THE REEFTON MURDER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 2, Issue 324, 21 April 1881, Page 2

THE REEFTON MURDER.

Greymodth, Yesterday.

Further particulars of the murder case at Larry’s Greek are to hand. Deceased’s skull was so battered in as to expose the brain, and the splinters from the stock of the gun show the force of the blow. Considering the strength of the two men —McGahey being five feet eleven—and the desperate struggle which must have taken place between them, and of which there was abundant evidence, it is thought that McGahey missed Bell when he fired on him while he was sitting on a pail in the barn beginning to milk, of which there was a cupful in the bucket. McGahey had been married about fourteen years without having cause to doubt his wife’s fidelity. About two years ago it was rumored that - Mrs McGahey attempted to poison him, it being said that he had been sick, but nothing came of the reports. They had an adopted child, a girl, and soon after the poisoning affair, Mrs McGahey accused her husband of violating the girl, but a medical examination obtained by the police showed that there was no truth in the allegation. Mrs McGahey soonafter that began complaining of the hardship of her married life, and the cruelty she was enduring. Then her sympathisers procured for her a situation, but she did not remain in it, and gave a very unsatisfactory reason for not doing so, and went back to her own house at Larry’s, but the next night it was burned down. Then her statements as to the cause of the fire were again considered unsatisfactory, though the jury brought in an open verdict. Subsequently, some friends got for her a respectable and suitable engagement with a private family, but she would not accept it, and placed herself under the protection of the deceased, a single man. Then people began to revive the poisoning rumor, the charge of violation, and the burning down of the house, and attributed it to a desire that McGahey should not come back to his farm, which was mortgaged for more that its value. McGahey laid an information against Bell, when his wife sought Bell’s protection, for stealing his property, but the charge was not upheld. The inquest was adjourned without taking evidence.