A WELLINGTON SENSATION.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10175, 24 October 1898, Page 5

A WELLINGTON SENSATION.

SUICIDE OF LOUIS CHEMIS.

(Pxxss Association Telegham.)

WELLINGTON, October 23.

About four o'clock on Saturday afternoon some children, -who were gathering wild flowers in a gully about midway between the Mount "Victoria Signal Station and the Patent Slip at Kilbirnde, came across the headless body of a man lying among ti-tree-The police were communicated with, and, after a rough journey, occupying an hour and a half, the remains were conveyed to Kilbirnie, thence to the Wellington morgue. During tbe evening a clue was obtained as to the identity of the body, and on this being followed up, it was proved »eyond all doubt that the remains were those of Louis Chemis, of Kaiwarra murder notoriety. A great sensation was caused in the city this morning when the news was circulated that Chemis had committed suicide. Appearances point to the conclusion that flhe act was a most determined and deliberate one. He had evidently placed the dynamite cartridge in his mouth, and lit the fuse with his right hand, and there are extensive evidences of the explosion w- eh followed having been a terrific one. The uead and neck were blown clean off, and the right arm from above the elbow was missing. The scrub and ground in the vicinity also afforded additional proof of the tremendous explosion. A careful search failed to reveal any trace of the arm, and the only remains of the head were a few particles of scalp and hair, while one of the ears was picked up about sixty yards from the body. Close at hand was a coil of fuse about fifteen feet in length, from which Chemis had evidently cut a small piece to attach to the cartridge. Chemis left his home at about 10.30 yesterday morning, and was traced to a hotel on Clyde Quay, where he purchased a bottle of brandy. The bottle was picked up alongside the body, nearly empty. The only contents of tile pockets were a knife and piece of tobacco, which Mrs Chemis, without hesitation, stated hod belonged to her husband. Prior to leaving home Chemis divested himself of his watch and chain, which the police claim. Chemis was a very temperate man, and the police theory is that he bought the brandy in order to nerve'himself for the awful deed.

At present _the only cause which can be assigned for the act is the fact that Chemis had been out of work for the last three or four weeks, and latterly his friends noticed that it was preying on his mind, and that he was very despondent. Only the other day he complained to Mr C. H. Hills, M.H.R., that he was unable to obtain work, but his wife states that he was quite cheerful yesterday morning, and pave no indication that he was likely to take his life. A fewdays ago, however, in conversation with his wife, he referred to Mr Larnach's suicide, and remarked, "If a man in Larnach's high position committed suicide, what might a poor man like mc, who is out of work, not do?" '

A police party went out this afternoon to make a thorough examination of the locality in case anything further might be found to throw light on the tragedy. Another point which the police contend goes to show that Chemis desired to hide his identification and possibly to destroy all trace of the deed, is the fact that the spot selected was a most remote one, and hadtthe children not happened to be wandering thereabouts yesterday afternoon, the chances are that the body would not have been found for some time, and by then the identification would have been very difficult. . The inquest is to be opened to-morrow, but the police propose to ask for an adjournment, as they intend to make the fullest enquiries into any circumstances whicu may throw further light on the affair. Aβ far as can be ascertained at present, Chemis left no written statement giving (hie reason for the act, but the police think he may have posted a letter to his wife yesterday morning which may fully explain the suicide.

Thus has closed" the career of the man who was the central figure in the celebrated Kaiwarra murder trial. This case excited absorbing interest and speculation not only in Wellington but throughout the colony, and even up to the present day opinions are divided as to the share of Chemis in the guilt of jwhat was undoubtedly one of the most cowardly of crimes. Thomas Hawkins, a respectable settler at Kaiwarra, a suburban district of Wellington, was brutally murdered on the night of May 31st, 1889, on the hills overlooking the little township of Kaiwarra, his assailant discharging a gun at him, and also attacking him ferociously with a knife. A neighbour of Hawkins, Chemis, an Italian, who for scene years had been employed in keeping the Hutt'road in repfjir, was arrested two or three days afterwards on suspicion. It was ehown that he had quarrelled with Hawkins, and that, at the time of the murder a lawsuit was pending between them with reference tp a section of land. Some fragments of paper found in the body of the victim, and evidently part of the wadding of the gun, were shown to correspond with a newspaper found in the house of Chemis, where also the police discovered a dagger and double-barrelled shot gun. After a l6ng and searching trial, Chemis was found guilty and sentenced to death. Immediately there was set on foot an agitation for his reprieve. It was urged that the dagger seized in his house was rusty, and could not therefore have been recently used, and that the mere evidence furnished by the fragments of wadding was not sufficient to convict him. Sentiment entered largely into the agitation from the fact that Mr Bunny, the lawyer who appeared for the defence of Chemis, had risen from a sickbed to undertake his task, and died a few days after the close of the trial. Eventually the sentence was commuted to penal servitude for lifer Then the friends of Chemis, principally the Italian com-, mumtiy in Wellington, and hardest-working of ail, the convict's wife—who never seems to have doubted his innocence—continued their efforts, and secured the assistance of Mr C. H. Mills, M.H.R., in the endeavour to obtain his release. The present Government, in granting, a pardon- to certain prisoners at the time of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in June, 1897, included Chemis amongst the number, and he walked out from Lytteltoh gaol a free man. He was given temporary work by the Government at Parliamentary Buildings during a session as a messenger, or in some such capacity, but apparently had since been for some time out of work. When a Press representative called to see him in Wellington on his release from gaol; Chemis would say nothing. It was suggested to him that there were come points against him in the Kaiwarra case which he would be glad to have the opportunity of explaining. "Yes, there were," he said in a hesitating way, in his broken English, and then, turning to his wife, remarked, "There's that about the knife." But he excused himself from making any statement that night, declaring that he was flurried, and that when he had time to think he would write something and bring it to the office. This he never did.