A SINGULAR CASE.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15863, 7 July 1919, Page 9

A SINGULAR CASE.

INFANT FOUND IN DEAD WOMAN'S COFFIN. Detectives arc invv-'.igating a remarkable cast; cotn't-"!:!;;_■ the d-ath of a voting woman at KerenTate k.ivs the iftelbourcc Age or the Orb in.-te). In course of th-ir inquiries it was necessary for the j.01i.-e to have the body exhumed, and it was tint: discovered that there wuj also the body of an infant in the coffin. The extraordinary belief wa» entertained by the detectives, and bv the residents in the locality also, that the child had been born after the death of the mother, bocaii.*?, as far as the police could ascertain, the child's body was not in the coffin when the wotnrm was buried. When the case was brought nude- the notice of several prominent m-adical practitioners they were unanimous m. declaring that if was impossible for a child to have been born offer the death of the mother. Such an event had no parallel in their knowledge. The true history of the case, they stated, could only be obtained from the doctor who had charge of the case in the first place. According to the police story, a young single worn in, Alice Elizabeth Niva, who had leeti employed as a domestic servant by Mr T. Scott, farmer, of Woolshed Flat, Korong Tale, died suddenly in the early morning of May Ist last. Mr Scott was away from the farm at the time, and the only nun in the house was a hoarder. Richard Noe! Nash. The doctor was sent for at Wedderbum. hut or ills arrival at 2 a.m. the girl was dead. Preliminary investigations were made by the local constable at Korong Tale, and later in the day a magisterial inquiry was held by the deputy coroner, who returned a verdict‘that the woman bad dhd f rotr strychnine poisoning, apparently seif-administered. Next day the body was buried in the local cemetery. Evidence given at the inquest showed that Mr Scott kept strychnine in the house in an oven built into the ’ the kitchen. The girl, according to the testimony, went to bod about 9.30 p.m. on the day preceding her death, and she was then apparently in the best of health. It afterwards transpired that the alarm clock in her room had been wound up and set for the usual tune for the girl to get up in the morning. Prom this fact the deductions led them to believe that suicide had not been premeditated, although it is conceded that the winding of the clock may hare been due to 'force of habit. A cap and spoon showing traces of powder believed to be poison were found vv the table near the girl’s bed. Weeks elapsed, but the element of tfyvstery surrounding the death had not jFr.-> n dispelled. From information reDetective Sergeant Sullivan was detailed to investigate the circumstances. On May ;Ust the body was exhumed. sad, according to Detective Sullivan, it was then discovered for the first time that the infant’s body was in the coffin. fb« police are admittedly baffled by this extraordinary event, and despite the rioaest investigation they have been unable to solve the mystery of the child’s birth. Contents of the body were sent If ilr Price, the Government analyst, and tjf« presence of strychnine was proved indubitably. Further inquiries in connection with the girl’s death are being pursued by the polios.