(FOR LATER RESULTS SEE INSIDE PAGES.)

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17218, 8 December 1923, Page 1

(FOR LATER RESULTS SEE INSIDE PAGES.)

coming back again through a barbed wire, fence towards his whare.

He staggered round the. corner of the building past a store-room. Blood must have been flowing freely, as it was found spattered over several heaps of vegetables. Footprints showed that he made his way to the junction of the fence at the corner of the two roads. It was evidently his intention to make for Stewart's, the. nearest settler. Possibly, the murderer followed him along the road in order to prevent him carrying out his object. A few chains from Stewarts gate, the- victim collapsed on the grass by the roadside. He evidently crawled from there to the centre of the road, where he died. THE STRANGE PART. Now comes the strangest part of murder of Chow Yet. The body was not found at this corner, but about 1000 yards down the road towards Wanganui. The murderer must have picked up his victim and carried him this distance. A person collapsing would naturally fall on his face. Chow Vet’s body was placed on the roadside with the legs placed together and the arms folded across his chest. At the inquest, a settler said he heard four shots fired in quick succession. Though the whare had not been searched, it was definitely ascertained that the motive of the murder was robbery. Chow Vet’s empty pur.se was found on the road, and probably the murderer thought he was the owner of the gardens and that he might have a large sum in his possession. Chow Yet was an inoffensive old man. At. cne time, he worked on the goldfields in the vicinity of Greymouth, and after that he went home to China for a few years. The police believed that the murderer shot his victim and followed him afterwards. How the body reached the place where it was found remains a mystery. So does the identity of the murderer. ARCH HILL TRAGEDY. A vacant section at Arch Hill. Auckland was the scene of a murder mystery in July. 1921. On the. morning of Sunday, July 17, the body of Francis Edward Jew, 20 years of age. was discovered among some bramble bushes close to a track used as a short cut. A blood-stained paling was lving alongside. and there were two. large wounds at the back of the head. A mystifying fact that, was, although it. had rained heavily during the night, Jew s clothes were quite dry, and no footprints were visible. Here again the victim must have been carried some distance. At the inquest; it was stated that Jew, a grocer’s assistant, left, his home at midday on Saturday, July 16. attended a football match and returned to the vicinity of his home at 5.30 p.m Police evidence was to the effect that there was no doubt it was a case of

doctor. Further police came on the scene and the neighbourhood was scouted for any trace of the murderer, the search being kept up till daybreak. All that was found were the marks of a struggle in the yard behind the store. In one corner, there was a mark on the ground as if someone had slipped in pulling up suddenly. From this and other signs, it was deduced that Constable Dorgan, hearing the burglar leave the shop, went down the right-of-way and attempted to corner him. A chase and a scuffle ended in the burglar using his gun at close quarters. THE MURDERER ESCAPES. The murderer must then have gone up the eastern cornet of the yard and out into a street at the back. He had left behind his collars, shirts, socks and a suit packed in two bags ready to take. away. These were of a size to fit a man about five feet six inches in height. After investigating the murder for three days, a “ Star ” reporter telegraphed the following message to Christchurch: “At present there is no clue to the culprit. The police are up against a blank wall.” A blank wall still obscures the secrets of the Timaru murder, just as it obscures the secrets of the ghastly crimes at Kaiapoi, Aramoho, Arch Hill, and Kaimatira.