SAVAGELY ASSAULTED

Chronicle (Levin), 30 December 1946, Page 4

SAVAGELY ASSAULTED

Unknown Intruder Nearly Kiils Husband ATTACK IN LONELY HOUSE A lonely farmhouse on a back country road six miles out of Pahiatua was tKe scene of a near tragedy in the early hours of yesterday morning. Awakened from his sleep' at 1.20 a.m. Mr. Edward Arnold Palmer, motor driver, was brutally assaulted by a man whose identity is at present unknown, who savagely belayed him with what -is thought to be a portion of a pick handle, till the bedroom and kitchen were profusely bespattered with blood from wounds on the head and body. That Mr. Palmer is not dead is a miracle. Mr. Palmer and his wife retired to bed fairly early on Saturday night and were awakened from their sleep by the noise of somcone opening the door of their smalJ four-roomed cottage. Mr. Palmer states that he called ont and when he saw a torcli flashed, he jumped out oL* bed only to receive a stunning blow on tbe head from the weapon the man held in his hand and which was attached to' the wrist by string or something similar. He struggled with tlie intruder and they fell to the tioor where he received further hlows on the head. They rolled out into the kitchen where Mrs. Palmer grahhed a table lamp and threw it ;at the man. Tlie struggle went on for about ten minutes and it was only when Mr. Palmer realised that he was putting up a loosing fight that the intruder deeamped and the last that was heard oi' him were footsteps along the road. "With the lielp of his wife Mr. Palmer drovc his motor truek into Pahiatua where he had a number" of stitches inserted in the head wounds by Dr. Lange. He lost a eonsiderable amonnt of blood to judge from the state of the two rooms of the house where the struggle took place. Ari', and Mrs. Palmer have only been resident in this particular cottage for about two months Prior to that they were living in Pahiatua. They were married early this year. No motive for the assault cnn be thought of. They caught brief glimpses of the man by the light' df hts' toreh ' as the struggle went on and have eiven the Police a description. They say he was unknown In Ithenn. Their nearest noighbour is half'a mile away.