DOUBLE TRAGEDY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 54, 6 March 1939, Page 8

DOUBLE TRAGEDY

Young Woman and Man Dead DISCOVERY AT GREYMOUTH [Per Press Association.! GREYMOUTH, March 5. A double tragedy with mysterious features occurred at Greymouth last night. Alvis Williams, aged 23. single, head waitress of the Royal Hotel, was found dead soon after 11.30 o’clock in her room at Mayfair Flats, Mawhera Quay, a short distance from the Royal Hotel, where the staff have sleeping quarters. An hour later. Frederick Jack Kitching, aged 26, single, painter, who had been keeping company for years with Miss Williams, was found in a dying state at the residence of his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Walers Kitching, Shakespeare Street, evidently from the effects of poisoning. Miss Williams, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Williams, reside in Bealey Street. Hokitika, i., stated to have retired to her room at 9 p.m. in an apparently happy frame of mind after joking with other members of the hotel staff. Her subsequent movements were not. so far as is known, observed by anyone. About 11.30 p.m. another girl employed in the hotel, and sharing the room with Miss Williams, found the door locked when going to retire and, on entry, found Miss Williams in bed, fully clothed. Deceased’s neck was swollen and blue, but except for slight stains of blood on the nose and a few' other stains, there was no evidence of a struggle. When Miss Williams was discovered in a dying condition. Dr. W. A. Bird was immediately summoned, but despite prolonged efforts, he was unable to avert the affect of the poison. Both victims appeared to friends and relatives as staid, unemotional characters.