SENSATIONAL ESCAPADE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 142, 19 June 1939, Page 8

SENSATIONAL ESCAPADE

CAR DRIVER ATTEMPTS SUICIDE WOMAN KILLED IN COLLISION BOY SERIOUSLY HURT. ( Per Press Association.) WHANGAREI, June 18. Okaihau was the scene of a sensational affair yesterday afternoon, when William Paki, a Maori labourer, aged 26, taking his four-year-old boy from his mother, from whom he is separated, got into a small car and drove at a furious rate up and down the main street. Each time he passed the boarding house where his wife is employed he cried, “will you come back to me?” On one journey he struck with terrible force a small sedan in which Mrs. Marsh, of Rangihuia, was driving to Kaikohe, accompanied by her daughter Dawn. The woman sustained serious injuries to the head and died later in hospital. The daughter was able to be taken home. Paki’s son had his skull fractured and lies critically ill. Immediately after the collision Paki cut his throat, but 'the wound was attended to and his condition is not serious. All four were removed to the Kawakawa Hospital, where Paki is under police supervision. A later message states that the boy is in a critical state. Paki is in a serious condition, but is expected to recover.