THE WAIMA TRAGEDY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19034, 11 June 1924, Page 5

THE WAIMA TRAGEDY

CORONIAL INQUIRY. (Per Press Association). WHANGAREI, June 10. Circumstances surrounding the death of Ruki Pene, of Waima, were the subject of a coronial inquiry this afternoon. The police testified that on June 6 deceased returned home. He had an altercation with his wife, then procured a stone and battered her head, the woman’s death resulting some hours later. Penc then decamped. The police were summoned, search proceeding all night. Deceased was at length located at 8 a.m. in a tall macrocarpa tre?, whereupon he cried out, “I am ready to die. Good-bye, Kelly.” He then dived into a creek below, a distance of thirty feet. The creek contained only a foot of water and had a rocky bed. Pene. who was obviously badly injured, was conveyed by road to Kai* kohe, and thence by train en route to Whangarei, for medical treatment, but he expired during the journey at Whakapara. A Alaori witness testified that when he saw Pene in the tree, the latter exclaimed, “Don’t let any Maoris come near me. Take all my horses, saddles, bridles and everything and pay expenses. I am ready now. Good-bye.” Then he took a headlong plunge. Dr. Ward gave evidence to the effect that a post-mortem revealed a fracture of the base of the skull. It also disclosed that deceased had been suffering from pneumonia, affecting the left base of the lung. Death was due to shock and injury to the brain. A verdict was returned in accordance with medical testimony. Dr. Ward subsequently expressed the view that Pene might have murdered his wife while he was in a state of dementia due to pneumonia.