THE GREAT BARRIER MURDER

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1461, 20 January 1887, Page 3

THE GREAT BARRIER MURDER

I » this 0883 yesterday MrH Taylor gave a oircunistantial account of Cff ov firing t.hrert ph >ts at her husband, who got out of th-3 room into another and shut the d'vr, which was burst open by Caffr?y. Pena following. She uext s-iW Perm with his arm round her hadban-i's ueok, a' d porting a revolver at her with his rijht ha *d when she mo away She hoad a f >urth allot nfr^r she left Peun ohasiag her to laiOf tthit had become of the girls. C'flfery joining Perm, and their sabs - qaent departure for the cutter was fully detailed. Mm Seymour, Miss Taylor and Linooln T-»ylcr, gave corroborative evidence. Daring the evidenoe of Mrs Taylor, the Ju<lgo saw th^t signa's were b^ing exohang^d botween the girl Graham »nd Peon, and she w»s ordered out of the court-room. Mrs Seymour was lengthily ox« mined aa to her acqnaluUnce with Coffrey

[by tklkoraph.]

Auckland, January 20.

There was "geiu a crowded Court room aud a number of ladled were m the gallery.

James Blair, *on of tha Postmaster at Tryphena, Great Birrie^, avid that going to Taylor's house at 9 o'olook on the morning of the mnrde , having received now? from Taylor's family, who hid fltd m a boat aooross the bay, he found Tayior's body lying on the fl>or with a bullet wound on left temple from whioh blood was f lowly ooz ng. The wound was small and circular and the hair near it wan sin jfid Turning over the body he found another bullet round on the right side of the nape of the neck, uimilar m appearauc to the other wound, »nd blooJ was also trickling down from it There was no blood on the fl >or except what had flowed from the mouh of deceased, when he turned the b dy over, There wa3 a large pool of blood ju3t m ihe doorway leading to the kltohen and fc;ie wall behind the door wrb bespat ered with blooi, and there were spots of blood on the bed He found a revolver m the room, of whioh one eh mber hid been diacharged. He noticed the wooden fastening of the bedroom door had been broken.

Dr Walker deposed to making a post mortem examfnaton of Taylor's body. Death would result almost instantaneously from the wound m the left temple. He traoed tha course of the bullet an>l found that it had traversed the brain and caused a second wound m the back of the head. The fatal shot must have been fired from above. Deceaaeu'a liend *vas bent forward all the tiaiß. The left temple was Bcorched as by gunpowder. He was posilive the other wound was inflioted while deceased was olive.

Adam Henderson, owner of the Sovereign of the Seas, s'atod that Caffrey w<TKed her on " thirds," and he received two thirds uf lie earnings and the owner one *hlrd. On Thursday, 17th of June l r s f , he went dc>wn to the vessel io see C-fTiey to fee about squaring up, bnt he wa* not aboard. Told Perm to teil C*f?rey on no account to le»va till he had seen witness Did not see Caffrey until hi* retutn m custody. Some] months ago hnd two interviaws with prisoner. Caffrey toli h ; m he had ecu tiled the vaseel Ho had always a very high opioiou of C ffcoy's charaoter and conduct.