THE INQUEST ON MR COMPTON.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume III, Issue 659, 10 June 1882, Page 3

THE INQUEST ON MR COMPTON.

The late hour yesterday afternoon at which the inquest on Mr George Compton concluded, prevented us from publishing Dr Leahy’s evidence. On resuming the enquiry after the adjournment to allow of the attendance of the Dr, that gentleman deposed as follows : —He had made a 2>osi mortem on the body of deceased. There was an incised skin-deep wound half an inch long on the left temple, and the skin was slightly abraded on the other fade of the ■ forehead. The knuckles of both hands were also wounded. These wounds the Dr considered were received after death. Both lungs were very much congested, and both cavities of the heart were full of blood. Death had undoubtedly resulted from suffocation caused most probably by immersion in the Water. In reply to questions; Dr Leahy said the wounds might possibly have been caused before death, but he did not think so. The 'Coroner summed up the evidence very briefly. How the poor fellow, lying dead, reached the spot where he was found would probably never be known, but ho thought that all the facts made known pointed to a verdict of “ Pound drowned.”

The Jury returned a verdict of “ Found drowned,” adding a rider to the effect that deceased was accidentally drowned, having lost his way in the river-bed during the snowstorm on the night of Monday last. _____