CHINAMAN MURDERED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16748, 1 June 1922, Page 8

CHINAMAN MURDERED.

SHOT OUTSIDE WHARE. TRACEDY NEAR WANGANUI. (Special to the “Star”) WANGANUI, June 1. At a late- hour last evening the Wanganui police received a telc P’^ c communicator! from Road. stating that the body of a Ohmamsn had been foundWdTll,' and Deter, tire Cameron, immediately proceeded bv motor car to make investigation, the local it v being about five miles tio.n Wanganui. Tt did not take them long to come to the conclusion that a, mui^ der had taken place, and that Ghow Yat, aged 62 years, had been the victinThe body was taken to the morgue at Wanganui. The scene of the murder was at a whare situated in the comer of a paddock in which market gardening has been carried on for the past eighteen years by Kwong Chong, a well-known market gardener of Aramoko. _ The whare was situated right at the pi notion of Long icre and Kaimatira, Roads. It cannot by any means be called a lonely spot, for there are tw'o settlers houses within a fewr hundred yards, and others within easy reach along both roads. . - When a “Herald” reporter arrived on the scene this morning he found the police officers still making investigations. Having been called up during the night they were naturally at a disadvantage in having to wait till daylight in order to endeavour to discover footprints, etc. As soon as it was light enough to see, it became evident that Chow Yat had been called outside the door of his whare and there shot in cold blood. Tlie unfortunate victim, probably in re-sponge to a knock, or call, walked outside the door—there being only one in the building—and brought his candle with him. The candlestick was found lying just about where the old man was standing when he received the first shot in the head. It is not a difficult matter then, to trace his subsequent movements. He apparently staggered over a little footbridge' over a drain, and then walked a few yards on the ploughed ground, and came back again through a barbed wire fence towards his whare. He staggered round the corner of the building past a store where several tons of pumpkins wore stored. Blood was flowing freely, as i-si was spattered along over several of the pumpkins. The footprints show that he made his way to the corner of the fence at the junction of two roads, a.t a distance of about a chain, and out on to the main road- It was evidently his intention to make for Stewart’s, the nearest settlers. Possibly the murderer followed him along the road in order to prevent him carrying out his object. A few chains from Stewart’s gate the victim collapsed on the grass on the roadside. He evidently crawled from there to the centre of the road, where he finally collapsed. Now comes the strangest part of the story. The body was not found in this spot, but about 1000 yards down the road towards Wanganui. It is evident that the murderer picked up his victim and carried him to the spot where the body was found. A person collapsing would naturally fall on his face, but Chow Yat’s body was placed on the roadside with the legs placed t< gether and the arni£ folded across his chest.

The whole affair is shrouded in mystery. Stewart’s son states that he distinctly heard four shots shortly after dark, and these were in quick succession. Until a postmortem is held it is difficult to say whether one or two shots entered the victim’s head. There are two distinct, bullet holes. One of the bullets presumably of a revolver, was found embedded in a willow post near the comer of the building. A careful search was made by the police for cartridge shells, but none could be found. Inside the whare everything was in order. The victim probably worked until it was near dark, and then had his tea. The murderer evidently did not make a search of the premises after the crime. The victim is said to have been a most inoffensive old man. Ho had resided in the Dominion for a great many years. At one time Tie worked on the goldfields in the vicinity of Greymouth. He evidently accumulated some wealth there, and went home to China for a few years, and then came back to the Dominion. For five years he has been in the employ of Kwong Chong, and a-bed as caretaker at his gardens. He was the sole occupant of the whare. Probably the murderer may have thought that, he* was the owner of the gardens. However, he collected no money on the place for his employer. For the Chinese New Year in February he was given £3O by his employer, and may have had a little of this money in his possession. If he had any money in Lis possession it has been taken by the murderer, for the pockets of the murdered man were empty when the body was picked up. The victim's wife predeceased him some years ago in China, but he has one son living. He has also some relatives in tlie Dominion.

The police are scouring the district in search of any information that may lead to the tracking down of the murderer. Tlie heavy rain which set in made their task a difficult one to discover any finger prints. There were plenty of footprints in the vicinity of the. whare, but some of these may have been made by settlers who visited the scene before the-police.