THE MURDER HUNT IN AUCKLAND

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2384, 13 February 1915, Page 8

THE MURDER HUNT IN AUCKLAND

CAPTURE OF SUSPECT IMMINENT

MIDNIGHT VISIT TO A

WHARE

STRANGE PACKET OP LETTERS

(By Telegraph.—Pre£9 Association,)

Auckland, February 12. Telegraphing from Onewhero, a "Herald" representative reported that the surrender or capture is hourly expected of the man wanted in connection with the murder of Mrs. Edith Emma Keals and the abduction of lier six week's old baby. When the last of the search party had come in from the bush and other parts of the surrounding country, small groups of men were distributed about to watch every likely spot and every hut or whare which the criminal might be expected to visit. In the old shanty half a mile from the Keals' homestead, in which, by the way, Mr. Leslie Keals and his brother Norman lived a bachelor psistence before the former was married; wero stationed.for the night a constable and three settlers. They had with them a bulldog. A Midnight Visitor. About midnight the inmates of the wharo heard a slight sound. The door, was then opened from the outside for a few inches, and just when the watchers. had began to calculate upon their chances of arresting the intruder, the bulldog barked. Instantly the door banged to, and when the constable and his companions gained the outside of tie hut the midnight visitor had'disappeared, and despite an' immediate: search, made good his escape in the dark.

The man's subsequent movements were only ascertained this morning, when the traces of bare footprints showed that Norman Keals, who is definitely known to be without boots or Micks, had not only ventured to approach and enter tie whare, but actually took the risk of walking or creeping, partly over tixe grass, and partly along the dusty road, to within a few yards of the back of the house in which Mrs. Keals was murdered. Within the residence, which was in darkness, were several police officers. Othere were' 100 yards away, at the side of the house, watching the orchard. Of all these officers and men who were alert and on the lookout, not one heard a sound, yet all the while the criminal had been within a few yards. The night was pitch dark, and. it was impossible to see six yards -ahead. Aided by this fact, and by .the unshod, condition of his feet, it is not surprising that Norman Keals succeeded in carrying out his object unmolested, and in disappearing into the bu6b,.of which there is plenty in the vicinity, unheard and unseen. That objoct clearly was to leave a packet of letters, and not to obtain food, for there were no signs this morning that he had been foraging either in the yard or the house, the outhouse, or the orchard. ...

Mysterious Letters. The package referred to was picked up in the rear of the premises by a constable, who was astir soon after daybreak, Tho actual contents of the lettors are not available. Sub-Inspector il'llveney has decided not to divulge them at the present juncture, but the "Herald's" reporter was permitted to cursorily examine tho package, and a portion of what was written' therein were read to him. The envelope was addressed, and the greater portion of the letters inside were written In- ink. The inscription, on the-envelope was:"To those who mourn my loss." Around the edges a broad inked band had been made with the blunt end of a penholder, giving the package a rough likeness to a'mourning envelope. Of the two letters enclosed, one was addressed to the writer's brother, Leslie Keals. and the other to their parents. The letters had been similarly, treated with a'black edge. Both letters .were written upon the blank side of two-fold-ed pages torn from a Journal'of Agriculture. " The letter to the dead woman's husband announced that the writer, Norman Keals, was in the old whare, and ho declared his intention of not leaving there again. In the letter to his parents occurred the sentenco: "If I cannot live hero, no one will stop me dying here. I love tho old place too well for that." Sprawled in the margin and hero and there, over the rest of 'the letter were evidences of religious mania, some sentences and a text being quoted, including the following: "Hold the. fort, for lam coming"; "Thy will be done"; "As we forgive others, so will we be forgiven." In neither letter, according to Sub-Inspector M'Dveney, was there anything to indicate an intention to injure Mrs. Keals or her baby. The entire tone of both .letters, however, did indicate strongly a suicidal intent upon the part of the writer at the time he penned the documents. A White Flag.

He endorsed, upon the letter to his brother the following message roughly scrawled in pencil:— "I cannot realise that I hare done this. Forgive me. Put up a white flag at tho gate if you want me to come in."

As soon as Sub-Inspector M'llveney perused the letters, early this morning, he caused a white flag to be flown in front and at the rear of the Koals's residence, on the chance that the hunted mail might act upon the signal in the way suggested in this pencilled message.