his bedroom at 8 o'clock on '. Wednesday morning. At first it was '< .-though that death was due to internal haemorrhage, but a post-mortem •examination disclosed that it was <!due to a gunshot wound, probably .3ired close to the head. Toe suicide theory is complicated r hy . the fact that the weapon can;jaot be found. A rifle has been discovered, on the premises, but it is old and has not recently been used. :3?he police decline to, make a definite statement, but admit that either : the murder or suicide theory must Vibe accepted. <When discovered Mr Price was in ".iis night attire and lying on his -back partiaily underneath the end v of' the bed. " He was lying on a s sheet and ' a blanket. The fatal -wound was in the side of the chin, the shot had spread upward to•ward the roof of the skull. The jpolice believe that death was instantaneous;' ... The only other person in the Lhouse was deceased's youngest son, ..John, a High School pupil, who slept :':in an adjacent bedroom. He says iJhe did not hear the shot, and had -no intimation of the tragedy until y<the discovery next morning. Mrs .iPrice was absent at Te Kuiti on a rholiday, while the elder son, George, •-was continuing his studies at x-Christchurch. Following the post-mortem exam--Jnation, an inquest was opened before the coroner, Mr J. L. Stout, 6.M. After tformal identification I?by Henry Wpolles Price, of Thames,: ,'brother of deceased, ihe inquiry (was: i.?adjounied. Although the son heard nothing, state that they heard a, -sharp,- staccata„report at 12.50 a.m.,; ..•accompanied by a shrill cry. These were Mr and Mrs T. Wil<son, and a guest, Mr Ross Meikle, reside next door to Mr Price's which is on a corner and on the other side by a sec-' .tfion on which Mr Price-was build-: iing a residence. After hearing the shot, Mr Meikle, enable, to locate the direction, opentt*d the door and listened, but, hearing nothing, he went to bed again. „'ln the morning Mr and Mrs Wilson -were informed by John Price that ."his father had died in the night of Jhaemorrhage, but at four o'clock in -the afternoon Mr Wilson's son told His.father he had heard that Mr IPrice had been shot. A wad from the gun was found ian the room, but the police state that .& very thorough search for the weapon was without result. Mr Price had resided at Palmersion North for some years, and earned a reputation- as a hard worker good business man. *He was of ..-quiet disposition. -. The neighbours iound him cheerful tb,e > day before •the tragedy, when he chatted with 3tr Wilson and appeared to be in normal spirits. He did most of his *sown building, erecting houses and -selling them on completion. He was brother to Messrs George and Arthur Price, of Thames. The funeral took place yesterday yesterday.