ANZAC PARADE ASSAULT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 254, 26 October 1937, Page 6

ANZAC PARADE ASSAULT

INQUIRY STILL CONTINUES A “SHIRT” SCARE FADES AWAY. Inquiry into the assault on Mrs. Una Thompson, which occurred early on the morning of Sunday, October 3, still continues. Several further interviews were made by the police during last week. Discovery of a stained shirt some days after the assault, and publication of the fact on Saturday evening last, led to a n ild sensation in the thought that the police had come into possession of a clue. The police knew within a few hours of receiving the shirt that it had no connection with the crime. It was discovered in the river not far above the Red Lion Inn, and was knotted and stained. It was rinsed out by the finder’s wife, but was not boiled, and later banded to the police, whe made tests and discovered no sign of blood. It was an ordinary silk canoe shirt and the way it was knotted suggested that it had been tied round a man’s neck while he was out on the river. The assumption is that it was lost from a boat and in reconstructing the crime the police discard the suggestion that the offender stripped off near the scene and threw his shirt into the river. Several other articles, some of them clothing, were found during a search, or have been handed to the police since the assault in the hope that they might prove to be a clue. Each has been inquired into very closely. In fact every aspect of the inquiry has been followed up quickly, the presence of detectives from outside districts assisting the Wanganui officials making it possible to check up every thread. Mrs. Thompson’s condition continues to improve.